Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
A threat. A ghost from the past. A murder.
And two tortured souls who find solace in each other.
Ex-Navy SEAL Leif Ramsey—known as Phoenix—has fallen hard for spitfire Kelly Taylor, but the first order of business is to protect her from whoever is sending her threatening texts. Her tormenter has upped the ante with a message Leif can’t bear to show Kelly, but when he finally does…
Kelly knows exactly who sent it—a person she thought had disappeared forever. Kelly tries to go on with her life, determined not to let anything interfere with her new job and her budding relationship with Leif. But her abusive mother is in town and wants to see her, and her tormentor is inching ever closer.
When an unexpected murder leaves both Kelly and Leif stunned and unnerved, they turn to each other. Someone is watching though—someone who will destroy everything in his path to get what he wants.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
LEIF
Kelly stares down at her lap, her hands clasped together. Is she thinking? Is she getting ready to strike?
I don’t think she’s getting ready to strike because she doesn’t think before doing that. If she were going to strike again, she would’ve already done so.
Then the ding of a text.
Kelly reaches for her small purse and pulls out her cell phone.
Then she gasps.
“What is it?”
“Another one.” She hands the phone to me.
You will get what you deserve, you traitorous bitch.
“You’re truly off the hook now, Brindley,” Leif says.
“Oh my God, is it another one of those texts?” Brindley asks.
I nod, and Kelly stays quiet.
“I’m sorry you got this,” I say. “But I swear to God I will protect you. And now… Do you believe that it’s not Brindley?”
“Why should I? She could have someone sending them for her.”
I sigh. “Kelly… Please.”
Finally, she looks up at me, her gorgeous eyes laced with sadness. “Who’s doing this to me, Leif? Who? And why?”
“I don’t know, baby. But I swear to God we will find out.” I turn back to Brindley. “I’m sorry we bothered you.”
“It was no bother. I’m happy to have any kind of chance to prove my innocence. I guess it doesn’t matter now. Whoever texted Kelly proved it for me.”
“Kelly?” I say.
She looks to Brindley. “It’s not you, is it?”
“No, it’s not. It never was.”
I don’t expect Kelly to apologize to Brindley, so I rise and offer her my hand. “You want to go home?”
“Yeah.” She stands as well, and then she turns to Brindley. “I… I’m sorry.”
Brindley drops her jaw.
And I keep from dropping mine.
“I’m just glad my name has been cleared,” Brindley says. “I do hope you find out who’s doing this to you, Kelly. You don’t deserve it. None of us deserves any more pain for the rest of our lives.”
Kelly simply nods, and then she walks toward the door. I follow her.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Brindley.”
“Any time. Both of you are always welcome here. I get kind of lonely.”
“Will you be returning to your family soon?” I ask.
“Sadly, I don’t have a family,” Brindley says. “I grew up in the foster system. I got kicked out of that when I was eighteen, so with no place to go, I ended up on the streets. In a bizarre way, the island saved me. At least I got enough to eat every day.”
Kelly drops her jaw. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t ask me.”
“You’ve never talked about it in group therapy,” Kelly says.
“You’ve never talked about your childhood in group therapy either.”
Kelly closes her mouth then.
“I’m sorry to hear about that,” I say to Brindley. “If you need anything, I’m in the apartment next to Kelly’s.”
“That’s kind of you, but the Wolfe family has made sure I have everything I need. And Macy is a wonderful therapist. To be honest, this is the best home I’ve ever had. I’m not in any hurry to leave it. Good night.”
She closes the door, leaving Kelly and me in the hall.
“I didn’t know,” Kelly says.
“I know you didn’t. Everyone has a story. Everyone is so much more than what they seem on the surface. You are way more than what you seem on the surface, Kelly. Deep down inside you are an amazing person, and I hope one day you see that.”
Her lips tremble. “Why are you so nice to me?”
I open my mouth, but she interrupts me.
“It’s your job, isn’t it?”
“My job is to protect you, baby. Nothing in the job description says I need to be nice to do that.”
That actually gets a smile out of her.
But then she looks at her phone, and the sadness returns.
“I don’t understand,” she says. “Who could be doing this?”
The elevator dings then, and we get on and go down to the fourth floor.
Kelly’s phone dings again.
Her lips tremble. “I’m almost afraid to look.”
I take the phone from her.
And I widen my eyes as my heart nearly beats right out of my chest.
“What?” Kelly demands. “What is it?”
I love you.
The words don’t come out, but I feel them more than ever…along with a raw instinct to protect her. And to take out whoever’s threatening her.
Because this last text?
Whoever sent it means business.
1
KELLY
“It’s nothing,” Leif says. “Just some spam.”
I hold out my hand. “Give me the phone.”
He taps on it a few times and then hands it back to me. The last text is the one I’ve already seen.
You will get what you deserve, you traitorous bitch.
Anger crawls up the back of my neck. “You fucking erased it!”
Brindley opens the door again. “Everything all right out here?”
“Yes. Fine.” Leif walks back into Brindley’s apartment. “I’m sorry about this, Brindley.”
I shake my head. “I can’t believe you erased my text.”
“No,” Leif says calmly. “I forwarded it to my phone, and then I deleted it from yours.”