Jett had been the best thing that had happened to me, but after today’s discoveries, he had broken me more than anything or anyone ever could. He had shattered my heart beyond repair by seeing her behind my back. He had betrayed me with her, and for that I hated him. I hated him for that even more than for visiting a killer behind my back. Hated him like I had never done before.
How dare he kiss her when he was still with me?
After everything that happened, after everything we’d gone through, his actions hurt even more than when he had tried to trick me to get the Lucazzone estate. The realization hit me that nothing would ever be the same again between us. There was no doubt I would never be able to look at him again without the images of betrayal flashing before my eyes. I would never be able to face him again, to look at him and not see her.
The dark thoughts I had tried to suppress crept back, ridiculing me. They were more welcoming now in the comfortable mist of my dark mood. This time I shuddered, not from the cold, but from the possible connections I hadn’t grasped before: like the possible fact that Jett had sided with his brother, withholding the evidence that so clearly would have kept the psycho locked away forever. Or the fact that Jett had always been too good to be true. If he had kept a few secrets from me, what’s to say there weren’t many more? Why not include the ploy to earn my trust in order to benefit his hidden agenda?
Love had made me blind. All he had to do was tell me a few lies, pretend to be in love with me, and make an utter fool of me in the process.
When a lie was involved, there were usually two sides to the story. My mind could have adjusted to the idea that a fact was either true or false. However, in Jett’s case, where he had clearly pretended our love was true, and that he cared about me—which had turned out to be a lie—then went behind my back, spinning a story about his brother, and about how much he loved me, there were still multiple facets I didn’t know about him. Jett was a preteniar, a pretender and a liar all rolled into one, and I liked the idea of calling him what he was.
Angrily, I wiped the tears from my face, but more followed in mascara rivers. He didn’t deserve a single tear. He didn’t deserve my love or my self-pity. The bastard deserved nothing.
As perfect as he had seemed at first glance—sweet in words, gentle in actions, and sexy as hell—I shouldn’t and wouldn’t forget the fact that I had always sensed something dark lurking inside him. It was a side I had always been afraid to confront or face.
It wasn’t only my inability to trust that had prevented me from giving him the promise he so desperately sought. More than that, deep down, I had always sensed that he was never really serious about me, and I couldn’t make promises of any kind to a man like him; a man who had always been too good to be true.
Now I had to get away from him. There was not a single doubt about that. This time, I swore to myself that I would stay away from him—no matter what. It would hurt like hell, but I knew I possessed the strength to move on with my life. I had to…and if I couldn’t do it for myself, then at least I would do it for my child.
The End
The No Exceptions series continues…Book 2, The Lover’s Game, will be released soon. Sign up to my mailing list and receive an email reminder on release day.
No Exceptions Book 2
Jett and Brooke’s story continues in the powerfully sensual sequel in the No Exceptions series,
The Lover’s
Game
Coming September 2014
The Lover’s Game (No Exceptions Book 2) sneak peek
Chapter 1
The street was abuzz with life, the noise of traffic and human crowds droning in my ears. Tears trickled down my face in steady rivulets, as though my body was connected to an ocean. My legs carried me so fast, at some point my feet began to hurt and I realized I had been running. And yet I didn’t stop, not even when my lungs began to burn from the cold air and the lack of oxygen. It was only when I reached a bench in Central Park, the one where my sister and I used to sit ten years ago, did I stop and slump down, grateful for the cold, snow-covered wood that numbed my body.
He had broken me into pieces. The stupid fool I had been for falling in love with him, how could I have taken him back after he had betrayed me only to betray me again? And to think that he had told me I could trust him; that he loved me; that I was the only one in the whole world for him, and that he would never cheat on me.
Yeah, right!
They were stupid lies I had believed and wanted to come true. Someone should have offered me a personality test and marked me “naïve, foolish, and let’s not forget, prone to being broke.” When she had named me Brooke, my mother apparently forgot to remove the o on my birth certificate, because now I wasn’t just broke of money; I was also devoid of some much-needed wisdom—if only to see Jett for who he was when I had viewed him through rose-colored glasses: a cheater and lying bastard who was still seeing his ex behind my back. Sylvie had been right when she had warned me to be careful around him. I just wished she had shaken some sense into me rather than gush about his good looks all the while counterpointing by pointing out that he was bad news, which was counterproductive. It hadn’t exactly helped me ward off his past advances, except to make me want him even more. His intensity had pushed me into a state of obsession, where desire became addiction and hunger my passion. If it weren’t for my longing to be loved, I would never have been so blind to his intentions.
I didn’t know what hurt me more: the fact that I had trusted him blindly—as in only seeing what I had wanted to see in him, trusting that he’d never lie or cheat on me. Or that he had actually done all the things he had promised he wouldn’t do behind my back. And I hadn’t even seen it coming because I had chosen to believe his promises.
Sexy men like him don’t deserve another chance, another glance, another surrender. They deserve to have their ass kicked, and not only out of bed.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that just a few hours ago, I had been happy. Truly happy. There had been no warning—nothing— to indicate that my life would be turned upside down. Even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t have seen the events coming. There had been no signs to prepare me for what had happened, or for all the feelings that had just crushed me to the core.
Minutes felt like they had turned into hours. I didn’t know how long I just sat on the bench, oblivious to the people passing by and the curious glances they cast my way. But at some point the cold began to creep up my body, intensifying the shudders running through me. I had never been so cold in my life and yet I had never welcomed the numbing pain more than now. The cold numbed not only my limbs; it seemed to penetrate every layer of my being. But I had reached a point, where I didn’t care what happened to me, if I froze to death or if the world came to an end.
Everything had started out so well and now I was in so many ways back to square one: single, heartbroken, and broke—except I was a little worse off than before. In the beginning, I could have walked away from Jett in the hope that my heart would heal. I would have moved on to the next man eager to get into my panties, and wouldn’t have needed to hide from shame.
But now I was pregnant and while I had inherited the Lucazzone estate with all its money and dark secrets, those facts also added to the problems I couldn’t run away from. With Nate freed, I still had to fear for my life.
The dark thoughts…
Come to think of it, there was no sense in believing in an us anymore.
The only thing that mattered now was keeping myself and my child safe, and the only way I could accomplish that was by getting far away from Jett and his family. But to accomplish that, I needed money. Even with my faith in men and ever finding true love ripped to shreds, I could feel that my discovery was a blessing in disguise. The pain was going to be temporary, but the entire experience would serve a greater purpose because I finally knew which path to take.
I opened my handbag in search for the piece of paper that was my beacon of hope. I
had to give Thalia’s job a try, because any job, as long as it paid the bills, was better than none. If only a tenth of Thalia’s claims were true, then I had found a way to get away from here, from him, from everyone—a fresh start. Once everything calmed down, I’d focus on healing my heart and move on from a past that wasn’t worth remembering.
End of sample
Use the chance to win amazing prizes, such as an e-reader of your choice, gift cards, and ARCs….by subscribing to my newsletter at jcreedauthor.blogspot.com. To those, who want to learn more about Brooke’s past and the story behind the Lucazzone estate, I welcome you to read the prequel of No Exceptions:
To My Readers: A thank you letter
There are so many things I want to say at the end of a book, but in the end it all comes down to two words:
THANK YOU.
As some of you know, NO EXCEPTIONS was never supposed to be written, but after the conclusion of the Surrender Your Love trilogy many readers contacted me to ask for more, and I decided not to let go of Brooke and Jett yet. In The Lover’s Secret, I have spun a new story of love and loss, a new mystery, with the intention to create a new a standalone series.
As you continue to read the characters’ story, you will learn that love always survives, but sometimes it takes you in a completely different direction than you initially thought.
To all of you, who have read or plan on reading, my books and to all of you who have spread the word: I can’t thank you enough for your support and love for my stories. I want to thank each and every reader out there for giving this book a chance. I want to thank the wonderful bloggers I now have the privilege of calling my friends. I want to thank my fans, who took the time to write reviews. I want to thank my amazing editors and cover artist for all their hard work and for putting up with all my last minute changes. Lastly, I want to thank my little munchkins for understanding that mommy’s busy writing a book in the wee hours of the night. And, finally, I want to thank God for allowing me to meet amazing people like you.
Thank you. Thank you.
I love you all.
Jessica C. Reed
Connect with me online:
My website: http://www.jcreedauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AuthorJCReed
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jcreedauthor
Other Books By J.C. Reed
Surrender Your Love (Book 1 in the Surrender Your Love Series)
Conquer Your Love (Book 2 in the Surrender Your Love Series)
Treasure Your Love (Book 3 in the Surrender Your Love Series)
J.C. Reed, The Lover's Secret
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