Jagger: A Caldwell Brothers Novel (18 page)

She steps out and grabs my shoulder. “Give me a second.”

“Not sure I can, little one. I need in,” I say honestly.

She hugs me. “I have a surprise.”

“Cannot fucking wait,” I groan, lifting her up and starting to walk.

“Stop,” she says breathlessly and wiggles away.

“Totty.” I grab her hand and hold it against my cock. “I need in.”

She takes my chin and lifts it. “Look.”

I look up and see a sign above the gym.

C
ALDWELL’S
L
EGACY
.

“You did this for me?”

She nods.

“Thank you.” I get choked up. “Thank you so much, Tatiana Caldwell. What the hell did I do to deserve you?”

“I ask myself the same thing every day.”

“God, I love you so much.” I kiss her hard.

When we both need a breath, I pull back, leaving my forehead against hers. “Good touch, little one, good touch.”

Struggles come to everyone. No one is immune. The power to believe lies within us all.

Blow after blow, no matter what life hands me, I will keep on fighting. I will fight for me, for him, and for us. I will believe in us. I will have hope that the future will be better than the past.

Dear Momma,

Today I married my very best friend. He is the man who has seen me at my worst and loved me from the bottom to the top.

We found a box awhile back, but I wasn’t ready to go through it for a long time. I’m glad I finally did.

My whole life, I always wondered what you looked like, what you smelled like, and, most of all, if you ever knew happiness.

Whatever happened to my father to make him the man he was had to be harsh, but he was weak. Jagger has shown me the strength of a man who is willing to overcome his past demons and fight to be better than where he came from. Holding my hand and giving me strength, he showed me how to fight my way out.

The pictures give me peace. I can see in your eyes—my eyes—the love you had for me. I can’t imagine you had much happiness in your life, but in me, you found a light. In me, Momma, you will have your happiness.

I promise to you today to be your legacy. I promise to give my children the life you couldn’t give to me.

When the day comes that I have a dark-haired daughter of my own, I promise to tell her about you. I promise to tell her about the woman who gave me life, the woman who smiled at every moment with me. We may not have had the time and the memories together, but I know I had your love.

I promise to teach my sons to be men you would be proud of, to be men to honor and cherish their women and carry the Caldwell name on in the traditions of good. I promise to teach my daughters to fight against bad touch, to know healthy touch, and to embrace good touch. I promise to guard them from the past so that the cycle will end here with me and my family.

What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger…and I am strong.

I promise not to be defined by what happened to me. I promise not to become what I came from. I promise to beat back the fear and the rage and to be better than him. I promise to be better than before for you and for me.

I’m sorry for all you endured, Momma. I’m sorry for all you lost, all we lost. Most of all, I’m sorry for the pain you felt. I hope you have peace now. I hope you don’t hurt. I hope you know I have found a safe place, and I hurt no more.

I read once that there is no greater love than that of a mother to a child. Thank you, Momma, for loving me enough to fight for me…until the end.

Today I walk away from the past and embrace the future. Today I hope you rest in peace, Momma.

All my dreams and all my wishes have come true.

With love to the one who gave me life,

Tatiana Caldwell

To all the women who were raised by an iron fist, where the blows knock you down so far you don’t think you can get up.

To those who were born into a life far from a fairy tale, a life where you don’t think you could handle another round.

To all the women who unknowingly chose a man thinking he would give them a better life than they had ever known before, but still feel knocked down.

The bell can ring, the cycle can be broken, but it has to start with your decision to put one foot in front of the other and for once in your life make the choice to truly live.

In order to find love, you must first love yourself.

You can start new. Fight a new fight…

A fight for you.

Hendrix

Morrison

Jagger

USA Today
bestselling author
MJ
F
IELDS
’s love of writing was in full swing by age eight. Together with her cousins, she wrote a newsletter and sold it for ten cents to family members.

Her writing has changed a bit. Instead of updating the Fields family, she writes highly emotional and steamy romance novels. Her stories are full of authentic, raw, and gritty alpha male characters and the women they fall for. There always seems to be humor and a strong focus on family intertwined.

MJ self-published her first contemporary romance in January 2013. Today she has completed six self-published series: The Love Series, The Wrapped Series, The Burning Souls Series, The Men of Steel Series, Ties of Steel Series, and The Norfolk Series. Rockers of Steel Book 1,
Memphis Black
, Book 2,
Finn Beckett
, and Book 3,
River James
, are available now.

MJ is a hybrid author who publishes an indie book almost every month and is signed with traditional publisher Penguin Random House’s Loveswept imprint for her co-written series The Caldwell Brothers.

MJ lives in central New York, surrounded by family and friends. Her house is full of pets, friends, and noise ninety percent of the time, and she would have it no other way.

Want more from MJ Fields? Sign up to receive newsletters, sneak peeks, special sales, giveaways, and new release information from MJ Fields’s website, straight to your inbox.

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C
HELSEA
C
AMARON
was born and raised in coastal North Carolina. She currently resides in Louisiana with her husband and two children, but her heart is forever Carolina daydreaming.

Chelsea always wanted to be a writer, but like most of us, she let fear of the unknown grab ahold of her dream. But one day she realized that if she was ever going to tell her daughter to go for her dreams, it was time to follow her own advice.

Chelsea grew up turning wrenches alongside her father, and from that grew her love for old muscle cars and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which in turn inspired her series, Love and Repair and The Hellions Ride. Her lifelong love for reading sparked a love for writing, and she currently has multiple projects in the works.

When she is not spending her days writing, you can find her playing with her kids, attending car shows, going on motorcycle rides on the back of her husband’s Harley, snuggling down with her new favorite book, or watching any movie that Vin Diesel might happen to be in.

authorchelseacamaron.com

Facebook.com/authorchelseacamaron

@chelseacamaron

Instagram/chelseacamaron

April is a promise of spring and Loveswept romance is here to warm things up.

L. P. Dover continues her edgy, emotionally gripping Second Chances series with the story of a beautiful widow who can’t resist a chiseled NFL player in
Catching Summer.
The Society of Gentlemen series from K. J. Charles continues with the sizzling
A Gentleman’s Position
. For a new series, ladies, meet Micah, a man who takes what he wants—until he meets the one woman he needs in Stacey Kennedy’s
Bound Beneath His Pain.
An epic love affair steals the show in Stina Lindenblatt’s
This One Moment
. Annie Rains continues her small-town Hero’s Welcome series with a cowboy turned marine in
Welcome Home, Cowboy
. Gillian Archer is hot on the trend of MC romance, introducing her True Brothers series with
Ruthless
. And MC Sons of Odin returns with Violetta Rand’s irresistible novel about a sexy-as-sin biker who tempts a good girl to go bad,
Possession
.

Off the Hook
from
USA Today
bestselling author Laura Drewry is the first in her Fishing for Trouble series featuring three unforgettable brothers—each of whom is a great catch. Then the swoon-worthy McKinney Brothers series from
New York Times
bestselling author Claudia Connor continues with J.T. in
Worth It All
.
USA Today
bestselling author Alexis Morgan kicks off her new Sergeant Joe’s Boys series with
Always for You: Jack,
where a foster son learns about love and life in record time. And the new Fireside series tells a story of an old love reunited in
His to Love
from new Loveswept author, Stacey Lynn.
USA Today
bestselling writing duo M. J. Fields and Chelsea Camaron are back with the Caldwell brothers in
Jagger,
which is not only full of swagger and sensuality but also packs an emotional punch as the last bachelor standing fights for a woman who’s worth every ounce of trouble. And yet another Aces Hockey romance from Kelly Jamieson releases this month featuring pro hockey hunk Duncan in
Icing.
There’s also something naughty for you from
New York Times
bestselling author Jen McLaughlin in
Lust Is the Thorn
where a soon-to-be ordained priest has to decide who he loves more. Then prepare yourself for razor-sharp suspense from
New York Times
bestselling author Patricia Rosemoor with
His Deception.
Two words for you: secret bodyguard. And for fans of the hit TV show
Empire,
Lisa Marie Perry’s
Sin for Me
kicks off the sizzling Devil’s Music series.

Friend Loveswept and let the romance begin!

Until next month—Happy Romance!

Gina Wachtel

Associate Publisher

by Violetta Rand

Available from Loveswept

F
IVE MONTHS LATER…

Tina killed the ignition on her Escalade, staring across the street at the entrance to Tito’s, her favorite downtown club. Unaccustomed to partying alone, she’d already visited two other hot spots before finding herself here. Fall vacations were encouraged in her law office; for some reason caseloads eased up between October and December. Blame it on the holiday season. Even her favorite coworkers, Alicia and Max, were in the Bahamas together. In the mood for a girl’s night out, she ventured out alone.

Truth be told, she missed Lily, who had disappeared on a belated honeymoon. Three weeks—that’s how long it had been since they’d talked on the phone. Oh, she received the occasional text message or caught updates on Facebook. But it would be another month before Lily returned from Paris. To be fair, Tina had been invited to France. Not wanting to be the third wheel, she declined, using work as an excuse.

Get over it,
Tina thought as she slid out of her SUV, her five-inch stilettos hitting gravel. Change made Tina uncomfortable—blame it on her upbringing. She clicked across the street, her mid-thigh-length skirt blowing up in the fall wind. She smoothed it down as she approached the entrance, where a doorman perched on a barstool just outside the glass doors waited to card whoever wanted to go inside.

“Tina,” Chris said. “Alone tonight?”

Pleased to see a familiar face, she smiled. “I’m bored.”

“You alone on a Friday?” He didn’t sound convinced. “Guess you should have given me another try,” he said nonchalantly, stamping her hand so she could buy alcoholic drinks.

Not into second chances, after a few dates, she’d lost interest in him. “Thought the owner was going to drop the under twenty-one crowd.”

“He decided to keep them on Thursday and Friday nights only—he makes too much money when live bands are playing. And they don’t mind paying five dollars for juice and sodas.”

“Understandable.” She opened the door. “Talk soon?” she called over her shoulder, focusing on the throng of drinkers gathered nearby.

“Lunch?”

She caught Chris’s last words as the heavy door shut behind her. The bass from the large speakers hanging overhead reverberated through her chest. The marquee listed No Trust, a Scottish rock band that frequented the Texas nightclub circuit. The strange blend of bold guitar riffs and electronic bagpipes surprisingly appealed to her.

Finding an empty spot at the bar, she ordered a whiskey sour and turned to check out the band. Through the sea of swaying bodies and seizure-triggering strobe lights, she found a focal point on the stage. After nursing her drink for half an hour, she decided to head to the booths in the back.

“Tina?”

She didn’t recognize the voice and kept walking.

“Valentina Bethel?”

She stopped dead in her tracks—no one used her full name, except her mother when she was pissed off.

Dark, kaleidoscopic eyes met hers.
Oh God, the douchebag from three weeks ago.
A client she helped get probation instead of a jail sentence. First-time offender or not, she didn’t socialize with clients. And the sooner she made it abundantly clear, the better.

“Hello, Mr. Barnes,” she said.

“Please.” He edged closer. “Call me Kline.”

She eyed his designer suit with distaste. The wealthy bastard assaulted his ex-fiancée for getting an abortion. “I can’t do that, Mr. Barnes. Please respect my privacy; I’m here to enjoy myself. If you need to discuss your case, feel free to call my office on Tuesday.” She turned to go, but he touched her arm.

“One drink.”

“No.” She backed away, wanting to put distance between them. “I don’t fraternize with clients.” Without giving him a second look, she continued on her path and found an empty booth.

A server placed a napkin on the table in front of her. “Can I get you anything?”

“A whiskey sour.” She preferred sticking to the same drink. “Easy on the ice.”

The waitress smiled and headed for the bar. No Trust started a new song with a haunting bagpipe solo. She watched in amazement as the redheaded lead singer hummed into his microphone while taking center stage, his dark-blue and black checkered kilt showcasing a set of muscular legs.
A girl could dream…
Then a violinist joined in—the acoustics in the bar were amazing—the crowd silenced by the music.

“Did I do something to offend you, Ms. Bethel?”

Obviously the asshole didn’t take rejection well. Tina peered up at him, his expression indiscernible. “I thought I made myself clear, Mr. Barnes.”

“Did you?” His eyes widened in challenge. “Women typically say one thing but mean another.”

Though she was exposed to a lot of unsavory characters in her profession as a junior associate attorney, Kline Barnes made her skin crawl more than most. Privileged and educated, there was no excuse for what he’d done. “Shall I speak in plainer terms?” she asked, irritation setting in. “Get the hell away from my table.”

Her harsh tone didn’t have a visible effect.

“Pretty sure I’m well within my rights to stand here.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

She would have loved to smack the smug look off his face; his behavior bordered on harassment. But she preferred to leave than deal with it. She knew she should have trusted her gut the minute she parked and reconsidered going inside. Sometimes she didn’t like spending time alone at home, though. Whenever she did, her overactive imagination caught up with her and she’d remember all those failed relationships. Fifteen boyfriends, three marriage proposals, and one canceled wedding. Not exactly a winning record. In fact, her win/loss record as an attorney was more impressive, and it was not something to brag about.

She unzipped her purse and grabbed a five-dollar bill from her wallet. She slapped it on the table for the waitress, then stood up, avoiding Kline.

Without a word, she rushed for the exit, happy to call it a night.

Fifteen minutes into her drive home, lights reflected back at her from her rearview mirror; a black Mercedes tailed her dangerously close. Traffic on South Padre Island Drive was light, as most people were still out partying at the clubs. She signaled to change lanes, slowing down to forty-five miles per hour. The sedan did the same. Then she switched to the fast lane, accelerating to seventy-five, well over the speed limit. Again, the Mercedes kept pace behind her.

“Shit!” No doubt Kline was following her.

She decided not to lead him to her apartment complex. And what would she tell a 911 operator? Unfortunately in cases like this, the police were seldom able to do anything preventive. Fear and paranoia didn’t constitute the right to arrest somebody for a crime the person hadn’t committed yet. One of the fatal flaws in modern law.

With Lily and Lang out of town, and her office mates gone, too, her options were limited. Lily’s husband was the former president of the Sons of Odin, a one-percenter motorcycle club based in Flour Bluff. It had been months since she’d visited the club-owned bar, Valhalla. But Tina knew some of the Brothers and their old ladies. And Lang had extended an open invitation. An offer she couldn’t pass up right now.

She checked her rearview again, the black car still in pursuit.

Speeding all the way down Laguna Shores Road, a long, curvy two-lane street that ran adjacent to the water, she finally pulled into a parking lot, then checked her rearview again. Gone—the Benz was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she should wait a couple of minutes and make sure Kline had given up, then drive home—problem solved. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and gazed at the bright neon sign on the familiar white brick building—
Valhalla.
It had never looked so good.

Lust spiked inside her. Every time she thought about the Sons of Odin or this place, she remembered Vincent—Lang’s best friend. A man she could never get enough of. After experiencing someone as creepy as Kline Barnes, she needed someone as big and strong as him to scare the shit out of Kline. If she were being honest, she’d admit how nervous she was knowing he might be here. But Tina had a way of ignoring her fear. She jumped out of her car, all attention focused on the front doors.

“Tina?” Kline’s voice sounded from somewhere behind her.

Tension set in. How did he beat her here? Or was she imagining it? Her gaze zigzagged around the dark parking lot. No one. Blame it on adrenaline.

She’d had her fair share of problems with men but hardly qualified as a trouble magnet. Blessed with a quick mind and a gift for sarcasm, she usually deflected unwanted attention with ease. Not this time. Was he a serial stalker? Did seeing her trigger some kind of psychotic break with reality? She’d technically won his case, sparing him the usual two-year prison sentence for the assault charge, so he had no reason to be angry.

She needed to get inside.

She gasped as she barreled into something solid and skidded backward on her heels. Unable to keep her balance, she twisted her ankle as she dropped to her knee.

“Holy shit,” another male voice rumbled. “Are you okay?”

Tina snapped her eyes shut for a split second, appreciative that someone had come to her aid.

“Tell me you’re all right.”

Wait—she recognized that Barry White baritone. She gazed up as Vincent lifted her to her feet.

“Tina?”

“Vincent?” She smiled, his concerned expression a welcome sight. When she tried to put pressure on her right foot to get up, she winced in pain. “Crap.”

“You’re hurt.” He gazed down at her foot. “In a hurry?”

More than he’d ever know. “I—um.” Speechless. She’d met Vincent the same night her best friend met her husband a year ago. Apparently he still intimidated her—all six foot five of his muscular frame. “Yeah,” she admitted. “Some asshole followed me from downtown, and I didn’t know where else to go.”

Vincent snaked his arm around her waist, supplying the extra support she needed to stand. “Where?”

“He called out to me a second before I collided with you. His name is Kline Barnes; he drives a black Benz.”

Vincent scanned the farthest reaches of the parking lot. “I don’t see anyone. How well do you know this guy?”

“Not personally. He’s a client at my law office. That’s what confuses me most. He pled no contest on an assault charge and I brokered a reduced sentence. It’s a matter of public record.”

He rubbed his chin. “You’re safe now. Let’s get you to the clubhouse—Doc can check your ankle.” He swept her into his strong arms and headed for the compound behind the bar.

She stared at the clear nighttime sky full of stars. By whatever providence she’d arrived at Valhalla at the same moment Vincent was outside, she didn’t care. She liked being in his arms again.