Zenith Falling (37 page)
Authors: Leanne Davis
Thank you for reading!
I would be so grateful if you took a few moments to leave a review of
Zenith Falling.
Reviews are so helpful to any author… many readers are surprised how appreciative most authors are for these efforts.
If you enjoyed,
Zenith Falling,
then read on for chapter one of the second book in The Zenith Trilogy:
Zenith Rising
, featuring Spencer Mattox and Erica Heathersby to be released on January 31, 2014.
Zenith Fulfilled
, featuring Rob Williams and Rebecca Randall is the last installment to this trilogy and will be released on February 14, 2014.
If you would like to keep up on my new releases, please go to my website
www.leannedavis.net
and sign up for my email distribution list.
Sincerely,
Leanne Davis
Twitter:
http://bit.ly/13YVlzC
Read on for a sneak peek of
Zenith Rising:
(Zenith Trilogy, #
2)- Release Date: January 31, 2014
Dr. Erica Heathersby is the last person Spencer Mattox, ex-band member of
Zenith,
should ever be attracted to. When Erica offers Spencer a job, he resents her for it, because she is successful in her career, her life, and as a person, in ways Spencer believes he can never be. But Erica soon finds her medical practice the target of political debate, and herself the target of someone's violent desires. Erica turns to Spencer for protection, which develops into a relationship that neither of them is prepared for. Erica knows that in order to keep Spencer from destroying what they have built together, she has to overcome the devastating past he tries to hide. But then again, none of it will matter, if Erica doesn't survive what is fast becoming someone's deadly intentions towards her.
Chapter One
Dr. Erica Heathersby walked down the hallway, her black shoes squeaking on the vinyl floor. She stopped before the hospital room door, and knocked before she stepped inside. There were half a dozen people crowded in there, smiling, laughing, chatting, all before her patient’s bed.
“Thank God, you’re here.”
Erica smiled at Joelle Lassiter’s strained voice. Her relief to have reinforcements against her husband’s four sisters, and numerous nieces was evident. Erica stepped towards her bed.
“Let’s see how you’re doing.”
Erica checked Joelle and updated Joelle’s chart. Everything was right on track. She came to the side of Joelle’s bed, picked up her hand and squeezed it, as her friend then, not just her doctor.
“The nurse paged me. She said things were getting close. I agree.”
Joelle looked into Erica’s eyes, the strain, the pain, and the panic were clear. Erica gently squeezed her hand again. “Things look good. I’ll be here from now on out. You can trust me.”
“Are things really okay?”
Erica turned. Behind her stood Nick Lassiter, Joelle’s husband, and Erica’s former boyfriend. Not so long ago, they were dating, before Nick met Joelle. After seeing Nick with Joelle, however, Erica dumped Nick because there was no denying what she witnessed: Nick was in love with Joelle. They managed to remain friends because Erica and Joelle took to each other like long lost sisters.
Nick was a well known, wealthy and powerful CEO of his own corporation, while Joelle was married to a struggling rock star when they met. Eventually, she left her alcoholic, struggling musician husband and found her way to Nick. Now they’d been married for almost two years, and Joelle was in labor with their first child. A child Erica intended to deliver.
“I’m sure. Things look great. Let’s check how much progress you’ve made.”
Erica
easily switched into doctor mode. Straightening up, she waited patiently as the chatting sisters hugged and kissed Nick before they left. Nick barely noticed them. He was white and scared as he kept staring helplessly at Joelle. She was as small a new mother as Erica had ever dealt with. At less than five feet tall, even at nine months pregnant, she barely took up half the width or length of the bed.
Erica slipped on
gloves with a snap at her wrists.
“Now you’re going to feel some pressure as I check your dilation,” Erica said, before she examined Joelle. Nick gripped Joelle’s hand. Joelle hardly moved, never so much as whimpered, even as a contraction tightened her stomach. Erica felt the tightening, and nodded. Things were progressing swiftly, but not there yet.
“You’re at three. Are you ready for an epidural?”
Joelle nodded, her eyes brightening at the suggestion. Erica smiled. She got that response a lot. She stood up, taking her gloves off.
There was a knock at the door. Nick went to open it, and was shaking a man’s hand as he entered. Erica turned toward Joelle’s chart to add an update, while ignoring the visitor entering the room. Nick knew a lot of people, and also had a huge family.
Erica finally noticed the visitor with a start. He was bending over, kissing Joelle on the cheek. After straightening to his considerable height, several inches over Erica’s own five
-foot nine, she saw he had broad shoulders that tapered down to a slim waist, with straight, black hair, that fell over his low brow, and accentuated the deep, darkness of his chocolate brown eyes. His skin was a warm brown; he was at least part Latino. He had a strong nose, wide mouth, and prominent, deeply cut cheekbones. Erica’s mouth dropped open. She had to consciously shut it. The guy was seriously hot. Erica looked down quickly before he noticed her staring at him. He was young, smoldering, and very hot. All of which were not her type. Still, who could blame her for looking?
Mild curiosity sparked in Erica. Who was he? She knew most of Nick’s family and associates from having dated
him for over a year. Joelle hardly ever had anyone come visit her. Her family was out of the picture, and she was so shy and quiet, making friends for Joelle came slowly. So who was this man who seemed so friendly with both of them?
Erica snapped her pen closed, and put it in the pocket of her white lab coat. She adjusted the rim of her glasses, and waited for the stranger and Joelle to quit talking.
“I’ll leave you to visit. I’ll check back with you in while. I’m going to page the anesthesiologist.”
Joelle’s eyes grew weary again. She didn’t like being in the hospital, and was even more scared about becoming a new mother. “Are you working tonight?”
“I am now.”
“Because of me?”
“Of course, because of you.”
“What if it’s all night?”
“It’s not the first new baby that’s kept me up at night. Relax, everything looks great. I promise you, I’ll be the one to deliver your baby, no matter what.”
Erica smiled at the relief in Joelle’s face. Joelle had no one else,
and trusted very few.
The
hot visitor watched their exchange, while he grinned at her. She frowned. Kind of forward, wasn’t he?
“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t recognize me,” her hot visitor said, as he looked right into her eyes.
She scoffed. “Recognize you? I’ve never seen you before in my entire life.” Erica looked up at his dark eyes. She was struck by how beautiful they were: big, dark, long-lashed. Bedroom eyes. She felt a stab of surprising attraction in her gut. Stabbing lust, and she quickly looked away. It annoyed the hell out of her that the strange visitor seemed so amused by her.
“Erica, it’s Spencer. Spencer Mattox,” Joelle said.
The name vaguely rang a bell. But Erica was firm she’d never have forgotten a face like his.
“It’s Spike, Erica. My friend from
Zenith
. Rob’s best friend.”
Erica looked up blankly. Dumbfounded.
No
. This could not be Spike. It simply wasn’t. She knew Spike. She could never forget Spike. She sometimes had nightmares about Spike. Spike was a cartoonish figure, vampirish, scary, gothic. Not this. Not like this man before her.
“I don’t think she believes you,” Spencer said, smiling easily at Joelle.
Spike the tall, gaunt freak who wore his hair in a sharp, lethal Mohawk points along his scalp. Spike had even worn makeup at times, which only added to the fearsomeness of all the dark clothes and big combat boots. A set of fangs was all Spike needed to complete his look as a vampire.
“I’m going by Spencer these days,
Doc.”
“You know who I am?”
“Of course, I know who you are. Joelle lived with you. I’ve been to your condo.”
She didn’t like hearing that at all. “You’re really Spike? I’ve met you before?”
“Yes. Only I go by Spencer now.”
She opened her mouth, then shut it. Then shook her head. “I don’t know what to say. I couldn’t have recognized you. When did you... quit being Spike?”
“Awhile ago.”
“How? Why?”
Spencer shrugged. “Decided I needed a job for awhile. Time to quit messing around. Spike was that. Messing around. Part of
Zenith
. Rob and I were having fun, now we’re growing up.”
Zenith
was the band that Joelle’s ex-husband, Rob, was lead singer of, while Spencer, then Spike, played the keyboard. A drummer and guitarist rounded out the group, that nearly destroyed Rob with addiction, and Joelle right along with him. Rob and Spencer had split
Zenith
up about the time Rob went to rehab and Joelle divorced him and married Nick.
“Spencer paid the bill for Rob’s rehab. He also paid off debts Rob had with some shady loan sharks,” Joelle added as if to explain why Spike suddenly looked so normal.
Spencer shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I helped him out a bit. That however, required that I get a job. So I had to quit being Spike. Besides, I was getting kinda sick of it.”
Erica looked at the tall man standing before her. Confused. How could she reconcile the Spike she knew with this man here? It didn’t seem remotely possible. Spike stayed in touch with Joelle after the divorce, and Joelle was living with Erica before she and Nick got together. Spike had even visited her condo. Still, this man
could not
be him. It was nearly impossible. But the familiarity Joelle and Spencer shared spoke to their long-term friendship. This man before her had to be Spike.
Erica left the room,
so they could catch up. She passed Nick’s family, milling in the waiting room. She paused for a moment to reassure them, before checking in on another patient who came in with early labor. Hours drifted by. Finally, Erica was called by Joelle’s nurse. It was time. Erica walked through the hospital to the elevator, where, stepping in, she paused when she found Spencer already in there, holding a cup of steaming coffee. He looked at her, running his dark eyes over her. She wore blue scrubs, functional black shoes, and her hair was drawn back. His cold eyes almost made her want to step back away from him.
S
he stepped in the elevator and pressed Floor 3 for the maternity ward.
“Guess I was heading back at the right time.”
Erica turned and looked up at Spencer. He had a low, gravelly voice. “Yes. Looks like I’m about on. Are you staying?”
“Joelle was feeling a little Lassiter-overwhelmed. She asked me to stay.”
“Yes. It would help if she had less Lassiters and more people here just for her. And I don’t help much, being her doctor and all. It’s nice of you to come. I didn’t realize you were still in contact.”
“We’ve been friends a long time. Seen each other through a lot.”
Erica glanced up at his face. He was
so
shockingly not Spike, it startled her. He was too handsome now, like this, that she felt nearly tongue-tied next to him, and oddly uncomfortable. The elevator dinged then, the doors opened, and Erica nearly jumped through them, so ill at ease as she was with Spencer. He was someone she didn’t know, but the weird part was she
did
know him, except he was someone else: Spike. Still that didn’t explain why he made her so nervous or act so flustered. She dealt with hundreds of people in her practice: patients, relatives, friends, spouses. She was never shy or unsure of herself. She was, in fact, confident, and in control, usually the leader in most situations. Except with this man. He soon managed to have her looking away, blushing, and almost stammering.
“Hey
, Doc.”
Erica turned at the sound of Spencer’s lazy tone, drawling out his “
Doc.”
He nodded towards Joelle’s room. “Take care of Joelle. No matter what. Take care of her.”
“I’ll take care of both of them. That I can promise you.”
Spencer nodded, drift
ing off towards the waiting room and Erica turned back and rushed to Joelle’s room.