Jaden's Love Read online

  JADEN’S LOVE

  A DARK HEART NOVEL

  Shayne Ford

  www.shayneford.com

  Copyright © 2017 by Shayne Ford

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, organizations and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features mentioned in this book are the property of their respective owners and have been used without permission and in an editorial fashion only, with no implied endorsement.

  The publication/use of these trademarks is not associated with, approved of or sponsored by the trademarks owners.

  This book is for entertainment purposes only. The author and publisher disclaim any and all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly in relation to this book.

  This book is intended for mature audiences only.

  Written by Shayne Ford

  www.shayneford.com

  Twitter:@ShayneFordBooks

  Cover design by Shayne Ford

  The image on the cover is a licensed stock photo, and it is used for illustrative purposes, any person who may be depicted on, is a model.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Also by Shayne Ford

  About the Author

  1

  SENNA

  One Year Later

  How many times do I have to die before I get to live?

  Absently, I glance out the window, my eyes skimming the gravel alleys and the fountain raising walls of water soaked in midday light, not far from the main driveway.

  Several start-ups have headquarters in the building. Technically, my firm is not one, but I love the vibe of the place and the people.

  The area looks like a college campus with lush vegetation, blooming shrubs, and tall palmettos. The fountains are strategically placed, guarding beautiful alleys lined with wrought iron benches.

  It’s lunchtime, and the parking lot is almost empty, most of the employees taking a short drive to the restaurants sitting around the corner.

  A blue sky stretches above, patrolled by fluffy clouds rushing across.

  “You can take up knitting.”

  Harper’s voice rings out behind me.

  Slowly I uncross my arms and turn around to face her.

  “What are you talking about?” I mutter, not in the best mood for her joke.

  I take a couple of steps toward my desk and sink into my chair, my eyes falling on the schedule.

  Intrigued by her silence, I raise my eyes, smoothly running my gaze over her colorful outfit––an indigo dress paired with a canary scarf wrapped around her neck.

  Smiling, she hands me a small box wrapped in glossy paper.

  “What is this?”

  “It came in earlier,” she says.

  I tear off the paper, flip the lid off, and fumble through the content. Balls of soft yarn roll on the floor. I scoop out the note.

  “I don’t do product reviews,” I say dryly. “Please mail it back.”

  Silent, she takes the box, collects the yarn, puts the lid back on, and ambles across the hallway, heading to her desk.

  My eyes shift to the glass door.

  “Where’s everybody?” I ask, scanning the main room.

  She leans back in her chair and throws me a glance from across the corridor.

  “Break room,” she says, and motions to the back where a group of men and women sit at a table and eat.

  They’re laughing from time to time. They’re all younger than Harper and me.

  “Do you want something to eat?” she asks, walking back into my office.

  She gets busy tidying up the coffee table in the corner, smoothly shifting her focus from there to the vase sitting on my desk, and I get that feeling again. That she’s watching over me.

  This past year has been one of my worst for me, personally. Ironically, my business was and still is, booming.

  Part of the reason could be precisely the fact that I moved the business out of my home and started hiring people a couple of weeks after Jaden left.

  It was something I never thought I’d do. I never planned to become a brick and mortar business. It wasn’t something that I envisioned for the future, and certainly not something that I liked. I resented the idea of managing employees, but Harper convinced me that I wouldn’t need to do that, had I set up the firm properly. She was right for the most part.

  Even so, I rejected her idea in the beginning.

  I thought I could handle everything myself, but after a few days of doing my old job again, I knew it was time. My head was no longer there, and it started to have an impact on my work.

  Once I move out, I had to change the business model. Expanding was never in my plan, but it became a necessity, so I had to spend some time figuring things out. Since cash flow was never a problem, there was minimal risk in making the transition.

  In the end, setting up a proper shop turned out to be a great move. It changed my daily routine, my schedule and in the end, my entire life. It kept my mind away from everything that happened the weeks before.

  There was no way I could pull him out of my head, but at least I was able to muffle the noise and the chatter, the incessant rumination.

  I couldn’t find the answers that I needed, so there was no point in spending time thinking about it.

  Shifting my workplace, and spending time in a different environment helped me a lot. There was a place where I needed to be, and a growing business that required my attention.

  Once I got out of my home, I spent time with people and I no longer felt alone. My workdays became longer. Purposely, I always got home late. After work, I preferred to spend my time working out, or in a bookstore, anything but going home.

  I swing my gaze to the tablet while Harper starts inspecting the shelves.

  My mind starts wandering away again.

  He broke my heart when he pulled out of my life. I never thought it could hurt so much. The pain was so intense I felt sick for days and months.

  He walked out of my life, and never got in touch with me again.

  Weeks later, well after I got settled in my new headquarters, I mustered the courage to go back to Jill’s and start inquiring about him.

  It wasn’t something that I wanted to do. I fought myself with a vengeance, but in the end, I couldn’t stop the nagging thoughts clashing in my head, so I had to go out there and try to find out something, about him.

  Anything.

  Scott no longer worked there, and the new people had no idea what I was asking about.

  After that first night, I stopped by several times. Always on a lookout, keeping my eyes and ears open. Scanning the place. Looking for clues.

  The hookers and hustlers were no longer lining the sidewalk, and there
were no familiar faces. No one I could ask about him. I gave up on going to Jill’s, eventually, but I couldn’t forget about him.

  He left the very same evening we came back from that trip. He never said we’d keep in touch, and damn sure he severed all ties with me.

  Come to think of it, that was the hardest part–– pulling him out of my life abruptly, without recourse, but in the end, I had to make peace with it.

  He vanished without a trace.

  His phone number was no longer in service. I drove past his house a few times. Always at night, hoping to see the lights on, or a car parked in the front, signaling that someone was still living there.

  A ‘For Sale’ sign sat on the front lawn before it disappeared a couple of weeks later. And then the lights started to come on, but I knew it that it had nothing to do with him.

  Months later, in a hot, summer evening, I drove all the way to the coast. It took me about an hour to find Sara’s old place. The house was sunk in darkness, although an SUV was parked in the driveway. It wasn’t Sara’s car.

  The following afternoon, I made the trip back. I spent minutes in my car, in front of the house, debating whether to go ahead with my plan and inquire about her or not.

  Eventually, I climbed out, crossed the street and knocked on the door.

  Two small children and a woman greeted me in the doorway. Polite and friendly, she listened to me and answered my questions. Unfortunately, she had no information regarding the people who lived in that house before.

  A couple of days later, I thought about contacting a guy I knew and trusted, a PI who had worked for me before. I called him several times, but I never let the call go through.

  He could’ve helped me, providing the information that I needed, but my gut was telling me that it was a bad idea, so I eventually dropped it.

  The online research brought up a few bits of information, unfortunately, all leading to a dead-end.

  His website was sold in a private auction weeks after he had left. His images and clips were stripped from the pages, the nature of the enterprise remaining the same, but featuring different people. He basically sold his audience and cashed out decently for a few weeks worth of work.

  Not bad.

  “What do you think I should wear tonight?”

  Harper's voice jolts me back to reality.

  “Huh? Tonight?” I mutter, my mind going completely blank.

  “Adele’s party.”

  “Oh, um... yeah. Whatever you want. It’s nothing formal. There are only a handful of people.”

  “Are there any available men coming?”

  I smile.

  That’s Harper being Harper.

  “Yes, of course, there are.”

  Excited, she claps her hands. Another faint grin pushes to my lips.

  Admittedly, she does her best to keep my mind distracted.

  Glee flashes in her eyes.

  “Maybe we’ll have some fun.”

  “Yeah, and maybe you can find a man, to put the rumors to rest.

  “It’s not my fault,” she says softly.

  “I didn’t say it was. It’s just that people have dirty minds.”

  “You can find a man as well.”

  “Not gonna happen.”

  It hasn’t happened in, um... what? A year?

  As if he put a spell on me.

  “No, baby. It’s up to you. The rumors got started because of you. You can change all that,” I say jokingly.

  Seriously now, maybe she’ll hook up with someone and crush the swirl of rumors.

  None of us have dated in months. Different reasons. I’ve never really tried. She has, but it has never worked out.

  We’ve got closer after Jaden left. Or I should say, she got worried sick because of me, and she did her best to mother me and bring me back to life.

  She still doesn’t know much about my life, yet she is one of the closest people to me right now, if not the only one.

  The rumors got started because of something silly–– as they always do. We went clubbing one night, trying to have some fun. After several males hit on us, we decided to leave.

  Instead of using the main exit like all the patrons, we ended up in the back alley. Laughing our asses off, our arms wrapped each other’s, both drawling words and making all kinds of dirty jokes.

  Someone spotted us leaving together, snickering and barely keeping our bodies straight, and that’s what prompted a story about us being more than co-workers and friends. The tale has made the rounds, and also made the people smile every time they saw us going out together.

  Frankly, it didn’t bother me as much as it bothered her.

  That’s not to say we are not joined at the hip. We spend time at work and go out to eat, and then there are Adele’s parties, which Harper always drags me to. Just another trick to keep me out of my head.

  “Do you want us to drive separately?” she asks.

  Preoccupied with a random thought, I shift a blank gaze to her. Cocking her head to the side, she smiles, waiting.

  My eyes quickly regain their focus.

  I shake my head.

  “No, no. I’ll pick you up.”

  2

  SENNA

  We arrive at Adele’s around eight o’clock. Her place is filled with guests, so much so it takes us a few good minutes to make the trip from the main door to the living room.

  Fashioning a fitted dress with metallic accents, hair smoothed into a straight, silky veil, Harper turns a few heads.

  Once we make it to the middle of the room, she turns her back to the crowd and gives me a knowing smile.

  “I already love this party,” she says, motioning discreetly to a group of men. “And I like your dress,” she adds quickly, keenly studying my fashion pick–– a skintight, black dress with long sleeves and a metallic zipper traveling down my back and stopping short of my derriere.

  “It fits you well,” she mutters just as one of the women at her side accidentally bumps into her and almost makes her crash into me.

  “Maybe we should start to mingle...” I say, grabbing her elbow and dragging her to the side.

  The moment she attaches to a group of people, I make a beeline for the kitchen. Adele curls her arms around my shoulders as soon as I enter the spacious room.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” she says, her eyes gleaming brightly with a smile.

  “Do you need any help?” I ask, eyeing the platters set on the kitchen island.

  “No, no. Everything is fine. Mark will take them to the guests.”

  She pulls me to the side as her husband, and a friend, pick up plates from the counter.

  “Just to warn you, Evelyne is coming tonight,” she says under her breath, her eyes swinging quickly to the door as the men walk out, carrying the food. “In fact, she should be here any moment,” she adds, nervously checking her bejeweled watch.

  My knees begin to slacken.

  “Why? Why is she coming here?” I ask, struggling to find my voice.

  “She flew in for a business event.”

  “What event?”

  “I don’t know. Some black-tie event at the Chamber of Commerce. She’s a speaker.”

  “Oh.”

  Shit.

  I know what event she is talking about.

  I received the invitation as well. It’s an annual, premier business gathering, and I have every intention to attend it. It makes good sense. A few CEOs and business owners have been inducted into the Business Hall of Fame, and quite a few start-ups have been included in the Fast Track Development Program.

  I don’t qualify for either, but it doesn’t hurt to show up.

  “Are you okay?”

  Adele's voice travels over the tall glasses she sets on the table.

  “Yeah... Yeah. I am.”

  “How are things with you?”

  “Good,” I mutter absently.

  “And the new business location?”

  I raise my eyes.

  “I
can’t complain.”

  “It’s better I imagine,” she says, folding napkins. “I know you, and I are different, but it would kill me had I not had a place to go every day and interact with people.”

  “Yeah, yeah... It’s better,” I say, not sounding very convinced.

  “I’m sure one of these days you’ll also find a man to fit your taste,” she says, smiling warmly.

  Dear Adele. She’s still hoping.

  Somehow, I manage to grin as well.

  “I’m sure I will,” I lie, my gaze flying low, drifting over her hands and napkins.

  The doorbell chimes, sending a shockwave through my stomach and tightening my chest with apprehension.

  We both whip our heads toward the door.

  Mark cuts his way through a group of people and swings the door open. A woman’s silhouette fills the doorway, and before I see her I know, it’s her.

  She takes a step in and fully comes into view, looking sharp and put together, a fake smile lining her lips.

  Cordially, Mark hugs her. My breath catches as she starts talking to someone standing behind her.

  It can’t be who I think it is.

  Time stretches as I wait.

  My sister turns around after a few more moments, the door shutting closed behind her. Whoever she was talking to is now long gone. A sigh falls from my lips as Adele swings by me, hurrying to meet her.

  This is going to be awkward.

  My breathing seems to settle, following a normal pace, when the door opens again. Tense, I watch a broad-shouldered man entering the small foyer.

  Abel?

  What is he doing here?

  Breathless, I watch Mark tearing away from Adele and Evelyne, and shifting to Abel. They shake hands and pat each other on their backs, exchanging a few words.

  What the fuck? Do they know each other?