Never Let Go (The Storm Inside #4)
NEVER LET GO
A STORM INSIDE NOVEL
ALEXIS ANNE
CONTENTS
Praise for The Storm Inside
More from Alexis Anne
Copyright
Dedication
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
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
More from Alexis Anne
Acknowledgments
Welcome To The World Of Tease
An Excerpt from Tease
About the Author
-Be A Frisky Friend-
PRAISE FOR THE STORM INSIDE
“It was one of the best love stories I have read to date. The writing at times was so descriptive you could feel the love, pain, confusion and desperation between the characters.”
-Books Unhinged
“This book starts off with a BANG! Literally!! Their scenes together were so intense and the sex scenes were so hot, my whole body felt on fire.”
-Lustful Literature
“The sex was HOT! Jake melted me with his words.”
-Miscellaneous Thoughts of a Bookaholic
“I loved the writer’s portrayal of what life can throw at young love.”
-Brenda’s Book Beat
PRAISE FOR TEMPT
“Very erotic.”
-Cosmopolitan.com
“This has truly been an awesome book and an amazing series.”
-Books of Past, Present, and Future
MORE FROM ALEXIS ANNE
THE STORM INSIDE
Reflected in the Rain
When Lightning Strikes
Never Let Go
Tease
Tempt
Burn
Stripped
5 Dirty Sins
The Storm Inside Box Set
The Tease & Stripped Double Box Set
The Complete List of Alexis Anne Books
NEVER LET GO
by Alexis Anne
http://AlexisAnneBooks.com/
Copyright 2016 by Alexis Sykes
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Alexis Anne.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without expressed written permission from the author. All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
To Nate~
Because we never stop trying.
1
JAKE
“Yes, yes, yessssss!” Eve moaned above me as she came. “You are a freaking genius!” She collapsed on my chest, panting. “Happy house birthday…” she sighed as she quickly moved from exhilarated to sex-drunk, slurring her words.
I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her, looking out at the thunderstorm. The kids were on a play date with Natalie, my best friend’s teenaged daughter, and I’d brought home this ridiculously expensive chaise lounger for our upstairs screened-in porch to celebrate a full year of living in our new house.
Just as the daily afternoon thunderstorm rolled in.
Life is all about timing.
“I take it you like it,” I said as I dropped a couple of kisses on the top of her head.
She nodded. “Does life get any better? I think not.”
She had a very good point. I’d just had pretty amazing sex in the middle of a thunderstorm, on my porch, with the most beautiful woman in the world. Not to mention our two daughters were happy, healthy, and entertained while we indulged in a little marital bliss. Life did not get any better.
We really should have known better than to say that out loud. My phone started ringing from the bedroom. I ignored it.
Eve burrowed in closer and started to drift off. My phone rang again, which was weird, but I ignored it again. Natalie, June, and Marie all had a special ringtone. If there were a problem with the kids, I’d know. Whoever was calling me, it was not about the kids.
“I love Sam and Max, I do. But this is nice…” she sighed again.
Peace and quiet was a luxury once you became a parent. But peace and quiet, alone with your spouse? Might as well sell it on the black market. It’s that valuable and rare.
“We need to take advantage of our babysitters more often. We get caught up and forget to schedule down time,” I agreed. That was probably my fault. It was the end of baseball season. Eve barely had enough time to eat, sleep, and spend time with the kids. I needed to pick up the slack and plan the alone time—like I did today.
Obviously planning had its benefits.
Becoming a parent was as amazing as they said it would be, but it was also hard as hell. Especially for someone like me. Yeah, you feel that love. And sure, baby smiles are pretty much the definition of perfection. But the act of becoming a parent brings a lot of emotional baggage I wasn’t expecting with it. Life was good, but it wasn’t without bumps in the road, which made me even more grateful and appreciative of moments like this.
“Your phone’s ringing again, Jake. I think you better see who has a stick up their ass before I remove it for them.”
I chuckled as I rolled Eve to the side, offering her my t-shirt as I slipped away. “Here, babe. I’ll be right back.”
“Bring water!”
By the time I ducked inside, my phone was already ringing again. I was annoyed until I saw who it was.
“What?” I barked. Charlie, my private investigator only called like this when there was an emergency.
“We have a problem.”
My heart took off. “The kids?”
“No,” he quickly reassured me. “Your family is safe. We have more obtuse problems to deal with. Something I didn’t see coming.” His voice was laced with disappointment. Charlie was the best and he took his job very seriously. Missing a piece of the puzzle was the kind of thing Charlie took personally.
“What is it?”
He took a breath and let it out. “I’ve been contacted by a representative of Senator McKinley. You know the guy?”
I knew of him. “What did he want?”
“That’s the thing,” Charlie said. “He says the senator is your grandfather and the family wishes to make contact. They have a representative landing at Tampa International now.”
I knew I’d heard every word he said, and yet not one of them made a lick of sense. “I’m sorry…what did you just say?”
“You said your mother’s family disowned her when she married your father, right?”
“Yeah.” I sank down onto the bed. It really wasn’t safe for me to stand any longer.
“Well, her family is the McKinley’s. The McKinley’s. The political dynasty. She disowned them and have had zero contact until they reached out to me.”
I always knew my mother had taken a twisted joy in punishing her parents by marrying my father. I’d assumed it was your typical overbearing parents not wanting their daughter to marry the abusive alcoholic. A few times I’d imagined she was from a rich family. And yeah, on one of those occasions I’d let myself pretend I was descended from royalty, but I’d never imagined I was right. The McKinley’s were American royalty. And apparently…my family?
“Is this a joke?”
Charlie laughed. “Nope. I’ve got the documents they sent me and they line up with the holes I’ve never been able to fill in your family history. I’m assuming this representative they’re sending will have more information. Do you want me to be there?”
I nodded, then realized Charlie couldn’t see me. “Yeah. If you can.”
“I’ll be there. You might want to have someone watch the kids.”
“I’ll take care of it. When will they be here?”
“Four o’clock. I’ll see you then.”
He clicked off and I let the phone dangle from my fingers.
“What’s wrong?” Eve asked, standing naked in our doorway.
Everything. Nothing. Damn I was confused. My afternoon plans consisted of fucking my wife senseless and maybe some takeout—not life-altering news about the family I’d disowned and never wanted to hear from.
“It’s just family shit,” I murmured. “Charlie is bringing someone over to talk to me. Can you call Natalie and ask her to keep the kids?” The sooner I found out what the hell this all really was, the sooner I could get it out of my life.
In a blink she was kneeling in front of me. “Tell Charlie to handle it. We don’t have to do this.” She squeezed my hand.
“Not this time, babe,” I whispered. “We can’t ignore this one.” Typically Charlie took care of everything from paperwork to finances, making sure my mother was taken care of and that I never had to speak to her. Unfortunately I didn’t think he could manage something this complicated alone.
There was only one reason Senator McKinley—if he was my grandfather—would be making contact now. He had to be running for president. If I ignored this we’d wind up with a sea of reporters on our lawn. It would disrupt our lives so much more than a single meeting with a representative. “It’s one meeting to clear up some confusion. By dinner we’ll be free and clear and back to normal. Promise.”
That was the thing about love…it was never about happily ever after’s. It was about the fight. True love was in the battle. Standing side by side with your partner, defending each other and celebrating life’s victories. Love was messy and it was beautiful. It gave me a courage and a strength I never could have achieved on my own.
Eve ran her hand down the side of my face, across my shoulder, and over my bicep. Then she squeezed my arm and rested her head on my knee. The anxiety I was feeling evaporated. It was like that one movement erased it from existence.
I returned the gesture and brushed back her hair. “I love you, Eve Spencer. That’s the only thing that matters in this fucked up world. Loving you and Sam and Max. You don’t have to worry about what this meeting is going to do to my head. I’ve got too much at stake to let the past pull me back.”
Her worry lines disappeared, then she smiled. The sweet, slow, seductive kind. “Damn, you’re sexy when you pull the defensive father card,” she growled.
She’d said that on more than one occasion since the girls entered our lives. Something about men in love with their daughters being the “hottest thing ever.” I was absolutely fine with that.
“I have my problems, we know that. But I will never allow anything to hurt my girls. All three of you. You’re my world.”
“And you’re ours.” She sat up and ran her hands up my thighs. “How long until this meeting?” Her right eyebrow arched up.
I glanced at the clock on my phone. “An hour.” I really liked where this seemed to be heading.
“Then how about I give Natalie a call while you start the shower. I think we need one more round of stress relieving exercise before we face the firing squad.”
“I love the way you think Mrs. Spencer.”
“I love the way you love me, Mr. Spencer.”
As she sashayed around the bedroom, stark naked and mine, I was struck by one very overwhelming thing: I was the luckiest man who ever lived. Despite all the hell I’d survived to get where I was, I’d do it all over again. Going head first into the storm allowed me to come out on the other side stronger than ever. Loving my girls with all my heart and soul was the only way to love them, and I couldn’t do that if I hadn’t dealt with my past. I’d weather a hundred storms for the chance to live this life.
And nothing from my past would take it away from me.
“I DON’T UNDERSTAND,” I said for the third time in a row. In my hands was paperwork. Birth certificates, pictures of my mother and Senator McKinley, sheets of legal jargon and restraining orders.
Adam Callaway—who was apparently my cousin—sat across from me at our dining room table. I couldn’t deny we looked a little bit alike. We were both six-four, broad shouldered, and dark haired. There was something familiar about his face. Maybe it was the shape of his jaw or nose? I wasn’t sure. It was all way too much to process.
Charlie rearranged the papers. “This is Senator McKinley and his family.” He tapped a very old photograph of a much younger senator. He stood in the middle with his arm around the waist of his wife, Rose. In front of them were two girls and two boys. “Lydia Rose is your grandmother—”
“She has the same name as my mother?” I cut him off.
“And mine,” Adam replied softly.
“What kind of crazy is this?” My head hurt. It really, really hurt.
“It was an old northern family money tradition, so to speak. All the girls are named Lydia. Our grandmother is Lydia Rose, my mother is Lydia Marie, and yours is Lydia Diane. It goes back three generations, but ends with us.”
“No sisters, I take it?”
Adam shook his head. “Only child—just like you.”
“And the boys?”
Charlie tapped through them one by one. “Richard, Evan, and Luke. All three have three boys each. It’s been a very masculine generation in the family, I’m afraid.”
Or a relief. Who names all their daughters Lydia? And why did my Lydia run away from a political dynasty?
“We’re really not all that different,” Adam said quietly as he spun the photograph. “Both our mother’s rebelled against the Senator.”
That was another weird thing. Adam called his—our—grandfather “The Senator.” Not grandfather or gramps or pappy or something cute. According to my cousin, everyone knew him as The Senator. It sounded cold.
“I highly doubt our lives look anything alike,” I essentially growled.
Eve put a hand on my arm. “What do you mean, Adam?”
I had to give him credit, he looked genuinely ashamed he’d compared our childhoods in any way.
There was no comparison.
He shifted and cleared his throat. “They both rebelled hard as teenagers and left home as soon as they could. They also both married men against the Senator’s wishes.”
“Then why am I treated like the bastard grandchild no one has ever acknowledged while you bask in the glow of being the golden child?”
Adam winced again. “I am hardly the golden child. The Senator and I have a…complicated relationship. He’s not a fan of my choice of work.”
“An expatriate engineer living in the UK? You don’t say…”
His fiancée, Elizabeth smiled. “He makes his own trouble with the family, but I’m afraid it’s my fault his relationship is so complicated.”
“Complicated relationships seem to be going around,” I murmured as I tried to figure out why she looked so familiar, and yet not. She was beautiful. There was no denying that. Dark hair and eyes, fit and full of life. Maybe she was also in politics? No, that didn’t make sense if she was living in England with Adam.
Adam shifted the papers around putting the restraining orders front and center. “This is the difference. My mother eventually repaired her relationship and came to an agreement with the family about what boundaries she was willing to accept. We did holidays with the family in Maine but the Senator did not dictate anything about our lives. Your mother,” he pushed the papers toward me, “cut ties entirely. She legally changed her name to remove any tr
aces of her connection to the McKinley family and legally made it impossible for them to contact her.”
That sounded just about right. My parents did everything to the extreme. They had no friends and usually avoided contact with anyone unless absolutely necessary. They were angry at the world and convinced everyone was against them—including me.
“We’ve gone thirty-eight years without contact, why change all that now?” It was all well and good, fairytales and puppy dog tails, but there had to be a reason they reached out now. They could have easily let me live the rest of my life blissfully unaware that a powerful family had ignored my existence.
Adam glanced at Elizabeth and she gave him a small smile, like she was giving him the strength he needed to keep going. Kind of like Eve was doing for me with her hand protectively wrapped around my thigh.
“He’s running for president. Everything is about to change.”
“And you think a reporter is going to dig up what Charlie hasn’t been able to?”
Luckily Charlie seemed to have gotten over his funk and simply wanted to be useful. He shrugged and sat back in his chair.
“No,” Adam said, folding his hands on the table. “This wasn’t entirely about the press. The Senator had left well enough alone but with the vetting process for his presidential run this loose end came up several times. He finally sat down and looked at everything for himself. Yes, he’s running for president, and yes, that might have affected you at some point, but that isn’t the reason he’s making contact.”
I watched as he fidgeted and twisted, looking for the right words. This whole situation was crap. Why had they sent a cousin to do the dirty work? Couldn’t this have been handled though lawyers or Charlie? Why put us all through this?
Adam took a deep breath then looked me in the eye. “Now that your father is dead, the Senator wants one last chance at fixing his mistake.”
2
EVE
A hand slid around my hip, splaying flat across my belly and pulling me back into the firm, comfortable familiarity of my husband. “You’ve been washing these dishes for an hour,” Jake growled into my ear.