Fractured

There’s love between us. He’s just said it. JD’s eyes are locked on mine. He doesn’t seem perturbed that he just admitted to knowing I love him. He doesn’t even look like he regrets it because there’s a relaxed expression on his handsome face. Full, pink lips part slightly as he breathes. His sharp nose, angular jaw, and the dark dusting of stubble on his face make him look mature.

But it’s his mischievous eyes that make him seem playful, friendly. They shimmer under thick, black lashes. I want to lean up and kiss him right now. But I don’t.

The air is heavy with promise, with the truth. It’s now or never, and if I don’t say it now, I don’t know when I’ll find the courage to ever mutter it again. So, I take my chance.

“I do,” I finally admit.

It takes him a second to realize what I said, and then a smile appears on his face. The corners of his mouth tilt upward, offering up a view of his perfect, pearly-white teeth.

He captures my face in his hands, stopping us as we stand there, grinning like crazy people. His eyes shine with so much affection I’m breathless when he finally leans in, and his lips mold to mine.

My first kiss.

It’s soft and tender as JD’s tongue sweeps along my lips, and I open them for him. We taste each other slow, savoring every single moment. My hands tangle around his neck. We’re inches apart, and I wish we could get closer. He’s warm, comforting, and I never want this to end.

After long moments of tasting him, kissing him, feeling him harden against my stomach, he breaks us apart. Those eyes that I’ve come to fall in love with look down at me with admiration that makes my heart skip multiple beats.

“I love you,” he admits in a whisper heavy with emotion. My eyes burn with tears as I look up at him.

“And I love you. I always have.” I finally voice what I’ve wanted to tell him for so long. It’s as if the dam has broken and all the emotions that were locked up flow from me and I can’t stop giggling.

“Now, let’s go for our walk before your momma comes out here to kick my ass for kissing her little girl.” With a cocky wink, JD laces his fingers with mine, and we head down the hallway.

JD is not just a cute boy anymore.

He’s a breathtakingly handsome man.

Chapter Six

JD

My father looks at me with those eyes that seem to pierce right through me. He doesn’t know what he’s just said. The curveball he’s thrown into my life will not only break apart Autumn and me; it may push her away for good.

I spent two years ignoring the fact that my father wanted me to join the forces, and now that he's telling me I’m going, it has only broken me down.

He doesn’t say anything more. His expression is filled with snide satisfaction. He’s proud of himself; he likes seeing me hurt, angry. Even though he’s meant to be good to me, to ensure my happiness and safety, he’s been nothing more than a man who lives in the same house as me.

I push off the chair and look at him from my full height, needing it to fight for what I want. We came to an agreement a while ago that I would be able to choose my career. And now that I can, now that I’ve finished studying, I’m being forced into something he wants. “I want to work for Jackson. Cole Security is my future.”

“Your future is to do as I say.”

“What the fuck, Dad?” I bite out, pacing his pristine, modern office. The view of Central Park greets me every time I walk to the left of his desk, and when I turn to the right, all I see are dark, wooden bookshelves filled with spines that offer up reference books rather than fiction.

“Language,” he warns in his no-nonsense tone. I may be twenty-one, an adult, but my father still sees me as the little boy he rules over like a king over his subjects.

“You know what I planned. This wasn’t part of it.” I spin on my heel as frustration takes hold of me. He’s doing this on purpose. I don’t know why, I have no idea how a father could hate his son so much, but my father hates me. I know he does.

“I’m doing what’s best for you, James. You’ll thank me later in life. You may not understand it now, but you will.” The stern tone of his voice tells me I’m not to argue, but I want to.

“You promised the moment I was old enough, I could find my own way.” I meet his stare, hoping he’ll see I’m right. When I was eighteen, I asked him if I could work for Cole Security. He knew what I wanted; now he’s going back on his word. He promised to let me be when I came of age. In his eyes, that was meant to be twenty-one.