Quinn shakes his head. “Stop exaggerating. An ice cube is plenty.” He flags the bartender. “Can I get an ice cube for my partner’s balls here?”
Sadie turns to me. “I’m worried about leaving you here alone with these two.”
I nudge her shoulder. “Well, then you’ll just have to visit. A lot.”
“I can do that. I promise.” She nudges me back before looking at Carson. “You know, if someone would just find him a girlfriend, that would alleviate his neurotic idiosyncrasies.”
Hand to mouth, I stop myself from spitting my drink.
“No thanks,” Carson says as he reaches over to accept ice from the bartender. “This player has no time for that nonsense.”
“And yet he doesn’t deny he’s neurotic,” Quinn states.
Colton moves into the group with a raised beer in hand. “I vote it’s avoidance. Carson doesn’t know what either of those words mean.”
“Laugh it up, fuckers.” Carson places his empty bottle on the bar along with the ice. “See that girl there.” He points to a pretty blonde dancing in a group. “One flash of my detective’s shield
and it’s on. Any bets?”
“No betting,” I shout.
The rest of the night continues with laughs and optimistic forecasts for the future. We know that tomorrow Sadie and Colton will be gone, and Quinn and Carson will move on to other cases, where I’ll do my best to help. We know it’s the end—but there is no sadness in this ending.
Because, even if we were brought together by pain, and suffering, and sheer, stubborn determination to triumph, we wedged an opening into the darkest of circumstances and found our own light. We’re tied together by our pain, a bond of friendship that knows while the end may be an inevitability, closure is not, and ours was hard-fraught.
THE END
Thank you, dear reader, for taking this journey with me and all of the Broken Bonds characters. You will never know how much it means to me; simply, the biggest thank you. Although I’m sad to say goodbye to the gang, I feel I’ve grown right along with them, and they’ve gifted me something more: new characters to write and love. You may have noticed Avery’s mention of London Noble in the epilogue. Sadie makes a crossover appearance in my newest series, the Darkly, Madly Duet. To which I hope you’ll join me in this epic adventure with London and Grayson. If you want more updates, I have a Facebook readers group called The Lair, and also my newsletter, where you will always get updates on releases. Until then, I hope you enjoy the special sneak peek at Born, Darkly.
Born, Darkly Sneak Peek
What madness is it to be expecting evil before it comes. ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca
PROLOGUE
Physician, Heal Thyself
London
Hands.
We don’t consider them enough.
Taken for granted, our hands don’t get the attention and recognition they deserve. Rather, we abuse them. Use them to abuse. Fondle our fat, loathing our bodies, especially women. We pluck and tug at our face, cursing the years. Never once acknowledging their beauty and strength—those precious instruments that enable us to do almost anything.
I notice mine now. Shaking and cold. The ugly beveled grooves from wrapping my fingers with string over the years. I use my thumb to smudge off the dirt that perspiration hasn’t completely sweated away, revealing the faded black ink along the side of my palm.
My voice cracks on a laugh. I stare at the tattooed key on my flesh until my eyes blur. Sweat leaks into their corners, a biting sting like a needle piercing my vision clear.
Then I look up at all the dangling keys.
A canopy of gleaming silver and bronze and rusted metals held aloft by red string—a blanket woven of blood in the sky. The keys clang together, playing a dark, chiming melody that chills me to the bone.
He knows me.
In my vanity, I concealed the ugly and vile. And yet he saw.
In my profession, your past can be as damning as a wrong diagnosis. Shame is the conception of most sins against ourselves.