Unbreakable (Heart of Stone #7) Read online

  UNBREAKABLE

  K.M. SCOTT

  Unbreakable

  For Gage, the past never goes away. All he’s done to protect Jordan doesn’t erase the failure he can’t forget. But he’ll have to find a way to overcome those demons that still haunt him to be the man she needs him to be or risk losing her forever.

  The only thing Jordan knows to be true is Gage loves her. She doesn’t know why Hailey wants her dead or why a billionaire wants to help her kill her, but together with the man she loves, they’ll work to unravel the mystery behind Hailey’s plan.

  But will it be in time, or will she lose him again, this time for good?

  Unbreakable is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  2016 Copper Key Media, LLC

  Copyright © 2016 Copper Key Media, LLC

  Digital Edition

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  Published in the United States

  ISBN-10: 1-941594-38-7

  ISBN-13: 978-1-941594-38-4

  Cover Design: Cover Me, Darling

  Adult Content: Contains graphic sexual content

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  Click on the covers below to learn more about the series:

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  About the Book

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  About Club X

  About the SILK series

  Excerpt from The Eleventh Hour

  About the Author

  Books by K.M. Scott

  Books by Gabrielle Bisset

  Chapter One

  Gage

  Twenty straight hours on the road made keeping my eyes open next to impossible, but I didn’t have a choice. The sooner Jordan and I made it to my parents’ house in Riverton, the sooner we would be able to figure out what the hell had happened.

  I looked over at her sleeping all curled up in the passenger seat next to me and reached out to lay my hand on her shoulder. Something inside me said she needed to know I was still there with her, even if she was sound asleep. Or maybe it was I needed to reassure myself she was still there with me.

  When I marched into that ballroom at the Royale just a few weeks before, I’d never imagined we’d end up being on the run from the police and looking behind us every minute of the day and night like criminals. That was what we were considered, though.

  I still didn’t know everything that had happened back at that house on Hilton Head. Somewhere in Kentucky as we sat on the side of the road taking a break from the hours of driving, I asked Jordan about what they’d done, but she just shook her head and that frown I hated seeing on her beautiful face came back.

  My hands clutched the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white as the horrible idea of what she may have endured at those bastards’ hands settled into my mind. I wanted to believe—had to believe if I wanted to keep my sanity—that she hadn’t been raped. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.

  I didn’t know why, but something told me sex played no part in what Monique and Brock were up to. Or Hailey and Justin. Whoever the fuck they were, I didn’t think they’d orchestrated kidnapping Jordan just for sex. No, whatever this whole plan of theirs was, it ran much deeper than that.

  But what? I hadn’t heard from Daryl since we drove out of the Richmont hotel parking lot in Hilton Head, but I prayed to God he was finding something that would explain what the hell had happened and what those two were up to.

  Jordan opened her eyes and turned to give me a sleepy smile as she pressed her cheek to the back of my hand resting on her shoulder. “Where are we?”

  “Nebraska.”

  Scrubbing the sleep from her face, she sat up and looked out the front window at the landscape all around us. Nebraska had the distinction of being the flattest place I’d ever been on earth. Miles and miles of flat seemed to be what the entire state consisted of.

  Flat land. Flat road. Flat for as far as the eye could see.

  None of it impressed me as being anywhere the good life existed, as the welcome sign had promised when I passed it a little over an hour ago as we entered the state.

  “I’ve never been to Nebraska,” she said as her eyes scanned the land around us. “I think I know why.”

  “Just wait until we get to Wyoming. You’re going to love it.”

  I watched her mouth turn up in a tiny smile, even if it didn’t make it all the way up to her eyes. Hoping to keep that good feeling around for a little bit more, I added, “It’s the most beautiful place you’ll ever see. Mountains, fresh air, blue skies. You’re going to love it like nowhere else in the world.”

  As I moved back to watch the road, she said, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen fresh air. I think that’s more of a smell kind of thing.”

  Looking at her, I saw the smile hit her eyes. “Smart ass. You know what I meant.”

  She snuggled up next to me and slipped her arm around mine. “I know. I just wanted to tease you a little. I thought you could use it since you’ve been driving for all this time. I can take over, if you want. I’m pretty rested up after that nap.”

  “I’m good. I’m hoping to find a motel somewhere along this road. I think we’ve had enough sleeping in the car.”

  Jordan sighed sweetly. “A motel? Oh, that sounds heavenly, Gage. A real bed and a shower. I love the sound of that.”

  “Don’t get too excited. It won’t be anything as nice as the Richmont hotels.”

  She squeezed my arm and laughed. “I know, but it will be nice to sleep in a bed for a few hours, even if that bed has been the scene of a crime.”

  “Lack of sleep makes you very dark, Miss Wright,” I joked, but instantly I felt her tense up next to me and I knew I’d said something wrong. As she slid her arm from around mine and sat back in the passenger seat, I wanted to ask what made her move away, but I honestly couldn’t say I was ready to hear it.

  So instead of asking, I simply took her hand in mine and brought it to my lips in a kiss. “I promise the next place I see that doesn’t look like it’s haunted I’ll stop.”

  “Okay. Sounds good.”

  I knew by the way she sounded that she was forcing herself to be upbeat. Maybe it was just all the time in the car. Sleeping on the road, no matter how luxury the vehicle was, certainly would make anyone miserable.

  Just about twenty minutes later I spotted the first sign for t
he Circle C Motel a mere five miles away. It definitely didn’t sound like it would be a Richmont type hotel, but as long as it had a bed and a shower, it would be perfect.

  “I think our wish is about to come true. The Circle C Motel is just a few miles away.”

  “Is it a ranch or something? It sounds like a place that would have horses.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at her naiveté. “I wouldn’t expect any horses. Well, maybe for the continental breakfast, but otherwise, I doubt it.”

  Jordan smacked my arm. “Gage! I won’t be able to eat it if I think it’s horsemeat! Gross!”

  Turning my head, I saw her face twisted into a disgusted grimace and I couldn’t help but laugh. Even like that with her nose all wrinkled up and her mouth screwed into a strange frown, she still looked adorable.

  “I was just kidding. We don’t eat horses out west. That’s a back east thing. And I doubt anywhere called the Circle C Motel would have a continental breakfast.”

  “Just keep your eyes on the road and let’s get to this Circle C place, western boy. Those of us from back east, as you call it, need to stretch our legs and take a nice hot shower. I don’t want to show up at your parents’ house smelling like I’ve just spent an entire day straight in a car.”

  Her apprehension about meeting my family came through loud and clear, but she didn’t have to worry. My family would love her just like I did.

  “They’re going to be so thrilled to meet you that they won’t care what you smell like.”

  “Oh my God! I do smell, don’t I?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lift her arm to check if she smelled bad. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant they’ll be happy I brought you to meet them.”

  “Well, since we dated for all that time and I never met them even once, I’m wondering what they’ll think now. Did they even know we dated for months?”

  Jordan’s question hung in the air like some kind of indictment of how much I felt for her. While it was true I hadn’t introduced her to my family, it wasn’t for any sinister reasons. I just hadn’t. It wasn’t like I was a teenage boy who lived with his parents. I hadn’t lived with my family since I’d left for the Navy over a decade ago.

  But I sensed she felt like there were reasons that reflected on her more than me. Taking hold of her hand, I squeezed it to reassure her.

  “I think I told them, but it isn’t a big deal. My family isn’t like yours.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked innocently. “Aren’t they like you?”

  “Yeah, but they live all the way out here. Your parents live in the next state from you. It just never felt like the right time for us to fly out here. Don’t worry, though. They’re going to love you.”

  Just then the flickering, half-lit sign for the Circle C Motel came into view and I pointed out the front window. “We made it. Now for a bed and a hot shower.”

  Jordan was too excited about finally having the chance to really rest and clean up to bother with my lame excuses for never introducing her to my family. It was just as well. I didn’t care what they thought of her anyway. This trip wasn’t a get-to-know-my-future-wife trip. It was what it had been since we got into the car at Tristan’s Hilton Head hotel.

  Running away.

  I stepped out of the dingy motel shower and stood in a towel staring at the peeling metallic silver and white wallpaper curling down from the seam next to the mirror. Christ, this place was a dive.

  “How was your shower?”

  Switching the light off, I walked out of the bathroom to find Jordan wearing just a towel and sprawled out across the bed. She stared up at me with a sexy look that made standing there in that crappy motel seem like I was at one of Tristan’s swanky hotels.

  “Wet and hot. Like a shower should be.” I stopped just next to the bed and added, “And the woman I share my bed with.”

  Arching one perfect eyebrow, she smiled. “I see you’re back to yourself again. Good. When I remember this stop on our whirlwind tour, I don’t want to think about the disgusting décor or how the people in the next room very well might be ax murderers or meth addicts.”

  I placed my hands on the bed and leaned down so my lips just brushed hers. “I intend to make sure you won’t remember any of that.”

  Jordan bit her lower lip and smiled. “Mmmm…I like that.”

  Even though everything that surrounded us was rundown, the feel of her next to me made everything inside me new again. I made quick work of her towel and took her into my arms like I’d wanted to for the last eight hours. “I promise it won’t always be like this.”

  “Great sex between two people who are crazy mad about each other?” she asked with a grin.

  “I mean us stuck in places like this.”

  She kissed me and shook her head. “It’s not so bad. It’s got something called Magic Fingers so for a quarter it says it will relax us.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I spied the contraption she was talking about mounted on the corner of the bed. “Well, then I guess if the bed is still working when we’re done, it’s Magic Fingers for both of us. For right now, I’ve got other ideas.”

  “Me too. Like getting this towel off you.” She slid her fingers over my skin and unknotted the towel from around my hips. As it fell away from my body, she flashed me a devilish grin. “There. That’s better. Now let’s see if we can teach this bed a thing or two about magic.”

  Her fingernails raked down my back as I slid into her body, loving the feel of her snug cunt around my cock. Every time we made love felt like the first time, and this was no exception. There was an urgency that existed between us that had never been a part of anything I ever had with another women before Jordan.

  A need that pressed down on us whenever we were together that made the rest of the world fade away. I loved that about being with her. Completely getting lost in the woman you loved was a feeling unlike anything else. For those few moments, I felt like I could take over the world because I had her. She surrendered herself and took ownership of my very soul at the same time.

  The old motel bed creaked beneath us as we made love, our bodies joining our hearts as one. But I sensed something different in her eyes as we inched toward that moment of release.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, unsure since leaving Hilton Head that I wanted the answer to that question.

  The hardness in her eyes that had been there a moment before disappeared, replaced by the sexy look I’d expected to see. Cradling my face, she kissed my lips and whispered, “Nothing. Why?”

  I stilled my movement and held myself over her. “I just felt like something was wrong. You know you can tell me anything, right? You don’t have to worry about whatever it is. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

  Sadness drifted through her green eyes for just a moment, and then it was gone and that sexy look had returned. “I never could keep anything from you, so you don’t have to worry. Everything I am is right here with you.”

  I kissed her long and deep with everything my heart felt for her and began making love to her again. When I was buried deep inside her, all the months we were apart faded away and it was like none of the terrible things my foolishness had set in motion had ever happened.

  She was my Jordan, just like she’d always been. And I was hers.

  Her core squeezed my cock in the first seconds of her orgasm, and then everything we were became focused on that bed in that seedy motel on the side of Route 80 and she and I were again one in the way I’d only been with her.

  Completely. Body, soul, and mind.

  The Magic Fingers machine rattled against the bed, adding another delightful dimension to the supposedly relaxing experience that had lasted for nearly fifteen minutes. Jordan giggled at the almost surreal feeling of being bounced around for that long, and I couldn’t help but think this would be a memory we’d someday tell our kids about.

  “This is so great!” she joked as she repositioned herself next to
my side. “I need one of these for my bed back home.”

  Wrapping my arm around her, I felt the bed begin to calm itself as the Magic Fingers wound down. “That weird guy Floyd who lives right beneath you would love it.”

  “Floyd wouldn’t say a thing. He doesn’t complain about any noise I make.”

  I thought back to the one time I saw him as I left after Jordan and I had enjoyed a particularly active night and shook my head. “Not to you, but trust me. He’s shown me how unhappy our sex makes him.”

  She blushed and buried her head in my neck. “Oh, my God! You’re not kidding. My neighbors all think I’m some kind of wild slut.”

  Laughing at her overreaction, I smoothed my hand down over her silky hair and held her close to me. “I’m not sure wild slut was what I saw on good old Floyd’s face, but he definitely knew what we’d been up to the night before.”

  “You’re not helping,” she said in a muffled voice against my skin.

  She turned her head and I kissed her softly on the lips. “I think poor Floyd was just jealous that time. I don’t think he’s gotten any since the first Bush Jr. administration.”

  “My neighbors think I’m a brazen hussy. An oversexed brazen hussy. I officially can never go back there again.”

  And with those words everything we were dealing with came rushing back. Jordan’s face clouded over with an unmistakable look of fear and she buried her head in my neck again.

  “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. I promise I won’t let anything hurt you. You know that, right?”

  She nodded but said nothing. But I needed her to truly know I was going to take care of her.

  “Jordan, I’m not going anywhere without you. You’re the woman I love. I’m not leaving you again, so if that’s what you’re worried about, don’t.”

  Lifting her head, she let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not worried about you leaving or me leaving. That’s not it at all. You’re a good man, Gage. I know that. You don’t have to feel like you continually have to pay penance for what you did. I know you did it to protect me.”