Sly: Jagged Edge Series #4 Read online

  Contents

  Copyright © 2016 A.L.Long

  Acknowledgment

  Title

  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

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  About the Author

  Releases

  Contact

  Copyright © 2016 A.L.Long

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior consent of the author

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictionally, and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Interior edited by H. Elaine Roughton

  Cover design by Laura Sanches

  ASIN: B01MRT08GY

  ISBN: 978-1540793393

  This book is intended for mature adults only

  Acknowledgment

  To my husband of many wonderful years, who has been so supportive of my writing. If it weren’t for him my dream of writing would have never been fulfilled. I love you, sweetheart. And to my family, whom I also love dearly. Through their love and support, I can continue my passion for writing.

  To the many readers, who took a chance on me and purchased my books. I hope that I can continue to fill your hearts with the passion I have grown to love.

  A special thanks to all of the people that supported me at SPS. If you would like to learn about what they can offer you to become a self-publisher, please check out the link below. You will be thankful you did.

  https://xe172.isrefer.com/go/curcust/allongbooks

  SLY

  Jagged Edge Series #4

  A.L. Long

  CHAPTER ONE

  Nikki

  As the plane accelerated down the runway, I knew it wasn’t going to be long before I would be back in New York facing what was waiting for me. I wished I could change the way I was brought up, or rather, who my father was. His choices had trickled down to me in so many ways. A child should never have to pay for her parents’ mistakes. Since the age of thirteen, I had been doing just that. One day I would wash my hands of him and be able to live the life every woman dreams of.

  Absorbed in my own thoughts, I heard the announcement from the pilot come over the intercom. “Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen. Our flight will take approximately thirteen hours and forty minutes. The weather is clear and should remain so. I hope you enjoy the flight.”

  Looking out the window, the island that I was going to miss slowly became smaller and smaller. I hated having to say good-bye to my best friend, but I knew that Isabelle would be happy. She had been through so much over the past weeks. Just like me, her life was less than perfect. When she told me she needed to leave New York, I let her know about a job in Stillwater, OK. Who would have thought that she was a princess from Kierabali. As much as I was going to miss her, at least she would be with the man that she truly loved.

  Thinking about Sly, I wondered how hard it would be on him and the other guys at Jagged Edge Security without Hawk. Hawk was a big part of the security company and would be greatly missed. They were definitely brothers, and it was evident by the way they stood beside each other during the wedding ceremony. Peter was Hawk’s best man, just as I was Isabelle’s maid of honor. In order for all the guys to be a part of the wedding, the bridesmaids had to be escorted up the aisle by two men instead of the traditional one-man escort. It was so hard for Hawk to decide who his groomsmen would be, until Isabelle came up with the solution to double up. Cop Coppoletti and Ash Jacobs walked Sabrina Coppoletti, Peter Hewitt and Ryan Hyatt walked Lilly Hewitt, and I was escorted by Sly Capelli and Josh Hyatt. Hawk waited for Isabelle at the altar until Mike Chavez and Lou Gainer handed her over to him. Even though it was nine men to four women, it worked out really well.

  Once the captain gave the go-ahead, I reclined my seat back and tried to get some rest. I knew it was going to be a long flight, so I tried to get as comfortable as possible in the small seat. Just as I closed my eyes, I heard Sly say, “If you would like, you can use my shoulder as a pillow if it will make you more comfortable.”

  “Thanks,” I replied, lowering my head to his broad shoulder as he lifted the armrest that separated our two seats.

  This was a lot more comfortable. It felt nice to rest my head on a man's shoulder, especially Sly’s. Over the past couple of weeks, we got to know each other pretty well. Even though I swore I would never get involved with an Italian man, there was something different about him. He was really sweet, and the way he looked at me with his teddy bear eyes, well, let’s just say, my heart melted.

  Closing my eyes, I felt him shift his body so that his arm was now wrapped around my shoulder, allowing me to nuzzle my head against his strong chest. For a man built like a brick wall, it was actually very nice using him as a pillow. Listening to his heartbeat, it didn’t take long before I was asleep.

  ~****~

  I don’t remember waking up once during the flight. I must have really been exhausted. My mouth was dry except for the saliva that dribbled from the side of my mouth. Lifting my head, I looked at Sly’s shirt to see that I drooled on him. I had left a big wet spot on his white t-shirt. I had never felt so embarrassed in my life.

  “Hey, sunshine. Did you have a nice siesta?” Sly asked softly.

  “I must have. My mouth is dry and your shirt is wet,” I replied.

  Peering down at his shirt where I had slobbered on him, he looked back over to me with a smile. “It’s okay, sunshine. It must have been some dream you were having, the way you were mumbling in your sleep.”

  “Oh, God, what did I say?” I asked nervously.

  “Not sure. Most of it, I couldn’t understand. It was like you were telling someone to basically fuck off. You did mention the name Rosa,” Sly paused. “Who is she?”

  “My mother,” I choked. “I need to go to the restroom.”

  As Sly unbuckled his seatbelt and rose to his feet, I quickly made my way down the aisle to the lavatory. The only one that was unoccupied was at the front of the plane. Making my way there, I kept wondering how much more of my dream Sly actually heard. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t dream of my mom. Every time I closed my eyes she was there, waiting for me. Like she wanted me to join her.

  My thoughts were interrupted when an elderly lady got out of her seat in front of me, head
ing to the lavatory. I was just about ready to tell her she needed to wait, but the way she was crossing her legs and squirming, she needed the restroom more than I did. A gentleman walked out of the lavatory and the elderly woman stepped in, turning the handle so that the ‘occupied’ sign was showing on the door. Even though I was the next person in line, the flight attendant must not have wanted me standing in the aisle, because he gestured for me to sit in the empty seat just outside the lavatory.

  Locking myself inside, I looked at myself in the small mirror. I could see that I did more than just dream about my mom. I must have been crying at some point, because my eyes were red and surrounded by my black mascara that was supposed to be waterproof. Splashing some cold water on my face, I pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and tried the best I could to wipe some of the mascara away from my eyes. Satisfied that I looked somewhat presentable, I opened the door and headed back to my seat. I didn’t think I was in the bathroom that long, but based on the number of people waiting to use the lavatory, it must have been long enough.

  Taking my place, I gazed out the small window to see if there was a hint of land in sight. The only thing I could see were white fluffy clouds. Looking over to Sly, I asked with a half smile, “Do you know when we will be landing in New York?”

  “A couple of hours at most,” he said.

  “So, any ideas on what we can do for two hours?” I asked.

  “A couple, but that would mean you would need to undress,” he replied with a smirk.

  “Not in this lifetime, tiger.”

  Sly was knock-out gorgeous. He had a very muscular build, a very trusting face, and the dreamiest brown eyes I had ever seen. There were times that I caught myself looking at him wondering what kind of woman would be his type. If I would have to guess I would say he would be the type of man that liked his woman to be curvy, big breasted, with dark hair, and who could wear red lipstick so he could watch her mouth as it went down on him. Unfortunately, I wasn’t any of those things. I had a nice body from years of working out in the gym. Curves, maybe a few. Big breasts, maybe, but everyone knows ‘more than a handful is a waste,’ at least that is what I’ve heard.

  Bored to death, I pulled out the SkyMall magazine from the pocket behind the seat in front of me and I began looking at all the nifty things they sold. The ideas behind the products were amazing. Everything from a bike workstation to an automatic screen door. Why would anyone want to work on a laptop while riding a stationary bike? It made me wonder how much stuff was actually bought from this catalog.

  Placing the catalog back in the pouch, I tilted my head back and took in a sigh of boredom. Sly must have noticed my state of mind, because he turned his body slightly my way before grabbing my hand.

  “You know, Italians are known for their ability to read someone’s future by looking at the palm of their hand,” he declared.

  “Really?” I questioned him, not believing him for a second.

  Grabbing my hand, he turned it over and began concentrating on the lines on my palm. I knew that most palm readers were gypsies and they were mostly from Russia and Greece. The only Italians who claimed to be palm readers, that I knew of, were swindlers and pickpockets. Giving Sly the benefit of the doubt, I went ahead and let him do his thing.

  “I can see that you have worked very hard, Based on the calluses on your hand, I would guess a gardener,” he claimed. “These few cuts here may have been caused from clenching your hands, which would have caused your nails to dig into the skin.”

  Pulling my hand away from him, I objected, “You’re crazy and way off. I haven’t ever worked in a garden.”

  “I bet you’ve never boxed before either,” he replied.

  “Nope, wrong again.”

  Taking my hand again, he flipped it over and resumed where he left off. “Okay, I may have had the gardener and the boxer thing wrong, but your hand does show that you use it a lot,” Sly pointed out as he continued his reading. “So this line here says that you will live a long life, although this break tells me that you will have an obstacle to tackle. One so intense that it could cost you your life. It might have already happened. Were you ever close to death, Nikki?”

  “Don’t be silly. I am just a barista at a coffee shop. Nothing exciting there. Unless I burn to death from the steam off of the espresso machine,” I replied.

  When Sly was finally done reading my palm, I began to worry how close he came in knowing things about me by just looking at my hand. There were a lot of risks doing what I did during my nights. I could even get killed. So to say that I would have an obstacle to tackle was an understatement. One of the reasons I left New York to see Isabelle in Stillwater, OK was to get away from what was going to happen in New York. I knew I probably shouldn’t have run, but I figured if I wasn’t around, then I couldn’t be forced into a situation that I knew I couldn’t win.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sly

  I wasn’t sure what was going on with Nikki, but the minute I took her hand, I knew there was more about her that she wasn’t sharing. I was all too familiar with the way her hands were callused over. Even her knuckles were slightly swollen. There was only one reason they would be this way. These were defensive scars from years of fighting.

  I could tell that she was uncomfortable talking about what was really going on with her. When the landing gear came down and the wheels touched down on the concrete runway, Nikki jolted off her seat like she had a fire underneath her. It was only after I saw the look on her face that I realize the jolt of the plane landing must have startled her. Placing my hand over hers, I asked with concern, “Are you okay? You came off your seat like someone lit it on fire.”

  “I’m fine. Just don’t care much for flying,” she replied, taking in a deep breath.

  Seeing her reaction told me it was a lot more than not liking to fly. Something else was making her jumpy. The minute the plane came to a complete stop, she couldn’t get out of her seat fast enough. It was customary to let the people sitting in the front seats get off the plane first, but this wasn’t the case with Nikki, The minute the seatbelt light went off, she was up and on her way to the front of the plane. She exited in such a hurry that she didn’t grab the small bag she stowed in the overhead compartment when we boarded the plane.

  Taking my small bag along with hers, I took my place behind the line of passengers waiting for their turn to exit the plane. I knew that Nikki was already long gone. I had no idea where she would go. Pulling out my cell, I contacted Peter to see if he still had information on her.

  “Hey, bro, it’s Sly,” I said.

  “Hey, shouldn’t you be landing soon?” Peter questioned.

  “Just touched down. Do you still have the information on Nikki? I need to know what her address is.”

  “Yeah, hold on,” he answered.

  As I waited for him to find the information, I kept wondering what had Nikki so riled that she had to get off the plane so fast. I’ve never seen a woman move so fast. Finally off the plane and in the gate area, I headed to baggage claim. My only hope was that she would be waiting at the carousel for her luggage and wouldn’t forget that too.

  It was no surprise that I didn’t see her anywhere when I finally reached the baggage area. Nobody leaves the airport without grabbing their belongings. Something was definitely up with her. Grabbing my bag along with Nikki’s pink one, I prayed that no one would be questioning why a man of my build would be toting around a pink suitcase.

  More embarrassed than anything, I managed to get outside to the transportation area with only a few strange looks. Just as I entered the cab, I could hear Peter getting back on the phone.

  “Jesus, dude, what did you have to do, go across town to get the information?” I cursed.

  “Yeah, kind of. All the information was left at the shop. I had to make a quick trip,” Peter confessed.

  “You could have told me instead of keeping me on the line.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Do you want the informatio
n or not?”

  “Give it to me,” I said, closing the door to the cab.

  As soon as I got the information from Peter, I instructed the cab driver to head to Brownsville. When Peter explained to me where Nikki lived, it didn’t surprise me that her hands looked the way they did. Brownsville wasn’t exactly the best part of Brooklyn to live in. Pretty sure it was the crime capital of the world. With the way Nikki looked, it surprised me even more that she would be living in such a shit part of Brooklyn. “What the hell would a beautiful girl like her be doing in Brownsville?”

  The cab driver pulled up to an old run-down apartment building. It wasn’t too hard to find where Nikki lived, based on the description Peter got from Lilly and Sabrina. It was the only apartment that had bars on the windows. It was kind of funny, knowing that there was no way anyone would be able to get to her apartment from this side of the building, unless of course they carried around a forty-foot ladder. Heading inside the rundown building, I took the steps up to the third floor. It would have been a lot easier taking the elevator, only there was a big sign taped to the doors that read ‘OUT OF ORDER’ in big bold letters.