Falling into You: A Falling Stars Stand-Alone Romance Read online

  Falling into You

  A.L. Jackson

  Contents

  Also by A.L. Jackson

  Prologue

  1. Richard

  2. Richard

  3. Violet

  4. Richard

  5. Violet

  6. Richard

  7. Violet

  8. Violet

  9. Richard

  10. Violet

  11. Richard

  12. Violet

  13. Richard

  14. Richard

  15. Richard

  16. Richard

  17. Violet

  18. Richard

  19. Violet

  20. Richard

  21. Violet

  22. Richard

  23. Violet

  24. Violet

  25. Violet

  26. Richard

  27. Violet

  28. Richard

  29. Violet

  30. Richard

  31. Richard

  32. Violet

  33. Violet

  34. Richard

  35. Violet

  36. Richard

  37. Richard

  38. Violet

  39. Richard

  40. Richard

  41. Violet

  Epilogue One

  Epilogue Two

  Also by A.L. Jackson

  About the Author

  Connect with A.L. Jackson online:

  Kiss the Stars Sneak Peek

  Prologue

  1. Mia

  2. Mia

  Copyright © 2020 A.L. Jackson Books Inc.

  First Edition

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher. Please protect this art form by not pirating.

  A.L. Jackson

  www.aljacksonauthor.com

  Cover Design by LJ Designs

  Editing by Susan Staudinger

  Proofreading by Julia, The Romance Bibliophile

  Formatting by Mesquite Business Services

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Names, characters, places, and plots are a product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Print ISBN: 978-1-946420-48-0

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-946420-49-7

  Also by A.L. Jackson

  Most Titles are Free with Kindle Unlimited

  Falling Stars

  Kiss the Stars

  Catch Me When I Fall

  Falling into You

  Beneath the Stars, Coming Early 2021

  Confessions of the Heart

  More of You

  All of Me

  Pieces of Us

  Fight for Me Series

  Show Me the Way

  Follow Me Back

  Lead Me Home

  Hold on to Hope

  Bleeding Stars Series

  A Stone in the Sea

  Drowning to Breathe

  Where Lightning Strikes

  Wait

  Stay

  Stand

  The Regret Series

  Lost to You

  Take This Regret

  If Forever Comes

  The Closer to You Series

  Come to Me Quietly

  Come to Me Softly

  Come to Me Recklessly

  Stand-Alone Novels

  Pulled

  When We Collide

  Hollywood Chronicles

  A collaboration with USA Today Bestselling Author, Rebecca Shea

  One Wild Night

  One Wild Ride

  Prologue

  Violet

  I edged down the narrow staircase that led to the kitchen below. Shadows danced across the walls and held the air in the steady peace of the night. A breeze blew through the valley and billowed through the trees. The hum of it softly battered at the walls.

  Within the old house, the silence was heavy and dense. As heavy and dense as my heart that thundered at a ragged beat.

  I inched farther.

  Carefully.

  Recklessly.

  There was no longer anything I could do to stop the draw of the quiet chaos that waited in the darkened room below.

  When I made it to the landing, my breath hitched with the gust of energy that suddenly lashed and whipped through the stilled disorder.

  The man a storm where he sat like a stone fortress at the small kitchen table.

  Protective and fierce.

  His big body bristled with a rage that seemed to be waitin’ for permission to be unleashed.

  A wanderer who’d come home.

  Did it make me a fool for wanting to remind him that this was where he belonged? That it was right for him to be adored? That he deserved to be loved?

  I stepped deeper into the dancing shadows at the base of the stairs.

  I knew when he felt me.

  When his spine stiffened and his stony jaw clenched.

  He slowly pushed to his full, towering height.

  The man a dark avenger.

  “Violet.” My name rumbled through the air like rolling thunder. “What are you doing down here?”

  Fear tumbled through my belly when I saw the lust flare in his eyes.

  The greed and possession that curled his hands into fists.

  But I would no longer live my life running from what I wanted most.

  I could live in fear of what was to come, or I could live my life to its fullest, and I knew I wanted to live like a flower beneath the sun in full bloom.

  I lifted my chin when I released the words, “I just need to know one thing right now, Richard Ramsey. Tell me it’s true. Tell me you still love me because I’m done pretending like I don’t need you.”

  Maybe I shouldn’t have given him that trust.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have given him the chance to lie.

  Maybe I should have known I would regret it all over again when I saw the guilt flash across his stunning face.

  But I was finished running.

  So, I stepped off the cliff I’d been teetering on for the last six years, straight into a free fall, and prayed he’d be there to catch me at the end…

  One

  Richard

  I’d heard it said the thing about running from your past is it always catches up to you.

  I’d heard it said that the demons of every mistake you’d ever made were constantly hunting you from the sidelines. Lurking in the darkness where they waited for the perfect time to attack, salivating at the chance to sink in their teeth.

  A dark destiny ready to devour.

  And sometimes? Sometimes they messed with the wrong damned person.

  Someone who had nothing left to lose and only one sacrifice left to give.

  Atonement and retribution their one purpose.

  Doing a little hunting of my own, I blew out the back door of the banquet room. It dumped me in a long hall lined with doors. Antique wall lamps cast a yellowed glow through the narrow space.

  My attention jerked from one direction to the other.

  Searching through the shadows that filled the corridor of the age-old hotel.

  Swore I’d seen something.

  Someone.

  Someone who didn’t belong.

  That prickly feeling you got when something was amiss.

  Wickedness underfoot.

  Felt it slithering across my flesh and sinking into my bones.

  The sounds of th
e party echoed through the wall. Carefree laughter, easy conversation, and the joy of the celebration.

  What I should be doing was enjoying it with my family and friends.

  With my band.

  But no—I’d caught a feeling that I couldn’t ignore.

  Heart raging in my chest. This thunder that howled and ravaged like a beast.

  I swore I saw a shadow dip out at the far end of the hall.

  That was right when the door I’d just came out of burst open behind me and my future brother-in-law, Royce, came fuming through it.

  “What’s going on?” he growled. Dude was nothing but intimidation. Covered in tats and wearing one of those fitted suits that made him look like the reaper had come to collect and you were gonna pay. I darted in the direction of where I was sure the shape had gone. Voice filled with the intimation of the feeling I’d gotten, I shouted over my shoulder, “Someone’s here who shouldn’t be.”

  “Shit,” Royce wheezed, right behind me.

  Our feet pounded the floor, a vibration proclaiming destruction was on its way.

  “This way. Think he slipped out the back exit,” I shouted.

  “Who?” Royce was right at my side, venom in the words, dude feeding off the rage I was throwing.

  “Don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

  Desperation clawed through my chest as I raced down the hall, took the left, and pushed out into the night and into the dingy alley at the back of the old building.

  My gaze jumped both directions, trying to catch onto a hunch.

  To the intuition that had sent me hunting in the first place.

  “This way.” My head jerked to the left, and we both took off in that direction.

  A heavy fog hung low in the darkened sky, and silvered rays slanted through the night from the muted lights flickering from the hotel.

  Vengeance pulsed in my veins, and I gave myself over to the fight.

  To the instinct to protect.

  I rounded the end of the building just in time to catch sight of a burly shadow in the distance. Barely visible through the haze.

  “Right there.” I pointed at the lumbering figure that blazed a path down the side of the building.

  “See him. Don’t let him split.”

  “Not a fuckin’ chance,” I gritted, increasing pace as that feeling consumed me. Overwhelming in its pull.

  I couldn’t mess this up. Couldn’t stumble. Couldn’t stop.

  We gained on him. Getting closer and closer. Close enough that I could taste the vileness that throbbed and slashed through the air as he attempted to flee like a pussy bitch.

  Under the haze of dim lights, we could see the shape bolt across the next street up that was pretty much deserted.

  Wasn’t much of a surprise for a town this size at this time of night. Place was mostly shut down except for the few bars and restaurants that remained open.

  “He’s going right. Asshole is heading for the park.” Royce’s words were harsh. His breaths panted from his lungs.

  Without slowing, I raced across the street, and my heart that was already beating a motherfucking drum jumped into my throat when a car came out of nowhere, making a quick right from the intersecting street.

  “Richard,” Royce shouted as the headlights bared down on me.

  Tires screeched and a horn blared.

  Panic jolting through my being, my hands shot out like that was gonna make a lick of difference, planting on the hood just when the car came skidding to a stop.

  “What the hell?” the driver shouted, honking the horn again.

  “Holy shit,” raked from my screaming lungs, the air coming in jagged heaves when I realized I’d been one distracted driver away from being toast.

  My fault.

  But the entirety of this load of bullshit was, wasn’t it? I needed not to forget that.

  Didn’t give myself time to process or apologize, adrenaline the driving force as I shoved off the car and redoubled my efforts.

  Frantic.

  Desperate to get to whoever this bastard was who had the balls to show up here.

  In my hometown.

  On the night of my sister’s engagement party.

  Fact that it was undoubtedly not a coincidence only heated my blood another hundred degrees.

  Once I hit the opposite sidewalk, Royce was once again right there, taking up my back.

  My attention skated through the gloom. Chasing down vapor.

  I rounded the building at the corner, glancing both ways before I raced for the park that sat sleeping on the other side of the street and took up an entire city block.

  Lush trees grew up like a living hedge of protection, and playgrounds sat at all four corners. Fields for ballgames were in the middle.

  In the daylight, it would be filled with children and laughter.

  Families spending time together.

  This place meant for everything right.

  But in the lapping darkness, it reeked of depravity.

  Ominous whispers and foreboding howls.

  I dove right into the middle of it.

  Footsteps pounded just behind and to my right. “You see him?” Royce panted.

  “No. Go right. I’ll take the left.”

  He ducked out, flying through a deserted playground while I drove deeper toward the fields. Where it would be most secluded.

  A frenzy burned inside. I had to find him.

  My eyes searched.

  My heart manic.

  Felt like I fucking looked for days.

  For a year.

  Finally, I came to a plodding stop when I saw Royce coming out of a row of bushes that lined one of the fields.

  “You catch sight of him?” I called, so out of breath I was halfway to bending in two.

  Royce’s expression was grim.

  “Fucker’s dust, man. Couldn’t even pick up a trace.”

  “Damn it,” I spat at the ground.

  I tipped my face toward the night sky and inhaled a couple of long, cleansing breaths, planting my hands on my hips like it might stop me from coming undone.

  Royce approached. “You get a look at his face?”

  My lips pressed into a thin line. “Nope. Saw about the same thing as you.”

  His brow twisted in speculation. “Then how did you know someone was at the party?”

  “Just…felt it.”

  He frowned. “You felt it?”

  “Yup.”

  “You working off some psychic shit now?”

  I tossed him a scowl. “Nope. Just working off my gut.”

  And my gut had every single hair on my body lifting on edge.

  Awareness tripping my consciousness into high alert. Royce tipped his attention to the side, contemplating before he looked back at me, the words quieted and concealed, like we might have an audience standing around us when we were surrounded by the stifling silence.

  “Maybe…maybe you’re just gettin’ paranoid, man.”

  My head shook. “No. Asshole ran. Proof enough for me.”

  His nod was glum because he knew it, too. “Honest, this is about the last thing I want to hear at my engagement party.”

  “Not what I wanted to hear, either.” Terror ridged my spine, and I gulped before I forced myself to speak. “Think someone is picking up a trail.”

  “Or maybe they’re just sniffing around. With the trial coming up, assholes are going to be out in full force, looking for a weakness. Fucker was most likely here for Emily or me, not you.”

  His teeth ground when he said it, his dark stare making another pass through the vacancy, aching for the kill.

  No question, the guy would give it all for my sister.

  Royce Reed? He’d been the Mylton Records exec who’d been sent to see to it that our band, Carolina George, signed on the dotted line with the mega record label. At the time, I hadn’t known he’d had ulterior motives—he was in it to take down his piece-of-shit stepfather, Karl Fitzgerald, who’d been the recor
d label’s CEO.

  “You don’t actually think my stepfather and Cory Douglas are gonna go down without a fight, do you? After what I took from them?” Anger leaked from the statement.

  Royce had undermined his stepfather’s entire criminal organization and tossed him from his wicked throne. Found evidence of the vile and depraved acts Karl Fitzgerald was championing—serving up a lifestyle of sex, drugs & rock ‘n’ roll.

  No surprise there.

  Except he’d taken it to whole new levels. Throwing lavish parties, drugs laid out on a silver platter in front of you, women or men there to entertain, naked and ready.

  Only they weren’t willing.

  Not present of their own accord.

  Forced into servitude.

  Indentured to Karl and his seedy empire.

  Too many artists were far too happy to take a slide into his perverted playground.

  Little did they know they were being photographed. The images used to manipulate Mylton Records’ artists into doing what he wanted. Siphoning from their royalties. Forcing them into amended contracts that completely screwed them. A leash tied around their necks. Call me a judgmental prick, but I knew firsthand most of them deserved it.