Broken, page 1
Broken
A novel by Carlie Yates
©2022 Carlie Yates. All rights reserved.
Cover by Element Creations
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Broken
CONTENT WARNING!!
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
EPILOGUE- Two years later
RESOURCES
Authors (especially indie!) rely on your reviews. Please take a moment to review this novel on the platform that it was purchased from. It is appreciated more than you will ever know!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STALK ME
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND THANK YOUS
ALL NOVELS BY CARLIE YATES
For Kat, who introduced me to the inspiration and kept me going in the right direction. This one is for you, love!
CONTENT WARNING!!
This book contains emotionally sensitive
subjects and situations.
PROLOGUE
“You’re listed as an emergency contact.”
Katrina Carter held the phone up to her ear with an unsteady hand.
Emergency contact.
“His condition is critical.”
Critical.
Lorenzo Cade hadn’t been a part of her life for nearly ten years, not since he’d taken off before high school graduation. Before that, though... oh, before that he’d been her best friend. Her confidante.
Her everything.
And he’d shattered her heart.
“Where...” She cleared her throat and sat in the chair beside her, tried to control her shaking. “Which hospital is this?”
“Montgomery Central.”
She couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her as she pressed the fingers of her free hand to her trembling lips.
He’d come back.
He’d come back.
But why?
“Ms. Carter—"
“I’m on my way.”
CHAPTER 1
Please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die...
Those words repeated in Katrina’s head, reverberating as she gently pushed a lock of Lorenzo’s dark hair back from his forehead. His eyes remained closed through her touch, through the beeping machines, through the bustle of the medical personnel in the hallway. No amount of her willing him to open them would make it happen, Katrina knew this, but it didn’t stop her from leaning down, placing a gentle kiss on his rust-stained cheek and whispering in his ear.
“I’m here, Ren. I’m here. Just open your eyes for me, okay?”
Nothing.
Not even a twitch from his large, strong hand that she’d taken into hers as she sat upright. She smelled the disinfectant soap they’d used on him as she brought his hand up to her lips and placed a kiss in his palm, damning her heart for constricting in her chest as she did so.
“They missed a spot.” She wasn’t sure if he could hear her or feel the touch of her fingertips to his cheek before her eyes darted to the clock on the wall.
It was 10 A.M.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
She was supposed to be at the stables hiding her hungover eyes from the morning sun with oversized sunglasses. She was supposed to be laughing at Emily’s jokes over the drinks they’d shared the night before. She was supposed to be mulling over why she couldn’t seem to care about commitment to Timothy despite the fact they’d been dating for three years. She was supposed to be celebrating his latest promotion.
She wasn’t supposed to be with the man who’d shattered her heart beyond recognition, the one that had taken her years to get over. Sitting here with him, feeling the myriad of emotions in her soul, stirring up feelings she’d long since denied.
She was supposed to be having the time of her life.
Instead, she’d taken a call.
And that call had upended her entire being.
She hadn’t seen Lorenzo since he’d bailed before high school graduation, just after prom.
Just after they had...
“Ms. Carter?”
Katrina turned towards the questioning voice to see a young man standing in the doorway, not quite as disheveled as the others who had been in and out of the hospital room. His last name and title were embroidered on his white coat. Dr. Kincaid, it said. She licked her lips before she spoke.
“Trina. Please call me Trina.”
That’s what Lorenzo knew her by.
That’s who they’d asked for when she’d answered the call.
How had he known her number?
“Hello, Trina, I’m Dr. Kincaid.”
Her eyebrow involuntarily twitched, and she refrained from pointing at his coat and thanking him for stating the obvious. He held his hand out for her to shake, and she reluctantly released Lorenzo’s hand to do so. “Why hasn’t he been cleaned up thoroughly? Why is there dried blood on him?”
She wondered in a moment of panic if Lorenzo would do the same for her, speak up for her if she couldn’t speak for herself.
But she couldn’t know that; he’d taken himself out of the equation that was her life long ago.
“I assure you that he will be. They may have missed a bit after the surgery, but I will let them know.”
She swallowed though her throat tightened.
Surgery.
Dr. Kincaid added words like internal bleeding and possible brain damage to the mix, all the while the word surgery lingered in her mind.
Lorenzo had hated hospitals.
He’d said he’d rather die than undergo surgery.
“We’re not sure the length of time between the accident and when it was discovered. He’d lost a lot of blood.”
Again, the obvious as far as the blood had been stated, but Katrina focused on other words.
Accident.
Length of time.
“...did you last hear from Mr. Cade?”
“Ten years ago.”
“Pardon?”
Trina lifted her chin slightly higher and repeated herself. “Ten years ago.”
When he’d declared his love.
When she’d done the same.
And then he’d vanished without so much as a goodbye.
“Willow Creek Road isn’t the busiest—"
“I’m sorry, did you say Willow Creek Road?” Her hand was also up pausing whatever else the doctor was going to say.
There were only two houses on Willow Creek Road. One belonged to her parents, and the other... oh, the other was the place she’d first laid eyes on the boy who stole her heart.
***
“Thanks for being my plus one,” Emily said as she hugged Katrina before locking arms with her. “I can’t believe my new stepmonster has demanded a wedding. An actual wedding, here on the estate.” Emily’s voice was low as she steered her best friend around other milling guests.
“Yes, well what the bride wants,” Katrina began, then grinned, her slight dimples showing in her tanned cheeks.
“Well, that bride is hardly old enough to drink let alone marry my father.” Emily paused her tirade. “Thank you also for dressing country club style,” she added, her voice even lower as other members of the country club were present. “Stepmummy dearest will appreciate not being shown up.”
“Not too dowdy?” Katrina asked, and Emily smirked.
“Love the ponytail. Oh, and the ribbons. Very schoolgirl.”
Katrina reached up to check, and right there were the ribbons she’d had to wear for the cheerleading squad’s pictures that morning. “Give me a quick moment, okay? I need to go take these out before the ceremony starts.”
“Yeah, well don’t be startled by the wait staff, or my new foster brother, if he ever decides to come out of hiding.”
“Another one?”
“Yeah, well the last two have been such grand successes that my father couldn’t wait to add one after they were gone.”
“It’s not like they need the money.”
“No, but they sure like to look like they’re giving back to the community in some way that isn’t avoiding taxes. Be back quick, okay? I have to stay out here.”
“But you’ll save my seat.”
“That’s what best friends are for.”
Katrina weaved her
“Shit,” she muttered, realizing she’d passed the bathroom, which now had a small line forming at the door.
“Problems?”
He was beside her then, his voice smooth as butter as he peered down through her with dark brown eyes and lashes Katrina would die to have. His skin was darker as well, though he wasn’t quite as tan as she. And his hands... large, probably strong, and...
“I guess not,” he said with one raised shoulder, but before he could walk away from her, she opened her mouth.
And inserted her foot.
“Ribbons,” she said. The way he turned towards her slowly, his head cocked to the side, made her pulse take off in a rush. It was too late for her to be smooth, though, as she felt her face grow hot under his scrutiny. “I just...” She pointed to the back of her head. “Need to get rid of the ribbons.”
He reached around and pulled the silken material, the ribbons now in his hand.
“Oh, there you are!” Emily’s father was suddenly beside him, placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Trina, I see you’ve met Lorenzo. Wonderful. Perfect. If everyone could take your seats, please? I’m sure the bride is as excited to start this as I am.”
“Congratulations, Mr. Torrence,” Katrina said to him.
“Oh, don’t congratulate me yet, that might be bad luck. Are you coming, son?”
Through the corner of her eye, she noticed Lorenzo’s tight expression, one that was fleeting before he managed half a smile and walked off with Emily’s father, tucking the ribbons in his pants pocket as he did so.
Once in her seat, Katrina turned to Emily with wide eyes. “Wow,” was all she could manage to say.
“Wow, what wow?”
Katrina leaned in closer so that only her best friend could hear, motioning discreetly to where Lorenzo sat. “He is so damn hot.”
“Ugh, Lorenzo? He’s... well, he looks better in a suit, but trust me, Trina, that boy is bad news. Besides, he’s my foster brother. Hookups are a no go with that one, got it?”
Katrina sat back with a satisfied smile.
Gorgeous? Check.
Bad boy? Check.
Off limits? Check.
Her summer was suddenly looking exponentially brighter.
CHAPTER 2
Katrina sat beside Lorenzo, his hand in hers not quite the way she’d longed for. He slept on, breathing on his own but still unresponsive. His belongings were in a bag at her feet, yet she couldn’t bring herself to let go of his hand.
“Emergency contact, huh?” She sniffled and shifted in her seat. “Should I be flattered? Or insulted?” She gave his hand a squeeze she didn’t know if he could feel. “Were you awake when they found you? And... and... were you coming to find me? Or...”
Emily.
Emily would have to know by then if Lorenzo had shown up at her father’s estate.
“I don’t want to let go,” she whispered.
But to find her cellphone, letting go of him is what she did.
“I’m still here, Ren. I’m just... I’m calling Emily, okay?” She rummaged through her bag, where she’d dropped her phone in haste after getting the call. Finally finding it, she pulled up her contacts and found Emily’s number, pausing only briefly before pushing the button to call her.
Straight to voicemail.
“Em... Em, it’s Trina. I’m at the hospital, that’s why I couldn’t meet you. It’s... it’s Ren. He’s here, right here. But he’s been in an accident, and they don’t know...”
They didn’t know when he would wake up.
They didn’t know if he would wake up at all.
“I know that you’re not his biggest fan, but... but could you do me a favor? Could you let me know if he stopped to see your father? The crash, it was on Willow Creek Road. My parents are gone on vacation and... and please, could you check for me?”
Lorenzo was such a careful driver; he always had been, or at least he had back when he’d first gotten his license. Back when he would pick Trina up and take her to the park where they would run together, then hide in their spot in the woods and talk.
Just talk.
But she heard whispers about speeding and recklessness and possible impairment.
“I can’t believe you would do something like that, not on that road.” She took his hand in hers as she thought of the twists, the turns, the drop-offs on either side.
The missing guardrail.
Fighting tears, she gently ran her fingers through his hair where they had washed it with their special non-rinse shampoo, trying to get the blood out.
They’d failed.
“Do you remember the pool party?” she asked suddenly, then let out a short laugh through her tears. “The first one for you, I mean. Where you’d walked out in your jeans and leather jacket and stripped down to your trunks? You totally did that on purpose, drove all the girls crazy. I know you drove me crazy.”
***
Katrina was accustomed to lounging in the chairs by Emily’s pool; it was something that they did quite often over the summer months. Emily’s parents owned an estate full of pools, tennis courts, riding stables, and a guest house while Katrina’s parents simply owned a spacious, sprawling house on the other side of Willow Creek Road. While Emily would occasionally frequent Katrina’s home for sleepovers and such, it was here by the pool where the girls would spend most of their summers.
This day was the grand 4th of July celebration that they had every year, where all the students who ranked in Emily’s social circle would be invited for a pool party. While no alcohol was given by Emily’s parents, a few people were able to sneak in bottles of contents to be poured into sodas and juices.
It was also the first party since the wedding of Mr. Torrence to his very lovely, and very young, bride.
“They’ve wanted their privacy,” Emily said with a crinkled-up nose. “Just... ew.”
Katrina laughed. “I think it’s cute.”
“Cute? She’s, what, 8 years older than me?”
“They’re in love,” Judith said as she walked over, hips swaying in her barely-there bikini. “Where’s the latest token child?”
“Lorenzo?” Emily’s mouth turned down in a frown. “Who knows and who cares?”
Katrina cared. No, care was the wrong word for it. She needed her ribbons back, that’s what it was.
Debra, another member of the cheerleading squad, sat in the chair beside Katrina and stretched out her legs. “I need more sun. Trina, you make all of us look pasty.”
Katrina smiled at her. “I can’t help that I tan easily.”
“It makes us wonder about you,” Emily added, and Katrina felt unease take hold. Emily tended to be less than receptive to those who looked even remotely different from her, and Katrina couldn’t stand it.
There were many things about Emily she was beginning to dislike.
“Oh, look. The help’s here.”
Like when she said things along those lines.
It wasn’t help at all. Instead, it was a tall, tanned boy in a leather jacket and torn blue jeans with his hair in disarray.
“Holy hotness,” Judith purred.
“Sign me up to help with him,” Debra added.
Katrina stayed silent as he shrugged out of his jacket revealing his lean, toned body. No sign of actual tan lines; no, this boy was naturally darker, though not by much. She watched with pure fascination as he undid his jeans and pulled them down, revealing deep blue swim trunks beneath them. Even his legs were toned. He stepped out of the jeans with ease and kicked them to the side and began his walk around the pool.
“He’s totally coming over here,” Judith half-whispered.
“He totally better not,” Emily snapped.
His eyes stayed on the water rather than trailing to the girls, three of which were watching every guarded move of his.
