The Twisted Series The Complete Set, page 76
part #1 of Twisted Series
“Do you want to meet him?” she asked.
I stood frozen to the spot as Jax looked up at me. His expression was unreadable and for whatever reason, this made my feet move. I wanted to know what put that look on his face. I needed to know.
The closer I got to the hospital bed, the quicker my heart raced inside my chest. Jax never took his gaze off me, even as I looked away from him and stopped next to Ray’s bed. She held the baby in her arms, but I still hadn’t looked down at him. Our eyes stayed on each other for a moment longer and then mine dropped to her arms.
He was a gorgeous, perfect human with no scars, no wounds, no damages. I blinked as I took him in even more. He was a long baby, which only told me that he would be tall when he got older, but it wasn’t his size that made my heart skip another beat.
It was his eyes.
I sucked in a breath at the sight of them and looked up at Jaxson. I knew exactly what put the unreadable expression in his eyes. I felt it. Deep down in my soul. It rocked through me, hitting every goddamn nerve I had. Like an earthquake, it created large open wounds in my already damaged heart. My gaze dropped to the baby again and the air in the room seemed to thicken, making it hard to breathe.
His eyes…
They were the kind of eyes that could only belong to one person.
Everything around me vanished. Ray. Jax. All of it. The only thing I could see was the baby as he stared up at me with beautiful crystal blue eyes.
“Miles…” I whispered.
Amazon bestselling author of The Twisted Series
TAINTED
Book Four of the Twisted Series
EMILY ROSE
TAINTED
Book Four of the Twisted Series
Copyright © 2020 by Emily Rose
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published by Emily Rose
Cover designer: Emily Rose
Editors: Sara Miller, Pretty Little Book Promotion and PA Service
Interior Designer: Julie Anne Addicott, Miss Bliss Designs
New Adult Novels by Emily Rose
Twisted (Book One of the Twisted Series)
Torment (Book Two of the Twisted Series)
Toxic (Book Three of the Twisted Series)
Tainted (Book Four of the Twisted Series)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
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
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have so many people I want to acknowledge. Firstly though, I want to thank my husband, Chris Marshall, for always being there for me. You always tell me that I can do this, even when I feel like everything I write is total crap. You support every decision I make, love me at my worst, and for that, I’m grateful. Thank you for being such an amazing partner and best friend.
I love you so much babe!
I’d also like to thank my amazing PA and Boss Bitch, Amy Rhodes. Girl, I would have gone insane without your help. You’ve been an amazing friend to me and I’m so beyond lucky to have you by my side. Love you girl!
My dear editor, Sara Miller, thank you for being my girl and a kickass editor. You have done an amazing job and I love you so much!
And to my formatter, Julie Addicott, girl I seriously can’t thank you enough. You do exactly what I want and make my books beautiful. Love you babe!
To my ARC bitches, Chrissy Marie, Jennifer, Karen, Hali, Kristy, Wendy, Melissa, Danielle, Latoya, Kristin, Brittany, Tiffany, Kim, and Krystal, you girls are seriously the best team I’ve ever had. Not only are you ladies crazy fun, but you’re my besties. Thank you for all that you’ve done for me.
To my Street Team, thank you! Seriously. You guys do so freaking much to get my name out there and I’m beyond thankful.
To my Beta Team, you ladies are the bomb. Not even kidding. You girls are a huge part of molding my books into what they are. Without you, I wouldn’t know what to do. Thank you!
And finally, to you, the reader, thank you for taking the chance on me. The Twisted Series has been a long, hard journey and you have stuck with me through it. Without people like you, this wouldn’t be possible. You have made my dream come true and I love you for it. I hope that when you finish Tainted, you will stick around, because I have so many ideas for books! So, here’s to many more adventures, a lot more heartbreak, sexy relationships and crazy villains!
Bottoms up, it’s going to be a hectic ride!
Xoxo-Emily Rose
Prologue
Past
Jaxson
“Are you really going to use that on me?” I asked as I held my hands up in defense.
I had no idea if asking that question was a good idea, but I had to do something to distract him from actually pulling the fucking trigger.
And I could only hope Danny heard me when I begged her with my gaze to keep her ass in the car. I couldn’t focus on getting the gun away from him if I was worried about her.
Miles tilted his head to the side just a bit and the look in his eyes told me that he was farther off the rails than even I imagined he would be.
“I’ve thought about the million ways I could kill you, and not one of those ideas involved a gun. It mainly involved me beating the fuck out of you,” he said.
My gut told me that he wasn’t bullshitting.
He had thought about it and I couldn’t say that I blamed him. I deserved it.
I knew that.
He knew that.
As these thoughts raced through my mind unchecked, I took a step forward and spoke evenly, “If you don’t intend to pull that damn trigger, then put it down,” I said.
Miles laughed once, humorlessly. “Nah, I think I want to hold it a bit longer.”
“Look man, I know things are fucked up- “
He interrupted me, “Fucked up? Yeah. Let me point out exactly how fucked up things are…brother. I lied to my wife about Mia and she got her revenge by fucking someone else. And as if shit wasn’t messed up enough, Owen tries to kill us and then we lie to everyone, including the cops about him ever being at the fire, which ends up sending the wrong damn person to prison, but at the same time, we both know that prison won’t stop Owen. Then me, being the fucked-up person I am, tells Danny the truth about that night, which only pulled her deeper into this bullshit we created, so yeah, I would say things are definitely fucked up…” he started shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe how this shit had snowballed on us.
But he was right. We had lied. We told the cops, Rachel, Danny, and Ray a bullshit story. I knew that eventually, it would catch up to us and we would be faced with a choice, but I tried not to think about it when that time came.
All I could think about right now was my ex-best friend and the fact that he was holding a gun to my chest, ready to pull the trigger if his finger so much as twitched.
“I get it man. I was there too, but we can’t figure it out tonight and we sure as hell can’t figure it out if you don’t put that damn gun down,” I said.
Miles locked gazes with me. I could see the wheels turning inside his head and I knew I had scratched the surface of his unstable mind. Just a few more minutes and I could break in. I could reach him and save him from himself.
He was my brother, even if he refused to call me his anymore. I had to try. I had to keep trying. No matter the cost. That was what family did and even if it meant never having Ray the way I wanted her, I would do it in a heartbeat.
As much as the thought of Ray loving anyone else ignited the rage that smoldered inside me, I would save his ass simply because she loved him. I would put my own feelings aside for her. It was always about her.
Before he could respond though, blue and red lights surrounded us. I looked around in utter disbelief as the cops swarmed the parking lot and jumped out of their cars, aiming their guns at Miles.
That was when I heard a car door slam shut and looked over my shoulder to see Danny standing at the front of her car. My gaze quickly switched to Miles and I saw the anger laced with the disbelief in his eyes as he realized exactly what was about to happen.
“Why?” he asked her.
“I had no choice. You can’t do this,” Danny said.
I could hear the pain in her voice. I knew Danny had never been the type of person who would do something like this, but Miles had given her, given us, no other choice and because of her decision to save him from himself, the anger in his gaze turned into pure betrayal.
“Drop the gun and put your hands up!” An officer demanded.
That was when I knew seconds mattered in this situation. It was either I talked Miles down or those cops pulled the trigger.
“Just drop the gun, Miles. Don’t do this,” I said.
He looked between Danny and me as if he were lost for words.
“Drop it! Now!” Another officer yelled.
Danny spoke then and I could hear the tears in her voice, “Do what they say, please…” she begged him.
Miles held the gun steadily in his hand and stared her down as if she were his worst enemy now, “I can’t believe you,” he said.
That was when I spoke, “Drop the fucking gun, Miles,” I said and forced myself to stay rooted to the spot and not tackle his ass to the ground, likely getting myself shot in the process.
“Last warning, sit the gun on the ground and put your hands up!” An officer yelled.
Miles met my gaze and that was when I knew everything clicked in his head. He knew it wasn’t going to get any better from this point forward.
He knew he had no choice.
Slowly, I watched as he eased the gun to his side and then dropped to his knees where he placed the gun on the ground beside him. The cops swarmed him in an instant and he was shoved to the ground. Behind me, I could hear Danny as she cried, and I slowly dropped my hands back to my sides as I watched the officers handcuff Miles.
I never took my gaze off him and as he was brought to his feet, he spoke. It wasn’t loud enough that Danny could hear him, but I could.
“Tell Ray that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything,” he said and then he was directed toward one of the police cars.
It was at that moment that the cold truth weighed on my shoulders. Miles was my best friend, he was my brother, but after tonight… after this, I wasn’t even sure if I had ever really known him at all.
Chapter One
Present
Ray
I sat curled up on Jax’s couch and stared down at my son as he slept soundlessly on the blue baby blanket that I had laid out on the living-room floor for him.
My heart flipped inside my chest as I took in the large man that lay on his stomach next to him. He was using his arm as a pillow and with his eyes closed, his breathing even and deep, he looked completely at peace, something I haven’t seen in him since the night he came back to his house and informed me that Miles had been arrested.
Tonight had been a long one. Jayson, my son, had woken up every two hours on the dot, but Jaxson hadn’t let me help. He woke up with him every single time and made sure he was taken care of, while I slept in his bedroom. I couldn’t be more thankful for everything Jaxson has done over the past three months since I brought my little man into the world.
I knew I wasn’t welcome at Rachel’s place, even if she wasn’t there and only Danny was, but Jaxson wouldn’t let me go back to my mom’s house either. He offered his home to me, even if we weren’t anything other than friends at this point. Things weren’t normal between us by any means and those memories of what we had done still lingered between us, but somehow, I still felt relaxed around him and I didn’t know what I would have done without him.
He had done all of this, even though the chance of Jaxson being Jayson’s father seemed like it was becoming more of a dream than any kind of reality.
As I stared at Jaxson sleeping next to Jayson, my mind traveled to Miles. He had already been locked up by the time I gave birth, so it had been a total of six months since I last saw him and I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind right now.
It was the last thing I wanted to do, but considering how unstable Miles was the night he got arrested, after my son was born, I had filed for divorce and petitioned for him to have no visitation rights. That part had been granted, but in the state of Georgia, Miles was still considered Jayson’s legal father until the DNA samples came back and we attended our court date. Which also meant that if it turned out that Jayson did belong to Miles, he could easily fight to have his rights reinstated after his release, which wasn’t for another year.
And I hated it.
The waiting wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be though. It was the idea that if Jaxson wasn’t the father, the connection he had forged with Jayson could be stripped from him and that broke my heart.
Other than the obvious custody issue and paternity issue, I still had so much more I had to figure out. Eventually, I would need my own place, so that Jayson could have his own room instead of sharing Jaxson’s room with me, and I had nothing left from my divorce aside from the clothes on my back and the car sitting outside. Everything had been Miles’ and that meant I was doomed to start from scratch.
But starting from scratch required having a job, which I would have to get soon. Lately, the only way I had been able to provide for Jayson was because of Jaxson. He has been working overtime at the body shop, so he could help support himself, me, and Jayson, making sure the bills were paid on time, and everything else. I knew it had put a load of stress on him, but he never once complained.
I was beyond thankful for him.
There was a soft knock at the door, and it pulled me from my thoughts. I eased off the couch and tiptoed to the door, gently pulling it open.
Standing on the front porch, I saw my very own mother. She wore a long-sleeve red sweater and dark blue jeans. Her hair was curled around her shoulders and her smile was bright as she held her arms out to her sides.
“I’m here!!” She said loudly.
I panicked and stepped outside quickly, closing the door behind me. “Shhh… they’re all asleep inside,” I said.
Mom cringed. “Oh, sorry. I’m just excited to meet my first grandbaby.”
I smiled. “I know, thanks for coming,” I said and then wrapped her in a quick hug before I pulled back.
The relationship between Mom and I had gone south before her wedding when I had lost it, but after the night of the fire that burned Twisted down and changed my life forever, I had tucked tail and gone back to her house and we had slowly tried to make things work again.
“Oh, it’s no problem,” she said.
I looked around and noticed that my stepfather wasn’t with her. “Where’s Samuel?”
Mom sighed. “He had to work and couldn’t get the time off to come down. I’m sorry baby. He was really excited. This is his first grandbaby too.”
Considering Samuel’s age, the urge to roll my eyes and tell her that it didn’t surprise me one bit that Jayson was his first grandchild was overwhelming, but instead, I kept my thoughts to myself.
“It’s fine. Come on. Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here,” I said as goosebumps ran down my arms at the blustery late September air.
“Ok,” she said.
I eased the door open again and we walked inside. Mom instantly snuck over to where Jax and Jayson still slept on the floor. She looked down at them with a glow in her eyes.
“Oh My God. He’s so adorable!” She whisper yelled.
I nodded as my heart filled with joy. “He is.”
“I mean Jaxson isn’t all that bad looking either,” Mom said, and then tilted her head to the side as if she were checking him out as he slept.
“Mom… please don’t,” I said as a laugh threatened to climb its way out and then I walked toward the kitchen where I started digging through the cabinets for two coffee cups.
“Oh, come on. I know everything remember, but it wasn’t until I saw him that I realized I probably would have hit that too if I were as young as you,” she said as she sat down at the table in the corner of the room.
My heart dropped and I was so glad that Jax was not awake to hear her. “Mom. Seriously. Can we not talk about my love life?” I asked as I poured the hot coffee I had made earlier into the two cups.
“Ok, ok. Fine,” she said, but I could hear the disappointment in her tone.
After the cups were filled, I walked over to the table and sat one down for her before I took my own seat and held the hot cup between my hands, letting it warm them. “Thank you.”
