Unbreak Me
Unbreak Me
ISBN #
978-1-78651-032-7
©Copyright Julieanne Lynch 2016
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright May 2016
Edited by
Shannon Combs
Totally Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorized or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2016 by Totally Bound Publishing,
Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN
Totally Bound Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Totally Sizzling
and a
Sexometer
of
2.
UNBREAK ME
Julieanne Lynch
Two hearts, both broken… Two lives ready to be lived.
Molly Rice just wants to go through life unnoticed. To work hard, buy a little house and perhaps settle down some day. Everything else she can do without.
Connor Ellison, the son of the hard-nosed CEO of Ellison Enterprises, finds it hard to ignore the pretty, doe-eyed girl who one day accidentally walks into his life. Completely bowled over by her beautiful nature, Connor embarks on a whirlwind mission to make Molly his.
Molly soon finds herself lost in a billionaire’s paradise, but she isn’t easily persuaded. In one year, everything changes. When feelings get involved, there’s so much more at play.
Can Molly and Connor overcome the many hurdles pitted against them? Do they have the strength to unbreak each other’s hearts?
Dedication
For Gladys
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
YouTube: Google, Inc.
Starbucks: Starbucks Corporation
BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft Corporation
Tupperware: Dart Industries Inc.
Sleeping Beauty: Charles Perrault
Audi S4: Audi A.G.
Ritz: Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.
Tylenol: Tylenol Company
Jerry Springer: Multimedia Entertainment, Inc.
Bank of America: Bank of America Corporation
“I’ll Never Get Out of the World Alive”: Hank Williams & Fred Rose
Fiat: Fiat S.P.A.
Mercedes: Dailmer Chryster AG Corporation
Goodwill: Goodwill Industries International, Inc.
Xanax: Upjohn Company, the Corporation
Campral: Lipha, Lyonnaise Industrielle Pharaceutique Corporation
Cartier: Cartier International
Prologue
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”
~ Oscar Wilde
The ache always got her best when she stood by the grave. Emptiness like no other, and she often wondered if she’d ever find something to fill the void, to replace the pain with a life enriched and worth living. Bowing her head, she took in the sight of the wilting petals of last week’s flowers blowing as the wind crept up around her feet and she sighed. It was a ritual, one that she promised herself, one that made more sense to her, none to others. But she was determined not to let herself forget the kindness or words of wisdom delivered by the old woman who now lay in eternal sleep six feet below.
Life had been hard for Molly Rice. Not your average kind of hardship, but the kind of upbringing that meant survival was her main priority. Everything else took second place on her agenda. Had it not been for the kindness of Aggie Morella, it would have been Molly lying in that grave.
Bending down, she took out the dead flowers and replaced the small pot with a fresh bouquet of carnations, and she smiled.
“Just the way you like them, Aggie,” she said as she kissed her fingertips before laying her hand on the small gray headstone. “Sleep well, my friend.”
It was always at this point in her weekly visit when the reality became too much to bear. She knew that going back to the empty apartment left more time for thinking, and thinking was itself a curse.
Taking the long route back to her small apartment in the city, she reveled in the setting sun and smiled as the shadows danced across the bridge. Just every so often she found herself in awe of life, all the beauty that surrounded her, and craved having her own slice of heaven.
Things, of course, never did go the way she planned and on that fateful night in May, she’d never see things the way she once had. The journey that would follow would open up her heart, mind and soul to the true splendor of life.
Not once in her lifetime had she ever imagined that she would be the one stepping up to the plate and intervening.
Sometimes there was no explaining life.
Chapter One
Connor smashed his fist into the steering wheel. He swore as he hyperventilated. There were some things in life that pissed him off more than others. His father being one of them.
“Fuck!” he roared as he slammed his fists down time and time again until he finally stopped, looked up from the wheel and stared out of the windshield. The heavy traffic coming in the opposite direction blurred his vision, the adrenaline still pumping, fresh from his confrontation with the people who tried to control his every move.
He shook his head. He found it hard to see any way out of it. He’d messed up big this time, and his father wasn’t going to let him forget any time soon.
His phone rang, pulling him out of his harangue of abuse. He looked down and saw the caller ID flash
Mom
and swore. “Fuck!”
Connor knew there’d be more hell to pay if he ignored her, so he answered and braced himself for whatever the woman felt like delivering.
“Hello, Mother.” He sighed as he ran his hand over the back of his head. “Yes, I’m pretty aware… No, he did not… Mom, please, just give me a break. I’ve already had it from him. I said I was sorry… No, I didn’t do it on purpose. God, do you really think I’m that incompetent?” The frustration was beginning to burn deep in his stomach. “You know what, I’ve got to go.”
Connor threw the phone into the back of the car. He let out a long breath before opening the door and getting out. Much to the annoyance of other drivers, who sounded their horns at him, cars swerving trying not to hit his car. People roared and shouted obscenities at him.
He stood on the verge of the road, and jumped over the barrier onto the pedestrian pathway. The wind hit him hard, taking his breath away.
He paced up and down the pathway and tried to ignore the anger welling inside him. The disappointment he felt in himself for losing such a big investment and the fact that half the board would be gunning for him and his immediate termination added to his growing trepidation.
“I can’t do this anymore,” he whispered to himself as he looked out over the bay. The last remaining rays of sunlight began to die, leaving him standing in the twilight of what remained of his day, the numbness kicking in.
He’d been battling the unease for a long while. Pretending to everyone around him that he was fine, but all the while dying a little each day. His job sucked the life out him. It had killed whatever get-up-and-go he once had, and he was done.
It’s now or never
, he thought as he touched the cool cable, looking down over the metal, into the water below. “I’ll never be free,” he said as the noise of the traffic became distorted, replaced by the sound of his beating heart. “I just need to sleep.”
Connor pulled himself up onto the ledge of the bridge and over to the parapet. He held the cable as he looked down, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.
“I can’t do this anymore,” he muttered to himself as a tear slipped down over his cheek and he let go of the cable.
He closed his eyes, as he stood with his hands by his side. Warmth replaced the cold trembling sensation that had overtaken him mere moments before. He felt at ease with his decision to end his life, and there was no going back, not at that point.
“Seriously,” a voice came from behind him. “You, in your flashy suit and fancy car, are going to jump?”