Hard Bastard: A Second Chance Mafia Romance Read online

  Hard Bastard

  A Second Chance Mafia Romance

  B. B. Hamel

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Prologue: Sadie

  1. Sadie

  2. Gage

  3. Sadie

  4. Gage

  5. Sadie

  6. Gage

  7. Sadie

  8. Gage

  9. Sadie

  10. Gage

  11. Sadie

  12. Gage

  13. Sadie

  14. Gage

  15. Sadie

  16. Gage

  17. Sadie

  18. Gage

  19. Sadie

  20. Gage

  21. Sadie

  22. Gage

  23. Sadie

  24. Gage

  25. Sadie

  26. Gage

  27. Sadie

  Thank You

  Preview

  Preview

  Based: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance

  Untitled

  1. Aubrie

  2. Lincoln

  3. Aubrie

  4. Lincoln

  5. Aubrie

  6. Lincoln

  7. Aubrie

  8. Lincoln

  9. Aubrie

  10. Lincoln

  11. Aubrie

  12. Lincoln

  13. Aubrie

  14. Lincoln

  15. Aubrie

  16. Lincoln

  17. Aubrie

  18. Lincoln

  19. Lincoln

  20. Aubrie

  21. Lincoln

  22. Aubrie

  Smash: A Stepbrother MMA Romance

  1. Alexa

  2. Cole

  3. Alexa

  4. Cole

  5. Alexa

  6. Cole

  7. Alexa

  8. Cole

  9. Alexa

  10. Cole

  11. Alexa

  12. Cole

  13. Alexa

  14. Cole

  15. Alexa

  16. Cole

  17. Alexa

  18. Cole

  19. Alexa

  Copyright © 2016 by B. B. Hamel

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Important: This ARC copy is not for sale or distribution.

  Serial No. 71

  Prologue: Sadie

  I could still remember the wind through my hair as I held Gage’s large, muscular hand. He smiled at me as we sped down the abandoned back road toward a small meadow, the top of his old beat-up convertible down and the sun shining.

  He pulled over, the tires crunching over gravel, and we jumped out. I grabbed the bottle of wine I stole from my dad and ran off, smiling, and he called after me.

  “Get back here,” he said, laughing. “I have the corkscrew.”

  “Come get me,” I said, and kept going.

  I heard him behind me, laughing as he chased me. I ran into the forest, past the trees, looking back at him. He easily could have caught me, and we both knew it, but we both loved the chase. Soon, I saw the clearing up ahead.

  “Got you.” I felt him grab my waist and spin me, lifting me into the air. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Asshole, put me down.”

  “Okay, if that’s what you want.” He slowly slid me down to his feet, pressing me against his body.

  I bit my lip, looking at him. Gage was handsome, so damn handsome. Every girl in school wanted him, but most of them were too afraid to even talk to him. He had a bad reputation and everyone knew he was involved with things he shouldn’t be, but I didn’t care.

  He made me feel good, so damn good. He kissed my lips gently, biting my lower lip, and I groaned as he slowly lifted my dress up around my thighs.

  “Gage,” I said. “We can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “We’re in the middle of a clearing. Anyone can see us.”

  He kissed my neck. “Don’t act like you care about that,” he said. “We’re here because you want me to pull those panties down your thighs and lick your pussy until you scream.”

  “No,” I said. “We’re here to drink some wine that I stole.”

  “The stolen wine was an excuse.” I felt his fingers slowly press up along my skin and touch my soaking clit. I gasped and bit down onto his shoulder and he laughed. “I know what you really want, Sadie.”

  “Asshole,” I mumbled, but it was an empty insult. I was too busy panting as his fingers slipped underneath my panties and began to work my swollen slit.

  I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his lips hard, loving the taste of him and the rough scratch of his scruff. I groaned into his mouth as his fingers pressed deep inside of me.

  I let him slowly move me down to my knees and press me into the dry, warm grass. He spread my legs wider, kissing me hard.

  I laced my fingers in his hair, moaning loudly and with abandon. I couldn’t stop myself no matter how hard I tried. The thought of getting caught was driving me forward, making me even wetter. Gage knew exactly what to do with me, how to work me, how to press my buttons. He was intense and incredible, and I’d never experienced something like that before.

  “You want me to fuck you right here, don’t you?” he whispered in my ear.

  “Gage,” I moaned, squirming.

  “That’s right. Beg my name. You know I like that.” I gasped as he pressed his fingers deeper, lips grazing my neck.

  “Don’t be an asshole,” I said.

  “You like it when I’m an asshole. We both know it.”

  “No. I like it when you give me what I want.”

  “I always get you what you need,” he whispered softly, fingers working my pussy, sliding in and out of my soaking wet spot. “And I always leave you begging for more.”

  Just then, my phone started to vibrate. We ignored it as he kissed me, his fingers sliding in and out, our tongues touching as we explored each other. But it began to vibrate again, and again, and again. Finally, he pulled away.

  “You should get that,” he said.

  “Forget about the phone. Throw it into the forest, I don’t care.”

  He laughed. “I’ll still be here. Just get the phone. Might be important.”

  I groaned as he pulled away, annoyed and frustrated. I quickly snatched my phone from my bag and answered it before it could go to voicemail again.

  “Hello?” I said quickly.

  “Sadie.”

  I blinked. It was my dad, and he sounded pissed.

  “Hey, Dad,” I said, looking at Gage. He gave me a look, a cocky grin. Dad hated Gage more than anything in the world, more than I even thought possible. My dad was normally easy-going and incredibly kind, but he couldn’t stand the sight of Gage.

  “I know you’re with that boy,” Dad said. “You need to come home right now.”

  “Mom told me I was allowed out,” I said. “You can’t keep doing this.”

  “It’s not just that, though you know I don’t want you around that boy. I need to talk to you about something important.”

  I could hear the urgency in his voice and it made my blood run cold.

  “Is everything okay with Mom?”

  “You need to come home, sweetie. We need to talk.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll be there soon.”

  He hung up the phone
and I slipped mine back into my bag.

  My mom had breast cancer. It was pretty advanced, and she needed to go through round after round of chemo plus surgery. It had been hard on our family lately, but she seemed like she was improving, or at least that was what my parents were telling me.

  If it wasn’t the case, I knew they were just trying to protect me. I hated that they felt like I was some child they had to keep the truth from, but at least I understood.

  Gage gave me a look, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to go home. My dad wants to talk to me.”

  He frowned. “Your Mom?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “I can’t be sure.”

  “Okay. Let’s go.” He stood and helped me up. We grabbed our things and quickly walked back to our car. Stress rolled through me, but Gage got us in and going right away. He held my hand as he drove quickly back toward town.

  Gage got a bad reputation. Most of that stemmed from the way he looked, which was what drew me toward him to begin with. He was tall, muscular, and had tattoos all along his arms. He was the only kid at school with a full tattoo sleeve.

  His family was pretty rough, though. There were rumors that his uncles were involved in the mafia. Gage lived with his grandmother because both of his parents died mysteriously in a car accident, which of course is the subject of plenty of other rumors. I asked him once about his family, but he didn’t seem to want to talk much about it. We didn’t go over his house, and mostly drove around in his car and went out on dates.

  Gage wasn’t a bad person. I knew that for a fact. Maybe he had tragedy in his life and his family was a little difficult, but he was a good person at heart. I knew that he wanted to get away from all of the pain and the crime that he was surrounded by, but he just didn’t know how. I wanted to help him, maybe save him. Maybe I could make a difference.

  I wasn’t thinking about that as we drove back to my house, though. Gage dropped me off out front, kissing me softly on the lips before I got out. “Call me if you need me,” he said.

  I nodded and quickly shut the car door. I walked up the front steps and he pulled away. I watched him go before going inside.

  Dad was sitting in the den watching football on television. I walked in and looked around, frowning. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

  He looked up at me and took a deep breath. He shut off the television. “Sit down, sweetheart.”

  “Please, just tell me what’s happening.”

  “It’s about our family. Please, sit.”

  I sighed and quickly sat in the chair closest to me. He sat up and cleared his throat.

  “I just want you to know that we didn’t plan any of this,” he said. “It just happened, and it happened quickly. I’m sorry that you weren’t consulted on any of it.”

  “Dad. Just tell me what’s happening.”

  “As you know, your mother has been struggling. My boss at work managed to pull some strings, and he’s getting us into an important clinical trial for a drug that could potentially save your mother.”

  I blinked. “That sounds like great news.”

  “It is. She’ll also get a whole new team of great doctors, all recommended to me by my boss.”

  “That’s awesome, Dad. I can’t believe it. But why did I have to rush home for that?”

  He sighed. “We have to move to Seattle.”

  I stared at him. “What?”

  “I’m sorry, honey. We have to go, and we have to go tomorrow. The trial starts soon and your mother can’t be late. I know this is so last second, but it’s her best chance.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I’d never left my small Virginia town before, let alone moved across the country. And we were supposed to be leaving the next day? That was insane.

  “How are we going to move in a day?”

  “Well, we’ll all fly out there. I booked the tickets already. We’ll live in a hotel while we find a new house. I’ll sell this one and have movers bring our things out when the time is right.”

  I shook my head. “This is nuts, Dad.”

  “I know. But we can’t miss this chance. You understand, don’t you?”

  I wanted to get up and scream. I couldn’t move away from Ashertown. All of my friends were there, everyone I knew, everything I was. I couldn’t leave.

  I couldn’t leave Gage.

  It hit me just then. I was going to move across the country, as far away from Gage as possible.

  “You can’t make me go,” I said softly.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. We have to go as a family.”

  “You’re doing this to get me away from him,” I said.

  He looked confused. “What?”

  “Gage. I know you hate him. That’s why you’re doing this.”

  He looked sad, truly sad. “No, honey. I’m trying to save your mother’s life.”

  I stood up. “I won’t go. I won’t.”

  “I’m sorry. You’re going whether I have to drag you there or not.”

  I stormed away, sixteen and angry. I thought that my life was coming to an end, that my parents were unreasonable. I stormed up into my room and slammed the door, jumping into bed and burying my face in the pillow.

  I cried for an hour. When I finally got myself under control, I called and told Gage what was happening.

  He didn’t seem angry. He said he understood.

  I didn’t understand. Not back then, not when I was just a kid. I wanted to be with Gage forever, wanted to grow old with him, wanted to get him away from his awful family and save him from a life I knew he didn’t want.

  Instead, the next morning I got onto a plane and I flew with my family out to Seattle.

  I had no other choice. I was sixteen and emotional, but I wasn’t a monster. I would do anything for my mother, and if the clinical trial was supposed to save her, well then I was willing to give it a try.

  But the whole plane ride I just kept thinking about that meadow, about being there with Gage, his hands between my legs, his mouth against mine.

  That moment felt perfect, incredible, and I wished I could live inside of it forever.

  Chapter 1

  Sadie

  Ten Years Later

  The weather was hot, oppressively hot, and had that famous Ashertown humidity. I’d only been back for a few hours at most and already I was sweating through my nice white work blouse, annoyed and tired. My heels made a clacking sound as I made my way up the concrete steps toward the main courthouse and its modernist design.

  Cool air-conditioning slammed me in the face as I stepped into the lobby. I’d never actually been in the courthouse before, but it was surprisingly nice. The outside looked like it hadn’t been updated since the seventies, but the inside suggested major renovations. It was all glass and modern lines, plus the ubiquitous metal detectors.

  We had to be kept safe somehow, I figured, and a courthouse was the kind of place you really wanted to be careful in.

  I hurried over to the front desk. The man sitting there smiled up at me as I approached.

  “Can I help you?”

  “I’m here to see . . . “ I pulled up my phone, embarrassed that I forgot my new boss’s name already. “Rick Shakeman.”

  “Ah, yes, of course. One second.” He made a quick call while I waited. He nodded and smiled at me before hanging up the phone. “Go on up to the third floor, make a left. He’s in room 322.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I turned and went through the metal detector while my briefcase went through a scanner, just like at the airport. When I was all clear, I quickly climbed the stairs and made my way down the hall.

  It was my first day of work, and I was already late. To be fair, it wasn’t my fault. The night before had been a total disaster; my flight was delayed, and then delayed again, and then canceled. I managed to get a red eye, but that meant I wasn’t getting any sleep. As soon as I got to the hotel, I rinsed off, got dressed, and hurried over to the courthouse.

  I never expected to come b
ack to Ashertown. I could still remember what it was like to live in a small town, and I vividly remembered the day that my father told me we were moving. I was such a selfish brat back then, but really I was just heartbroken. I knew I’d never see Gage again, my bad boy high school boyfriend.

  I was right. He stopped calling about a month after I left and I couldn’t really blame him. There was no way that we could have a relationship beyond video chatting on our computers and phone calls. I was too young to buy plane tickets out to see him, and he couldn’t afford it either. There was just no future for us.

  It still hurt. I could remember crying for days when I realized that he wasn’t going to call me again. I tried to get in touch with him, but his grandmother basically gently told me not to call anymore.

  My poor little teenage heart was broken into a million pieces.

  Maybe it was stupid, but I never got over that. I had other boyfriends since Gage, some of them great and some of them pretty lousy, but I always thought fondly about him. I always remembered him as the one that got away, the one that could have been special.

  Now, I was single and racing down a hallway to meet with my boss, and I was incredibly late. That was a pretty bad look for a new Assistant District Attorney.

  I found the door marked “Shakeman” and knocked twice.

  “Come in!”

  I opened the door and stepped inside. Rick Shakeman was an old-school District Attorney. He was larger, heavy-set with thick dark hair and a smile on his face.

  “Well now, you made it,” he said.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Shakeman. I had a nightmare trip.”

  “I know, I know. Call me Rick. It’s okay.” He shook my hand and gestured at the chair in front of him. “Go ahead and sit down.”

  I smiled and sat down. “Really, I’m terribly sorry.”

  “It’s fine, quit apologizing. I’m just glad you’re here.”

  “Me too, Rick. I’m rally excited to get started.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I hear you’re from these parts?”

  “I am,” I said. “That’s why I wanted to get transferred here from Seattle. I guess I wanted to come home.”