Millie's Second Chance Read online

  The Town of Pearl 4

  Millie’s Second Chance

  Millie Donovan is thinking of coming back to Pearl for a visit as her newest relationship destructs and her past comes back to haunt her, or rather kill her. Frank, the man who nearly killed her two years ago, is released from prison on good behavior after seducing his therapist. He wants his Millie, and he will stop at nothing, not even murdering innocent people, to get to her.

  Millie is no damsel in distress. She's determined to not let Frank or her past mistakes destroy her new dream of starting over in Pearl. She's learned that she deserves to be treated with respect, and damn it, she's done with men altogether. Her new life doesn't have the room for one. She's been burnt twice before, and the third time is not going to happen.

  The Lewis brothers, Dalton, Hank, Marco, Jeremy, and Anthony, disagree. She's the spark that lights their fires, and she's about to realize that they want to be part of Millie's Second Chance.

  Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 72,407 words

  MILLIE’S SECOND CHANCE

  The Town of Pearl 4

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  LOVEXTREME

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: LoveXtreme

  MILLIE’S SECOND CHANCE

  Copyright © 2012 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-772-8

  First E-book Publication: October 2012

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Millie’s Second Chance by Dixie Lynn Dwyer from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Dwyer’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To my reading fans who have enjoyed the Town of Pearl series, I hope you enjoy this tale about empowerment, survival, and success. As women, we sometimes face barriers that seem overwhelming and potentially indestructible, but somehow, someway, we triumph and overcome them. The Town of Pearl is a very special place, where many women wind up in search of their second chances.

  May you enjoy Millie’s journey and the development of an organization in Pearl that represents those women who have succeeded in achieving their second chance while they wait with open arms for those who are still searching.

  Live by the saying…“I am woman…Hear me roar!”

  Hugs!

  ~Dixie~

  MILLIE’S SECOND CHANCE

  The Town of Pearl 4

  DIXIE LYNN DWYER

  Copyright © 2012

  Prologue

  Millie laughed as Stacy stared after Mickey Sullivan.

  “He has a really nice butt,” Stacy whispered, and Anna gave Stacy a light smack on her arm.

  “Lower your voice, Stacy! He might hear and come back this way.”

  Stacy placed her hands on her hips and stared at Anna.

  “Like that would be so terrible?”

  Millie shook her head as she grabbed the notebook from Stacy’s hand.

  “Is that who you’ve been writing about in your diary?” she teased.

  “Give that back, Millie!” Stacy demanded.

  Anna remained quiet and Millie stopped a moment to look at her as she handed Stacy her book.

  She worried about Anna. She was always so quiet and reserved all the time. Lately she’d been extra quiet and she was sporting another new bruise on her upper arm.

  Stacy caught Millie’s line of sight and joined her by Anna as they sat cross-legged on the blacktop.

  “Hey, whatcha thinking about, Anna?” Millie asked.

  Anna sighed. “You ever think about what’s out there in the world? I mean aside from city life?” Millie swallowed hard. Whenever Anna got talking about other places to live, it meant that things were bad at home.

  “Sometimes I do. I remember how beautiful Texas was, but now I’ve gotten used to life here.”

  “I’m going to work in one of those tall skyscrapers one day,” Stacy chimed in then stared off toward the buildings in front of her. It wasn’t that they could see the tall buildings from outside their apartment complex, but they all knew what they looked like.

  “I’m going to wear really fashionable suits and dresses. My high heels will be expensive and I might even snag me a rich husband.” Stacy pressed her boobs together, forming a small cleavage and both Millie and Anna laughed.

  “You’ll need to do some growing in that department,” Millie teased Stacy.

  Stacy looked down at her chest. “Hey, I’m fourteen and way past training bras. I’ve been hiding these well.”

  They giggled.

  “Maybe you should ask Michael if they’re big enough,” Millie teased and they all giggled.

  “You shouldn’t be talking, Millie. I’ve seen the way you look at Vinnie Malone. You get all goo-goo and gaga over his tan complexion and his accent.”

  “I do not! He’s seventeen and he’s a troublemaker.” Millie crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  “Anna, tell her it’s obvious that she likes Vinny. She always goes for the dangerous bad-boy type,” Stacy stated.

  Millie eyed Anna and Anna’s cheeks reddened.

  “You do like the bad boys, Milli
e. Every time Vinny comes around he checks you out.”

  “He does not! I do not!” she was rambling on, and Stacy looked her over.

  “You may be fourteen, Millie, but you have got a set on you already. You look like a mature woman.”

  Millie shook her head and gave both Anna and Stacy a mean look. They were her best friends. She didn’t want this kind of attention from men. She was chubby and had large breasts, larger than both her friends’, and she didn’t like that her breast size was grabbing the attention of older men. Even if they were good-looking Italian men like Vinny Malone.

  “Hey, we were just teasing you. Look at the three of us. We’re known on the streets as the triplets with the great bodies and we’re all virgins. I’d say if we play our cards right and we stick together, then we’ll have our choice of men. Good men that will treat us like gold and get us out of the projects,” Stacy stated firmly.

  “Maybe you guys, but not me. I’m stuck here. It’s destiny,” Anna replied then looked at her watch.

  “I have to go. I have to stop at the store then start dinner before Mom and Dad get home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Anna said then hugged her two friends before leaving.

  Millie watched her go then turned to Stacy.

  “He hit her again,” Millie whispered.

  “I know. I wish we could do something, but living with her parents is better than living in some shelter or in foster care.”

  “One day, we’ll all be happy and we’ll be best friends forever.” Millie closed her eyes and wished her words would come true.

  Stacy covered her hand and squeezed it.

  “We’ll be friends forever no matter what.”

  Millie opened her eyes to look at Stacy but instead she saw Frank.

  Millie screamed and shuffled out of bed.

  Little by little, she absorbed her surroundings and realized that it had all been a dream. A childhood memory locked inside her mind. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Tonight was the big gala. She had dedicated many hours to the job. She made a lot of business connections, some that she hoped could help launch her homemade jewelry business. Her current job was getting too stressful, she couldn’t move any higher up because family held other positions and Stewart just dumped her. He was a friend of her boss, and yesterday at work her boss mentioned budget cuts and layoffs. Well, at least she had tonight.

  As she thought back on her dream, she ignored the ending and the sight of Frank. He was behind bars for at least another fourteen months. She was safe from him and would never give him the opportunity to hurt her again. She had been so foolish back then, thinking that he loved her and that every time he hit her or spoke down to her, that he did it because he loved her so much. What were his words again? Oh yeah, “This is for your own good, baby. You need to be perfect and any woman of mine will obey me in my commands. Besides, you know I love you, don’t you?”

  She swallowed hard. His disturbing and distorted view of making her into a better woman caused her to wind up tied to a bed, beaten and nearly strangled to death. She would always remember that day. More than twelve hours of sexual assault, beatings, and his constant explanation that he was cleansing her. The sick bastard had the nerve to tell her that it was her fault. He said he saw her talking to another man. Jordan was not even a friend. He had just been an acquaintance from work that she said hello and goodbye to and perhaps he would ask if she was hanging out or going to any new clubs. It was an innocent conversation viewed by her psycho boyfriend Frank as cheating, and it nearly cost her her life.

  She recalled lying there, tied to her bed, her body bloody, her mind losing focus as he repeatedly struck her. She prayed for death. She accepted it, wanted it so badly she told him to just kill her. As he grabbed her throat and squeezed, the door crashed open and all hell broke loose. Millie could hardly see the figure with the baseball bat swinging and hitting Frank before the tables turned. Millie heard Stacy scream and Millie cried, fearing for her best friend’s life. It felt like their battle lasted forever as Millie begged to maintain consciousness. She feared that Stacy was going to die just as members of the police department arrived. She closed her eyes and hadn’t awoken until three days later as she lay all hooked up to tubes and wires in the ICU.

  The tears rolled down her cheeks. Millie quickly wiped them away. She didn’t want to think about him. He scared her. All her self-defense training, counseling, and achievements were accomplished because he wasn’t around to hurt her or break her down. She was a different woman now, but she still hadn’t learned shit about picking the right man. Stewart had been another great mistake in her life, another control freak. She stretched her arms out above her head and looked at the black dress covered in dry-cleaning plastic. Taking a deep breath, a smile formed on her face. Stewart wouldn’t know what hit him.

  Chapter 1

  Town of Pearl

  Lewis Dojo

  “I think you better give up right now, Hank,” Marco Lewis told his brother as Dalton Lewis circled around the mat after knocking Hank clean on his ass.

  “I don’t think so. This has been a long time coming and Dalton’s been moping around and being grumpy for way too long,” Hank replied, and Dalton gave a sidekick to Hank’s knee, but Hank stepped to the side, quickly avoiding the strike.

  Marco laughed. His brother, Hank, had been right. Dalton was never happy. He just worked in the MMA fighting gym training military and law enforcement officers then headed home. He never went out anymore, and forget about hooking up with some woman or women. He just wasn’t interested.

  “Hey, that was unfair,” Hank yelled at Dalton as Dalton swept Hank’s legs out from underneath him.

  “Okay, you two, that’s enough. I have to be at the department in thirty minutes. I’m not leaving you two here alone to battle out your differences,” Marco stated.

  Hank and Dalton stopped as they stood a few feet away from one another, breathing heavily.

  “You should snap out of this slump you’re in, bro. Come out with us tonight, or maybe hookup with Stella, Lisa, Paula, or even Melody. They want you so badly,” Hank teased.

  “Fuck you! I’m not into easy chicks and I sure as hell don’t want to get trapped by any of those women.” Dalton reached down to the floor and grabbed his Gatorade.

  “Trapped? What do you mean? They just want sex,” Hank replied.

  “No, they want husbands and I don’t trust any of them. You’d better watch your ass around those women,” Dalton reprimanded and Hank looked surprised.

  “Watch your dick, too. I heard through the grapevine that all four of them want to land a Lewis brother,” Marco added.

  “Then you’re not safe either, Deputy Lewis,” Hank teased Marco.

  “Like I’d fall for their tricks? I am the oldest. That means I know which head to use. You should try it. The both of you,” Marco replied then began to walk out of the room.

  * * * *

  “Hey, I was just joking with you. I was hoping to make you laugh, not anger you more,” Hank told his brother Dalton. He was concerned about his seriousness lately and the fact that once he left the dojo he kept to himself. Dalton was a good man, and sure, he had a wicked scar from serving in the war and surviving his tour in Fallujah, but Hank thought it made him look tough. Despite his brother’s insecurities, the women seemed attracted to that scar and the silent, brooding type. Hank chuckled to himself.

  “I don’t need cheering up. I’m fine and I sure as hell don’t need the complications of women right now. I’m good, Hank, so cool it, okay?”

  “All right. No problem. Let’s get ready for the kids’ class. I think I’m going to take some ibuprofen now while I can. You know, cut off the headache before I get it,” Hank said and Dalton chuckled.

  * * * *

  Dalton was changing his shirt in the back room as he thought about his brother’s tactics in teasing him. He chuckled to himself at first and then he felt that tight feeling in his chest and emptiness in his gut. D
alton was a military man and used to handling everything on his own. He didn’t do gentle and didn’t like meaningless sex with women. He was getting older and feeling tired. His desires for more in life were changing dramatically. Perhaps it had something to do with the conversation he had with his four brothers about finding and sharing a woman. The thought about settling down with one and starting a family scared the shit out of him. What the fuck do I have to offer a woman? I’m ornery most of the damn time. I’m mean and I know, it even though I don’t mean to be, and hell, I’m set in my ways, and I expect discipline and respect.

  He ran his hand through his hair. He had told his brothers this. They had shared their feelings, which was incredibly awkward but over a lot of beers seemed acceptable at the time. He learned that his second oldest brother Anthony, the owner of a local construction company with their other brother Jeremy, wanted to have kids. From that admittance came a nod and mumble from their oldest brother, Deputy Marco Lewis, which indicated he wanted the same thing. Then of course Hank, being Hank, sensitive, ready to talk your ear off, wanted to make immediate plans to choose a woman and start wooing her. That just made the rest of them feel completely uncomfortable and freak out. Thankfully, their youngest brother Jeremy cracked jokes about the process of finding a woman who would be interested in having sex with five men and how inspiring the process to locate her would be.

  Jeremy was a total flirt and ladies’ man at only twenty-five years old. Most things to him were still a joke, but Dalton knew that this wasn’t a joking matter. In fact, since that night, he seemed to think about finding that special woman more and more. But just as others found their partners in Pearl and beyond, he and his brothers needed to wait it out. If they were meant to share a woman, then she would find them and maybe then he would be ready to face and embrace his emotions and desires.