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  Healing Hearts 12: Road to Happiness

  Amber is a survivor and trying to resist an attraction to five superior, older soldiers. Her scars run deep, and it takes a special connection to pull down those walls and let them all show vulnerability to take this chance. That's easier said than done when Amber was a victim of sexual assault, held against her will, and left to die at the hands of a madman. Her brother and his team of soldiers promised to save her, but they never did. So she doesn't count on promises, or anyone but herself, or trusts anyone too much. Those scars and her fears could put a damper on trying to date again. Their superior ways and dominant attitudes could definitely put her on edge, makes them question if she's playing some kind of game, and challenge each of them to take a chance because together feels so good and so right.

  Ultimately they are all looking for that road to happiness. That could be right in front of them if they could just take a chance and let go.

  Genres: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense

  Length: 44,164

  HEALING HEARTS 12:

  ROAD TO HAPPINESS

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Healing Hearts 12: Road to Happiness

  Copyright © 2018 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  ISBN: 978-1-64243-389-0

  First Publication: August 2018

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2018 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.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  For all titles by Dixie Lynn Dwyer, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/dixie-lynn-dwyer

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  HEALING HEARTS 12:

  ROAD TO HAPPINESS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  HEALING HEARTS 12:

  ROAD TO HAPPINESS

  DIXIE LYNN DWYER

  Copyright © 2018

  Prologue

  “Why are you whimpering? You enjoyed it.”

  Amber could barely open her swollen eyes. She was sobbing. She squinted, watching Charles Muller zip up his pants. The sick, abusive asshole had blood, her blood, on his dress shirt. He didn’t care. He got what he wanted. He got off on being in charge and having control and command over everyone. Things would only get worse for Amber. She wanted to die. Just die so she wouldn’t have to feel the pain, the abuse, any more. He was so rough. Extra rough the last few times because he knew she didn’t respect him or want him as a lover, like other women did. She hadn’t asked to be his woman, but had wound up his possession.

  Charles took what he wanted when he wanted it. She didn’t belong here.

  “You can’t go out looking like some beaten-up whore. That should teach you not to flirt with other men and to know you’re mine. There won’t be any other men but me. I own you.” He scolded her and licked his lips while looking over her curves. He reached his palm out to stroke her thigh. She could feel the bruises on her hips. He squeezed where the finger marks were, and she gasped.

  “That’s right. You’ve got no one. Oh, and your brother? He’s dead. So don’t think he’ll come here to rescue you.”

  “What?” she asked, and more tears fell. She tried lifting up, and he shoved her by her shoulders and straddled her waist.

  “Don’t, please. Oh God, please, Charles.” She begged for him not to hurt her more. She couldn’t believe that Rusty was dead. What happened? Where was he? How did things go so wrong?

  He trailed a finger along her throat and then to her abundant breasts. He stroked the nipple, and she felt like puking. Her brother was dead? She would never be rescued. Never saved from this madman’s hold.

  “Your destiny lies in my hands, Amber James. You are mine to do with as I please. Follow Fender’s orders and listen to Gloria as she preps you for tonight. I have the feeling by the end of this stressful day, I’ll need to vent and find relief. Oh, and a special surprise.” He caressed her jaw, tilted her chin up, and then stared at her breasts and lower as he licked his lips. “There’ll be an audience.”

  Her eyes widened, and she shook her head.

  He gripped her chin tightly.

  “You are mine. I own you, so If I decide to share or tease a few friends with watching, then so be it, and you will comply, or it’s the chamber for you,” he threatened her.

  The chamber. Oh God, no, not that room. Not the drugs he filled her with. The ones that left her mind frazzled and where she couldn’t decipher hallucination from reality.

  “Please, Charles, not the chamber. Please,” she begged, and then thought of how she could escape or maybe how she could take her life. Rusty wasn’t coming for her. He had failed her once again. Failed to protect her from this man he owed money and his life, too, not her. Failed to come back and rescue her and allowed Amber to become a victim. Used property, a man who stole from her body every chance he got. Her brother was a military man. Someone she had once been proud of. Instead of using his military skills for good, he used them for criminal activities. He chose money over morals, values, and look where it got him? In trouble with a man like Charles Muller. A man who had his hands in everything illegal under the sun. Her brother was a crook, a thief, and his debt payment for screwing over Charles was Amber.

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He slid a finger along her throat, then down her breast, over her mound, and gave her a wink. “I’m never going to give you up, Amber. Never going to let another man own you, or claim you his. You’re just too perfect for me, so I’ll keep you around. Well…as long as you submit.” He gripped her chin. “Say it,” he ordered, and she felt sick, angry, but more scared than anything.

  “As you wish, my master.”

  He smiled softly.

  “That’s right. Gloria will come for you within the hour. Be ready and be cooperative, or I will send you to the chamber for the night.”

  He was firm, and she knew all too well how bad that room was. How exposed she was to anyone who wanted to view that he allowed. They could see her through the mirrors around the room as she was tied up and drugged up. Why couldn’t she overdose and die? Why did this happen to her?

  She heard the door close, and she cried some more. She cried about being a prisoner to this man, she cried from the loss of her brother, Rusty, her last hope of being rescued and saved from this brutality, and she cried from the pain she was in and the pain that would come tonight. She sobbed as she decided she would rather take her own life than be out on display by Charles as his frien
ds watched him beat her, rape her, or play his sick games with her.

  As she drifted off into exhaustion, begging for death any way, she didn’t care. She just wanted to stop feeling the pain, but she thought she heard alarms. She was in so much pain. Was exhausted and truly had no will to live. When she heard gunfire, she didn’t move. When she heard yelling and doors banging, she tightened up, and as hands gently caressed her arm and her brother’s voice, his words of rage, filtered through the room and almost penetrated her mind, bringing her out of the psychological fog, she didn’t believe it was him.

  “Grab the blanket. Cover her up. We need to move. Fuck, look what he did to her. Look!” her brother raged, and other men were there. Men in black, but she closed her eyes.

  “Amber, sweetie, I’m here. It’s Rusty. I’m getting you out of here,” he said, and she looked at him. Saw the large gun on his shoulder and the other men with guns. One talking into his wrist.

  “He got away. They fucking weren’t fast enough,” the one man said.

  “What?” Rusty replied, eyes wide as he started to lift her up and into his arms.

  She pushed, resisting. “No, leave me. Let me die. I want to die.”

  He cupped her cheek, and another man helped him with her.

  “No, Amber. It’s over. He can’t hurt you. I’ve got you. Come with me. We’ll protect you.” He held her in his arms, against his chest, and she moaned from the pain.

  “You’ll leave me again. Charles will be angry, and I’ll suffer. You’ll leave me. I know you will. You caused this,” she said to him and saw the anger and sadness in his eyes and the expressions of the men around them.

  “I’m never leaving you again, Amber. I’ll fix this. I’ll get him, and I’ll kill him. Let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 1

  Two Years Later

  Amber stared out toward the water. The tears flowed as her mind relived the last night with Charles. The night Rusty returned from the dead and finally came back for her. It was too late. Way too late for her to ever be normal again. She knew that. She didn’t date, she didn’t flirt, and she didn’t take a chance on any man. She surrounded herself with women who did or women waiting for Mr. Right. She watched in awe and admiration as they fell in love, or in lust, and then their lives were bliss. Not her. Not Amber James, nurse and medical technician at a busy urgent care facility in Mercy. She spent her days giving empathy to those in pain, from small accidents, burns, and fractures to sickness and chronic problems. She did X-rays and helped advocate for patients. People asked for her when they came into the urgent care facility. They loved her bedside manner, and of course, so did the doctors. She had been asked out by a few doctors, as well, but she declined. She put up a good front and could flirt a little. She didn’t want anyone questioning her lack of interest in men, in dating, or even fooling around.

  Amber had made up a pretend story about a guy she was seeing who was an old friend visiting, and she disappeared for a week. Her friends thought she was sleeping with the guy and having a week-long sexual fling. She wasn’t though. Rusty and his friends, Forge, Cander, Flute, and Serno showed up and needed a place to stay for a week. She didn’t ask any questions. She knew they were still hunting for Charles. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Charles was out there, and even if he were dead, the damage was done. She would never let another man close to her.

  With that thought came thoughts of Ace and Corona. Two of Jo’s brothers who had flirted with her a lot at the last gathering when Jo was still recovering. In fact, she needed to call her. That cast on Jo’s arm should be coming off any day now.

  She squeezed the railing and exhaled. She was living a normal life, but in the last week since Melina’s abduction and before that, an attempted rape in a hotel stairwell, Amber had been on edge and her nights filled with nightmares. She knew what it was like to be taken against her will. The uneasiness filled her heart, and a deep, sickening anger pooled in her belly. Charles was still out there. Somewhere overseas. Somewhere with her brother and his team of freelance mercenaries hunting and continuing to hunt until they killed him.

  Her cell phone rang, interrupting her thoughts, and she was relieved for the distraction.

  “Hey, Melina, what’s going on? How are you feeling?”

  “Better. How about you? Is everything okay?” Melina asked, and Amber felt nervous. She hadn’t seen her in several days. She was making excuses to avoid it because seeing Melina, knowing about what happened to her, had brought on the bad memories of Amber’s past. It also made her think about Rusty and when she would see her brother again. She was having a few nightmares, which intensified because of the incident Melina experienced, but her therapist told her it was all normal.

  “I’ve been busy at work. Had to cover for Celina for the bridal shower and then Cathy for the wedding. It’s been nonstop.”

  “You need to focus on your own personal life.”

  Amber snickered. “Yeah, what personal life would that be?”

  “Exactly. Listen, I’m hoping to feel up to attending the beer and BBQ festival Saturday. It’s a fundraiser you know, and as of right now, all the ladies are going except maybe Francesca. Like I said, I haven’t heard from her, and neither has Joanna.”

  “Well, I’m working until noontime, but let me try to reach Francesca.”

  “Don’t be such a worrywart about being around all the men. You won’t be the only single one there. Jo’s brothers will be there, plus some of their friends, you know, those six guys from the party weeks ago? The ones Francesca couldn’t stop looking at.”

  “Oh yeah, well she might have been looking, but the second the big blond one with the tattoo on his neck approached, she panicked. It was funny. She puts up a tough front, but then she shies away,” Amber said.

  Melina laughed. “Well, they definitely had their eyes on her, kind of like Jo’s brothers Ace and Corona have theirs on you.”

  “Don’t you start that now. It’s bad enough Jo wants to play matchmaker.”

  “You telling me you don’t think they’re hot?”

  “Any fool could see they are attractive, but I’m not really into dating right now. Too much on my plate.”

  “And no word from your brother?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, this will take your mind off of it. Plus it will be fun to just hang out and feel almost normal. I can’t do that if you aren’t there.”

  Amber thought about it and exhaled.

  “Fine. I’ll be there.”

  “Excellent. I’ll see you Saturday.”

  Amber couldn’t help but smile. As much as she would rather not go, having Melina as a friend and having her other friends around made her feel normal and like she had a new life, and a new start. Although that wasn’t entirely true, she could pretend.

  Chapter 2

  “What exactly went down? Are you okay?” Ace asked Danny over the phone. His words and tone caught the attention of Cliff, Briar, and Corona.

  “I’ll be fine. Just a little banged up,” Danny said, and Ace could tell that his brother was worse off than he was letting on.

  “You need me to come by and help you get here to the house?”

  “No. I’m driving. I got a ride from one of the other agents from the airport to the department. I’ll be there in time for cocktails,” he told Ace.

  “We’ll get some cold ones ready. See you in a little bit.”

  Ace ended the call.

  “What was that all about? He hurt?” Briar asked him.

  “Sounds like it. He should have been back last week, but then he said things got a little crazy and he needed more time with the case he was working on,” Ace replied.

  “Maybe he was stalling and could be nursing some injuries,” Cliff added.

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” Briar said.

  “Well, he should be here within the hour, so let’s get the cold ones ready and then figure things out. He’s alive, so we’ll deal with the othe
r stuff when we see him,” Corona said.

  Ace was finishing up prepping dinner, some steaks, potatoes, and fresh corn when the door opened and Danny appeared. He was instantly concerned.

  “What the fuck happened?” He raised his voice, went over to him, and couldn’t believe it. His brother’s eye was swollen almost shut, his lip split, and he was limping as he went to sit down at the kitchen table.

  “Whoa!” Corona said, joining them, and then he called to the others.

  “I’m okay,” Danny said and then exhaled.

  “Tell me the other guy is dead,” Cliff said as him and Briar walked into the kitchen.

  “There were four, and three are dead,” he said and made a sound as he shook his head.

  “Get him a cold beer,” Ace stated, and Cliff grabbed a few from the refrigerator and began to pass them around.

  Danny took a long slug. He closed his eyes a moment, enjoying the taste. “Super cold and frosted like I love it. Thanks,” he said to them.

  They all just sat around him and waited for him to explain or to give them something.

  “This isn’t over,” he said and then took another slug.

  “What do you mean? Like you’re in danger?” Briar asked with concern.

  “The job is dangerous either way, but this case, this last confrontation with known killers just opened up more shit. I have the weekend to recover, and then I’ll be back rolling around with these assholes until we can find the ones we’re after.”

  “Anything we can help with?” Corona asked.

  “No. I just need the next few days to relax. Then I’m heading to North Carolina for a spell before I return to Sussex and a command center there.”

  “Well, we’re here if you need us,” Briar said.

  “Maybe you can help Cliff stack that woodpile for the outdoor fireplace?” Ace teased.