Posting the first few pages of CRASHED, the final story in the Barnes Brothers series…my contemporary romance series about five sexy brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FYI, if you’re a librarian, bookseller or reviewer, you can request to review it from NETGALLEY<\/a>! It will only be available another two weeks (roughly) so grab it while you can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Apple Books<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0BN<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 15 Years Old<\/p>\n\n\n\n Text messages sent & received<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I miss you already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I know. I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s going to be a year before I can see you again. Can\u2019t I at least call you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Travis, I told you about my dad. He\u2019s absolutely the worst. He probably thinks I\u2019ll get pregnant just talking to a guy I like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Alright, alright. I\u2019d just as soon avoid pissing him off since I plan on marrying you as soon as we\u2019re 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: You can\u2019t be serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I told you I fell in love with you the second I saw you and I meant it. You said you love me, too, right? So, why shouldn\u2019t we want to get married, Bella mine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: ♥ ♥ ♥ Bella mine? That\u2019s so sweet! ♥ ♥ ♥ <\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Yeah, well. It\u2019s how I feel. You\u2019re mine. I\u2019m yours. That\u2019s it for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I don\u2019t know how I ended up finding a guy like you. You\u2019re so wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Is that a yes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: You\u2019re impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I\u2019ll keep asking until you say yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16 Years Old<\/p>\n\n\n\n Text messages sent & received<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: It\u2019s official, Bella-mine. I hate that guy. Your dad is a dick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I told you. I\u2019m sorry he was so rude to you and your brothers. Your mom, though…wow. She\u2019s a queen. I\u2019ve never seen anybody put him in his place like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Travis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I want to ask you something. Please don\u2019t lie to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Do you promise you won\u2019t lie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I won\u2019t lie. But I can\u2019t promise to answer, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I guess if you don\u2019t answer, that will be an answer on its own, won\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: My dad followed you and your family out to the car. I know because I was kinda following, too, and I saw him. I didn\u2019t say anything about it. I planned to, but then we got home and everybody had gone to bed \u2026 well, I went downstairs and heard him talking to Mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: About what? Why would he follow me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: The same reason I did. He was worried your dad would hurt one of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Isabel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Iz?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Iz, damn it, answer me or I\u2019m calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Don\u2019t call! Please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: You\u2019re scared of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I can\u2019t answer that. 17 Years Old<\/p>\n\n\n\n Text messages sent & received<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: One more month until I can see you again, Bella-mine. I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Me, neither. The months get longer and longer, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Yeah. But that\u2019s only because we\u2019re almost done with this shit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I hope so. But you have to remember what we planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I know. We\u2019ll take care of all that. I\u2019ve spun some bullshit to my mom, pretending I was thinking about a book and asked her. We can do this, Iz. I promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: I hope so, Trav. I really hope so. Dad did something…never mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: What did he do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Don\u2019t worry about it, okay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Tell me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: You\u2019re a bully sometimes. Look, maybe it\u2019s no big deal, but he introduced MK to some guy. It\u2019s the son of a friend of his. Maybe it will be okay. I don\u2019t know. But I heard him on the phone and he\u2019s already talking about them getting married. It was…weird. Okay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: Your dad talking about them getting married and being okay with it? That\u2019s not weird, baby. That\u2019s straight-up Twilight Zone shit. And what the fuck? MK is 15! He doesn\u2019t even want you dating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Not unless it\u2019s some asshole he likes. And I don\u2019t like the assholes he thinks I should date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: When did this start! WTF!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Fuck. I shouldn\u2019t have said anything. He\u2019s just had a couple of guys from his office come over and SUGGESTED I accept when they ask me out. I haven\u2019t, okay? But he\u2019s pushy about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I want to kill him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Don\u2019t say that. He\u2019s a jerk, but he\u2019s still my dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis: I didn\u2019t say I would kill him, just that I wanted to. Don\u2019t let him push you into anything, Bella-mine. I love you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18 Years Old<\/p>\n\n\n\n Text messages sent & received<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel 9:52 PM: Travis. Something happened today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel 10:59 PM: Never mind. Forget about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 11:37 PM: Hey, I saw your text. Sorry I didn\u2019t answer sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 12:02 AM: Isabel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 7 AM: Isabel, come on, answer me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 8:31AM: Hey, are you mad at me? I meant to text earlier than I did last night, but things got a little crazy here. I don\u2019t want to keep texting cuz it was getting late and I didn\u2019t want to wake you. I know the gift card thing isn\u2019t the same as flowers or anything, but you know I love you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel 8:45 AM: I\u2019m not mad at you. It was just a shitty day. My dad pulled that \u201cit\u2019s time you start thinking about your future\u201d shit again and we were all out to dinner this time and I couldn\u2019t get away from the fucking prick he invited along as my DATE. I hate him, Travis. I hate him so much. I hate him, hate him, hate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 8:47 AM: I hate him, too. Want me to fly out there and beat him up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel 8:50 AM: I want you to fly out here and take me away from all of this. Now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 8:53 AM: If you\u2019re serious, I\u2019ll be on a plane as soon as I can get a ticket. Just say the word, Bella-mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 9:02 AM: Iz?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 9:39 AM: Isabel, do you want me to come get you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel 10:01 AM: More than anything. But I can\u2019t. My sisters need me. My mom won\u2019t do shit to protect them from Dad. They\u2019ve only got me. If I run off without finishing school, it will make it that much harder to get custody. But this summer, I\u2019ll graduate, they\u2019ll be 16 and it will be different. It\u2019s just a few more months. Right? I can do it for a few more months. I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis 10:03 AM: You can. Then you\u2019ll never have to see the prick again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18 Years Old<\/p>\n\n\n\n Provincetown, Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey…aren\u2019t you Zach Barnes\u2019s little brother? Travis, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis glanced at the older guy before focusing back on his phone. \u201cYou\u2019re a little old to be a Kate+Nate<\/em> fanatic, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis was used to people recognizing him. Some even mistook him for Zach at first, although that was happening less and less. Both Travis and Trey were catching up to their older, very famous brother, but over the past couple of years, Zach, the former child star and tattoo-artist-in-training, had started sporting a fair amount of ink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paparazzi had gone crazy over the first few tattoos, but Zach had ignored it all, pretty much as he had ignored just about everything Hollywood-related, save for his co-star, since the last episode of the sitcom aired a few years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah.\u201d The stranger smiled, a friendly, affable grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis didn\u2019t buy what that smile was selling. Not for a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGuilty, kid. I never watched it much. My sister did. She had pictures of him tacked all over her room. Now Abigale…\u201d He smiled. \u201cShe\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Snorting, Travis shot a look to the line waiting at the counter. Zach was up there, along with Travis\u2019 twin, Trey. But the line was moving damn slow and they were too far away to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou better not let Zach hear you talking about her. He\u2019s crazy about her. And \u2026 \u201d He gave the man another look from head to toe before giving a derisive snort. \u201cShe\u2019s a little young for you, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not talking about that. She\u2019s a beautiful young woman, of course, but I\u2019m old enough to be her father.\u201d The man frowned, and the look of distaste in his eyes told Travis he meant it. But then he shot another look back at Zach. \u201cThey got a thing going, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis put the phone face down. Isabel probably wouldn\u2019t be able to text him any time soon, but he was ever hopeful. They were on the final countdown here. Just a matter of days. That\u2019s all it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But first, he had to deal with this jackass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaning against the padded back of the bench, Travis gave the man a hard look. Probably close to forty, he decided. Old. But his eyes were even older. He wanted something, too. Growing up with a famous\u2014and rich\u2014older brother, Travis had learned how to spot the takers and users pretty young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d he asked bluntly. \u201cYou\u2019re not here to talk about Zach or Abby. Are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guy\u2019s eyes narrowed in speculation, then, after shooting a look over his shoulder toward the front of the restaurant where the other two Barnes brothers waited, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white card. Placing it in front of Travis, he used one finger to push it to the edge of the table. \u201cYou\u2019re a sharp one, aren\u2019t you? I want to talk to you about your girlfriend, kid. She\u2019s…not exactly what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anger punched through him, cutting through his surprise that this guy knew about Isabel. \u201cFuck off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m serious. Look, I know all about the thing going on between you two. Adorable, really. But there\u2019s a lot of shit about that girl\u2014and her family\u2014that she hasn\u2019t told you. And it\u2019s ugly, dangerous shit.\u201d He leaned closer. \u201cI\u2019m talking shit that could put that family you love so much in danger. Call me. Or don\u2019t. But if you\u2019re as sharp as I think you are, you\u2019ll do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He turned and walked away, leaving Travis to glare at his back. He almost jumped up and went after him, but stopped himself when he caught sight of his twin waving him down. Trey pointed at the sign and mouthed something Travis didn\u2019t care enough about to parse through so he just nodded and went back to fuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking at the card, he read the simple font.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miles Hawkins<\/p>\n\n\n\n The official-looking seal on the card was what really got under his skin \u2026 that, and those three words just under the man\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal Bureau of Investigation<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d Scowling, he picked up the card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t forget the ketchup, Trey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearing Zach\u2019s voice, he shoved the card into one of the pockets on his board shorts, zipping it shut just before Zach put down a tray filled with soft drinks\u2014and an amber bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zach had recently turned twenty-one and was enjoying his legal drinking-age status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normally, Travis would have razzed him about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he was too busy thinking about the card the guy had left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An FBI agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What the fuck?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou going to tell me what\u2019s up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis shot his twin a dark look. \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBullshit. You\u2019ve been in a mood ever since lunch.\u201d Trey swung his legs over the side of the bed. \u201cWhat\u2019s the deal? Your girl not here yet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis glared at him. He\u2019d never outright told<\/em> Trey about Isabel. Hadn\u2019t needed to, really, because his twin knew. The one time Trey had asked for information on whoever it was that had him twisted up, Travis told him the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love her. We\u2019re going to get married as soon as she graduates high school.\u201d Travis and Trey had both already graduated and were in college\u2014a couple of years early. \u201cDon\u2019t go running and tell Mom or Dad, though. Her dad is psycho\u2014seriously psycho and if he hears anything about it, he\u2019ll hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf he\u2019s crazy, why not call the cops?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause her dad is a US District Attorney, man. He\u2019s a dick and he\u2019s crazy, but nobody will listen if I just call the cops without any proof. She\u2019s afraid he\u2019ll hurt her family and none of the cops will listen if I just try to report him. I can\u2019t risk him hurting her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI told you not to talk about her,\u201d he said now, keeping his voice low, although it was just the three of them there at their parents\u2019 vacation house just outside of Provincetown, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zane was in Europe \u2026 somewhere, waiting tables in Italy, hiking the Alps, taking pictures in France or eating stinky cheese. Travis had no idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sebastien was spending the night with one of the kids he\u2019d become friends with during their numerous summers here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zach was probably online chatting with Abby, which meant he wasn\u2019t aware of anything, or anybody, else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their dad had surprised their mom with a getaway to a B&B for just the two of them their first three nights in the Cape Cod area, so for the first time, it was just the three brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trey rolled his eyes but held up his hands. \u201cOkay, okay. I\u2019m just wondering what\u2019s wrong, man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBullshit.\u201d Trey scowled. \u201cLook, if you don\u2019t want to talk, fine. Tell me. But don\u2019t lie to me, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guilt twisted his gut and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. \u201cSorry, Trey. I\u2019m just in a shitty mood, alright? That\u2019s the truth, too\u2014no lie.\u201d He wasn\u2019t going to go into detail, though. He trusted his twin, but his gut was in knots about what that Hawkins guy had said earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He needed to talk to Isabel but they had just gotten into town a few hours earlier. It would be tomorrow at the earliest before she could get away from the vacation house her father owned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going for a run, alright?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trey eyed him. \u201cWant company?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNah. I just need to clear my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Dad has a fun-filled day of deep-sea fishing lined up tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can we meet early?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis\u2019s heart almost jumped out of his chest when the text came. It was already racing from the three-mile run he\u2019d just taken and now thundered in his chest, the beat brutal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019d been waiting to hear from Isabel ever since he woke up that morning\u2014at five fucking a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019d be here today. They always<\/em> got to Provincetown on August 2, rain or shine, no matter what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He knew he wouldn\u2019t see her until tomorrow, at the earliest. But once she was ready, they were leaving this town, getting away from her father, and getting married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He already had everything planned, from how much money he needed to pay a guy in town to drive them to Boston, to the tickets they\u2019d need to fly out to California\u2014no way could they stay here. Not right away, at least. He already knew his parents would be pissed, but they\u2019d get it, once he talked to them. They\u2019d understand. And Mom could help, too. She might not be some hotshot US District Attorney but she was <\/em>still a lawyer, and she was fucking whip-smart and she had a brain that was almost scary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His hands were shaking a little as he lifted the phone and read the message again. Another popped up before he could text his reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isabel: Travis, listen. There\u2019s something I need to tell you. It\u2019s really important. I<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI what<\/em>?\u201d Frowning, he waited, but no other text came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He texted her after a few minutes of waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not thirty minutes later when he arrived on the outskirts of the property owned by Wilson T. Steele, US District Attorney and the man Travis had hated since he was sixteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stayed in the shadows created by the hedges as he looked across the carefully manicured lawn, lip curled in disgust at what he saw. A fucking party. Steele was always having these parties here, even flying in friends he wanted to impress, making his girls and wife dress up like living dolls to parade in front of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A slim, almost frail figure passed by and he recognized Mary Kate, felt a wash of protectiveness run through him. Steele called her and she nodded, heading over to her father without speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gripping one of the tall iron fence posts, he searched the crowd for Isabel, easily finding Ellen, Mary Kate\u2019s twin. He grinned when he saw what she wore, suspecting she\u2019d worn it solely to piss her dad off. Ellen couldn\u2019t be more different from her more delicate twin, even though their looks were identical\u2014at least on the surface. But nobody who really looked<\/em> at a person would ever mistake one twin for the other. Ellen wore a dress that was probably better suited for a woman ten years older, a bold, blistering red that ended just a few inches past her butt and dipped low in the back\u2014and the front, he realized when she turned around to wave at her father when he called her name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steele glared at her but she pretended not to notice before turning back to her conversation partner, a guy easily three times her age, who couldn\u2019t keep his eyes off the neckline of her dress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis wanted to scale the fence and go hit him, even though he\u2019d never officially met Ellen. It was the right thing to do for a sister-in-law, though, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFinally \u2026 the guest of honor!\u201d Wilson called out, his voice carrying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everybody fell silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hair on the back of Travis\u2019 neck stood on end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey, kid. Fancy seeing you here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He shot a look to his right and saw Miles Hawkins, the FBI agent\u2014or so the card had said. But he only made eye contact for a few seconds before Steele\u2019s voice caught his attention once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHonored friends and guests, my oldest daughter, Isabel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis saw her in the doorway and his heart twisted in his chest, the exact way it had done when he\u2019d seen her for the first time three years ago. It almost hurt to breathe now, just as it had then, and he had to remind himself that breathing was necessary<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowd parted and his hand tightened convulsively on the fence post. Could he get her attention? Could he\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat the fuck \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dazed, he grabbed a second fence post with his left hand, needing the support desperately as one of the guests went to stand next to Isabel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the tall man bent to kiss Isabel\u2019s cheek, Travis felt his gorge rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the guy put his hand on Isabel\u2019s softly rounded belly, Travis felt everything in him crystallize, then shatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travis had forgotten he wasn\u2019t alone. Numb, he looked over at the older man standing next to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s pregnant,\u201d he said, voice barely more than a croak.<\/p>\n\n\n\nExcerpt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
September<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
August<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nJune<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Valentine\u2019s Day<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Summer<\/h1>\n\n\n\n