Falling into You A.L. Jackson Contents Also by A.L. Jackson Prologue 1. Richard 2. Richard 3. Violet 4. Richard 5. Violet 6. Richard 7. Violet 8. Violet 9. Richard 10. Violet 11. Richard 12. Violet 13. Richard 14. Richard 15. Richard 16. Richard 17. Violet 18. Richard 19. Violet 20. Richard 21. Violet 22. Richard 23. Violet 24. Violet 25. Violet 26. Richard 27. Violet 28. Richard 29. Violet 30. Richard 31. Richard 32. Violet 33. Violet 34. Richard 35. Violet 36. Richard 37. Richard 38. Violet 39. Richard 40. Richard 41. Violet Epilogue One Epilogue Two Also by A.L. Jackson About the Author Connect with A.L. Jackson online: Kiss the Stars Sneak Peek Prologue 1. Mia 2. Mia Copyright © 2020 A.L. Jackson Books Inc. First Edition All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher. Please protect this art form by not pirating. A.L. Jackson www.aljacksonauthor.com Cover Design by LJ Designs Editing by Susan Staudinger Proofreading by Julia, The Romance Bibliophile Formatting by Mesquite Business Services The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Names, characters, places, and plots are a product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Print ISBN: 978-1-946420-48-0 eBook ISBN: 978-1-946420-49-7 Also by A.L. Jackson Most Titles are Free with Kindle Unlimited Falling Stars Kiss the Stars Catch Me When I Fall Falling into You Beneath the Stars, Coming Early 2021 Confessions of the Heart More of You All of Me Pieces of Us Fight for Me Series Show Me the Way Follow Me Back Lead Me Home Hold on to Hope Bleeding Stars Series A Stone in the Sea Drowning to Breathe Where Lightning Strikes Wait Stay Stand The Regret Series Lost to You Take This Regret If Forever Comes The Closer to You Series Come to Me Quietly Come to Me Softly Come to Me Recklessly Stand-Alone Novels Pulled When We Collide Hollywood Chronicles A collaboration with USA Today Bestselling Author, Rebecca Shea One Wild Night One Wild Ride Prologue Violet I edged down the narrow staircase that led to the kitchen below. Shadows danced across the walls and held the air in the steady peace of the night. A breeze blew through the valley and billowed through the trees. The hum of it softly battered at the walls. Within the old house, the silence was heavy and dense. As heavy and dense as my heart that thundered at a ragged beat. I inched farther. Carefully. Recklessly. There was no longer anything I could do to stop the draw of the quiet chaos that waited in the darkened room below. When I made it to the landing, my breath hitched with the gust of energy that suddenly lashed and whipped through the stilled disorder. The man a storm where he sat like a stone fortress at the small kitchen table. Protective and fierce. His big body bristled with a rage that seemed to be waitin’ for permission to be unleashed. A wanderer who’d come home. Did it make me a fool for wanting to remind him that this was where he belonged? That it was right for him to be adored? That he deserved to be loved? I stepped deeper into the dancing shadows at the base of the stairs. I knew when he felt me. When his spine stiffened and his stony jaw clenched. He slowly pushed to his full, towering height. The man a dark avenger. “Violet.” My name rumbled through the air like rolling thunder. “What are you doing down here?” Fear tumbled through my belly when I saw the lust flare in his eyes. The greed and possession that curled his hands into fists. But I would no longer live my life running from what I wanted most. I could live in fear of what was to come, or I could live my life to its fullest, and I knew I wanted to live like a flower beneath the sun in full bloom. I lifted my chin when I released the words, “I just need to know one thing right now, Richard Ramsey. Tell me it’s true. Tell me you still love me because I’m done pretending like I don’t need you.” Maybe I shouldn’t have given him that trust. Maybe I shouldn’t have given him the chance to lie. Maybe I should have known I would regret it all over again when I saw the guilt flash across his stunning face. But I was finished running. So, I stepped off the cliff I’d been teetering on for the last six years, straight into a free fall, and prayed he’d be there to catch me at the end… One Richard I’d heard it said the thing about running from your past is it always catches up to you. I’d heard it said that the demons of every mistake you’d ever made were constantly hunting you from the sidelines. Lurking in the darkness where they waited for the perfect time to attack, salivating at the chance to sink in their teeth. A dark destiny ready to devour. And sometimes? Sometimes they messed with the wrong damned person. Someone who had nothing left to lose and only one sacrifice left to give. Atonement and retribution their one purpose. Doing a little hunting of my own, I blew out the back door of the banquet room. It dumped me in a long hall lined with doors. Antique wall lamps cast a yellowed glow through the narrow space. My attention jerked from one direction to the other. Searching through the shadows that filled the corridor of the age-old hotel. Swore I’d seen something. Someone. Someone who didn’t belong. That prickly feeling you got when something was amiss. Wickedness underfoot. Felt it slithering across my flesh and sinking into my bones. The sounds of the party echoed through the wall. Carefree laughter, easy conversation, and the joy of the celebration. What I should be doing was enjoying it with my family and friends. With my band. But no—I’d caught a feeling that I couldn’t ignore. Heart raging in my chest. This thunder that howled and ravaged like a beast. I swore I saw a shadow dip out at the far end of the hall. That was right when the door I’d just came out of burst open behind me and my future brother-in-law, Royce, came fuming through it. “What’s going on?” he growled. Dude was nothing but intimidation. Covered in tats and wearing one of those fitted suits that made him look like the reaper had come to collect and you were gonna pay. I darted in
