Devoted: Book 2 (The Beloved Series) Read online

  Devoted

  Book 2 - The Beloved Series

  MJ Masucci

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Next in Series - Cherished

  Check out my other books

  2018 ©MJ Masucci

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

  All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  ISBN 978-0-9985662-8-3

  This book is dedicated to my husband, Lawrence. Without his love, support and encouragement, I never would’ve embarked on this journey.

  Chapter 1

  Julian paced the floor thinking of his earlier conversation. Worry tore his heart, even though he was no longer married to Nina, he had to protect her. He dialed her number several times and though his calls went to voicemail, he never left a message.

  Finally out of frustration, he called Frankie. The man had been gruff with him, accusing him of opening old wounds and told him not to bother Nina anymore. Julian tried to explain why he was calling, but Frankie threatened him. Once he made it clear that Julian ruined Nina’s life and she was miserable, Frankie hung up the phone in Julian’s ear.

  Just as with the death of his parents all those years ago, Julian began drinking. He polished off half a bottle of Jack Daniels by the time Paulina, one of the models on a current ad shoot came to Maureen’s new house, he was drunk, but she didn’t mind. They’d been having sex for the past few days, ever since they met on one of Kent’s Zanzi jeans shoots. She liked to smoke pot; he hated the smell.

  Paulina was far too aggressive in bed for Julian. The first time they had sex, she left rake marks across his back with her nails. It was the second day of the photo shoot and Kent was livid. The pictures came out great but the photographer needed to clean up the marks before they could use them.

  After that, Julian told her to keep her nails to herself. He much preferred to fuck her doggy style so he didn’t have to see her face. She didn’t care as long as he made her come. After they finished, Paulina pulled out a joint and lit it. Julian got out of bed and stood in front of the mirror which allowed him to see his wedding ring on the dresser. He picked it up and sauntered naked onto the balcony that overlooked the pool. As he gazed toward the lights of Los Angeles, he flipped the ring into the water below. Paulina called him back to bed, but instead, he climbed the railing, balancing on it before he jumped.

  Paulina screamed and ran out of bed to look over the balcony. Julian had landed in the pool and he frantically searched for the ring which he found on the bottom. When he surfaced, Paulina cursed at him.

  “You fucking fool. You could’ve broken your neck.”

  He ignored her and cupped the ring in his palm while she continued to pepper him with curses.

  Julian looked up at her, “Get the fuck out of my house.”

  Paulina looked at him stunned, “It’s not your house.”

  “As long as Maureen is on location, it is. Now go.”

  Paulina cursed at him again, flipped her long blonde hair and headed inside to gather her clothes. Julian would probably never work with her again, nor did he care to. She was one of Kent’s favorite models, but Julian despised her. As beautiful as she was, she was obnoxious and annoying. Her best attribute was she gave good head. At least it kept her mouth shut.

  After he heard the door slam, Julian climbed out of the pool, slipping the ring on his finger. He stopped wearing it once he signed the divorce papers, but it comforted him to wear it now.

  Julian softly cursed when he realized the back door was locked. He went to the side door and it was also locked.

  “FUCK,” he screamed into the night. He was going to have to walk around to the front door while naked. He hoped when Paulina left that the door was unlocked. Maureen wasn’t due back from a location shoot for another three days.

  With his luck, paparazzi were waiting in the bushes and would get a shot of his bare ass walking around the yard. It was bad enough when he saw the tabloid with his and Maureen’s picture in it, hugging as they left a club. Speculation was that he was the new mystery man in his best friend Maureen’s life.

  Maureen was furious when she saw the picture with the headline. Danté Copa, her boyfriend, was filming in Italy and called her for an explanation. Julian hated to see her snivel when she explained nothing was happening. They were just blowing off some steam.

  He walked around the hedges to the front door, crossing his fingers that it was open. As he reached the front steps, flashes went off. They were out there. He clambered up the stairs and was lucky the door was unlocked. Julian was sure they got some good pictures that would sell a lot of papers.

  In another few weeks, his photo spread would be published along with a few billboards advertising Kent’s new jeans line, Zanzi. Julian hated skinny jeans, but he had to admit they looked good on him. He couldn’t wait to get them off when they finished the shoot. If this is what modeling was, he didn’t want any part of it.

  Once the magazine and billboards were published, he wouldn’t be left alone. Designer friends of Kent’s had already been asking about Julian and the name of his agent. He had no intention of following through on any more jobs. He needed to get back to Nina. The only problem was that he stupidly signed a three month contract with Kent. He was stuck unless he wanted to fight litigation.

  He should have fought for Nina and contested the divorce. It was too late. Logan had already sent the papers back to her attorney. They were probably filed and soon the divorce would be finalized. He sighed as he plopped into bed, not caring that he wet the sheets.

  “Nina, why haven’t you signed these papers yet?”

  She came into the kitchen and saw that her mother was waving the divorce papers in her hand.

  “I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

  “The sooner you get it done, the faster you can be finished with this mess.”

  “It wasn’t a mess.”

  “Julian let you get kidnapped. He promised to protect and take care of you. He swore to me and look what happened?”

  “Mother, it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know.”

  “When is your next therapy appointment?”

  “I didn’t make one.”

  “Why not? Dr. Ambrose said you need to get this out.”

  “What I need is for everyone to stop smothering me. I’m fine.”

  “When you scream in the night while you’re sleeping, you’re not fine.”

  Nina swiped the papers from her mother’s hand and went back to her room. She sat on her bed and ran her fingers over the generous script of Julian’s signature.

  “I love you, Julian,
” she whispered.

  The papers had come back quickly and it upset her that he was ready to dismiss their marriage without much thought. He had called her several times and she ignored the calls. What was there to say? Julian didn’t love her any longer. Nina thought he would at least fight for her. Not that she would have changed her mind, but at least she would’ve known.

  The horrors Nina faced when she was held captive led her to this decision. They kept returning day after day to interrogate her. At first, she told them nothing, and then the drugging started. She would do anything and her addiction drove her to reveal things about Julian they never knew.

  They wanted to know why he had chosen Nina. What made her so special when he was so closed off? She never had an answer and the interrogations continued. That’s when a new tactic was established to get information out of her: pills. At first, her captors forced them down her throat, but eventually she needed them, counting off the minutes until her captors came and put them in her shaking hands.

  Nina would tell them anything to have them. When she revealed all she could, the pills stopped. They had made her feel good and relaxed, even calm.

  Withdrawal symptoms started with pain, vomiting, sweating and still the interrogations continued. Then her savior helped her escape. He was kind to her while the others hurt her. When they whipped Nina, he soothed her wounds; when they had starved her, he gave her food even if it was only crackers.

  She didn’t know who he was and he never told her his name; she heard it from one of the enforcers. Nina never saw her captors because she was constantly blindfolded. One night, her savior drugged her with a quick needle prick, telling her to be quiet. The last thing she remembered before stumbling through the snow near the cabin was being gently pushed out of a car, blindfolded.

  The snow had been almost up to her knees in places and the thin clothing and moccasins Nina wore didn’t protect her against frostbite. By the time she dragged herself onto the porch, she was exhausted and sleepy.

  Julian found and cared for her, but she knew what she had to do. She had to end it to protect them both. In all those months she was a prisoner, she gleaned that it was supposed to be him not her.

  They had warned Nina that if she didn’t end it, it would be her end. Julian was the target and he would be captured no matter what. When she finally escaped back to her husband, Nina couldn’t tell him why they needed to break up. Her savior had told her that they would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.

  Chapter 2

  “Get the fuck up,” Maureen kicked at Julian’s bed.

  “Geez, Moey. My fucking head is killing me.”

  She threw the tabloid onto his bed, “You want to explain this to me?”

  He turned over and took the paper in his hands. Page three had a picture of him bare assed running to the front door of her house.

  “You were on location. I jumped off the balcony into the pool and locked myself out of the back door.”

  “Was alcohol involved?”

  “It might have been.”

  “How much did you have to drink last night?”

  “I dunno, maybe a few or something.”

  “Jules, I don’t like what I’m seeing. You came here to get your head straight and your head is anything but. And why are you wearing your wedding ring again?”

  “Can we talk about this later?”

  “How much later? It’s already one in the afternoon. I have a quick dinner with Danté at six.”

  “He’s back?”

  “He has a few days off until they move to the next location in Canada.”

  “What about you?”

  “I don’t have to be in until 7:00 PM. We’re doing a night shoot. Now let’s have a chat.”

  “Fine.” Julian sat up in bed and ran his hands through his hair. His mouth felt like he’d been eating sand, probably because of all the champagne he had within the past twelve hours.

  “So what’s up with this behavior?”

  “Nothing. It’s just the people I hang out with now. They like to party.”

  “You never did, yet now you do?”

  “It helps keep my mind off stuff.”

  Maureen opened the curtains and the bright sun made him squint. “What type of stuff? I thought you resolved all your stuff?”

  “I have…just other things.”

  “Cut the crap, Jules, because you’re not fooling me. You miss her.”

  “So what if I do?”

  “Nina hates you so why torture yourself?”

  “Because I don’t believe it.”

  “Keep telling yourself that. She’s there and you’re here. Get your shit together. Kent told me that Adriana Valentina is interested in having you do a spread for her AV brand tuxedos.”

  “I already told him to tell her no. It’s bad enough I have to be tethered to this modeling shit for another two months.”

  “It’s not that bad is it?”

  “Not unless you like vapid, anorexic bitches and I don’t mean the women.”

  “Too bad. You’re stuck so make the best of it,” Maureen said as she walked out of the room. “Oh, and clean this place up. You’re too old to leave your clothing on the floor.”

  Julian grumbled and lay back down in bed pulling his pillow over his head to block out the sun’s rays. His phone began to chime and he checked the screen. Hell no! Paulina was calling. The last thing he needed was to hear her whining. She couldn’t take a hint.

  He tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. Maureen had left the door to his bedroom open and he heard the blender. Lately, she was taking this Hollywood shit seriously. She downed protein shakes during the day and only ate one meal, usually at night. Julian kept telling her that she had a smoking hot figure and didn’t need to lose weight. If they weren’t such good friends…he shook the image out of his mind.

  He dragged his ass out of bed and went to shower. Twenty minutes later he was sitting at the breakfast bar smiling over the horrible taste of Maureen’s latest blender creation. It was horrible.

  “So what’s on tap today?”

  “I’m free for the day. The Zanzi Jeans shoot is done. Kent is taking the female models to Hawaii for some bathing suit thing. I don’t really care as long as Paulina stays away from me.”

  “You know for a guy that doesn’t like her, you sure fuck her a lot.”

  “She’s good in bed and isn’t asking for anything more than a hard fuck.”

  “So you’re back to the unobtainable thing again?”

  “Listen, I tried the marriage thing already. It went to shit and I’m done.”

  “It went to shit because Nina was kidnapped, not because it didn’t work.”

  “Isn’t it one and the same?”

  “Do you think if she wasn’t taken you would still be married?”

  After some thought, Julian answered her. “No. I think eventually it would have gone to shit. The kidnapping was just the catalyst.”

  “You still haven’t told me why you’re wearing your wedding ring again.”

  “I like it.”

  “Admit it, Julian. You’re still hung up on Nina. Why did you let her go so easily?”

  “Because I wanted to spare her any more pain. She wanted it and I owed it to her.”

  “You believe you weren’t victimized by her kidnapping?”

  “Moey, please. My head is fucking killing me and this is heavy shit. I don’t want to discuss it.”

  “Whatever. I can’t force you to tell me how you feel.”

  Maureen grabbed her foul glass of protein poison and headed to her bedroom without giving him a look. She did however click her tongue as she passed. Julian knew her long enough to know that meant she disapproved of his denial of emotion.

  He had plenty of emotion and when he wasn’t drunk or pretending to have fun with his new Hollywood crowd, it came out. He hummed “Rolling in the Deep” over and over. It was Nina’s favorite song.

  “Nina, you cannot move out. Yo
u need your family.”

  She looked at the faces of her parents as well as Tony, Joey and Frankie, all filled with worry. They didn’t feel she was capable of living on her own, but she kept explaining that she wouldn’t be— her best friend Madison would be living with her. They both decided it was time to move out of their parents’ homes.

  For Nina, she couldn’t stand being watched constantly since it reminded her of being watched as a prisoner. It had been several weeks since she had escaped and Dr. Ambrose was helping her understand her feelings; all her feelings except love. This was one that she didn’t discuss and did not offer as an option. The doctor had asked her about her failed marriage, but she refused to speak about it. He said eventually she would have to reflect. Her first step was to stop being watched.

  “I’m moving on June first. Madison and I already paid the security and first month’s rent. You can’t stop me.”

  Her father was the first to speak. “We can’t, but we can refuse to help you. How are you going to pay the rent?”

  “I’m taking a job at the Banner’s grocery store. They said I can work in the office doing bookkeeping. I did it for you so why not somewhere else?”

  “You’re not ready. You’ve just been through a traumatic experience.”

  “And I’m dealing with it. I’m not discussing this any further.”

  Nina scanned the faces of her family and she could see that they were all bewildered by her attitude.

  “Are you still going to see Dr. Ambrose?” Her mother asked.

  “Of course. I need to talk to someone who is objective about what happened to me. I need his expertise. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading to my room.”