Stone: The Ties that Bind (The Forbidden Love Series Book 4) Read online

  The Ties that Bind

  Prologue

  Jackson

  She’s not a little girl anymore. She’s all grown up; dirty blonde hair and sky-blue eyes that light up her creamy, sun-kissed skin. She looked so much like my little brother Sylvester. Spring break in Miami was filled with gorgeous, tight-bodied young women who were ready to get drunk and give up their virginity, but not my Alyssa. She’s was a good girl. I could tell. She wasn’t like the rest of them and I knew some douchebag was going to put the moves on her. I needed to be there to protect her; to watch her; to take care of her.

  This was the perfect opportunity for me to keep an eye out on her. A friend of mine knew the owner of the Fountainbleu hotel on the boardwalk. I often stayed there for free while on assignment or on vacation. Alyssa was staying at the Holiday Inn. I’ve been watching her for eighteen years now. She’s nineteen years old and a freshman at Syracuse University. She was beautiful and smart even though her DNA was made up of two junkies, she was unscathed. I knew her no-good betraying, whore of a sister, who called herself her mother, Madison, was never the right person to raise Alyssa.

  I had hoped to God Alyssa wasn’t in love with her own brother Daniel. The dynamics of that family made me sick. Madison thought she got away with it all; Killing Sly; Stone Killing Andrew and trying to kill me. I’m so glad they riddled Stone with bullets from head to toe and he’s dead, but that bitch Madison must pay for destroying my family and leaving me all alone…and I won’t rest until she’s dead…and Alyssa? she belongs to me.

  Chapter one

  Jackson

  “Can I help you, Sir,” The young woman said as she opened the dilapidated door slowly to the trailer.

  “Mrs. Melanie Stone, please.” I asked looking into the house.

  “She’s napping, Sir. Can you come back later?” She asked kindly.

  “No,” I pushed her out of the way and headed towards the bedroom.

  “Sir, you can’t go in there! Sir!” She yelled following behind me.

  I turned around quickly and grabbed her by the throat.

  “This is what’s going to happen young lady. Are you listening?” I whispered in her ear as I had my hand firmly around her throat and the other hand pulling on her hair. She nodded with tears in her eyes. “I’m going to walk into that bedroom and you’re going to sit your ass in that living room chair, lower the blinds and blast the television. Do you understand me?” She nodded again. “Say it,”

  “Yes, I understand.” She whimpered.

  I released my grip from around her throat and let go of her hair. I walked towards the bedroom and heard the old lady snoring. I shook her by the shoulders with my hands. She opened her eyes; eyes that were doped up. She was incoherent. I lifted her up and sat up her up against the headboard of her bed.

  “Who the fuck are you?” she spurted out.

  “I’m your worse nightmare, old lady.” I said.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” She said wiping the grime out of her eyes and coughing like she smoked for twenty years.

  I moved away and sat on the dirty rocking chair that stood in front of the bed.

  “Are you Anastasia Stone’s Mother?” I asked sternly.

  “Who’s asking?”

  I got up quickly and grabbed her by the throat.

  “I’ll break your neck without thinking twice, Melanie. I don’t have time for your fucking sarcastic remarks. I need answers,” I barked.

  “What do you want? Who are you?” She tried to pry my hands off her throat while gasping for air.

  “My name is Special Agent Jackson Turner. Does the name ring a bell?” I stared into her deep blue aging eyes, filled with wrinkles and dark circles.

  “No,” she shook her head.

  “You’re a lying bitch. Your daughter Anastasia had a lover who had her hooked-on heroin. You know a lot about that don’t you?” I growled.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about?” she whispered.

  I squeezed on her throat tighter.

  “I do. I need you to sober up. We need to talk. Go take a shower,” I let go of her throat.

  She pushed my hands away and stood up and with a little bit of courage stared at me.

  “And what if I don’t want to?” She said in her raspy voice.

  I pulled out my gun from my holster and attached the silencer.

  “Then I’ll blow your fucking brains out right here in front of your caretaker, then shoot her in the head on the way-out door.” She took a step back. “Do you want to, now?” I smiled at her.

  She lowered her head and moved quickly to the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on. I walked over to the living room and noticed the front door was open and that the caretaker had taken off as quickly as she could. I chuckled and lowered the television waiting for the infamous Melanie to step out of the shower and join me. I lit up a Cuban cigar and sat back against the filth she called a home. The small trailer reeked of drugs and rodents, a lethal combination for anyone to live in. I sat and sucked in the cigar smoke slowly, letting it fill up my lungs then I exhaled, releasing trails of smoke into the pungent air.

  The door of the bathroom opened slowly, letting out the steam of the hot shower Melanie took to wash off her junkie stench.

  “Coffee?” She asked.

  “No thank you,” I uncrossed my legs, stood up and followed her to the kitchen.

  “Well, what do you want?” she snapped.

  “I want to know if your filthy, whore of a daughter was screwing my drug dealing little brother,” I inhaled on the cigar and blew the smoke towards her face.

  “My whore of daughter had lots of men. I can’t recall,” she said smugly pouring herself a cup of coffee in a dirty tin cup.

  “Well, let me refresh your memory. It was the time that Stone and Madison were raising baby Alyssa and you were taking Madison to see that jail bird, Stone. Ring a bell?” I stood in front of her.

  “Ahh…Yes, I remember Madison telling me that your brother paid her a visit. That was the day I never heard from Madison again,”

  “Then you knew him,”

  “I did,”

  “What did you know about him?”

  “He was a good-looking kid. He slept with my daughter every time he went to the house to sell her drugs. She got pregnant,” She swallowed the black, cold coffee.

  “Is he the father?” I questioned.

  “Look, that was a long time ago. I’m old. I don’t remember much nowadays,” She said dumping the tin cup in the sink.

  “I need you to remember. Your life depends on it,” I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the living room. “This isn’t a friendly visit, Melanie. I need to know.”

  “I haven’t seen her in over eighteen years,” She shook her head.

  “We both know you don’t care about any of your grandkids. You were a shitty grandmother and the worse mother ever. I need to know if Sly is Alyssa’s father,”

  “I don’t have that information. Ana gave Madison a package before she died…I mean, I gave it to her after she died. I didn’t know what was inside,”

  “Hmmm…Ana died of Leukemia in the hospital and she didn’t give Madison shit. You gave her that package, didn’t you?” I leaned in close to her face.

  “I…”

  “Well, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t know what was inside. I swear,”

  “You’re lying,”

  “Look, I knew there were birth certificates inside, but my daughter was a whore. Any man could be Alyssa’s father. I don’t remember,”

  “You need to r
emember. Are we clear?”

  “Yeah, I understand,”

  “Have a nice day, Mrs. Stone. I’ll see you soon.” I said as I walked out the door.

  I knew she was lying. All I wanted was to avenge the murder of my brothers’. I needed to know everything about this family and that old bag was the one who was going to tell me.

  My driver waited patiently in the car. I opened the back door.

  “Are you ready for your flight, Sir?” Frank asked.

  “Yes, I am. Let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”

  Chapter two: Alyssa

  “Mom, I’m fine.” I replied as I rolled my eyes into my head.

  “Just be careful and you know, you don’t have to do it with anyone, Lyssa, please.” her voice cracked. I knew she was about to cry.

  “Mom…please. I’m not a little girl anymore. You’ve taught me everything I know. Please don’t worry, okay?” I heard nothing but silence on the other end of the phone, but that was expected.

  My mother never let me out of her sight for years. She homed school Daniel and I until we graduated from high school, but she always let us have our friends over and made sure we were active in the community, but only with her by our side. Daniel was allowed to go college. He left three years ago and would graduate this year.

  I begged her to let me go away to college and she finally gave in. She told Daniel and I about what happened to her and daddy when they were kids. She told us about how dad killed that guy that was going to hurt her and about Sly and how she had to kill him to protect us. I understood her concern but at times, she was overbearing.

  “You’re right Lyssa. Have fun. I’ll see you when you get back. Love you,” she whispered.

  “Love you more, mom.” I ended the call.

  I boarded the plane and sat with my best friend. The chill in the air sparked the hairs on my arms to stand up on end. Airplanes were always so cold. We waited patiently for everyone to board the plane and sit. The announcements were made and the video about airplane safety presented itself on the small screen on the chair in front of me.

  “Ughh…this is so boring.” Sadie whispered shaking her head.

  “Just put your seat belt on, then you can take a nap or watch a movie.”

  The video was finally over and we took off into the clear, blue sky. My heart was in my stomach. I hated flying, but I was determined to have a great time in Miami.

  “Excuse me, can we get a blanket please.” I asked the stewardess.

  “Sure thing.” The stewardess walked down the aisle to retrieve the blankets.

  I looked out the window and thought about what my mother had told me, but I knew I wasn’t planning on sleeping with a stranger. She didn’t have to worry. My first time would be with someone I loved. I wanted a love like my mother and father’s. A love that was special and forever.

  The plane was about to land and we had to fasten our seatbelts again. Miami wasn’t far away, but there was turbulence and a small storm that we just happened to be in the middle of. When we landed, I was more than relieved. Sadie slept through the whole flight. I, of course, was staring out the window, praying to God we would land safely. I woke Sadie up with one swift elbow hit to her arm. She woke up quickly and coughed.

  “We’re here? That was quick.” She said rubbing her eyes gently.

  She was a very pretty girl. Large brown eyes and never wore an ounce of makeup. Unfortunately, she was hooked on opioids and at times, that pretty, little girl turned into a complete monster when she needed a fix. I wanted to take this trip without her, but the other girls on our dorm floor decided to invite her. She’d been going through a rough patch in her life, so we brought her with on this trip to get her away from her daily dose of death.

  I tried my best every day to help her, but noticed at this point, she was a lost cause. I really wanted to help, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. This year at Syracuse was harder than I thought, and I didn’t want to return and Sadie’s added stress didn’t help me at all.

  We collected our luggage and grabbed a cab to the Holiday Inn. Stepping out in front of the hotel was like walking into a Walmart on black Friday. There were so many college kids everywhere. I felt a little overwhelmed. My palms were sweaty, and my heart was racing. We walked through the lobby doors and glanced around the lobby that was overflowing with tourists. We walked towards the receptionist and stood on line. We waited for about ten minutes before walking up to the reception desk.

  “Welcome to the Holiday Inn, how may I help you?” a young woman with green and pink hair asked.

  “We’re checking in.” I said.

  “Your name?”

  “Alyssa Stone.”

  “Let’s see.” The receptionist blew her bangs away from her face with her lips. “Here you go, room one zero two.” She printed out the receipt and handed the papers to me. “Sign here and here.” She pointed.

  I grabbed the pen and signed the papers.

  “Here you go.” She handed me the electronic cards. “Have a great day. You’re on the first floor so just go to the right and your room should be right there.”

  “Thank you.”

  I followed the receptionist’s directions and we all walked towards the room. I used the electronic key and opened the door. Sadie and the girls followed.

  “Nice room,” Sadie remarked.

  “Yeah. Listen, why don’t the rest of you go to your rooms and get settled in. We can meet up for dinner tonight?” I suggested.

  The girls nodded their heads and headed out the door. I glanced over at Sadie who threw herself on the bed.

  “Hey, you okay?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  I grabbed my cell phone from my back pocket and called my mother.

  “Momma?”

  “Oh, Lyssa. I’m so glad you call.”

  “Well, we’ve landed and we’re in the hotel. Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “I got a phone call from someone who sounded just like my grandmother, Mel. Remember I told you about her.”

  “Really? Ana’s mom? That’s strange, right?”

  “What’s even stranger is that, well, she only asked me one question. You know, like, are you okay?” my mother sounded out of breath. “and I said, Mel? Then, she hung up.”

  “That was totally weird momma.” I replied.

  “I just can’t believe she’s still alive. I thought she would’ve died of a drug overdose years ago. The day she gave me her car was the last day I saw her.” There was silence over the phone for a moment. Then, momma spoke. “I mean, I told her about Sly and then I left and never saw her again. For some strange reason, I thought she would help us, but of course, I was wrong.”

  “Oh momma, maybe it was a prank.” I giggled.

  “Maybe. I’m glad you got there safely.”

  “Yep, actually I’m ready for a jog on the beach. I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “Yep, I’ll be here.”

  “Love you, momma.”

  “Love you, Lyssa.”

  I glanced over at Sadie and she had fallen asleep. This was the perfect opportunity for my jog before dinner. I was a little tense. The jog would do me some good. I got dressed and put on my bathing suit top and a tank over and baggy shorts and slipped on my sneakers. I headed out of the hotel and walked towards the beach. The brisk ocean breeze felt good as tiny beads of the ocean’s water sprinkled my face as I began to jog and pick up speed. I closed my eyes for a moment to inhale the sweet scent of the ocean, when I bumped into someone. My eyes opened suddenly, and I felt hands wrapped around my waist. I screamed.

  “Hey, hey…I’m sorry,” he said with his hands on my waist.

  He was a tall, older man in his fifties, slender. I stared at him for a moment. He was in great shape. He wore dark sunglasses with mirrored lenses. I stood motionless. It almost felt as if I couldn’t move.

  “Umm…it’s okay. I closed my eyes for a moment. I didn’t see you. I’m sorry.” I whispered nervously sliding
his hands off my waist.

  “I apologize for holding on to you; I thought you would fall,” he said apologetically.

  “I guess I have to keep my eyes open,” I grabbed the side of my head.

  I suddenly had a terrible headache. My headaches usually increased with stress after I was thrown into the lake and hit my head as a little girl.

  “Yeah, you should. There are a lot of crazy people out here.” he smiled, turned around and jogged away.

  He was right, the beach was practically empty at that time. The sun was setting. I wondered why I bumped into him as I jogged in that path. I didn’t see anyone on the beach as I was heading in that direction. I kept on jogging and so did he. I turned around again to make sure he continued to jog in the opposite direction, but suddenly, he was nowhere to be found. I jogged toward the boardwalk when I heard my friends yelling out my name. I felt a sense of relief immediately and I jogged as quickly as I could towards them.

  “Jeez, why didn’t you wake me up?” Sadie asked fixing her breasts in her bathing suit top using her hands.

  “Don’t do that in public,” I shook my head.

  “Hey, who was the creepy old man, Alyssa? Even though he was in great shape for an old dude?” She said smiling.

  “I don’t know. I bumped into him when I closed my eyes for a moment as I was jogging,” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Well, you know, he jogged his old bones this way and asked who you were. He asked for your name.” Sadie said snickering.

  “Really?” I asked nervously.

  “Nope, just kidding. Let’s grab dinner, I’m starving.” Sadie grabbed me by the arm and the other girls followed her like she was a god.

  I glanced towards the beach one more time. The encounter with the stranger felt awkward yet familiar.

  “Alyssa, the old creepy guy thing was a joke, I mean, we saw you bump into him, but he left in a split second after that. Did he say something to you? Did he touch you? Are you okay?” Sadie said as she grabbed me by the arm gently to stop me from walking.

  “I don’t know. I mean…no. He had his hands on my waist. It just…felt weird,”