Bending to Break (A Before I Break Novel Book 1)

  Copyright

  Bending to Break is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  BENDING TO BREAK: A NOVEL

  Copyright © 2021 by A. L. Hartwell

  All rights reserved.

  Editing by Pure Grammar Editing

  www.puregrammar.com

  Cover Design by KP Designs

  - www.kpdesignshop.com

  Published by Kingston Publishing Company

  - www.kingstonpublishing.com

  The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means—including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Extras

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  Dedication

  To my husband, for always believing in me and for refuting any self-doubt I ever had about myself or this book. Your love and patience made it possible. Thank you for always being my guiding star.

  To my mum and dad, I love you both so much and I’m grateful for your undying support with everything that I do. But please, on this occasion skip the rude bits!

  Jessica, Brittany, and Zak you are the best marketing team a girl could ever need. Thank you for your fierce support.

  And to those that will read this story, thank you for taking a chance on an unknown author.

  Chapter One

  Olivia Heart

  The inane chatter around the table made my stomach clench, but I fought my urges to push this meeting on. I had no desire to be here, yet I was bound by my boss' demands to make this right. To fix the problems he had caused. Fingernails tapping against the dark oak table helped force my mind to focus on the room, forced my jaw to soften, forced myself not to speak yet. My boss, Jackson Bells, had positioned us to fail right from the get-go when he had taken on this case.

  Inconsiderate asshole

  Now I’m anxious and dealing with a case that makes my skin crawl.

  Jessica, to my right, nervously placed the coffee down in front of our very unimpressed client. I had tried to throw her a sympathetic smile, but she barely looked up from her curtain of lovely red hair. Could I blame her? No, not really.

  “So, what you’re saying, Mr. Bells, is that my son is going to jail?” Archer Caine blistered, spittle flying from his wrinkled lips as he glared over at my boss.

  Jackson barely flinched as he crossed his hands on the table, highlighting the new Rolex Submariner he had recently purchased. It was ostentatious just like its new owner, whose blonde hair had been slicked back, his clothes crisp and fitted with designer privilege.

  “Only for two weeks, Mr. Caine. Given the circumstances surrounding your son's case, this is really a win for you both.”

  “A win!? A fucking win?! Are you out of your god damn mind?”

  There it was, the anger that I had been waiting for. In this job, you get used to seeing people fall apart, and it was always my job to put them back together.

  Clearing my throat, I brought the attention of the room onto me.

  “Sir, given your son's accused crime and the evidence stacked against him, it would be in his interest to accept the deal. If the deal isn’t accepted within the next twenty-four hours, we’re looking at court. We’re looking at seven years in jail.”

  I surveyed his initial reaction of disgust as I, a woman, had interrupted his rage, but he quickly fell apart in my hands. I was holding his precious son’s life in front of him with an unforgiving stare.

  I was not to be messed with.

  My deal’s golden.

  I hadn’t worked my ass off for the past two weeks to let this get away from me.

  Leaning in, I swept away my dark hair and pushed my prepared file across the table.

  “Take it or leave it,” I said boldly. “You won’t get anything better.”

  “Olivia!” Jackson hissed, as he reached to touch my elbow, but I was prepared for this, too. Snatching out of his grip, I leaned back into my chair where he could no longer touch me and surveyed the room.

  Jackson was irate with anger, his chin wobbling under his fierce emotions. Jessica was trying her hardest not to shake while she waited to take further notes. Mr. Caine was still blinking away his anger towards me while the cogs in his brain continued to turn.

  Scott Caine, at his father’s side, simply glared at me.

  Scott Caine was everything I hated about my job. Privileged teenagers with no set of rules or boundaries to live by. Scott had recently been accused of trying to sleep with a drunken teenager at a frat party. The victim had refused to press charges but the cops in charge of the case had pressed on.

  Money and power allowed him to step into a corrupt system and come out unscathed.

  I felt sick to my stomach every time I sat in a room with the predator, but I kept it locked away and allowed my repulsion to simmer. Even when I had caught him staring down my blouse or licking his lips as he ogled my body – I remained neutral.

  “Miss Heart, he’ll take it,” Mr. Caine said, as he snatched up the paperwork, his stubby hands trembling while he opened the file, ready to force his delinquent son to sign away his freedom for a measly moment in time.

  ****

  An hour later, I found myself staring at the small square mirrors in the bathrooms after the tense hour Jackson had forced me into. I should not be doing this. I shouldn’t be in charge of brokering deals for the evil that stalked New York’s streets. At twenty-five years old, I was just making my way into a career that I was not certain about, telling myself that once I was qualified, I could put myself to work. To start doing good in the justice system that had done so little for me.

  Instead, as I stared into my deep green eyes, all I saw was the wearing down of my soul. All I saw was the fraying of my conscience while my heart battled with white fingertips to keep the rest of me whole.

  I shook away the dread and stood back. I began quickly smoothing down my black pencil skirt and straightening my white silk blouse while mentally preparing myself for the next meeting.
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  A banker who had been caught cleaning money for a drug pin.

  Taking the lift to my floor, I pulled myself together, ignoring the warm bodies that joined me as we made our way up.

  As the door pinged open, I stepped out and found Jessica waiting for me at my desk. Jessica had only been with us for three weeks, even with her nerves she was efficient and eager. Jessica was from Ireland, but her accent had been dulled since she spent the past ten years living in Albany and now New York.

  “Jackson’s cancelled the next meeting,” she told me, with a relieved smile. “Said something’s come up with an important client.”

  An important client probably meant ‘off the book client’ which did not faze me. I was very aware of Jackson and his black book of clientele that would supply him with a further wage. I was grateful that he had never once involved me with this side of his business. I already dealt with enough heathens; I didn’t need the worst of them adding to my list.

  “Okay, can you send me tomorrow’s meeting list?” I asked, taking my seat at my desk and kicking my heels off as I switched on my computer.

  “It’s already in your email.” She smiled and stood up, no doubt to make me another coffee so that she could keep her nervous energy at bay.

  “You really are a godsend Jessica,” I muttered, as I entered my password to my computer before groaning aloud. There really weren’t enough hours in the day to get through my emails.

  Chapter Two

  Olivia Heart

  By the time I’d pulled my body from my desk, my skull was already throbbing with pain and exhaustion. Having spent the past five hours working through my caseload, I had forgotten all sense of time and become lost in my computer.

  I called my Uber and left. I was fortunate enough to live in the Upper East side, thanks to a condition with my job. It was an added sweetener for me to take the position, and at the time, I was thrilled. The old building was deceptive from the street as it sat back slightly from its neighbors with tall windows on each floor. It was the perfect balance between homely and showy.

  As I entered the building, my iPhone alarm screamed up at me. I needed to call my Aunt Sarah to catch up. These days, my whole life was scheduled so that I wouldn’t forget a thing. Pulling up her contact details, I shimmied my bag up my arm and waited for the ring.

  “About bloody time,” she chided, after she picked up on the third ring.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologized. I truly was, I hadn’t called her in weeks and knew she would be worrying sick about me.

  “I know you are, Love,” she breathed in her perfect English accent, that reminded me so much of home and what I was missing. “Just coming in from work?”

  I pressed the number four on the elevator and sank back into the wall. “Yes, it’s been a long day.”

  In the background, I could hear the tv was on and someone was snoring softly. It was no doubt Sarah’s dog, Otto. I smiled at the thought of the little terrier tucked in at her side, protecting her.

  “Want to talk about it?” she asked softly, no doubt ready for me to tell her it wasn’t anything important. Like I always did.

  Today, however, I wanted to tell her.

  “I had this kid accused of rape on my caseload. I know he did it, hell I could see it in his eyes.”

  Sarah sucked in a deep breath and the phone buzzed in my ear.

  “You were just doing your job.”

  I leaned my head back against the cool metal as I continued to climb in the metal box and closed my eyes. If only that would stem the guilt, I felt for the poor girl that he had tried to molest.

  “I’m not sure I can do this anymore,” I whispered suddenly, my barrier falling and the floodwater rushing in. “I’m not sure it’s worth it Aunt Sarah, the people that I deal with, these men with money don’t care for the damage they’re doing…”

  “Oh Love,” she whispered softly. “You can’t take it all on your shoulders like this, it’s not healthy.”

  Suddenly, I wasn’t a twenty-five-year-old woman that had a budding career and stability. I was a teenager who needed her aunt to console her against the evil that lurked in every corner of the earth. Maybe it was the sound of her accent or her pet name for me, but I never felt more homesick.

  “You can always come home and finish up here. I know it’s not ideal, but if you’re unhappy…”

  I felt my throat constrict at the last word I heard, but was saved by the beep of the elevators opening. A gentle reminder not to dwell.

  “I’m just tired. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have unloaded on you like that. How’s things at home?”

  “We’re good here. Alice is coming to pick me up to go wedding dress shopping tomorrow. Isn’t that exciting?”

  I felt a pang of guilt as I stuck my key into my apartment door. I had been invited to my cousin Alice’s wedding that was in a few weeks, but there had been no move from me to book the time off yet. A subject I did not want to bring up yet.

  As I stepped into my welcoming apartment, I searched for the light that led into my hallway, my fingers pressing down on the switch.

  Click.

  Nothing.

  “Er, Aunt Sarah, can I call you back? The power’s out in my apartment.”

  All I could see was a faint outline of my hallway from the light my phone provided.

  “Of course! Ring me as soon as you can.”

  “I won’t be long.”

  I ended the call and used the phone light to guide me down the hall. All I needed was a glass of wine and a long hot shower, not the possibility of being without power while I waited for maintenance. Especially, given that the maintenance manager was a pervy sixty-year-old man who smelled of cheap liquor and cigarettes.

  Huffing to myself, I dropped my bag on the side table before entering the kitchen. All I needed to do was find the damn fuse box, which I was pretty certain was here somewhere.

  Kicking off my heels, I squinted into the darkness as I tried to remember where I had seen the fuse box. Just as my eyes landed on the small white cupboard, I felt my body react to the darkness.

  I paused and listened for any unusual sounds, but shook my head. The darkness had many ways of playing with fears and I wasn’t going to let that get to me. I pushed away the shiver that rippled down my spine and opened the cupboard to find all the switches had been pulled out.

  “What the-”

  Freezing cold shivers shot back up my spine as I stepped back. Goosebumps decorated my body as my eyes fixed themselves to the missing fuses. Teetering on the balls of my feet, I landed into a firm body.

  I tried to turn, but arms snaked around my chest and pulled me back. My airways snapped shut as they gave in to fear; my hands desperately fought to push my attacker away, but my strength was no match.

  “It’s okay,” I heard the rough grumble of a voice I didn’t know, while their hands snaked up to my throat. “Don’t fight it.”

  I felt a scream bubble up into my throat as my useless body was pulled further back and out of the kitchen into the living room. Away from the knives I had subconsciously tried to grab. My ankle gave way and I dropped, but that didn’t matter. My captor was strong and hoisted me back up to his chest with one hand.

  “This will help,” he uttered, stabbing me in the neck with something sharp. The only noise to have slipped out of my mouth was the yelp from the pain I felt as I tried to free my hand to pull away the needle still there.

  It was too late. I could feel the burning liquid searing underneath my skin as it began to dull my senses. The liquid was whispering for me to give in and remain still. It was now two against one.

  I began to tumble down into strong arms as the liquid fought my nervous system. Even as I tried desperately to stay in the moment, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was rendered useless.

  My last-ditch of desperation was to turn my head so that I could see my intruder. It was my last hope. My intruder wore all black, blending into the darkness.

  I trie
d to open my mouth to scream for help, but instead, my voice box shut down. A gargle of shock trickled out of my lips as my arms twitched for escape. My body was no longer under my control.

  “In a few minutes, you will fall asleep,” he whispered, while he stroked my hair away from my face, his warm fingers lulling me closer to the subconscious. “You’re safe, Miss Heart. I promise.”

  The darkness around us laughed.

  Chapter Three

  Luca Caruso

  My eyes betrayed me as they stared out of the small circular window, looking down the dark private runway that was half-hidden with darkness. I hated impatience more than anything on this earth. It was infection to the brain that could make you indecisive and weak. I was not weak. My whole life was structured around controlling myself and those around me. A king that sat on his throne while he took what he wanted.

  But the impatience seeped from my fingertips as they tapped on my armrest. I needed to pull myself together before it was too late.

  A cloud of desperation hung over my shoulders while I waited for what was mine. It had been hours, and yet, we were still stuck on the cold tarmac of New York City.

  “How long?” I demanded. “You said it would take an hour, Chen. We’ve been here for three.”

  “Two minutes, sir,” Chen Zil, my security advisor said, as he swept past my seat to prepare the doors. Chen was of mixed ethnicities. Pitch black hair that was immaculately slicked to the side, matching perfectly with his even darker eyes, and contrasted against his tanned skin. I had chosen him personally due to his impeccable record of keeping people like me safe.

  Two minutes and Chen’s team would bring on the most precious cargo to have ever graced this private jet. In two minutes, my whole life was going to change. In that short fraction of time, I was going to get my reward for being so fucking patient. Eight years I had waited for this moment, a moment that was not all of what I had hoped for, but I was an opportunist.