Showing results for "Lovesick" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

I couldn't do broken. Broken is what he was. Broken is what I will always be. To his eyes, that held so much despair, I couldn't look for long. To his fist, that clenched so tightly, like he was locking away the sorrow. To his lips, that never uttered a word, from the years of heartbreak. And despite it all, I couldn't stay away from him. It was like he was drowning in an ocean, and I wanted to grab his face, and whisper to his lips, "Don't forget to breathe."

My mother trained me to be numb. To keep my volatile emotions carefully locked away. But when my drug-addicted stepfather decides to clear his debt by offering my sister to the Ruthless Mafia Men that run our city, I have no choice but to react. Keeping her safe is the only thing I've ever been good at. And, unlike her, I've already been scarred by the cruelties of our world. So I did the only thing I could do, the only thing that would ensure that they'd never go looking for her. I offered myself to big bad wolves instead.

The Reapers of Caspian Hills are powerful men. So powerful that when my idiotic stepfather offered them my little sister, I knew no one in their right mind would try to stop them. But I never claimed to be totally sane. Offering myself in Alex's place was borderline suicidal, but I strolled into the lion's den anyway. While the brothers definitely lived up to their ruthless reputation, I discovered they had a weakness after all—me.

The Reapers were always supposed to be the villains in my story. They were the four ruthless brothers who ruled our city with an obscene amount of cash and more blood on their hands than the most vicious killers. When I first showed up on their doorstep, I was a toy. A shiny new object for the big bad wolves in designer suits to play with. They could use and abuse me as much as they wanted, and I knew no one would step in to stop them. I was nothing to them. That is, until I became everything.

Late one night out on the Eastern Promenade Trail in Portland, Maine, the police discover an incoherent teenager sitting in a pool of blood, holding the body of his best friend and the murder weapon. The girl they both love has been missing for weeks. The kid's jealousy clearly drove him to murder. He says the missing girl is the love of his life. She also happens to be the girlfriend of the murder victim. It's an open-and-shut case, or so most of Portland thinks.