Complete Me Read online

  Complete Me

  Khardine Gray

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  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

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Khardine Gray

  Complete Me

  All rights reserved.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or pieces of research is purely coincidental.

  The author asserts that all characters and situations depicted in this work of fiction are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design : Erin Dameron -Hill

  Acknowledgments

  This one’s for you Daniel Gray, the original Mr. Pretty Boy who will always save and inspire me. Thank you for the Prometheus idea. You have such a creative, beautiful mind.

  Thank you for keeping me going.

  Chapter 1

  12 years earlier...

  Today had wild adventure stamped all over it.

  Sam could tell from the mischievous glint in Tom's eyes. Apparently, he'd come up with the perfect excuse for why they weren't at Aunt Lilly's wedding.

  "It's simple. We tell them the car got stolen and the police found it here." Tom smiled wide at the ingenious idea, speeding up the car as they sailed down the dusty road.

  Sam laughed, shuffling in the passenger seat next to him. "Tom we live in Chicago. No one is going to believe that the police found the car here."

  He motioned to the mighty Mojave Desert that surrounded them, brown and desolate with Joshua trees and Desert Willow punctuating the sandy waves like ghost ships.

  "Course they will. It adds to the mystery and makes it more believable." Pete suggested from the back. He leaned forward onto Tom's seat, nodding at the suggestion.

  Jeff who sat next to Pete shook his head causing his dark locks to fall forward over his eye. "My story was more believable."

  Tom started to laugh tightening his grip on the Porsche's steering wheel. "What? We tell people you got kidnapped and we had to come and get you?" He leaned his blonde head to the side.

  It was the way that Tom was laughing that made Sam laugh even harder. "No one is going to kidnap you, bro," Sam stated. He looked at Jeff with his long hair he'd claimed was in fashion and his tie-dye cut up t-shirt, and ripped jeans. He was supposed to be going for the whole rocker look, being a big fan of Bon Jovi and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. However, Jeff just looked wrong. If anyone saw him in the street, Sam was certain they'd think he was dressed up for Halloween or something. For a start, his thick bushy hair had grown out to the sides was starting to look like a terrible wig, he'd cut the holes in the T-shirt himself and did it all wrong, and the jeans that were supposed to be baggy looked like tights on him. He was too fat for the whole ensemble, and look.

  "Hey, I know." Tom beamed. "We can tell them you got kidnapped." His eyebrows arched mischievously as he pointed at Sam.

  "Me?" That idea was even worse and equally as ridiculous as telling people Jeff had been kidnapped. Sam was a big guy. Six feet four of solid muscle, he was proud of. "Look at me. What are you going to say? Someone drove up in a car and snatched me?" Sam couldn't stop laughing.

  Tom swatted at him and missed. "No. Just imagine it." Tom cleared his throat and put on his news reporter voice. "Sam St. John, the only heir to the St. John fortune was kidnapped today by a gang of angry activists. Fortunately, his cousin Tom Whitmore, being the brave soul that he is, was right there to save the day. He chased the perilous fiends all the way from Chicago to Vegas where he retrieved his beloved cousin who was traumatized by the whole event."

  Even God was laughing at that one. The whole car erupted with fits of laughter.

  "You guys are crazy?" Pete grinned shaking his head. "What am I going to do without you all?"

  It was a good question. Sam asked himself the same question too. From the rearview mirror, Sam could see the reflective look in Pete's eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking.

  Tom and Sam were cousins. They'd been close since birth, were the same age, and did everything together. They'd met Pete and Jeff in junior high and just graduated grad school. That was a lot of years to be friends. They'd been through life together, and it would all change after this summer. This was the last summer they'd all be together and who knew where life would take them.

  Even Jeff was getting a haircut in preparation to work in Europe and the middle east for a multinational law firm. Pete was going traveling for a year, and then he'd be working with his father in Switzerland on a new company their family had just set up there.

  Sam and Tom would be working together at the renowned St. John & Co, their family business that had been in their family for decades. They could share that excitement together, but he felt that they'd all drift apart as a group. As much as they'd try to keep in touch, Sam knew it wouldn't be the same. They knew it too, which was why they'd been going wild the last few weeks. It was the reason for this road trip that should have ended two days ago when they hit Texas. Instead, and despite Aunt Lily's wedding, they'd continued on the road with the overruling idea to go to Vegas. One last fling.

  That is however what they called last week's trip to New York, and the week before that when they flew out to Florida for a beach party.

  "We could meet up every year and do something," Sam suggested.

  "I like that." Pete nodded.

  "But right now we need an excuse. You guys are fine. It's our aunt," Tom chuckled.

  "How about the truth? This is her third wedding, and we were at the first two," Sam offered. They could just promise they'd be at the fourth.

  "You know our parents would kill us if we tell the truth."

  "What choice do we have?" Sam asked. While his mom would go easy on him, his father wouldn't be so forgiving if Sam lied and told his parents he'd been kidnapped. "And, we should probably cut back on the flings."

  "And act like adults? Can we at least wait until the end of the summer?" Tom shrugged smiling slyly.

  "If we do that we'll find some excuse to continue this forever." At least Sam was blessed with an ounce of responsibility. If they were all left to Tom's devises, they'd end up in prison. Last week they didn't just simply go to New York. Tom thought it would be more fun to take Pricilla the Pig with them - their college's football team mascot. It was definitely hilarious, but they got in so much trouble. They were all twenty-four, not sixteen and it was time to do away with those sorts of childish pranks.

  "Tom summer ends in two weeks. This has to be our last fling. We have to grow up."

  "I agree," Pe
te said. "My dad's still furious about last week."

  "Okay, we grow up then." Tom smiled. "We gro -" Tom's eyes grew as he turned and stared ahead of them.

  Sam was about to say something, but his words escaped him too. His words literally frazzled in his brain as he took sight of the beautiful girl ahead of them signaling for the car in front to stop.

  "I saw her first." Tom declared. Although Sam could hear him, and he was right beside him, his voice sounded very far away. It was Tom's nudge in Sam's side that brought him out of his reverie. However, the effect was only temporary. His eyes returned to the girl in front of them with her beautiful mass of brown hair flowing around her in the wind like a cape.

  She was the very best thing he'd seen all day and looked like a fantasy come to life against the desert and the cruel sun. The vision of her was only enhanced by the thick hazy air which hung about her like special effects created in a movie.

  "Stop gawking like some kind of freak, and I saw her first." Tom nudged him again.

  Sam tried to answer but was too mesmerized. He continued to watch as she backed away towards the side of the road that was just barely separable from the brown sand.

  As the car ahead ignored her and sped away, Tom slicked his hair back, grabbed that stupid mint spray he always carried from the glove compartment and gave his mouth a good squirt of it. To complete his attempts to fix himself up, he smoothed his eyebrows over quickly with his thumbs. Pete and Jeff both laughed at him. Sam would have laughed too if he hadn't fallen under the same enchantment.

  "Looks like the journey's about to get even more interesting," Tom declared, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "That girl is smoking hot. We're definitely stopping."

  If Sam weren't so taken with her beauty, he would have given some caution on picking up hitchhikers. Since he thought she was smoking hot too, he didn't protest. Her striking Latina features were paralyzing, and that bronze skin on her arms charmed him further as it glistened against the sun. Her frayed denim shorts complimented her equally golden legs, and the white tank top accentuated her large breasts. When Tom pulled over a few yards ahead of her, she ran to catch up. He lowered the window and stuck his head out to talk to her, resting his arm on the door.

  "Where you heading sweetheart?" Tom began. She lowered her head slightly to speak to him, pulling her black ruck sack closer.

  "Hi, I'm heading to Vegas," she replied.

  While the guys gawked at her, Sam looked away, thinking it was more civilized to look ahead.

  "That's exactly where we're going."

  "Is there any chance I could get a lift with you? I'm kind of stuck, and broke. I'd be really grateful."

  Sam glanced at her and noted the desperate look in her eyes.

  "Stuck and broke. So, you have nothing?" Tom asked.

  "No, I just need a lift."

  "Nothing comes free these days Sweetheart." Tom stated, as if he had some sort of ultimatum. "I'm sure with a body like yours you can find a way to pay me."

  Everyone knew Tom was a crazy ladies' man, but Sam didn't think he'd ever heard him say such a thing. Pete and Jeff laughed in the back like it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard, but Sam was completely repulsed. And so was the girl. She wrinkled her face in disgust and walked away.

  "What the hell was that?" Sam nudged Tom in his side.

  "Well if you don't try these things you'll never know," Tom laughed.

  "No, you can't say stuff like that. Look at her. She could be sixteen, or younger." He didn't think she was. She did look young though. Sam guessed late teens or early twenties. He felt bad as he watched her walking away. She put her hand out to stop another car that passed by them, but it just sped along. Tom set his hand back on the steering wheel and put the car back in gear to drive off.

  "What are you doing now?" Sam asked.

  "Going to Vegas."

  "We're just going to leave her?" His responsible side was kicking in.

  "Sam, we're not babysitters. I'm a sex crazed post grad twenty-four-year-old. Someone else can pick her up. She probably won't come with us now anyway."

  Pete and Jeff laughed, even more, sounding like a bunch of irritating hyenas.

  "What would you do if that was Sariah?" Sariah was Tom's fifteen-year-old sister.

  "Oh, you had to play that card didn't you?" Tom scowled gripping on to the steering wheel. There wasn't a thing in the world Tom wouldn't do for his sister. Sam watched Tom start the car up and smooth it down the road until they reached the girl. He then stuck his head out the window again and called after her. "Hey, sweetheart."

  She didn't even look.

  "Hey, girlie," Tom called out. "I was joking. Come with us to Vegas." She looked over and regarded Tom with caution. "I promise we're harmless. Especially this one here." Tom pointed at Sam and laughed. "He's my cousin. Think of him like a teddy bear, but with blonde hair. Seriously."

  When she looked at Sam something weird happened to him. Something he couldn't quite explain. It was the feeling he got as he looked past her beauty and stared into the depths of her chocolate colored eyes, holding her gaze. Something that looked like hope seemed to flicker within them, but was then surrounded by a wealth of sadness.

  As he looked at her, he just got this feeling that something was wrong. Yes, she was very beautiful, but being this close and seeing the dark circles under her eyes, the blotchiness in her skin, and slight bluish mark at the side of her head, he thought she looked like she'd been through something quite unpleasant.

  She must have decided that Sam seemed safe enough because she walked around to the passenger side of the car and got in when Jeff opened the door. When she sat down, she held her back pack close to her chest as if for safety.

  "Thank you. I appreciate it," she said in a meek voice.

  "Welcome to our merry band," Tom replied revving the engine and easing the car back on to the road.

  In the rear view mirror, Sam looked back and saw Jeff leaning towards her, completely invading her personal space.

  "So what are you doing in the middle of the desert?" Jeff asked her.

  "Nothing," she replied in a flat, almost dismissive tone.

  "Who does nothing in the desert?" Tom asked with an air of menace. "You aren't some kind of thief or ex-con are you?" He laughed.

  "No," she replied, her voice weak and emotionless.

  Sam wondered what her story was. Why indeed was she in the desert? He hadn't seen a broken down car or anything so she could have hitchhiked to that point, or maybe walked over from Golden Valley. He caught a glimpse of her in the mirror and took a second or two to study her as she focused out the window, away from Jeff's leer. She must have felt Sam's gaze on her because she turned and caught his eye. It was only briefly but was enough for him to see the glistening in her eyes as if she were about to cry.

  She looked back out the window quickly, as a tear ran down her cheek.

  "I'm Jeff. How about we get a drink when we get to Vegas?"

  Her hands started shaking when Jeff leaned into her, brushing against her shoulder. Another tear ran down her cheek when she tried to move further away from Jeff. When Sam saw her distress, he had to intervene.

  "Jeff. How about you leave our guest alone, and move over. She doesn't need your dog breath in her ear," Sam spoke up.

  "Hey, I don't have dog breath." Jeff protested.

  "Yes. You do, now move it. Don't make me come back there." Sam made sure Jeff could see the seriousness in his eyes as he looked at him through the rearview mirror.

  "You just got served man," Pete laughed.

  "Yes, by Sir Lancelot." Tom shook his head at Sam. "Forever waving the chivalrous flag."

  "Some of us have to." Sam retorted feeling a little annoyed at all of them. He was all for fun and flirting on a normal day, but there was a time to put jokes aside and notice when something didn't look quite right. Like now. He was actually surprised that he was the only one that could see it.

  He chanced ano
ther look at her and saw that she was already looking at him, but then she bit the inside of her lip and turned away. There was definitely a question in what she was doing out here in the middle of the desert, all alone hitchhiking, and clearly not wanting to share any form of details.

  Jeff started talking about gambling, which led Pete to start betting on how much Jeff would lose by ten o'clock that night. Very soon Tom joined in, and the rest of the journey was spent casting bets. They made it to Vegas over an hour later. It was two o'clock, and the streets were heaving with people. Sam could only imagine what it would be like when the nightlife took over.

  As soon as they pulled up in front of the Renaissance Hotel and started unloading their bags, the girl jumped out.

  "Thanks very much for the lift." She told them, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

  "Can't we persuade you to join us for a drink?" Tom attempted with his trademark smile.

  "Thanks, but I'll pass. Goodbye." She couldn't get away quick enough.

  "You know, that's the first woman to practically flee from me." Tom laughed, he came around to stand next to Sam as they watched the girl rush into the hotel.

  "I don't know how you could be surprised." Sam looked at him askance, then looked back ahead to see her going through the main doors. He hoped she had someone she could call, and that she'd be okay.

  "Oh well, plenty other fish in the sea," Tom chuckled.

  "Isn't there always with you?" Sam teased.

  "I'm just living it up while I can. You should be too."

  "Depends on whether he's on or off with Jessica," Pete remarked joining them.

  "Believe me. We are totally off." Sam smiled at the refreshing thought.

  "That's not off as in we're working things through and we'll be back together in a few days is it?" Tom gave him a serious look. "I don't care if Uncle Jeremey likes her or whatever, the woman is vile." He wrinkled his nose and shook his head.

  "She is, Sam. Like a fire-breathing dragon." Pete wiggled his fingers and bared his teeth.