Jack (The Family Simon Book 2) Read Online Free

thanked everyone for coming out and supporting a cause that meant a lot to him. To all the Simons.
    And that right there was the thing that would always separate Donovan from Jack. Family.
    To the Simons, family was number one—which was alien to Donovan. She knew that Cooper wouldn’t think twice about making good on his threat. And not because he was being vindictive or nasty. He would do it because he loved Jack like a brother. He would do it because Jack deserved better than a trailer park brat who brought nothing but trouble to those who loved her.
    And he’d be right.
    She dug her cell out from its hiding spot in the bodice of her dress and called her bodyguard, Michael. After hopping the railing, Donovan ran across the ninth green and met her car near the south side of the facility.
    Within minutes, she was whisked away, and as she turned to look back at the elegant Club house, she couldn’t hold back the sob that erupted from inside her. It was guttural. Animalistic. Gut wrenching.
    She caught sight of her reflection in the window and closed her eyes, sinking back into the soft leather because it hurt too much.
    When had her life become such a sad, pathetic mess? The world thought Donovan James had it all. Money. Fame. More men than she could deal with. They thought she lived this glamorous life, jetting here and there, spending money on ridiculous clothes and expensive cars. Touring the world and lapping up all the love her fans bestowed on her.
    Even though her reality shared some of those things, the truth of it was, she was lonely and in a bad place.
    Her relationship with her mother was almost non-existent. Firing Jayleigh James as her manager pretty much nailed that coffin shut. And as for her love life? What a joke. She hadn’t had sex in nearly two years and hadn’t felt any kind of love in over five. Not since that last week she’d spent with Jack. That last week when she’d destroyed the both of them.
    Ironic really. She sang about heartache and cheatin’. Hell, she’d made millions singing about that stuff. It just totally sucked that her life somehow always managed to mirror the songs she sang. Because none of them ever ended with a happily ever after.
    With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Maybe it was time to get away. Time to shed all these layers of pain and try to find some kind of balance.
    Donovan James thought about that for a few moments and then knocked on the partition separating her from the driver.
    “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to the hotel.”
    “Where to Miss James?”
    “The airport, please.”
    The car sped into the night and for the first time in a long time, Donovan felt some kind of peace.

 
    Chapter Three
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    “What is it going to take to keep you focused?”
    Jack glanced up at the man seated across from him and frowned. He wasn’t in the mood for work, and he sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to be lectured. He closed his laptop and sank back into his chair ignoring Derek McKenzie.
    Late afternoon sun shone through the screened in Florida room where he’d been working since early morning, and though the view of the ocean was spectacular this time of day, he could have been staring at the walls in his office for all it did for him.
    Derek was right. Jack just wasn’t into it. Ever since the fundraiser, he’d been distracted and grumpy and…
    “You need to get laid,” Derek said, settling back in his white wicker chair. The old furnishings had been in Jack’s family since the forties, and they creaked a bit under the man’s weight.
    “Really.” Jack tossed his pen and linked his hands behind his head as he studied his campaign manager. Aside from politics, the guy thought of nothing but sex. Kind of inconvenient for a married man who liked variety.
    “Really,” Derek replied, his dark eyes unwavering. “You haven’t been laid since you and Monique broke up.” Derek raised an eyebrow, a crooked smile in place. “Why don’t you call her?