Made by Us: Giselle and Liam's Story (The Made Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

out of the car and walked into the stone courthouse. The marble staircases separate the buildings three levels. I took the broad stairwell up to the second floor, where the Judge would be marrying us behind the double mahogany doors. My hands started to shake as I watched the clock ticking down the seconds, until I would become Mrs. Thomas. As I looked around I spotted several couples seated along the benches with their soon to be spouses. Most women were wearing long white dresses, while some men wore only a nice blazer with jeans. At first, I hoped Ethan wouldn’t show up in his leather jacket, but soon I started not to care just as long as he showed. This wasn’t the most romantic place to get married, but we said that we would have a grand wedding a few years later after we had jobs and saved money.
    I waited and waited for what seemed like hours and he never showed. Ethan stood me up. After having a perfect relationship and everything we did together, there was no explanation, nothing. How could he do this to me? I turned my back on my parents and told them what we had was real. I was going to give up my scholarship and not attend college. I felt like a fool and looked like one too. The pain felt as if someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the heart. I silently wished this wound was being inflicted by a stranger and not by the man I loved.
    My only choice was to call my parents. Surprisingly, they didn’t say “I told you so.” My mother held me while I cried and my father hugged me. That was the last day we ever spoke about Ethan and I never gave him a second thought.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Thinking about my childhood is something I haven’t done in years. By the age of 4, I knew my birth mother was a drug addict and didn’t know my father. We would go days without eating and the only thing my mother cared about was when she would get her next “fix.” My mother having sex with strange men for money and drugs was the norm for me. When she remembered that I existed, I would be sent to the next door neighbor’s house. There, an older lady gave me baths and warm meals. Soon this turned into daily visits until she became ill. She told my mother to do right by me and get herself clean, but that didn’t happen. The day my life changed was when I came home to find my mother dead with a needle sticking out of her arm.
    Some random man was there. He stood over her lifeless body and said, “Damn, she’s dead. She was a good fuck.”
    When he noticed me, I stopped breathing. I tried to run but my legs were locked and I couldn’t move. He grabbed my arm.
    “This is no place for you. Don’t scream.”
    My body was shaking; I prayed that he doesn’t do to me what I had seen men do to my mom. Even though this man was scum, he took me to a safe place. I watched him talk to a lady in an all-white uniform.
    He kept saying, “She not mine, her momma is dead. It’s not safe for her on the streets.”
    Then he left. The lady walked over to me, told me not to be afraid and gave me food.
    Months later my adoption was finalized. I would be leaving Barbados and going to America with my new parents, who looked nothing like me. They are fair skinned with blonde hair and blue eyes, while my eyes are gray and my complexion is a creamy shade of mocha.
    After my run, I’m exhausted, mentally but not physically. I wave to Frank, the doorman, and get inside of the open elevator. It’s 6:30 when I step into our apartment. My shower is quick and I throw on a green Hello Kitty tank with the matching pajama pants. Opening the refrigerator door, I grab yogurt and bottle of water. I turn around and Liam’s standing behind me, shirtless. Why does he want to continue torturing me?
    “Don’t you own a shirt?”
    He laughs, but I’m not joking. To keep my mind off his chiseled body, I start eating my yogurt.
    “Since I’m going to be gone for two weeks, I thought we could turn off our phones and spend the day