Wicked Intentions (Steele Secrurity Book 4) Read Online Free

wait until we were older. But we were headstrong, and we knew better than they did,” Larry laughed in reply. His gaze drifted to another time and place as his mind’s eye relived the events of the past. “After the first month of living together, we were both ready to call it quits.
    “But we stuck it out. You see, we had too many people to prove wrong. More than that, we meant it when we said those vows. For better or for worse is what we’ve lived by all these years. Don’t give up on her just yet, son. There may still be hope.”
    Braxton’s only reply was a lopsided smile that didn’t reach his eyes. There was no point in telling the man that all hope was lost and had been dead for months. Three months, to be exact. Three months since he failed Heather in a way she could never forgive him, and he could never forgive himself. In a way he knew he didn’t deserve forgiveness.
    “It’s none of my business, and I’m just a nosy old man, I know,” Larry said warmly. “But I know the look of a tormented young man. I saw it too many times in my own mirror when I wasn’t much older than you are now. You’ll come out of basic training a different man, Braxton. You’ll be harder, more focused, and more disciplined. Use that discipline to help your marriage, son. Not hurt it.”
    “I will,” Braxton promised. Though he didn’t elaborate on how. The only way he could help his marriage was to be disciplined enough to give Heather a real chance at happiness, far away from him. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
    “Then you’re a good man, Braxton,” Larry replied. “Never forget that.”
    Larry settled into his seat and was asleep within minutes. His words played over and over in Braxton’s mind. More times than he could count, he considered telling the bus driver to stop and let him off. He’d find a way back home on his own. He’d find a way to work things out, regardless of what had happened. But every time he started to rise from his seat, the weight of his failure held him down. With a heavy heart, Braxton closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.
    The bus shuddered to a halt, waking Braxton from the most sleep he’d had at one time in the last several months. “We’ll take a thirty-minute break here, folks. Grab a bite to eat, stretch your legs, and be back on the bus at half past the hour.”
    Braxton’s eyes surveyed the area after he exited the bus, trying to determine where they were and how much longer they had to go. The roadside diner had obviously been built first from the age of it. The truck stop next door was newer, bigger, and had a full range of facilities to cater to truck drivers. He felt someone move up beside him and knew who it was without looking.
    “Want to grab a chicken sandwich and fries at four in the morning?” Larry asked with a chuckle.
    “Sounds like the ultimate breakfast to me,” he joked in return. “Maybe we can have apple pie for dessert. Breakfast dessert.”
    “That’s the spirit.”
    The two men walked together into the diner and sat in a booth along the front windows. After the waitress took their orders, an uncomfortable silence crept into the booth, and Larry fidgeted nervously. Braxton sensed the older man wanted to resume their earlier conversation but wasn’t sure how to broach it.
    “It’s a long, sad story.” Braxton decided to save Larry the hassle. “We started out as best friends when we were kids. We finally became an official couple when we started high school. A lot of things went wrong. I’m not getting into all of the nitty-gritty details right now, though.
    “In a nutshell, every day of my life that I can actually remember, I’ve loved her in one way or another. We were neighbors for a long time, but then her dad got one promotion after another at work. With his newfound wealth, he bought a bigger, nicer house in a ritzier neighborhood. Suddenly, I wasn’t good enough for his daughter anymore.
    “That didn’t stop