Title: Travis
Author: Tracie Podger
Series: Fallen Angel, Book #6
Genre: contemporary adult romance, romantic suspense
For readers 18 and over due to sexual
content and mature themes
Travis Curran spent his childhood
surrounded by physical abuse, until he could take no more…
His father has a drinking problem - he
liked to take that problem out on his family.
His brother has a drinking problem - he liked to take that problem out on Travis.
His brother has a drinking problem - he liked to take that problem out on Travis.
At the age of eleven, Travis was forced
to run, forced to leave his sister, the only mother he ever knew and flee to
Washington, DC, with a man he doesn’t know. It should have been simple; his
sister was to follow a week later - But she never arrived.
Alone and homeless, Travis survived.
He survived with the help of a boy who became his best friend, his brother in all but blood.
He survived with the help of the family.
He survived with the help of a boy who became his best friend, his brother in all but blood.
He survived with the help of the family.
Today he lives a life of secrets, a life
of wealth but also of crime.
He enjoys this life - until the moment his past catches up with him.
He enjoys this life - until the moment his past catches up with him.
This is the story of an exceptional man,
a dangerous man. His life in his words.
This is the story of Travis Curran.
This is the story of Travis Curran.
Dan, my
sister, my family, they had all abandoned me, they had all forgotten about me
and I felt very alone. I watched people, couples holding hands, families
playing together and the pain I felt inside intensified. I was on my own and I
had to make the best of it. I didn’t leave the park, opting to lie on a bench
once the night fell. It was a mistake. At night the drunks came and I guessed
the bench belonged to one when he grabbed hold of my jacket and dragged me off.
I landed in a heap on the ground. He was rambling, something about the war.
“Fuck off,”
he growled.
“I’m
sorry,” I said as I scrambled to my feet. I headed for a small wooded area,
slid down a tree and waited for the morning.
The days
had melded into each other, I lost track of what day of the week it even was. I
only knew it was the weekend because the streets were less busy with suited
people scurrying to and from work. The weekends were the hardest because that’s
when I would see families, moms and sons walking and laughing, brothers and
sisters playing and that loneliness would hit me like a punch to the gut.
I noticed a
couple of boys, slightly younger than me I guessed. They were playing ball,
tossing it to each other. I watched them for a while, smiling at their laughter
as they had fun. I was itching to join in, to do something normal like playing
catch. One threw it too far and it landed at my feet, I was still sitting with
my back to the tree that had been home for the past two nights. I picked the
ball up, stood and walked towards them. They smiled at me and I smiled back.
“You wanna
play?” one said. I nodded my head.
“Throw the
ball,” the other called out, jogging backwards and raising his arm, ready to
catch the ball in his mitt.
It was nice
to hear someone talk to me. That was until their dad appeared. He snatched the
ball from me and without a word, grabbed the two boys by the hand. One child
looked over his shoulder as he was hauled away and he gave me a small smile.
Despite my promise never to cry again, I couldn’t stop the tear that rolled
down one cheek. I angrily wiped it away. I had no idea what I looked like, what
condition my hair was in or how dirty my face was - there were no mirrors on
the street. Those boys hadn’t been bothered by how I looked; they had just
wanted to play with me.
“Fuck you,”
I screamed to their retreating backs. “Fuck you all.”
That day I
hardened my heart. I would survive. I would shoplift and fucking enjoy it. I
would wipe my family from my mind and fucking enjoy it. I would fight if I had
to and fucking enjoy it. No one would ever see my heartache again.
That one
simple act of dragging those children away from me, and I was no more than a
child myself, confirmed one thing - no one was going to help me.
I had no
choice but to toughen up and help myself.
~ ~ ~
We had only
driven a short distance when the blue flashing lights of a cop car lit up the
inside of ours...
“What do
you want to do, bro?” I asked. If we’d been aware of their presence in time I
probably could have outrun them.
“Pull over,
let’s see what they want?”
I pulled
the car to the kerb and waited. A cop tapped on my side window.
“Permit,”
he said.
I handed it
through the open window and he took a while studying it.
“Exist the
car, slowly, both of you,” we were instructed.
Two police
officers, who had obviously been waiting, gestured for us to get out of the
car. As I did one of them grabbed me by the arm and slammed me face first on
the hood. He pulled my arms behind my back and cuffed me. Robert and I looked
over at each other; he gave a very slight nod of his head. Being picked up by
the cops had always been his worst nightmare, but that nod told me he was okay.
I wasn’t too worried, the police could do nothing to me, I was too old to be
sent back to New York.
In silence
they placed me into the back of a car, with Robert in another, and we were driven
back to the station. The only thing I told them was my name and address as they
booked me. Still cuffed, they marched me along a grey corridor. The walls, the
floor, the metal doors to cells were all the same depressing colour. Apparently
cheerfulness was not the look they were going for.
They
released my wrists as they closed the cell door behind me. I rubbed at them, a
little pissed at the unnecessary tightness of the cuffs. I could walk from one
end of the cell to the other in four paces. Robert was going to freak - not
that he was claustrophobic, but he hated confinement. I flipped the stained
mattress against the wall, sat on the metal frame of the cot and waited.
Eventually I was taken by a cop, again in silence, to an interview room. I sat
and smiled at the sour-faced female guarding the door. He cheeks coloured a
little.
A few
minutes later she was replaced by one of the cops that had pulled us over, and
his sidekick.
“Travis, my
name is Detective Mallory…”
I cut him
off. “Can you tell me why I’m being held here?”
“Joey
Morietti has implicated you in a rather nasty assault,” he replied.
I raised my
eyebrows. “Really? And when did this assault take place?”
“Earlier
this evening, the police were called to Sibley Memorial after he was admitted.
It appears he has suffered some serious injuries. Know anything about that?”
“Not a
thing, been at the club all night, want the address?”
After I had
given him the address and he’d written it down, he handed it to the sidekick
who left the room; the door was guarded once more by sourpuss. She kept her
gaze firmly fixed to the wall above my head.
“Your
friend, Robert, gives a different location for your whereabouts this evening,”
he tried.
“Then he
may have had one too many,” I replied.
“What can
you tell me about Joey?”
“Not much,
don’t really know him.”
“We know
you work for his father,” came the response.
“Doesn’t
mean I know who assaulted his son, if he has been assaulted, of course.”
“So what do
you do for Guiseppi Morietti?” he asked.
“Collect
rent, as I’m sure you already know. Now, shall we get back to the shocking news
of his son? What happened to him?”
Detective
Mallory stared at me, I gave him a smile. He reminded me of Goon, in fact, such
was the resemblance they could have been related.
“Do you
have a brother?” I asked.
~ ~ ~
A wooden
bedstead dominated the room, its mattress in a cloth protector, and on either
side of the bed were small nightstands. I sat on the bed and looked at Alison
standing in the middle of the room. She stared straight back at me. No words
were spoken as she took the few steps required before she was standing between
my knees. Her hands cupped either side of my face. I ran my hands up her legs,
catching her dress and raising it. She leant down for a kiss.
Her lips
gently pressed against mine. I opened my mouth and my tongue tangled with hers.
My hands had come to rest on her hips and I held them fast while pulling her
closer to me. I could feel the lace of her panties under my fingers. Our kiss
deepened; I was hungry for her.
I stood, and as I did I raised the dress over her head. She wore
a matching lace panty and bra set, somehow that pleased me; I’d hoped she had dressed for
the evening. Her tanned skin set off the white of the lace. She reached forward
and unknotted my tie, sliding it from my collar, and with an agonising slow
pace she undid the buttons of my shirt. Her hands brushed against my chest,
lower and lower as each button was popped open. While she unbuckled my belt I
shrugged the shirt from my shoulders, letting it fall in a heap on the floor.
Alison ran her fingers around the waistband of my pants, her nails scraping
gently against my skin. She popped the button, undid the zip and with my pants in her
fists, she lowered them as she sunk to her knees.
5-Star Reader
Reviews....
This book was brilliant and
intense. I felt Travis’ anger, fear, resentment and love to his “family” ie,
Robert, Evelyn and Joe. He is a multifaceted character. He has all the usual
emotions you would expect from one who has had a rough start in life but he is
also fiercely loyal and protective to those he loves. He is also HOT and sexy
and is incredibly charismatic. Yes, that is why I love him! This lovely by
the incredibly talented Tracie Podger gets five stars from me. (But in my heart
it deserves 100!) ~
Kerry-Ann (Kez's Corner)
This book is simply spectacular. It
tells the story of Travis, one of the pivotal characters in The Fallen Angel
Series. I defy anyone to not fall in love with Travis from his turbulent
childhood, through his journey of self discovery and sexual awareness! It's a
compelling, gripping story that grabs a hold of you immediately. This author
has the unique talent of completely immersing you in her world with her
descriptive and enthralling words. Travis will live in my heart always... ~ Karen S.
Tracie Podger currently lives in
Kent, UK with her husband and a rather obnoxious cat called George. She’s a
Padi Scuba Diving Instructor with a passion for writing. Tracie has been
fortunate to have dived some of the wonderful oceans of the world where she can
indulge in another hobby, underwater photography. She likes getting up close
and personal with sharks.
Tracie wishes to thank you for
giving your time to read her books and hopes you enjoy them as much as she
loves writing them. If you would like to know more, please feel free to contact
her; she would love to hear from you. She will be signing in London, York,
Dublin, Birmingham and Aberdeen in 2015, and Liverpool, Leeds, Essex, and
Dublin (to date) in 2016. Please stop by if you can!
Social Media Links:
Other Books in the Fallen Angel Series...
Fallen
Angel, Part 1
Fallen
Angel, Part 2
Fallen
Angel, Part 3
Evelyn
(novella)
Robert
Check
them out and one-click them today on Amazon!
Coming Soon...
Fallen
Angel, Part 4 (this summer) - Series
Conclusion
And then...
A
Virtual Affair
The
Passion Series
Comments
Post a Comment