Lifeless Read online

  LIFELESS

  J. M. La Rocca

  LIFELESS

  J. M. La Rocca

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2013 J.M. La Rocca

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

  Cover Design by Sharee Faircloth Creative

  Edited by Theresa Wegand

  To my Dad, you are gone but not forgotten.

  You are the reason this book exists.

  I love and miss you always.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Prologue

  I lay in bed in a daze, trying to hold back my tears, as I thought back and wondered how I had survived everything I’d been through in my life. After my dad left my mom and me for another woman when I was seven, our lives were never the same. Mom couldn’t handle the divorce, so she self-medicated with drugs and alcohol.

  She suffered from severe depression, and mixing it with everything else just caused things to get worse than they already were. There were even times that she would blame me for my dad leaving, and times she would tell me I wasn’t worth loving.

  After what happened that day, I couldn’t help but think that maybe she was right.

  Four hours earlier

  I was on my way to Portofino Island Resort on Pensacola Beach with my boyfriend, Trey Jacobson. He surprised me by telling me about this trip the week before. It was his gift to me for graduating with honors from the University of South Alabama. I was so excited to actually be spending some alone time with him, because we didn’t get to very often. After meeting him five months ago in a local coffee shop in downtown Mobile, I only got to see him maybe twice a week. I was busy trying to finish up school, and he was a lawyer, so we were always busy. Having this opportunity to have two whole days of just Scarlett-and-Trey time was amazing.

  I watched Trey as he drove. He was so handsome with his blond hair blowing in the wind and his bright blue eyes focused on the road. I caught myself sometimes just staring at him. I knew that if I was caught he’d probably think it was creepy, but I couldn’t help it.

  He turned and looked at me with his dimpled smile. I was ten years younger than his thirty-two years, but he didn’t look a day over twenty-five. He had that boyish look about him.

  When we had first started dating, it was hard to imagine that I actually had a boyfriend. It was something I’d shied away from since I was old enough to start dating. Growing up with a mother who belittled me and brought home every loser under the sun caused a lot of self-doubt too, but I could honestly say I’d never been happier. I wouldn’t have said I loved Trey, but I definitely had strong feelings for him, and I thought he felt the same for me.

  We pulled up to the resort, and I was awed by the massive structure. The building was sixteen stories high, and each level was surrounded by pillars and windows, giving beautiful waterfront views.

  Trey parked his red Mustang convertible as far away from the other cars as he could. His Mustang was his baby. I’d asked him a couple times if I could drive it, but he always told me no. What is it with guys and their cars? Did he think I couldn’t drive? We got out of the car, grabbed our bags, and headed toward the entrance.

  A warm breeze found its way to us as it moved through the palms, which were perfectly placed around the condominiums. Taking a deep breath, I captured the sweet musky scent of Trey’s cologne. He always smelled so good. I smiled to myself, thinking about how I’d be able to enjoy his sexy scent all weekend. Feeling overwhelmed with lust, I grabbed his hand. He intertwined our fingers as we were walking. “We need to go to the office to check in and get the key; then you’re all mine.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me then leaned over, giving me a kiss.

  After checking in, we made our way to the condo. He put the key in and opened the door for me. “Are you ready for two whole days of me, Scarlett?”

  I heard the door close after I walked in past him and turned to answer him, but was unable to when he grabbed my bag and threw it on the floor. Turning me, he walked me backwards until my back was against the door. His mouth was instantly on mine, our tongues doing a familiar dance as our hands started exploring each other’s bodies. I loved when he was like this, when he was starving for me. I moved my hands down and unbuttoned his cargo shorts, reaching my hand in to grab his already hard length. He ran his hand up from my waist to cup my breast and started pinching my nipple as he kissed his way down my neck. I moaned as he pulled the bodice of my dress down and sucked my nipple.

  He snaked a hand up my leg and moved my underwear aside to run a finger between my folds. “You’re always so wet for me,” he growled as he crushed his lips to mine. I yelped into his mouth as he tore my panties from my legs. I removed my hand from inside his shorts and grabbed the hem of his shirt, forcing him to lift his hands from exploring my body and fingering my folds in order to get his shirt off.

  Before removing his shorts, Trey retrieved a condom from his back pocket as I lifted my sundress over my head. I tossed it on the floor as he rolled on the condom, and then his lips were once again on mine. He lifted one of my legs and pushed me hard up against the door. I knew what he wanted, so I lifted my other leg and wrapped my legs around his waist. He grabbed my ass, and I could feel his hot erection at my entrance.

  I cried out as he entered me in one swift thrust. I linked my hands behind his neck as he hammered into me relentlessly.

  “Ah, you feel so fucking good,” he groaned.

  I moaned as every hard thrust was bringing me closer and closer to the edge. I loved when he took me with such urgency. It was such a turn-on to be wanted. I reveled in the fact that my body gave him pleasure. The one thing I learned when I lost my virginity to Trey was that I liked to be fucked and I liked to be fucked hard.

  “Harder,” I moaned.

  He pounded into me again and again, pushing me up the door. I dug my nails into the back of his neck. I could feel the tingling getting stronger.

  “Oh God. Oh God.” My climax washed over me. He thrust hard two more times and let out a long moan, finding his own release.

  I loved sex. I never realized what I was missing while waiting so long to lose my virginity. I finally understood what my best friend Jules had been talking about this entire time.

  We stayed pressed up against the door with our foreheads together, trying to catch our breath.

  Lifting his head up, he pressed a soft
kiss to my shoulder then let my legs fall as he pulled out.

  “I’m going to take a shower.” He walked away to what I assumed to be the master bathroom as I tried to stand on post-orgasm legs.

  Leaning down, I started to pick up our discarded clothes with a smile on my face. It never failed that when we actually did get to see each other we always had a quickie before we did anything else.

  Trey’s phone and wallet fell out of his cargo pants as I was picking the clothes up off the floor. I leaned down to pick them up, and his phone beeped, indicating that a text had come through.

  I didn’t intend to look at his phone. I’m not one of those girls who sneak and look through their boyfriend’s phone, but as I laid his phone on the counter, another text came through, and the picture caught my eye. Staring at me on his phone was a picture text from someone named Lori, and the picture was an ultrasound picture with a text attached.

  Sorry u weren’t able to come with us. I sent u all the pics I got today. Dr. said everything is going great. C U at home Monday. Love u!

  I read it over and over. I was having trouble breathing, and I could feel the tears in my eyes. This can’t be real. This can’t be happening to me. This has to be a mistake. I kept repeating those three things in my head.

  I unlocked his phone, thankful that he didn’t have a lock code and scanned through his previous texts from Lori. I stared wide-eyed as my heart broke into a million pieces.

  That son of a bitch!

  I paced around the room, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I could have just left, or I could have sent his wife a text telling her that he was a lying, cheating sack of shit. No, he needed to know that I knew what he was doing, even though my heart was breaking. I needed to confront him about it, so I ran into the bedroom and slammed the bathroom door open.

  “Hey, babe, you going to join me?” He opened the shower door, inviting me in.

  The smile on his face fell when he saw my eyes brimmed with tears. “Who the hell is Lori, Trey?” I shouted, standing in front of him completely naked. I was trying to hold my tears back, but I wasn't doing a good job. I could feel them running down my cheeks. He just stood there and stared at me. I was fuming. “Aren’t you going to answer me, you asshole?” If I’d kept yelling like that, my voice would have given out, but talking calmly wasn’t going to happen.

  He quickly stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel. “Scarlett, I can explain.” He put his hands up, trying to get me to calm down.

  “Yeah, well, explain this, you asshole.” I lifted his phone up and showed him the picture text.

  “Shit,” he said under his breath.

  That one word was all I needed to acknowledge my worst fear. I already knew, but it was still hard to accept. I let the tears fall freely. How could I have let this happen? How did I not know?

  I threw the phone at the bathroom wall and watched as it shattered all over the floor. “What the fuck, Scarlett!”

  “Fuck you, you lying sack of shit!”

  Storming out of the bathroom, I made my way to the foyer with blurry vision. I grabbed my sundress that was still lying on the floor and dressed in a hurry, leaving my torn underwear on the floor. I slipped on my flip-flops, grabbed my luggage, and headed out the door, bolting for the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I hurried in and pressed the button for the lobby. As the doors closed, I looked up to see if Trey had followed me, but no one was there. I broke down in sobs.

  I had to get it together. I was an hour from my apartment, and I needed to get a ride home. I made my way to the office where we had checked in and pleaded through tears with Karen, the lady who checked us in, to call me a cab. I had a cell phone, but I didn’t have Internet on it to try and find a cab service. I needed to stop being so cheap and buy a damn smartphone.

  After waiting for what seemed like two hours, I was on my way home. I had finally calmed down when Karen bought me a Coke and listened to my heartbreaking story. I was sure she didn’t think her day was going to be that exciting.

  That evening, I lay in my bed curled up in a ball, holding my tear-stained pillow. My chest hurt so badly from crying. I never thought that would happen to me: that I would be that girl. I ached to know why he did it to me, but I knew it didn’t matter. He was a selfish asshole.

  I rolled over and grabbed my purse, which I had thrown on the floor next to my bed when I got home. I grabbed my cellphone and noticed that I had a text from my best friend, Jules.

  Jules: Call me and let me know how it’s going. Luv ya.

  Jules had been my rock for as long as I could remember. We’d been best friends since the third grade. She was the only person who called me Letti. After she and her family moved to Georgia, a day didn’t go by that we didn’t talk to each other.

  She’d been talking to me about moving up there with her since I graduated high school, but with my scholarship to USA, I wanted to finish before I even considered it. Since I had nothing holding me there anymore, I had no reason to keep turning her down. I decided to call her and tell her everything that happened, breaking down in sobs once again.

  “That motherfucker! If I were there, Letti, I would go kick his ass for you—maybe even go tell his wife. Listen, girl, you need to get your ass up here.” I knew she’d be this pissed. She never liked Trey to begin with, but I never really knew why. Maybe it was because he was ten years older than I was and she had you’re-an-asshole radar.

  “Are you sure?” I wiped tears from my face.

  “Letti, what are you talking about? You know you’re like family to me. I might even be able to get you a job at Entertainment Atlanta.”

  Jules worked at an Entertainment Insurance company. I’d never heard of it before, but I knew she worked with celebrities. It wasn’t something I’d ever thought about doing, but I had nothing to lose. After graduating a couple of weeks before, I hadn’t started looking for jobs yet, so this was a great stress reliever.

  “Really? That would be great.”

  “Yeah, it would be great. Now, go pack up and get on the road. I’ll explain everything when you get here. I’ve missed you so much. I can’t wait to see you. Forget about that low-life piece of shit. You’re coming here, and we are going to get you a new life.”

  I wiped away the tears that had escaped. Jules had always been the one person I could count on. I didn’t know where I would be in life, if I hadn’t met Jules in the third grade. She had been like a sister to me my entire life, and since I wasn’t close to my mother, in my heart, she was the only family I had.

  “Thank you, Jules.”

  “I love you, Letti. We’ll get you through this together.” She was the best friend ever.

  “Love you too. I’ll be on the road in an hour.”

  Chapter 1

  Five months later

  “Letti, are you seriously telling me that you’re not going to see him again because he has a pointy tongue?” Jules said, lifting an eyebrow at me before taking sip of her coffee.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” After my date with Mr. Pointy Tongue Mark the previous night, I decided that I wasn’t going to see him again.

  He was a gentleman all night, opening my door, pulling out my chair; he even held my hand, which was really sweet. When he dropped me off and kissed me goodnight, I almost laughed. I don’t normally French kiss a guy on the first date. I usually go for the soft peck on the check, but the sloppy kiss just sort of happened. It was just so gross. The first kiss means everything.

  “It was like kissing a lizard.” I scrunched up my nose.

  “Oh my God, you didn’t just go there.” Jules threw her head back laughing. “Most women would love a pointy tongue, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

  Ugh, she always had to go there. “Yeah, well, not me. I’ve never been able to get off that way anyway. Plus, having someone do that to me makes me feel uncomfortable.” I stuck my tongue out at her and got up from my chair to make my way into
the condo from the patio. We always sat on the patio in the morning to have a cup of coffee if we were both home. The view of the city wasn’t the best, but it was still beautiful. The only things I missed from living in the country were the view of the trees and the sound of birds chirping in the morning.

  I headed toward our kitchen. Never in my life had I seen a kitchen so big and beautiful. It had cherry cabinets, granite counter tops, stainless-steel appliances, an island in the middle, and a bar facing the living room.

  Living in this luxurious condo was nothing I would have ever gotten used to, but this was the kind of life in which Jules grew up. Being raised by a true southern family that had money, she was used to the finer things in life. Her great-great-grandfather hit it big in the oil industry in Texas, and ever since, her family had carried on the business. She, however, like her father, was not interested in being a part of the oil industry, but they still benefitted from the wealth. She didn’t live as if she had money though, not in the way some people with money would. She worked hard for the money she earned and left her family money alone for the most part. She did splurge every once in a while, and this condo was one of those splurges.

  Jules got up with a laugh and followed me. “You’ve only been with one guy, Letti, and that asshole was only in it for himself. I’m sure he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing either. You have got to start giving some of these guys a chance. I’ve set you up with five guys since you’ve been here, and you’ve found flaws in all of them.” She sighed, rinsed out her coffee cup, placed it in the dishwasher, and then turned around to face me.

  “I know he screwed you over Letti and that it hurt like a son of a bitch, but that was five months ago. You’ve got to get past it and let someone else in. At least go out and have fun. Every guy isn’t going to be like Trey. You know that saying, ‘The best way to get over a guy is to get under a new one.’” Her lips curled into a mischievous grin.