Add Fighting Shadows to your TBR list on Goodreads!
RELEASE
DATE: July 7th
Synopsis
I come
from a family of fighters. I always thought I’d follow in their shadows,
becoming unstoppable in the ring. That changed the day I saved the life of a
woman I loved, but could never have.
My brother hailed me as a hero, and my reward
was a wheelchair.
Paralyzed, my life became an inescapable
nightmare.
Until I met her.
Ash Mabie had a heart-stopping smile and a
laugh that numbed the rage and resentment brewing inside of me. She showed me
that even the darkest night still had stars, and it didn’t matter one bit that
you had to lie in the weeds to see them.
I was a jaded asshole who fell for a girl with
a knack for running away. I couldn’t even walk but I would have spent a
lifetime chasing her.
Now, I’m on the ropes during the toughest
battles of my life.
Fighting
the shadows of our past.
Fighting
to reclaim my future.
Fighting
for her.
Fighting Shadows Excerpt
Prologue
Ash
“Where the fuck have
you been?” a man’s voice growled as soon as I entered the conference room.
My eyes flashed to
his for only a single second before I recognized them. The door had barely
clicked behind me but I already wanted nothing more than to bolt. My heart
raced and my mouth dried.
I had to get out of there.
“Um…” I stalled,
giving myself time to formulate a plan.
“Sit. Down,” he
ordered, pushing out the chair next to him, but there was no way I was getting
that close.
“I’m good,” I said,
taking a step backwards toward the door.
“Don’t even think
about it,” he snapped. “I swear to God, if you so much as open that door…” His
words may have trailed off, but the threat was clearly stated.
I swallowed hard,
and slowly walked to the chair farthest away from him, perching on the very
edge—waiting for just the right moment to escape.
He looked down at
the name badge around my neck and quirked an eyebrow.
“Victoria?”
“You can call me
Tori if it’s easier.” I tried to fake a smile, but it only seemed to infuriate
him. He took several calming breaths, which did nothing to dampen the blaze
brewing in his angry eyes.
“I’ve been looking
for you, Ash.” He snarled my name.
“Oh, yeah? Well,
mystery solved. Here I am.” I pushed back to my feet, but was halted when his
fist pounded against the table. I jumped as my whole body flinched from the
surprise.
When the room fell
silent, I slowly looked back up to find him staring at me with a murderous
glare. Even sitting down I could tell he was huge, and as he held my gaze, the
tense muscles in his neck and shoulders strained against the cotton of his grey
Henley. He blinked at me for several seconds before finding his voice again.
“You live in a
homeless shelter,” he stated definitively, as if the words told a story all of
their own.
And maybe they did.
“I work at a homeless shelter,” I quickly
corrected.
Only he corrected me
just as fast. “In exchange for a permanent place to live…In. A. Homeless.
Shelter.” He enunciated every single syllable.
I looked away,
because it was the truth.
A truth that I
hated.
But the God’s honest
truth nonetheless.
Tears welled in my
eyes and I battled to keep them at bay.
My life was hard,
but him being there made it infinitely harder. If I could just escape that
room, I could disappear again. It wasn’t ideal, but neither was him showing up.
“I want you to leave.” I lied with all the
false courage I could muster.
“I can’t do that.
You stole something of mine.”
“Look, I don’t have
your book anymore.”
A knowing smirk
lifted one side of his mouth. “Liar,” he whispered, reaching into the chair
beside him, revealing the tattered book and ceremoniously dropping it on the
table.
My eyes went wide,
and without a conscious thought, I dove across the table after it.
That was
mine.
Not even he could have it.
Just as quickly as
the book appeared, he snatched it away and grabbed my wrist.
I slid off the table
and tried to pull my arm from his grasp. It was a worthless attempt though
because even if he had suddenly released me, his blue eyes held me frozen in
place.
“Three fucking
years,” he seethed.
“I had to,” I
squeaked out as the tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Three. Fucking.
Years, Ash. You took something that belonged to me.” He released my arm and
pushed to his feet.
My mouth fell open
and a loud gasp escaped as he took two impossible
steps forward.
Pinning me against
the wall with his hard body, he lifted a hand to my throat and glided it up
until his thumb stroked over my bottom lip. Using my chin, he turned my head,
and dragged his nose up my neck, stopping at my ear.
Sucking in a deep
breath, he released it on a gravelly demand. “And I want her back.”
My breath hitched.
I’d waited years to
hear those words.
If only I could have
trusted them.
“Flint, please.”
*About the
Author*
Born and raised in
Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under
the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in South Carolina,
she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she
can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.
After some encouragement
from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job
titles. Five books later, she shows no signs of slowing. So grab a glass of
Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the
crazy train she calls life.
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