Beautifully Broken

BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN RILEY S. BARON CONTENTS Author’s Note 1. Sam 2. Sam 3. Asher 4. Sam 5. Sam 6. Cole 7. Sam 8. Sam 9. Sam 10. Sam 11. Sam 12. Cole 13. Sam 14. Asher 15. Cole 16. Sam 17. Sam 18. Sam 19. Sam 20. Sam 21. Cole 22. Sam 23. Sam 24. Cole 25. Sam 26. Sam 27. Asher 28. Sam 29. Cole 30. Sam 31. Sam 32. Cole 33. Sam 34. Sam 35. Sam 36. Cole 37. Sam 38. Sam Acknowledgments Beautifully Broken Copyright © 2023 by Riley S. Baron All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in book reviews. The story, all names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales and incidents portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Book Cover by To All The Books I Love Edited by S. Anderson AUTHOR’S NOTE Hey you, yes you with the book, You may not know this because of the pretty cover and innocuous title but the words that play out in this book are not for everyone. While not wholly dark and depraved, there are moments that hurt and can be triggering for some. It's a work of fiction. A product of an imagination that has always enjoyed the darker side of entertainment. I won't apologize for it but I will caution you before reading on. I am here as a friend, to tell you that if you are easily upset, worried, or offended, then this book may not be for you. This book contains themes that include: Abuse Human trafficking Rape Death/Murder Torture Mental Health Issues (anxiety, paranoia, self-harm, etc) Open door sexy times Among other things like stalking, profanity, etc. etc. I trust you to know your triggers before you proceed. Beautifully Broken is a standalone with a happy ending but it takes a hot minute to get there. Trust the process. And if you happen to be a member of my family, especially my mother, just walk away. This book is not for you! This is for you, the reader who has a dream in their heart and a story in their head. Dare to let your words free! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. XOXO ONE SAM 16 years old I knew what the devil looked like. What he smelled like. I knew what his voice sounded like in anger and love. He wasn't a monster with cloven hooves and horns, he was a man- my father, to be exact. Franklin King. A man that was supposed to love and protect me from the dangers of the world yet was someone I was terrified of. As I sat hidden within the darkest corners of my room, I prayed to a God I didn't necessarily believe in, that the shadows would be enough to hide me from the man hunting me at the moment. It didn't matter that today had been my birthday and I had spent only a couple of hours with friends. My older brother Asher had come home long enough to deliver the envelope full of cash and keys to his old jeep as a present for me before taking off once more. None of it mattered, only this moment. My name was a curse on my father's tongue. Roaring it over and over as he searched through the downstairs rooms, a blessing in some ways that he was too drunk to figure out where I was at this time of night. Part of me knew that by not answering him, I was only making his temper flare hotter and that when he did find me, I'd be lucky to walk away without any physical marks. I knew what he was like, how he had gone from being a loving and devoted man to his family to this...this creature that his own blood couldn't tolerate being around. Most of the time it was just the drink that made him an ass, but lately- it was more than that. I knew he had been called out by his partner, reprimanded by his captain, and told that he needed to clean up his act or he was going to lose his job. I heard his pounding footsteps on the stairs and knew I only had a matter of time before he found me. Wishing with all my heart that I hadn't left the phone downstairs in the kitchen, so close and yet might as well have been a million miles away. That I had slipped out of my room before he had made it upstairs. I was well and truly trapped and I could only hope that the locked door was enough of a deterrent to keep him from getting to me. Asher had promised that he would protect me. That he wouldn't let anything bad happen. I had believed him…until he had packed up his stuff and left, not waiting twenty-four hours past his eighteenth birthday to leave. He only came back once a year, on my birthday. Each year he came and left, never offering to take me away from this shithole. He never stayed long, not that I blamed him, not with how our father had tried to destroy Ash, to beat him into submission. I watched in horror as the doorknob twisted, the lock holding firm. Flinched when his fists began to beat heavily against the wood, the door shuddering under the force. I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming when it crashed open, the frame splintering apart and the light flickered on, my father standing just on the threshold. His dark eyes looked crazed as they shot around my room, his