Forever, Mia

Forever, Mia By Rachel Jordan Forever, Mia by Rachel Jordan Copyright © 2023 Rachel Jordan ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental To My Readers… Wellllll… So, something happened. I wrote a love story. Are you surprised? So am I. I have been saying for years that I would never degrade myself by falling into the pits of the Happily Ever After genre, but alas, I am here. This story came to me years back and just kept gnawing at me and wouldn’t let me go. I decided to pay honor to these characters that kept tapping me on the shoulder in the middle of the night and tell their story. I have to be honest. I am afraid. Deeply afraid. My readers are used to smut. I don’t know if you guys will take me seriously as a love story author. To be fair, I have written stories that have “open-ended” happy endings. And to be honest, this isn’t really a happily ever after story either. Not at first. Full disclosure, it is a several parter. I can hear several of you gritting your teeth. “FUCK RACHEL! We are so over the serialized multiple story ARCS!!!” But heh. I am a smut author first, and I know there are readers who want to keep reading my dirty filthy stories. In order to be able to satisfy everyone (including myself, because I get bored very easily), I have to have my hand in several pots. And I still have a full-time job so committing myself to a 200+ page story just isn’t feasible right now. So, I have to do what works for me and that’s writing short stories and novels in increments. Ideally, I would like for Forever, Mia and it’s ensuing other parters to be three parts only. But… It depends on where these characters take me and the demand of the readers. All I have to say is, hold on to your hearts AND panties because not only is it a love story, it is chokeful of sexy, filthy, and naughty. So, let’s begin this journey together, shall we? We’ll see where it takes us. R.J. Please Note: This novel and its ensuing sequels contains language and lifestyle events that may be triggers for some readers. Please read at your own discretion. Table of Contents MIA CHRISTIAN GAVIN MIA MIA CHRISTIAN GAVIN GAVIN CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN MIA MIA CHRISTIAN MIA MIA MIA MIA Christian, Forever Summer 2023 MIA “He’s back.” Two words. Two simple words that in five seconds turned Mia Valentina’s entire world upside down. He’s back. Seven years of expensive therapy gone up in smoke. Seven years of grueling self-evaluation, tears shed, painful, slow healing, endless challenges, broken dreams, and new beginnings… “Christian’s back,” the voice on the other end of the line said in an ominous tone. The room spinned. Sweat pricked up on her temples, chest, and back. Her pulse throbbed erratically in her neck. Tears welled up in her eyes and immediately fell. Her breath racked against her ribs. She grabbed the closest piece of furniture to her and sank down to the floor, trembling. No. Not now. Not… now. “Mia, are you there honey?” Her voice was so soft it was barely audible. “Yes.” “Did you hear what I said?” “Yes.” Seconds passed. Minutes. Mia swallowed and tried not to faint or regurgitate the hearty breakfast she’d eaten less than an hour before. “I think he knows,” the bearer of the bad news said. Mia exhaled a shaky breath and rubbed her brow with a trembling finger. “How?” she asked. “My invitation is gone. It was on my table. I left it there and didn’t mean to. He saw it when he came by the other day- “ “He was there? At your house?” “Yes.” “But he’s been gone for seven years,” she weakly croaked. “What is he doing back now? What made him come back? Had he said anything to you about coming back home? Did you know?” “Well, not really.” The caller hesitated and Mia could feel the tension oozing through the phone. “I talked to him about three weeks ago and just told him how much I missed him and that I really wished he’d come back home. I mean, I’ve told him that before, so I don’t know what made him decide to listen to me now…” The caller paused then continued. “He showed up at my door and said he felt he needed to come back. He said something about the way I’d sounded made him uneasy- “ “How long have you known about this?” “Only two days. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner honey, but I was hoping I could get in touch with him before today. But he won’t answer my calls. He was staying here but I don’t know where he is now. I have a feeling he might try to show up at the church- “ Mia slowly inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. So many questions. So many unanswered questions. How, why, when, where… The caller on the other end was the man in question’s mother, Charlotte. Charlotte was being uncharacteristically unclear and vague about why Christian knew Mia was getting married. Charlotte, who just a week ago, claimed she hadn’t spoken to her estranged son in weeks. Several weeks, as a matter of fact, accumulating to months. Now she was admitting she’d