Just When I Needed You Most

HOOD RILEY AND THE ICE MAN Just When I Needed You Most BY MALLORY MONROE Copyright©2023 Mallory Monroe All rights reserved. Any use of the materials contained in this book without the expressed written consent of the author and/or her affiliates, including scanning, uploading and downloading at file sharing and other sites, and distribution of this book by way of the Internet or any other means, is illegal and strictly prohibited. AUSTIN BROOK PUBLISHING THIS NOVEL IS NOT LEGALLY AVAILABLE FOR FREE ANYWHERE IN THIS WORLD. IT IS ILLEGAL TO UPLOAD THIS BOOK TO ANY FILE SHARING SITE. IT IS ILLEGAL TO READ THIS BOOK AT ANY WEBSITE. IT IS ILLEGAL TO DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FROM ANY FILE SHARING SITE. IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL OR GIVE THIS eBOOK TO ANYBODY ELSE ONLINE OR OTHERWISE, OR TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE ONLINE IN ANY FORM. THE AUTHOR AND AUSTIN BROOK PUBLISHING DOES NOT GIVE THEIR CONSENT. This novel is a work of fiction. All characters are fictitious. Any similarities to anyone living or dead are completely accidental. The specific mention of known places or venues are not meant to be exact replicas of those places, but they are purposely embellished or imagined for the story’s sake. The cover art are models. They are not actual characters. THE RAGS TO ROMANCE SERIES STANDALONE BOOKS IN PUBLICATION ORDER: 1. BOBBY SINATRA: IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES 2. BOONE & CHARLY: SECOND CHANCE LOVE 3. PLAIN JANE EVANS AND THE BILLIONAIRE 4. GENTLEMAN JAMES AND GINA 5. MONTY & LaSHAY: RESCUE ME 6. TONY SINATRA: IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG 7. WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN 8. THE DUKE AND THE MAID 9. BOONE AND CHARLY: UPSIDE DOWN LOVE 10. HOOD RILEY AND THE ICE MAN 11. RECRUITED BY THE BILLIONAIRE 12. ABANDONED HEARTS MALLORY MONROE SERIES: THE RENO GABRINI/MOB BOSS SERIES (22 BOOKS) THE SAL GABRINI SERIES (12 BOOKS) THE TOMMY GABRINI SERIES (11 BOOKS) THE MICK SINATRA SERIES (15 BOOKS) THE BIG DADDY SINATRA SERIES (7 BOOKS) THE TEDDY SINATRA SERIES (5 BOOKS) THE TREVOR REESE SERIES (3 BOOKS) THE AMELIA SINATRA SERIES (2 BOOKS) THE BRENT SINATRA SERIES (1 BOOK) THE ALEX DRAKOS SERIES (9 BOOKS) THE OZ DRAKOS SERIES (2 BOOKS) THE MONK PALETTI SERIES (2 BOOKS) THE PRESIDENT’S GIRLFRIEND SERIES (8 BOOKS) THE PRESIDENT’S BOYFRIEND SERIES (1 BOOK) THE RAGS TO ROMANCE SERIES (12 BOOKS) STANDALONE BOOKS: ROMANCING MO RYAN MAEBELLE MARIE LOVING HER SOUL MATE LOVING THE HEAD MAN TABLE OF CONTENTS PROLOGUE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CHAPTER THIRTY CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR EPILOGUE PROLOGUE SEVENTEEN YEARS EARLIER Young Maxwell Cassidy opened the front door at his parents’ home with a grin on his face and joy in his heart. The gorgeous girl he loved to mess around with every time he was home from college smiled back at him. And when he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her across the threshold, kissing on her before he even closed the door, she went along with his frat-boy boorishness. Because Breena Novak knew exactly what she was getting with Max Cassidy. She was young and black and relied on her great looks to win the attention of men, and he was the super-fine son of a millionaire who let the good times roll. It was all fun and games for him, and she knew it. But in the three years they’d been hanging out, she’d grown to love him. But she also knew Max had a reckless streak about him. He could get away with a slap on the wrist for something her black ass would do serious time in prison over. She pulled back from him. “What about your parents?” she asked him. “I’m not trying to get into any trouble with your parents.” “Out to dinner,” Max said, barely able to speak as he was kissing her on her ears, her cheek, her long, dark neck as if he couldn’t get enough of her. “I told you that when we talked on the phone.” “But when will they be back, Max?” Breena lifted her chin to give him full access to her neck because she was enjoying it too. “It doesn’t take all night to eat no dinner.” “It’ll be a couple hours at least,” Max said, nearly out of breath. “They’re out with a group of their friends.” Then he added “just relax” in the softest of voices, and kept going strong. At twenty-two, Breena was only a year younger than Max, but she was used to being with much older men. But what Max lacked in experience, he made up in vigor. He was the best man she’d ever been with in every way. That was why she was wrapping her arms around his neck as they began kissing passionately on the lips. That was why she was panting just as hard as Max was and couldn’t wait to have him inside of her. Max first saw Breena when she was a server at a local bar. They slept together that same night and became fast lovers. And even now, in his second year of law school, she was the only girl he wanted to be with whenever he was home from college. He knew she had sugar daddies left and right, all of whom together barely managed to give her a decent living. But Max never gave her a dime and she kept coming back to him. He prided himself on that. And he couldn’t delay a second longer. He swept her up into his arms, kicked the door shut and locked it, and began carrying her across the foyer toward the stairs