Pascal and The Forger

PASCAL AND THE FORGER A SECOND CHANCE M/M ROMANCE AVRIL ASHTON Copyright © 2023 by Avril Ashton All rights reserved. Mailing List Pascal and The Forger ©2023 Avril Ashton Proofreader: Jennifer @ Marked and Read Cover Image: DepositPhotos Cover Design: German Creative 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. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher. Unauthorized or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution. All product/brand names mentioned herein are registered trademarks of their respective holders/companies. CONTENTS Playing Catch Up? Acknowledgments About Pascal and The Forger Dedication 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 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Epilogue One last thing… Author Note Books by Av AUDIO Payhip Patreon About the Author PLAYING CATCH UP? New to Avril Ashton’s dark, dirty, and diverse m/m universe? The Brooklyn Sinners is where it all starts. Avril’s very first m/m series is full of “drama, action, mystery, suspense, and romance.” Jonesing for a cop/mafia/gangland m/m romance? Run This Town series features BDSM, friends to lovers, age gap, second chance and so much more. Prefer MCs who straddle that gray line between hero and villain? Loose Ends series brings you “stories of angst. Of second chances. And of love.” In search of the ultimate Enemies to Lovers? The Staniel Duet is the dark, angst-ridden read you’ve been waiting for. It delivers the ultimate “how is this even gonna work?” Spoiler alert…it does. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to Haylee Wireman for doing beta duties for this one. I appreciate you ♡ ABOUT PASCAL AND THE FORGER They used to have it all. Until they didn’t. Now, one man wants another chance to make things right, while the other doesn’t know if he can risk his heart again. As head of the Haitian mafia, Mathieu Pascal is dangerous, ruthless, and cold-hearted. He’s also alone, but there’d been a time when he had love. With one careless decision, he betrayed the one man who ever mattered to him. He has no right to forgiveness, but he’ll do anything to prove he deserves it. Win Beltran was at his lowest when he met Mathieu Pascal. He took the freedom the other man offered and in return, handed over his heart. He thought he was safe…until Mathieu destroyed him. Years later, Win has moved on. At least he pretends because even though he’s married to Mathieu’s rival, his heart has only ever belonged to the one who broke it. Their shared secrets keep Win and Mathieu tied to each other as the heat of their tumultuous chemistry melts their weak resistance. But an invisible hand is orchestrating a war, and Mathieu’s enemies are drawing closer. To protect Win, he’ll burn the world to the ground as they fight for their lives and their hearts. This is the story of Pascal and The Forger from DIG YOUR GRAVE (STANIEL #2). It features all the second-chance, angsty, pining, groveling, jealous, possessive, secrets and lies, sexy goodness you can stand. Possible Triggers: violence, past cheating by one of our MCs, former sex work by one of our MCs, past sexual violence, mention of past SA happening to a side character, death of a parent. DEDICATION For Eva Kumar I’m so very sorry for your loss. Let your memories be the strength you need in the weaker moments. And I hope the few hours you spend with my characters help ease your grief and transport you to a place that’s not as dark or painful. You are loved. 1 Win’s ass hurt. If he hadn’t already checked, he’d have thought he was bleeding. But he wasn’t. He just…hurt. His breaths seesawed out of him as he held himself still, wishing his heartbeat would slow down so he could hear what was going on. He was thankful for the reprieve from the john’s brutal use of his body, but that would be brief. Something told him so. Half an hour into their one-hour stay at the motel, there’d been a bang on the door. The john had eased his grip on Win’s throat and torn out of him with no regard for his discomfort, ordering him to get under the bed. He could have said no, to all of it, but he needed the money to buy food and get the tires fixed on his ancient Mazda. Which was why he’d returned to the street corner when he’d promised himself he wouldn’t do it again after the last time ended up with him in the emergency room getting stitched up. Ricky, the kid with the mismatched eyes who hung out on the same corner, had warned Win about this particular trick, but Win couldn’t afford to leave money on the table. So he’d climbed into the silver Porsche with the darkly tinted windows, reassuring a pensive Ricky that he’d be just fine. As soon as they’d entered the motel room, the man’s hands were around Win’s throat. He was a biter. A hitter. And to him, whatever his name was, lube was a mere suggestion. He liked when Win cried. Hunger and adrenaline had Win shaking now as he hid under the bed, ears straining to make out the conversation happening between the john and whoever he’d let into the room. Whoever