Drowning to Breathe Read Online Free PDF Page A

closed for the night. The face darkened, as if the hope I’d found there had also been shut down.
    Nowhere else to go, I headed back to Tybee Island. Twenty minutes later, I pulled into the drive in front of Anthony’s beachfront vacation home.
    Sighing, I cut the engine and stepped out into the night. My boots crunched on the gravel and thudded up the seven steps leading to the sweeping entrance. I unlocked the door and entered, having no fucking clue where to go from here, because God knew this wasn’t where I wanted to be.
    Inside, floor-to-ceiling windows took up the entire wall facing east, the waning storm eclipsing the stars in the sky. The main room was open to the lavish kitchen in the back where Ash, Lyrik, and Zee stood around the island, nothing else to do in this town that was locked down tight on a Sunday night. The smiles on their faces dropped when they saw the expression on mine.
    Ash frowned. “Back already?”
    Last thing they’d known, the pictures on the Internet had been taken down, and I was heading back to Shea’s with my heart on my sleeve. Wondering if she would kick me to the curb once she realized being with someone like me was too much to deal with, the paparazzi hounding us at every turn, making up lies to satiate their thirst for drama.
    Little did we know what was actually waiting to bring us to our knees.
    Agitated, I drove my hands through my hair.
    “…and?” Ash prodded.
    “And it turns out I don’t know two shits about Shea.”
    Perplexed, Ash set his beer on the counter, and Zee and Lyrik straightened as they caught onto my agitation.
    I exhaled heavily, finding it hard to speak. “Earlier tonight…Child Protective Services showed up to take Kallie away…apparently that bogus article and picture was enough to call into question Shea’s ability as a mother.”
    “Bullshit,” Lyrik hissed. Ash and Zee both blanched.
    Total, complete bullshit.
    I bit my bottom lip, doing my best to contain some of the anger working to break free. “This social worker, she just walks right in, picks up Kallie, and carries her right out the door, saying they’re placing her with next of kin.”
    Pain hit me again. The memory of the terror on Kallie’s face a punch to the gut.
    “We follow her out, trying to make sense of what the hell is goin’ on…” I swallowed down the bile. “Martin Jennings is waiting on the curb.” I gripped my hair, the words sliding from me like I wanted to purge their truth. “He’s her father. Shea lied to me. Told me Kallie’s father was dead. She’s Delaney Rhoads .”
    “No fuckin’ way.” Ash stared wide-eyed.
    “Who’s Delaney Rhoads?” Zee asked, confused.
    Ash coughed out some stunned laughter. “Country star…popular six, seven years ago. Up and disappeared with a ton of scandal surrounding her name.” Ash had the nerve to smile. “Dude…Shea is Delaney Rhoads. That is crazy cool. Can’t believe I didn’t recognize her, but hell, that was a long time ago.”
    “Don’t even start, Ash,” I warned. I definitely wasn’t in the mood to deal with the fact everything was a joke to him.
    “What?” He shrugged. “Don’t tell me you don’t think that’s the hottest damn thing to ever cross your path. Shea’s fucking beautiful…give her a mic and a guitar.” Blue eyes gleamed. “Hell yeah.”
    Hadn’t even let my mind go wandering that direction. I was too caught up in the fact she’d lied to me and Jennings was a key in both our lives. That Kallie was gone.
    “Martin Jennings has Kallie?” Zee’s voice shook, and he rubbed a disturbed hand over his face.
    Finally somewhat got the fuckin’ consequence of the situation.
    “Yeah.”
    Stunned, he dropped his gaze and cursed.
    Ash bounced around. If possible his demeanor grew cockier than normal. “So, let’s go get her back. Bust some faces. Make it right. No chance in hell are we leaving that little thing with that piece of shit.”
    Ash made it sound so simple. Appealing.