Sacrifice

Nikki Archer

Description

Hairdresser Phoebe Roberts has had a rough start in life after her parents were brutally murdered at a young age. Phoebe's life went from bad to worse in a matter of days, her life shattering into a million pieces, however, her best friend Spring put her back together again. Living in London had its perks but the best perk of all was meeting the green-eyed sex god Lincoln Maguire, owner of Maguire Securities. A typical tall, dark and handsome feral male. Things progress fast, wrapped up in lust and love, electrifying the air around them until Phoebe bumps into the past that she thought she had left behind when she was a young girl.

Sujets

• Romance

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781398470514
• Langue: English

Extrait

S acrifice
N ikki A rcher
A ustin M acauley P ublishers
2022-11-30
Sacrifice About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Prologue 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
About the Author
Nikki Archer – a young and enthusiastic individual who grew up on the outskirts of London. Having relocated to the northeast with her three children and partner, Nikki has settled down into her love of writing. After finding herself reading endless amounts of romance novels, Nikki would think about how the stories that have inspired her could have ended on different paths. This increased her own hunger to put pen to paper and create her own work, opening up the world of fantasy that she would herself get lost in.
Dedication
For all those who like myself are eager to get lost into the world of love, lust and excitement.
Copyright Information ©
Nikki Archer 2022
The right of Nikki Archer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the 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.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN9781398470507 (Paperback)
ISBN9781398470514 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published 2022
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd ® 1 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5AA
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my beautiful mother Rosemarie, who never stops motivating me, my father Mark who is the rock and glue to our family, without you this wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you to my sisters – Danielle and Charlotte, who inspire me with their sexy tales. To my partner Jon who provides me with constant reassurance. Thank you to Kailie for your help and guidance through this new journey, and to the rest of my family – your support means the world to me.
Prologue

Phoebe

When I was eight years old
BANG BANG!!! I jumped awake from a deep sleep, I sit up and listen but it’s quiet…out of nowhere Julie starts screaming. I jumped out of my skin from the high pitch cry coming from downstairs, there is something seriously wrong and I have to find out what it is. My bedroom is every little girl’s dream; I have unicorn wallpaper with white trimming on my walls, fluffy pink carpet that is so soft, a white shaggy rug at the foot of my bed where I keep my bunny slippers. Pushing my white and pink unicorn duvet off of myself, I get out of my small white wooden bed putting on my slippers when I realise I’m shaking, I grab my robe from my white armchair that’s next to my bed, and I head out of my room. Walking down the hall passing picture after picture lined up on the wall, I stop and stare at them and walk down memory lane. The first picture is of me and my dad; we are in the park on the grass and I am rolling around while Dad’s tickling me, and we are both laughing. The second one is of me, Mum and Dad at their friend’s wedding, I am just a baby, but my mum and dad are both looking down at me like I’m their whole world which I am, and they have never let me forget that I am. The last one is of me and my nan; we are at her house and she is in her old red velvet fabric armchair with me sitting on her lap smiling with her arms wrapped around my waist.
Going past the pictures, I head to the top of the stairs. As I descend the stairs, I try to be as quiet as possible so I can try and listen to the conversation; I know it’s wrong because my mum and dad always tell me not to listen to adult conversations. Once I get to the bottom of the stairs, I see two uniform police officers holding Julie up whilst she clings to them sobbing and screaming uncontrollably. As my foot goes on the last step of the stairs, there is a creak, and they immediately all look up at me with sadness in their eyes and my heart breaks in two.
“What’s going on? Where are my mum and dad?” The look on their faces says it all. I automatically pull my hand to my chest; it hurts, it is like this tight sharp pain right where my heart is.
Julie calls me over, “Come here, sweetie,” with her arms stretched out as if she wants a hug but I am frozen still on the spot, I cannot physically move from where I stand. I do not know where it comes from or why I do it but a quiet sob breaks free from my mouth and my whole body starts to shake.
Next thing I know I am shouting at the top of my lungs, “WHERE ARE MUM and DAD?”
Then a lady officer with blonde hair tied up on a ponytail with a load of makeup caked on her face, comes up to me, bends down to get to my eye level and says, “Hello there, sweetheart, your mum and dad have been in an accident, do you have an auntie, uncle, close relative, friends we can call?” I release a breath that I did not even know I am holding, and my eyes fills with even more tears and I can’t hold the sobs back in my throat so I start to cry uncontrollably.
“My nan…she is on…holiday and I…have…an uncle but I…don’t know…his number, I think…there is a phonebook somewhere in…the kitchen.” I point to the kitchen.
Staying at eye level, the lady says, “What is your uncle’s name, sweetheart, and then we can go see if we can find his details? How does that sound?” She wipes away my loose tears that are streaming down my face with the pads of her thumbs. She holds my hand and I guide her to the kitchen drawer where the phone book is located. I point to the book with CONTACTS written on the front with pink and purple floral print all over the cover. “OK, sweetheart, you did great, do you know his name?”
I start to think. “I think his name is…Uncle Bill.”
Chapter 1

Phoebe
Peeling my eyes open from the stream of light coming from the window, birds are chirping away with a morning song. It is the middle of July and I can feel it is already humid outside. It’s Friday morning and the end of my working week. I am lifting my arms above my head, stretching out. I can hear a muffled voice coming from Spring in the living room. It does not sound good. Spring has been my best friend ever since we were in primary school. It is me and her against the world. We have been through so much together, highs and the lowest of lows. Her parents are my adopted parents, Ronnie and Kaye. I love them like they are my own and vice versa. Spring and I are total opposites; she is outgoing, funny, smart, and loves getting attention, where as I am quiet, I like keeping myself to myself, staying out of the limelight so to speak. She was the popular one at school and I just tagged along with her to stay out of trouble but if I was ever in trouble, she would be there to fight my battles for me if I ever needed her. Spring is your typical blonde, drop-dead gorgeous; curves in all the right places. Basically, every man’s wet dream. She may look like a dumb blonde but she is far from it; she is a manager at an advertising firm in central London.
“Yes, OK that’s fine.” Then comes a long pause, I am trying to work out what he could be saying to her. “But I thought…don’t worry.” I know from the way she is talking that it’s Karl on the other end of the phone, her boyfriend. The way he treats her, that is not a partnership at all. I swing my legs out of bed and grab my robe and head out to the living room to see what is going on and to see if I can help. “If you do this, there is no going back, you understand that right?” I walk up to the side of her swinging my arm around her shoulder and giving it a squeeze to give her some strength to get through this conversation because it’s well overdue. She deserves so much better. Am I a horrible friend for wanting this conversation to go ahead? Me and Spring live in a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Hyde park in London. It has the most beautiful scenery you can imagine from our balcony; nature at its finest, pathways leading to different parts of the park where you see families having fun playing games, picnics, joggers, dog walkers, you name it, I go out to the balcony a lot to think or to have some time alone. The apartment is very spacious, which is a rarity in London, with an open planned kitchen with white gloss cupboards, white and silver scattered marble work surfaces and all white and silver electrical appliances, and grey tile flooring. Our living room is a good size with a leather dark grey sofa that seats three and a one-seater recliner chair. The walls are white with a feature wall made up of floral patterns in dark and light grey, soft spongey grey carpet that leaves your feet feeling like it’s melting beneath you.
It has always been a dream of ours to live in London, especially because I didn’t have a great start in life and it was both of our goals to get to where we are now, I have a messed-up childhood which started off great with both my amazing parents but sadly that all changed when I was eight years old. My parents were walking down the street towards their car one night after their dinner on their way h