Title: Travis
Author: Tracie Podger
Series: Fallen Angel, Book #6
Genre: contemporary adult romance, romantic suspense
For readers 18 and over due to sexual content and mature themes
Synopsis
Travis Curran spent his childhood surrounded by physical abuse, until he could take no more…
His father has a drinking problem - he liked to take that problem out on his family.
His brother has a drinking problem - he liked to take that problem out on Travis.
At the age of eleven, Travis was forced to run, forced to leave his sister, the only mother he ever knew and flee to Washington, DC, with a man he doesn’t know. It should have been simple; his sister was to follow a week later - But she never arrived.
Alone and homeless, Travis survived.
He survived with the help of a boy who became his best friend, his brother in all but blood.
He survived with the help of the family.
Today he lives a life of secrets, a life of wealth but also of crime.
He enjoys this life - until the moment his past catches up with him.
This is the story of an exceptional man, a dangerous man. His life in his words.
This is the story of Travis Curran.
Excerpt
Dan, my sister, my family, they had all abandoned me, they had all forgotten about me and I felt very alone. I watched people, couples holding hands, families playing together and the pain I felt inside intensified. I was on my own and I had to make the best of it. I didn’t leave the park, opting to lie on a bench once the night fell. It was a mistake. At night the drunks came and I guessed the bench belonged to one when he grabbed hold of my jacket and dragged me off. I landed in a heap on the ground. He was rambling, something about the war.
“Fuck off,” he growled.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I scrambled to my feet. I headed for a small wooded area, slid down a tree and waited for the morning.
The days had melded into each other, I lost track of what day of the week it even was. I only knew it was the weekend because the streets were less busy with suited people scurrying to and from work. The weekends were the hardest because that’s when I would see families, moms and sons walking and laughing, brothers and sisters playing and that loneliness would hit me like a punch to the gut.
I noticed a couple of boys, slightly younger than me I guessed. They were playing ball, tossing it to each other. I watched them for a while, smiling at their laughter as they had fun. I was itching to join in, to do something normal like playing catch. One threw it too far and it landed at my feet, I was still sitting with my back to the tree that had been home for the past two nights. I picked the ball up, stood and walked towards them. They smiled at me and I smiled back.
“You wanna play?” one said. I nodded my head.
“Throw the ball,” the other called out, jogging backwards and raising his arm, ready to catch the ball in his mitt.
It was nice to hear someone talk to me. That was until their dad appeared. He snatched the ball from me and without a word, grabbed the two boys by the hand. One child looked over his shoulder as he was hauled away and he gave me a small smile. Despite my promise never to cry again, I couldn’t stop the tear that rolled down one cheek. I angrily wiped it away. I had no idea what I looked like, what condition my hair was in or how dirty my face was - there were no mirrors on the street. Those boys hadn’t been bothered by how I looked; they had just wanted to play with me.
“Fuck you,” I screamed to their retreating backs. “Fuck you all.”
That day I hardened my heart. I would survive. I would shoplift and fucking enjoy it. I would wipe my family from my mind and fucking enjoy it. I would fight if I had to and fucking enjoy it. No one would ever see my heartache again.
That one simple act of dragging those children away from me, and I was no more than a child myself, confirmed one thing - no one was going to help me.
I had no choice but to toughen up and help myself.
~ ~ ~
We had only driven a short distance when the blue flashing lights of a cop car lit up the inside of ours...
“What do you want to do, bro?” I asked. If we’d been aware of their presence in time I probably could have outrun them.
“Pull over, let’s see what they want?”
I pulled the car to the kerb and waited. A cop tapped on my side window.
“Permit,” he said.
I handed it through the open window and he took a while studying it.
“Exist the car, slowly, both of you,” we were instructed.
Two police officers, who had obviously been waiting, gestured for us to get out of the car. As I did one of them grabbed me by the arm and slammed me face first on the hood. He pulled my arms behind my back and cuffed me. Robert and I looked over at each other; he gave a very slight nod of his head. Being picked up by the cops had always been his worst nightmare, but that nod told me he was okay. I wasn’t too worried, the police could do nothing to me, I was too old to be sent back to New York.
In silence they placed me into the back of a car, with Robert in another, and we were driven back to the station. The only thing I told them was my name and address as they booked me. Still cuffed, they marched me along a grey corridor. The walls, the floor, the metal doors to cells were all the same depressing colour. Apparently cheerfulness was not the look they were going for.
They released my wrists as they closed the cell door behind me. I rubbed at them, a little pissed at the unnecessary tightness of the cuffs. I could walk from one end of the cell to the other in four paces. Robert was going to freak - not that he was claustrophobic, but he hated confinement. I flipped the stained mattress against the wall, sat on the metal frame of the cot and waited. Eventually I was taken by a cop, again in silence, to an interview room. I sat and smiled at the sour-faced female guarding the door. He cheeks coloured a little.
A few minutes later she was replaced by one of the cops that had pulled us over, and his sidekick.
“Travis, my name is Detective Mallory…”
I cut him off. “Can you tell me why I’m being held here?”
“Joey Morietti has implicated you in a rather nasty assault,” he replied.
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? And when did this assault take place?”
“Earlier this evening, the police were called to Sibley Memorial after he was admitted. It appears he has suffered some serious injuries. Know anything about that?”
“Not a thing, been at the club all night, want the address?”
After I had given him the address and he’d written it down, he handed it to the sidekick who left the room; the door was guarded once more by sourpuss. She kept her gaze firmly fixed to the wall above my head.
“Your friend, Robert, gives a different location for your whereabouts this evening,” he tried.
“Then he may have had one too many,” I replied.
“What can you tell me about Joey?”
“Not much, don’t really know him.”
“We know you work for his father,” came the response.
“Doesn’t mean I know who assaulted his son, if he has been assaulted, of course.”
“So what do you do for Guiseppi Morietti?” he asked.
“Collect rent, as I’m sure you already know. Now, shall we get back to the shocking news of his son? What happened to him?”
Detective Mallory stared at me, I gave him a smile. He reminded me of Goon, in fact, such was the resemblance they could have been related.
“Do you have a brother?” I asked.
~ ~ ~
A wooden bedstead dominated the room, its mattress in a cloth protector, and on either side of the bed were small nightstands. I sat on the bed and looked at Alison standing in the middle of the room. She stared straight back at me. No words were spoken as she took the few steps required before she was standing between my knees. Her hands cupped either side of my face. I ran my hands up her legs, catching her dress and raising it. She leant down for a kiss.
Her lips gently pressed against mine. I opened my mouth and my tongue tangled with hers. My hands had come to rest on her hips and I held them fast while pulling her closer to me. I could feel the lace of her panties under my fingers. Our kiss deepened; I was hungry for her.
I stood, and as I did I raised the dress over her head. She wore a matching lace panty and bra set, somehow that pleased me; I’d hoped she had dressed for the evening. Her tanned skin set off the white of the lace. She reached forward and unknotted my tie, sliding it from my collar, and with an agonising slow pace she undid the buttons of my shirt. Her hands brushed against my chest, lower and lower as each button was popped open. While she unbuckled my belt I shrugged the shirt from my shoulders, letting it fall in a heap on the floor. Alison ran her fingers around the waistband of my pants, her nails scraping gently against my skin. She popped the button, undid the zip and with my pants in her fists, she lowered them as she sunk to her knees.
5-Star Reader Reviews....
This book was brilliant and intense. I felt Travis’ anger, fear, resentment and love to his “family” ie, Robert, Evelyn and Joe. He is a multifaceted character. He has all the usual emotions you would expect from one who has had a rough start in life but he is also fiercely loyal and protective to those he loves. He is also HOT and sexy and is incredibly charismatic. Yes, that is why I love him! This lovely by the incredibly talented Tracie Podger gets five stars from me. (But in my heart it deserves 100!) ~ Kerry-Ann (Kez's Corner)
This book is simply spectacular. It tells the story of Travis, one of the pivotal characters in The Fallen Angel Series. I defy anyone to not fall in love with Travis from his turbulent childhood, through his journey of self discovery and sexual awareness! It's a compelling, gripping story that grabs a hold of you immediately. This author has the unique talent of completely immersing you in her world with her descriptive and enthralling words. Travis will live in my heart always... ~ Karen S.
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Other Books in the Fallen Angel Series...
Fallen Angel, Part 1
Fallen Angel, Part 2
Fallen Angel, Part 3
Evelyn (novella)
Robert
Check them out and one-click them today on Amazon!
Coming Soon...
Fallen Angel, Part 4 (this summer) - Series Conclusion
And then...
A Virtual Affair
The Passion Series
Release Giveaway!
"Reader's Choice"- Any eBook from the Fallen Angel Series!
