Loving Elise: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Love and Blood Book 1) by M.B. Smith

Author:M.B. Smith [Smith, M.B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

We drive for a half hour before Joshua pulls onto an unmarked road.

“Where are we going?”

He taps his finger against the steering wheel in time with the music. “Lunch.”

“Here?” There’s not a building, car, or person in sight, only trees.

“Yes, here.”

By the time Joshua stops the car, I don’t notice anything particularly special about where we are. It’s just the end of a dirt road surrounded by tall trees and wildflowers.

“You better not be planning to murder me in the woods on my birthday.” I climb out of the car and give him a playful side-glare.

His light laughter echoes around us. “And let all those clothes go to waste? No, I think I’ll save murder for another day.”

I roll my eyes, and his palm comes down on my ass. “Hey! Stop spanking me!”

“Stop rolling your eyes at me.”

But we both know that won’t happen.

Joshua opens the trunk and takes out a large basket. When I raise my eyebrow, he gives me a “you’ll see” look.

I take his hand and let him lead me to the tree line. The path he takes us on is obscure, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t shown me. Neither of us is dressed for a hike, so I don’t expect us to go very far, and I’m right.

Stepping out from behind a wall of trees, I’m faced with the most incredible view I have ever seen.

Miles of land lay beneath us, covered in a sea of green leaves that rustle in the wind like waves rolling onto shore. What can only be the Sacramento River, winds through the trees, and I can make out people, as small as ants from here, taking their tourist photos and enjoying the beauty same as Joshua and me. A mountain rests in the distance, so tall that white snow drapes gracefully over its peak.

My mouth drops open in utter amazement.

“Joshua, this is beautiful,” I murmur. “How did you find this place?”

“I can’t take the credit,” he admits, resting a hand on my waist. I tear my eyes from the view to gaze at him which is unsurprisingly just as captivating. “Donovan is a bit of an outdoorsman, and he grew up in Redding, so he knew about this spot. He let me in on the secret when I needed a quiet place.”

“If he grew up in Redding, how did he get to be one of your capos?”

“Donovan joined the Marsollo family a few years after I did to make enough money to pay off his dad’s gambling debt. At first, he made drug runs between some of the bases, but word of his talent made its way to Marsollo and me, so he was promoted and moved to Sacramento. When a drug deal got busted, Don became the fall guy and was facing twenty years in prison.”

“Isn’t that excessive?”

Joshua shrugs. “He’d been on their radar long enough to justify it. When I heard about it, I pulled some strings to get him off the hook, and I brought him to L.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.