Killian: A West Bend Saints Romance
Sabrina Paige
Killian: A West Bend Saints Romance
Sabrina Paige
Contents
Killian (West Bend Saints, Book #4)
Copyright
Dedication
1. Author’s Note
2. Lily
3. Lily
4. Killian
5. Lily
6. Killian
7. Lily
8. Killian
9. Lily
10. Killian
11. Lily
12. Lily
13. Killian
14. Lily
15. Killian
16. Lily
17. Killian
18. Lily
19. Killian
20. Lily
21. Killian
22. Lily
23. Killian
24. Lily
25. Killian
26. Lily
27. Killian
28. Lily
29. Killian
30. Lily
31. Killian
32. Lily
33. Killian
34. Lily
35. Killian
36. Lily
37. Killian
38. Lily
39. Killian
40. Lily
41. Killian
42. Lily
43. Lily
44. Killian
45. Killian
Epilogue
Elias (West Bend Saints, Book #1)
Synopsis
Copyright
Dedication
1. River
2. Elias
3. River
4. Elias
5. River
6. Elias
7. River
8. Elias
9. River
10. Elias
11. Elias
12. River
13. Elias
14. River
15. Elias
16. River
17. Elias
18. River
19. Elias
20. River
21. Elias
22. River
23. Elias
24. River
25. Elias
26. River
27. Elias
28. River
29. River
30. Elias
31. River
32. Elias
33. River
34. Elias
35. River
36. Elias
37. River
38. Elias
39. River
40. Elias
41. River
42. Elias
Epilogue
43. Bonus Epilogue
Silas (West Bend Saints, Book #2)
Synopsis
Copyright
Dedication
1. Tempest
2. Silas
3. Tempest
4. Silas
5. Tempest
6. Silas
7. Tempest
8. Silas
9. Tempest
10. Silas
11. Tempest
12. Silas
13. Tempest
14. Silas
15. Tempest
16. Silas
17. Tempest
18. Silas
19. Tempest
20. Silas
21. Tempest
22. Silas
23. Tempest
24. Silas
25. Tempest
26. Silas
27. Tempest
28. Silas
29. Tempest
30. Silas
31. Tempest
32. Silas
33. Tempest
34. Silas
35. Tempest
36. Silas
37. Tempest
38. Silas
39. Tempest
Epilogue
40. Bonus Epilogue
Luke (West Bend Saints, Book #3)
Dedication
Synopsis
Copyright
1. Autumn
2. Autumn
3. Luke
4. Autumn
5. Luke
6. Autumn
7. Luke
8. Autumn
9. Luke
10. Autumn
11. Luke
12. Autumn
13. Luke
14. Autumn
15. Luke
16. Autumn
17. Autumn
18. Luke
19. Autumn
20. Luke
21. Autumn
22. Luke
23. Autumn
24. Luke
25. Autumn
26. Luke
27. Autumn
28. Luke
29. Autumn
30. Luke
31. Autumn
32. Luke
33. Autumn
34. Luke
35. Autumn
36. Luke
37. Autumn
38. Luke
39. Autumn
40. Bonus Epilogue
Also by Sabrina Paige
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Killian (West Bend Saints, Book #4)
Killian
White picket fence and a family? Not my style.
I live life on my own terms. That means alone. I like my solitude, and that's not going to change.
A woman like Lily Grant? Yeah, right. She talks too much and has too many damn opinions. And that kid of hers might be more of a smart-mouth than she is.
If I were a better man, I’d walk away. But once I taste her sweet lips, I want to possess every inch of her.
The girl is mine. Even if she doesn’t know it.
Lily
Killian Saint is wild and untamed, gruff and solitary, an arrogant loner from a family that people in West Bend say is no good.
I should know better. A man like Killian Saint should have no part of my life, not with a kid to raise and a bakery to run.
Not even if the way his hands feel, rough against my skin, sets every part of my body on fire. Not even if the dirty things he whispers into my ear leave me so on edge I can’t think about anything but his lips on mine.
Everything about Killian is wrong.
The problem is, nothing has ever felt so right.
Copyright © 2016 by Sabrina Paige
Cover Design by Cormar Covers
Cover Model Stuart Reardon
Photographer Claudio Harris
Photograph provided by Love N. Books
Editor Daryl Banner
Proofreader Sue Banner
Formatting Vellum
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real events, people, or places is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without the permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used for review. If you have not purchased this book from Amazon or received a copy from the author, you are reading a pirated book.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status of products referred to in this book and acknowledges that trademarks have been used without permission.
This book contains mature content, including graphic sex. Please do not continue reading if you are under the age of 18 or if this type of content is disturbing to you.
NOTE: All characters in the book are 18+ years of age and all sexual acts are consensual.
To check out the rest of Sabrina Paige's catalog on Amazon, CLICK HERE!
Created with Vellum
For my husband, the best dad in the world. And for my daughter Emma, as always.
For my patient readers, you’ve waited while I wrote this se
ries very slowly. I’m pretty sure glaciers move faster than I write. Thanks for sticking with it.
1
Author’s Note
*Special New Release & Bonus Content*
Killian wraps up the West Bend Saints series. The book can be read as a standalone, although it’s better if you’ve read the others prior to reading Killian, especially because Killian does have spoilers in it for the other books.
To celebrate Killian’s release, I’ve included THE ENTIRE SERIES in Killian for a limited time! And if you’ve already read the first three books, don’t worry — I have some new fun content for you, too! Read on, because I have some BONUS EPILOGUES included!
I’ve placed Killian first in the book, so if you’ve read the other books, you don’t have to flip through the book to get to Killian. If you haven’t read the other books in the series, you can find the links to each of the other books (in order after Killian) in the table of contents. The series order is as follows:
Elias (Book One)
Silas (Book Two)
Luke (Book Three)
Killian (Book Four)
Since I’ve included all of the books, that means that Killian itself is not fifty bajillion pages long, so don’t be misled by the ginormous page count on the Amazon page or the crazy number of Kindle locations in this file.
These are full-length novels, and Killian weighs in at around 80k words, so it’ll end around 30% on your Kindle, if you’re trying to keep track of the pacing. The other books range from 60-75k words each, with Elias ending around 54%, Silas at 77%, and Luke at 100%.
As a fun extra bonus, I’ve also included bonus epilogues for the prior books! Those are marked in the table of contents for easy access. If you’ve already read those books, I hope you enjoy seeing what the future has in store for Elias and River, Silas and Tempest, and Luke and Autumn. (Spoiler, one of the couples ends up with twins and triplets!)
I know a lot of you have been waiting patiently for Killian, and I hope that you love him as much as I do.
Sabrina
2
Lily
Almost Eight Years Ago
One knock on the door, and my entire world was changed forever.
I’d prepared for that moment since Adam slipped the wedding band on my finger back when I was eighteen years old, young and naïve and invincible. I felt like I’d aged two decades in the past six years.
I would age even faster after the knock on the door. Every cop’s wife thinks about that moment, steels herself against the fear that her husband won’t return from his shift. Each time Adam left, I held my breath, wondering if this would be the time he wouldn’t come back.
“Mrs. Nelson?”
When I saw the officer in dress uniform standing in the doorway, I knew all there was to know. I didn’t need to hear anything else after those words, even if I could have heard the rest of what he said over the sound of my own sobbing.
Adam Nelson. 1984-2008. Killed in the line of duty.
One sentence to sum up a whole life.
One knock on the door, and I was a widow at twenty-four years old.
I hadn’t told Adam I was pregnant. I had just found out. I was saving the news until after the first trimester.
He died not knowing he was a father.
It wasn’t until later that I found out everything I knew about Adam had been a lie.
3
Lily
“Shit.” I mutter the word under my breath as I glance up at the clock, wiping my flour-covered hands down the length of my apron. Why am I always running late? "Not running late" should be next years' New Years resolution. Of course, acquiring organizational skills and eating fewer cupcakes should probably be up there on the priority list too. In fact, if I had better organizational skills, I’d write that down on a sticky note or put it in a planner so I remembered the next time I was making resolutions.
“Opal, are you absolutely sure you’ve got things covered?" I ask. "I hate to leave you here manning the front and back of the store at the same time. We could easily shut down early.”
Opal rolls her eyes at me as she walks through the kitchen, headed toward the front of the store. My kitchen. I bought the bakery a few months ago, yet it still feels strange to think about this place as my own. I’d never owned anything before this, not even a house, and here I am running my own business. Cupcakes and Cappuccinos is my store, a combination coffee shop and bakery. "It's Monday. This place isn’t exactly teeming with activity,” she says as she breezes past me, the door swinging behind her.
"I have the Peterson anniversary cake," I call, hanging my apron on a hook and following her to the front. "I'll drop the cupcakes off at Chloe's school and then I'll be back to decorate it."
"Take your time. The bakery won't burn down in the hour or two you're gone." Opal tsk-tsks me the way she always does before slowly meandering around with a cloth in her hand to clean the empty tabletops. A handful of customers are scattered throughout the front of the store reading newspapers and typing on their laptops.
Opal shakes her head at me because I can't let go of my city roots, the rush-rush-rush of life that people in West Bend, Colorado just don't seem to possess. Everything moves slower here, and everyone seems to like it that way. I'm the odd one out, too high strung for this place, perpetually juggling a hundred different things and feeling like I'm failing at all of them.
Opal has been here since I bought the bakery. She came with it, a carryover from the prior owners. She was the only employee who stayed after I bought it – and not by my choice. I wanted to keep the other existing employees as well, but she was the only one who wanted to stay and work for me.
I came to West Bend, far removed from Chicago and the weight of my husband's name, in order to shed my past. Within days of my and Chloe's arrival, rumors spread that we were hiding something – that we were in the witness protection program or fleeing from an abusive man, or even that I was a felon evading the authorities. Town residents decided that I was a woman to be either hated or pitied.
All of the residents except Opal.
Opal just shook her head and clucked her tongue, all too aware of the drama apparently inherent with living in a small town. She's a fixture in West Bend, born and raised here, and is probably the most even-keeled person I've ever met. “People in this town got no business poking their nose in your past,” she’d said. “Glass houses and all that. Besides, we all got pasts. Don’t let it bother you. They’ll come around eventually. People always do.”
The first month, I cried myself to sleep most nights convinced this entire thing was a mistake. I could count the number of customers on one hand that came through the bakery that month. But then, by the second month we were here, customers began slowly trickling in and we started to build up regular business.
None of that kept the old biddies in town from continuing to speculate about what we could possibly be running from, of course. The rumors haven't stopped. And they've affected Chloe, despite how much I've tried to protect her. Mean girls in her first-grade class tease her.
I check the basket on the counter: two boxes of cupcakes, paper plates, and napkins. "Shit. I forgot juice boxes."
"Get out of here and go on over to Connie's," Opal orders, waving the cloth in her hand. She gives me a look over the edge of her purple leopard print glasses. "You’ve got time. Are you sure about going to the school?"
I frown, briefly regretting not simply dropping the cupcakes off at school this morning. I'd feel just awful if my going to her elementary school fueled more whispers and rumors from Chloe's classmates.
But it's Chloe's birthday. Technically, we celebrated it on Saturday, making the four hour drive to celebrate it with my parents. But today is her actual birthday and on her birthday of all days, I didn't want to drop her off at school and let her fend for herself. So what if I'm a little overprotective? It's my fault that she's a pariah in her class. It was my decision to move here from Chicago, and it's my job to be
protective of her.
“I’m sure,” I say, my voice firm. “It’s Chloe's birthday. She only turns seven years old once.”
I feel a pang of guilt at the prospect of leaving Opal to manage the store by herself. Rachel, the front counter girl, quit this morning. Any day but today, I'd have been glad to get rid of her, since her work ethic was less than stellar. But her drama this morning left me behind schedule with baking. Opal said it was good riddance because the girl was more trouble than she was worth anyway.
In twenty minutes, I need to be at Deerfield Elementary School armed with cupcakes and juice boxes because I want to be there in case those bitchy little first graders give my daughter any grief.
I dart over to the general store, not even making an attempt at polite conversation with Connie C., which is just fine. Connie C. decided when I arrived in town that she didn’t like me on sight. I usually avoid coming into her store, but desperate times call for it. I grab two packages of juice boxes and stuff one under each arm. I'm glancing around, trying to decide if there’s anything else I've forgotten when I get hit by a brick wall.
A brick wall that spills icy-cold liquid all over my shirt.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I squeal as the juice boxes fall to the floor with a thud. I look down at my white t-shirt, now covered in brown liquid that is rapidly spreading across my breasts. Of course I wore a white t-shirt today. That’s just fantastic.
“Damn it, woman. Watch where you're going.” The brick wall has a voice. A voice that calls me woman like we’re in the nineteen-fifties. A baritone voice that sends a tingle through me or maybe that’s just the freezing-cold liquid that is making my nipples hard.
It also smells like whiskey.
That's stellar. Now I can head to the elementary school reeking like I've been hitting the bottle all morning.
