HAPPY RELEASE DAY!
Description: 18++
James, Harper, and Sasha are products of their environment. Born into a secret organization that runs a global shadow government, and taught to kill since they were small, they find themselves both indispensable and expendable to all the people they used to trust.
Twenty-eight year old James Fenici has been an assassin since he was sixteen. He’s amassed debts and favors from countless Company brothers and participated in hundreds of Company jobs. But there are not enough favors in the world to clear his debt and make him worthy of the only girl he’s ever wanted.
Eighteen year old Harper Tate is the girl who doesn’t exist. Born and raised on a megayacht in a tropical paradise, she was destined to be a secret until now. No history, no records, and manipulated into having no opinions or ambition of her own, Harper is suddenly presented with more choices than she can handle.
Thirteen year old Sasha Cherlin is the girl who knows everything and understands nothing at all. Her future is filled with vengeance and death, but her dreams are filled with hope and a promise. A promise who no longer wants her.
The game is on, the pieces are in place, and the players have everything to lose. But who can you trust when everyone’s a traitor?
EXCERPT
SASHA
“What’s on your mind, Smurf?”
Shit.
“I’m so, so, so, so hungry.” James stares at me and I can’t help myself. I squirm.
“Burlington has a McDonalds. We’ll get some breakfast there.”
I would die for McDonalds right now. “And then what are we gonna do?”
The plane drops the landing gear with a thud and this gives James the opportunity to ignore my question.
I don’t like when he ignores my questions. Because that means I won’t like the answer he’s not giving me. “We’re partners, right?” I ask him, suddenly feeling needy.
He turns back to me with a smile. I really love it when he smiles. Because as far as I can tell, the smiles are never fake. He never fakes the smiles. “Till death do us part, midget.”
I smile back. Because he’s funny. I really do like James. I’m just not sure I can trust James. And not because he’s shady. I really don’t think he is.
No the problem with James is… you never know when he’s there and when he’s not.
Because as far as I’ve been able to tell, Tet is in charge in all the situations that count. Not that I’ve seen him a whole lot, but he’s peeked out from behind that dark veil a few times. The most notable was back at Merc’s house in the desert when he told me he might have a plan. The second time was after Harper was drugged by One. I’m still not one hundred percent sure of who was actually in charge that first time. But the guy who told me he was going to shoot me in the chest, was definitely Tet.
And even though I think James is on the up and up, I have a hard time understanding how he can live two lives at the same time.
Everyone in the Company—and I do mean everyone—knows that James Fenici is a twisted dude. You need him to kill his brother? No problem. Just tell Tet. You need him to kill a trainer’s kid? No problem. Just tell Tet. You need him to trail your daughter and lead everyone on a wild chase to take the heat off your son. No problem, just tell Tet.
But the problem with James and Tet doubles when you realize you can’t have one without the other. They are not two separate personalities.
They really are the same guy.
I think that makes James/Tet more insane than if he was one of those crazy people with split personality disorder. Because at least if they were two people you could sorta count on them—individually speaking.
For instance. When the Admiral texted James and told him to come out to Colorado and “pick me up” what he really expected was for Tet to come out to Colorado to “pick me off”.
Nick told me the night before James showed up. He said, If you see him first, he’s James and you should give him a chance. If he shows up as Tet, you’ll never know he was there.
Is it fucked up that Nick didn’t just tell me to get the hell out of there?
I’m not sure.
But Tet wasn’t around when that text from the Admiral to come “pick me up” came in. James was. And James was busy with Harper, so he didn’t need Tet.
See the Admiral, for all his uppity smugness, really has no clue how James/Tet operates. I suppose that’s why he instructed me to kill James that day. It was a two birds kind of thing.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts when the plane touches down, bounces once, then again, and we roll the rest of the way towards the small airport surrounded by cornfields on three sides.
When we come to a stop James stands up and stretches his arms above his head and touches the top of the cabin, pressing his hands flat against the curved plastic. “I’m starved too, McSmurf. And I need coffee.” He says that with a smile.
God, I love that smile. I might not like Tet all that much, and James is not one of those nurturing kinds of people like my dad was. But when he smiles at me like that, I absolutely love him.
HARPER
“How are you feeling?” my father asks.
Not alone.
“It’s wearing off, Harper. The doctor gave you a drug to make it wear off. I hope you realize we only drugged you so that Tet would leave quietly. But you became combative the last few times we brought you out of it—”
The last few times?
“—and since you’ve been known to make rash and dangerous decisions, we were forced to subdue you.”
Well. Since there’s no use pretending I’m still asleep when they know for a fact I’m not, I open both my eyes. He’s staring down at me and he looks worried, but then he smiles.
I hate to admit that it’s reassuring. He’s my father. It’s hard to turn that off.
“How are you feeling?” he asks again. “OK?” His smile makes the corners of his eyes crinkle up. My father is handsome, even at fifty-one. His hair is not gray, it’s still dark and it’s still thick. His suit, however, is gray. And his tie is navy blue. When I was a girl I always loved to touch them. “Harper, answer me,” he demands, but not unkindly.
I pause for a few seconds and then nod. “I’m OK.”
His smile grows and I get a warm feeling that I don’t immediately understand. I mean, who is this man? How can he call himself my father when he’s part of this organization and all they want is to use me as a whore to marry off?
“We’re having dinner in an hour. I’ve had them prepare your favorites to welcome you home.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I look away.
“Harper,” he says sternly so I refocus on him. “I’m glad you’re home.”
I don’t know what to say to that either.
“Did you even miss me?”
Why is he asking me these things?
“Because this ship was not the same without you two.”
I look up at him for that. “Is Nick here?”
“No.”
I look away.
“He’s hiding. But once he hears you’re back, he’ll come for you, Harper. I know he will.”
“So I’m a trap? To catch him.”
“Why in the world do you think I’m trying to catch him? He’s a grown man now. He can do as he pleases. I admit, he’s messed up my plans for you two. But I’m not wholly dissatisfied about that.”
I glance at him again. “You’re not?”
“Why would I be unhappy that you were not given away on your birthday, Harper. I love you. I might not have been the perfect father, but I was present more than most parents in this modern world. I did my business on the ship to stay near you. I really do not understand where this distrust comes from.”
“You promised me to someone.”
“I had to. It’s required. Which is why I’m not upset that didn’t happen.”
“James said you promised me to him.”
“Tet is mistaken.”
“I remember him, though. From the beach party when we trend Six.”
“He said no, Harper. I gave him the opportunity and he said no. That was the end of it for me.”
“But you sent for him every year.”
This makes him hesitate and when I look up at his face I see the shift. He wasn’t expecting me to know that.
“Tet told you that?”
“James told me that.”
My father sucks in a breath through clenched teeth. “It would be a very big mistake to mix them up, Harper. James is not Tet, and Tet is not James.”
I get a really sick feeling in my stomach at that comment. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s insane. He’s been this way for a very long time. Years.”
About the author:
J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).
She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.
5 comments:
No unfortunately I didn't.
No I did not buy it then. Wish I would have.r
Yes, I did.
I really wish I had. :/ I can't believe it was banned.
I hadn't heard of it before now, but wish I had heard about it earlier.
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