Maverick Touch Jail Break: Maverick Touch, #4

By Ashley Nemer

Kain Maverick has always been the good one. He never caused a moment of trouble for Laura and William growing up, and his sisters always feared the wrath of Kain if they crossed his path. But now the tables have turned and Kain seems to be knee deep in trouble. But this isn’t any kind of trouble, its women trouble.
Mr. A has finally convinced Nadia to settle down and hang her newspaper hat up. She’s turned over her black and white print copy reports and begun a new path, daytime television. Everyone is happy, she’s out of danger and she has just given birth. Can she really keep herself out of harm’s way?
Anabella and Carter have discovered a new dilemma in their short lived marriage and now have to face some hard facts. The Brotherhood is always knocking on the door and Ana doesn’t know if she can handle this new bump in their relationship.
Now all three siblings turn to one another in hope that this final chapter will give each of them their salvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Art of Safkhet
• Release date: Jun 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536566796

Ashley Nemer

Ashley is married and lives in Houston with her husband and their two children. She and her husband have been together for over a decade and he brings her more joy than she could ever imagine as a child. Their two children have filled their lives with laughter and excitement on a daily basis. She loves to read and has been hooked on the romance genre ever since her life long best friend Laura gave her "Ashes to Ashes' by Tami Hoag to read when they were in high school. Ashley finds her strength through her family, especially her parents. They always support her in life, they push her to strive for greatness. There once was a motto that Ashley heard in her youth through her Taekwondo life 'Reach for the Stars' and that is what Ashley has always done. It was through her upbringing that the values Ashley has and display's came from. With her Parents always cheering her on in life she was able to grow up having faith in herself and her ability to conquer the world.​ Author Links http://www.ashleynemer.com http://www.facebook.com/ashleynemerauthor http://www.facebook.com/ashers83 (Add Friend) http://ashleynemer.blogspot.com https://twitter.com/ashleynemer https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2897381-ashley-nemer

Book preview

DEDICATION

Amy – thank you for the continued support with the Maverick Series. But more, thank you for keeping me focused with this book. 2015 was a very crazy year and you helped make this possible.

A QUICK NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Each Maverick book starts with a quote from Great Expectations. This was required reading in 9th grade for me, which I believe is pretty common. It had a truly profound effect on my ‘reading’ life and I felt Pip, Estella and Miss. Havisham were excellent personalities to start my series off with.

I hope that it has added a touch of mystery. Mr. A loved these characters too. He actually picked the quotes used.

Happy Reading

~Ashley

Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces – and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper – love her, love her, love her! – Charles Dickens, Great Expectation.

CHAPTER ONE

December 2015

Love is in the air here in Cedar Rapids. We have weddings and babies showing up every few weeks, and our great city couldn’t be happier. Join us next week when I venture out to the store and start my nursery décor. Until tomorrow, Cedar Rapids, this is Nadia Maverick-Ali, signing out

And cut! the station manager yelled. That’s a wrap.

Nadia pushed her chair away from the desk and stood up. Her left hand instantly went to her lower back as she waddled her way down from the stage and to her dressing room. As she passed by Junior, she gave him a high five.

Good show today, J.R. I’m excited for next week.

The station manager smiled at her and shook his head. Nadia, I keep telling you, you’re not going to make next week. You’re going to pop any day now. Please just take the leave of absence. I’ll have one of the interns sub for you until we can find a proper replacement.

No way, I’m not giving in that easily. This baby is making it the full forty weeks. That means there is no way he or she is being born in two thousand fifteen.

The pool has you bursting on Christmas Eve. You know that?

That made Nadia laugh. How much is it up to?

One fifty on the twenty-fourth.

And when is your spot?

Junior smiled at her with a sinister look. The twenty-third.

Put me down for December thirty-first. We’ll call him or her ‘Tax Credit.’ Nadia let out a jolly laugh and continued to her dressing room.

Nadia loved her job. She had thought it would be hard to give up being a reporter, but she’d found being a personality on television was exactly her speed. It was much safer for starters. She didn’t take on such dangerous jobs, but perhaps that was simply a happy side effect of being pregnant. She’d thought Carlisle was overprotective when they had first become friends. He had gone to great lengths to keep her safe, and had even installed state-of-the-art cameras to make sure no one was in the house unwanted.

But then she’d gotten pregnant.

She’d had no idea what overprotective really was until the day she’d come home to find a Hummer in their driveway. It was a light blue, and in some lights it even looked a bit white. The inside was decked out with leather interior, heated seats, and an amazing stereo system. At first she’d thought that one of Carlisle’s friends had shown up for an unexpected visit, but that hadn’t been the case at all. He had bought her a new car, no, not just a car, a tank.

And that’s when she’d known it was going to be a long pregnancy.

That had been right after they’d returned from Africa. Her mother and Carlisle had insisted on visiting the obstetrician as soon as her feet touched down on land. Laura had insisted on it because she had traveled to a country with different illnesses and knew what could possibly follow a person back if they hadn’t received the proper vaccines. Carlisle had insisted as well because he’d wanted to know how far along his son or daughter was in development. Once the doctors had done all their ultrasounds and testing, they had discovered that Nadia had returned home seven weeks pregnant, which meant that she still had eight more months of Crazy A. That was the nickname she‘d given him.

Her nephews Leon and Damon had picked right up on this new name and had been having fun calling him Crazy Uncle A. Carlisle was taking it in good humor. He was able to smile and laugh it off, but deep down, she knew he was serious. Each of his absurd requests was meant to be followed.

It had gotten to the point that Nadia had just begun to nod her head and move on. There wasn’t any logic in arguing with him, and he would just find something new and outlandish to do the next week.

That was why, when she walked into her dressing room, she wasn’t shocked one bit to find a fresh tray of cheese, fruit, and rice crackers sitting on her table, along with a bottle of water, fresh flowers, and a note.

Carlisle always wanted her fed, like she wasn’t living in America, the land of plenty. He sometimes acted like she was off in a third world country, where nourishment wasn’t easily accessible.

Nadia lifted the note off of the table and opened it. The paper had been folded once in the middle, and her name was printed neatly on the outside covering.

My Pet,

I trust you had a good show today. We will have to discuss how long you intend to work, but for now, please eat. You looked famished at the start of the broadcast, and I can only assume you’ve gotten hungrier since you went live on air.

Tonight I have plans with your brother to go over some things, but once I am home, we can finish decorating the nursery. I know you are anxious to get the paint up on the walls and pull out all the sheets you and your sister purchased to get them displayed.

Women, I will never understand your need to make something enormous when it is really a simple task.

Your mother said to tell you hello and that your father will be picking you up from the studio. He wanted to spend some time with you, and I suggested that there was no better way than driving you safely home.

She obviously agreed.

See you tonight, my pet.

Your loving admirer,

C.A.

The C and A at the end of the letter made Nadia giggle. He really was going all out with the Crazy A. He would argue that they were his actual initials, but he’d never used that signature until the new nickname had come up.

There was no need to tell Carlisle that his assumption was right. She was starving. For most of the pregnancy, she had craved cheese, kiwi, and strawberries. Her sister, Anabella, teased her that she was being a typical expectant mother and using this as an excuse to eat her favorite foods. Laura, Nadia and Anabella’s own mother, insisted that the cheese craving was because Nadia was in need of calcium.

Either way, Carlisle knew exactly what she needed to satisfy her. It was great having a husband who paid close attention to details, but only when it came to meal time.

She enjoyed a few minutes of snacking before she got undressed and slipped into her comfortable jeans. While she loved looking stylish on air, she preferred the comfort of blue jeans and her leather jacket, even in summer, when she got quite hot wearing it. Since she had gained a couple inches, and she insisted it was only a couple, her mother had found her replacement jeans with the stretch elastic instead of buttons and zippers. Nadia loved them, but she couldn’t wait to fit back into her other ones in a few months.

As she put the final touches on her outfit, she heard a knock at her dressing room door. She looked over her shoulder and called out, Come in.

William, Nadia’s father, poked his head into the room with a large smile plastered on his face. Ready to go, champ?

Nadia loved her father. He was her hero, just like every father should be to their daughter. Hey, Dad, I hear you want to spend a little one on one time today, what did you have in mind? You know, I could have just met you somewhere.

I figured that since you were about to be a new mom and all, I should get my last bit of alone time in while I can. I never know when that son-in-law of mine is going to be gone, and I don’t like to pry into Carlisle’s work; he isn’t Carter. So this seemed like an easier solution. I know Crazy A doesn’t need your full attention right this moment...

Both of your son-in-law’s have the same profession, Dad.

Yes, but Carter is in Houston most of the time, so I don’t know when he is being, he brought his hands up around his head and made air quotes, delayed.

This made Nadia laugh and William joined her with a hearty chuckle.

Touché, Dad. Nadia picked up the bag she had traded her purse in for. It seemed lately she needed more things on a regular basis. Her mother told her this was nature’s way of preparing her for carrying around a diaper bag in a few short weeks. I could have caught a ride from someone.

Nonsense, I am using this as an excuse to spend time with my baby girl.

Your baby girl feels like she is going to explode any moment now.

But my baby girl none the less! William’s jovial demeanor was infectious. Everyone who was around him ended up in a good mood, even when it wasn’t the best of moments.

I guess we had better get going if we are going to make the party.

Party?

Dad, I know about the baby shower.

What baby shower?

The baby shower you are taking me to right now. I know that whole letter Carlisle sent me with the food tray was just a decoy to explain why you were picking me up and not him.

We’re going home, to your home, not to a baby shower.

Nadia shook her head back and forth. Dad, you are a horrible actor. Stay in retirement; don’t come out. I know where we are going.

I have no idea what you’re talking about. I thought you’d already had a baby shower.

Correct, here at work, but I know Mom and Ana are planning one and got the guys all in on it too.

Champ, I don’t know about any shower. Carlisle just asked for me to bring you home because he got tied up doing something.

Did her dad not know what Carlisle had said in the letter? Nadia made note of this slip-up in planning because she was going to tease Carlisle about it later. Okay, Dad. Nadia nodded. If that’s how you want to play this, okay.

The two of them left the dressing room and made their way out of the building and into William’s car. The ride back to her place was full of lighthearted laughter and teasing. She adored her father so much. He was always doing the perfect thing for her in the right moment. She realized her hand was running over the curve of her belly, and she caught her thoughts drifting to Carlisle and what their daughter, if they were having a daughter, would think of him.

Would he be her hero? Her idol?

What if it was a boy? Would he want to grow up and be just like Daddy? God, she hoped not. Not that she found anything technically wrong with Carlisle’s life. It just wasn’t the type of job mothers wanted their children to pursue.

Other than that, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Carlisle would be the perfect father. He would provide for their family better than she could ever have hoped for, and maybe now that she had shifted jobs into a field that wasn’t so directly in the limelight Carlisle, could shift professions as well.

Although she wasn’t sure what that kind of résumé would look like.

Killer Assassin for Hire, duration, life.

She could just picture the job title on the résumé in her