Enduring

By Alexa Kane

Brookes finally happy.
She loves living in Montville and has started to really flourish as a lawyer.
She has an amazing boyfriend who she’s falling in love with.
Everything is perfect.
Except Jake.
He’s completely shut her out and she has no idea why.
The only thing that’s missing from her life is his friendship and she will do anything, absolutely anything to have him back in her life.

Can her and Jake go back to being friends? Or have they always been destined for something more?

Enduring is the fourth and final instalment in the Destined series. Due to its explicit content, bad language and graphic sexual content, Enduring is recommended for mature readers of eighteen years and above.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alexa Kane
• Release date: Sep 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005267971

Alexa Kane

Alexa Kane is a contemporary romance author and Secrets and Deception is her debut novel.Alexa lives in Australia with her husband but she calls New Zealand home.

Book preview

Enduring

Destined SERIES BOOK Four

BY ALEXA KANE

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system – without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form or biding or cover than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Published by Alexa Kane

Copyright 2022 by Alexa Kane

All Rights Reserved. ©

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

The author acknowledges all song titles, song lyrics, film titles, film characters, trademarked statuses, brands, mentioned in this book are the property of, and belong to, their respective owners. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized / associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Because of its explicit sexual content, mature themes and bad language, it is suitable for readers over 18 years of age.

I hope you enjoy reading the fourth and final installment of the Destined series.

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Author’s Note

Chapter 1 - Brooke

Chapter 2 - Brooke

Chapter 3 - Jake

Chapter 4 - Brooke

Chapter 5 - Brooke

Chapter 6 - Brooke

Chapter 7 - Jake

Chapter 8 - Brooke

Chapter 9 - Brooke

Chapter 10 - Brooke

Chapter 11 - Jake

Chapter 12 - Brooke

Chapter 13 - Brooke

Chapter 14 - Brooke

Chapter 15 - Brooke

Chapter 16 - Jake

Epilogue - Brooke

Thank you very much for reading

CHAPTER 1

BROOKE

Brendon left first thing this morning to make it to the hospital in time for his shift and I have been floating on cloud nine all morning while getting ready for my day.

It’s amazing what a difference good sex makes to your mood.

I’m also hoping that Jake had some good sex this morning before Teagan left so he’s in a better mood than he was yesterday.

He hasn’t replied to any of my texts or calls so I’ve come into Hank’s Garage with coffee as a peace offering.

I have a fake apology all organized for whatever I did or said to Teagan that made him so upset yesterday.

No doubt it has something to do with her.

After all, it always does.

My plan is to have a nice catch up with Jake then stroll into work for an uneventful day where I can daydream about all the great sex Brendon and I had over the weekend.

Good morning Hank! I practically sing the words as I enter his office but I’m only met with suspicion.

His suspicion doesn’t let up even when I place a coffee and a muffin on his desk. Are you after something?

No, it’s a beautiful morning and I want to bring my friends some treats. Plus, I’m in an awfully good mood today so not even Hank’s frown can bring me down.

Friends? he questions.

I think on it for a minute as he kind of has a point. Friends of friends then.

Slowly reaching for his coffee, he stares at it with confusion as he says, Why are you so happy today?

I’m always happy. Poor guy spends his days surrounded by brooding males so he probably doesn’t realize what a normal person looks like.

Taking a tentative sip, he seems to relax. You seem…giddy today.

That’s because Brendon and I spent the entirety of yesterday having sex but I don’t say any of that, I’ll save that confession for Jake. It’s a beautiful morning made even better by seeing my friends of friends.

Now he’s back to eyeing me like I’m after something. Right…well, I appreciate the coffee but Jake’s not here.

That’s okay, I brought stuff for everyone. Before he can protest, I leave his office and head out onto the shop floor, yelling over my shoulder, I’m wearing sneakers and I wave all liability.

I can hear Hank mumbling under his breath and seeing as Jake isn’t here yet, I make a beeline for Joe as Pete will be about as welcoming as Hank was.

Joe is wiping his hands off when I walk over to him. Hey Brooke, is that for me?

It sure is Joe. Smiling brightly, I hand over his coffee and muffin. How’s your study going?

Good. Test is in two weeks, he says nervously.

You’ll do great and I’m free during the week if you need help studying again. I’m so happy, I feel like I could do favors for anyone who asked.

His eyes light up. Really? That would be great, thanks Brooke.

No worries, now sit with me until Jake turns up. Joe and I take a seat out of view of Hank’s office. I have no doubt he knows where we are and what we are doing but if we are out of his line of sight, he will leave us alone for longer.

Joe digs into his muffin like he hasn’t eaten all morning. As if he can read my mind, he mumbles around his food, Had a big weekend. Some friends and I went to Billings for a concert.

Nice, what- I’m cut off by Pete walking over but when I greet him warmly, I’m only met with a nod before he takes his coffee and muffin and leaves again. I think you are the only person in this whole workshop who appreciates me.

He shakes his head and grins. Not true, Jake appreciates you.

Well that’s nice to know. Where is Jake? It’s not like him to be late.

Joe shrugs. No idea. When I asked Pete earlier, he said it wasn’t any of my business.

Tapping my fingers against my chin, I mumble, Huh, that’s not exactly strange for Pete but it’s still kind of vague, maybe I should-

A loud voice booms, Joe get back to work and Brooke, what did I tell you about hanging around here?

I call back, That I should wear closed in shoes?

He shakes his head wearily. Jake’s not coming in today so why don’t you head on over to your own job and leave my employees alone.

Why isn’t he working today? Is he sick? Jake never takes time off. Was he mad yesterday because he was coming down with something? Did he want me to take care of him?

I would totally be mad too if he chose to have sex with Teagan rather than taking care of me and bringing me soup.

No.

Is Ria sick?

Not that I know of.

Then what is it? Does he have an appointment? We don’t have any family stuff going on at the moment so I don’t see any obvious reason as to why he wouldn’t be here.

Even if he was super mad and trying to avoid me then he wouldn’t miss work to do that. He would just be able to ignore me while I was standing next to him talking his ear off.

Hank looks skyward. Brooke, he’s not coming in today. If you want to know so badly then call him.

Like I haven’t already thought of that, I’m not that stupid. I called him five times already this morning and ten times yesterday. He’s ignoring me.

Then take the hint girly. Hank walks away before I can question him further and when I look back at Joe, he has his head under the hood of a car.

Sneaking around the workshop so I don’t attract Hank’s attention, I look for Pete.

I end up doing three laps before Joe points to the pit and I see Pete’s hands under a vehicle. Squatting down next to the car, I say, Psst, Pete.

He continues to work like I’m not even there so I find my way to the stairs and carefully lower myself into the deep hole. Hank will lose his shit if he sees you down here.

Then I’ll be quick, where’s Jake? I whisper.

I’m not scared of Hank or anything but he’s threatened to ban me for life and I quite like coming here.

Not here.

I roll my eyes. Obviously but do you know where he is?

Not even bothering to look at me, he says, Yes.

Great. Through gritted teeth, I ask Where is he?

Glancing at me briefly, he utters, If he wanted you to know he would have answered his phone.

Fucking hell, Pete is just as bad as Hank. He came to my house yesterday and looked upset but then he left before he told me what was bothering him and now I can’t get hold of him.

That piques Pete’s interest enough that he puts his tools down. Why did he leave?

Brendon was over and-

I see.

Wait. What the hell is that supposed to mean? What do you see?

Pete shakes his head and picks his tools up again. Just leave him alone Brooke and carry on with your day.

But where is he? I drove past Jake’s place on my way here and his truck was gone so it’s not like I have many places left to look.

For a small town you would think that it’s super easy to find someone but it turns out that it’s not.

Like I said, he’s not here.

Fucking hell Pete, you-

Hank’s voice booms out from above, Brooke, get out of that fucking pit right now or I will call the sheriff on you.

Well that’s an overreaction, even for Hank.

I call back, The sheriff loves me.

Then take him a bloody muffin.

That’s not actually a bad idea, he might be able to trace Jake’s phone. That would be way easier than driving all over town looking for him.

Pete shakes his head. You need to let sleeping dogs lie girl.

Glaring at Pete, I wish he hadn’t of eaten his muffin so quickly as I would have taken it off him out of spite. You have been no help at all Pete.

You’re welcome.

I…whatever. Climbing out of the pit, I make a mad dash for the entrance when I see Hank in his office on the phone. I wouldn’t put it past him to actually call the sheriff and those two seem like good friends.

Damn it, Jake has to be around here somewhere.

Driving back to his apartment, I knock and knock in case his truck died somewhere and he’s actually home but then his neighbor yells at me to get lost so I end up trying my luck at Uncle Alex and Aunty Ryleigh’s house.

Aunty Ryleigh has a shift at the hospital but I’m pretty sure Uncle Alex will be home with Cooper.

Sure enough, Uncle Alex greets me at the door with a hug. We missed you last night. It was strange just being the three of us. It made Ryleigh want to foster a few more children.

He says this light heartedly but my mind is stuck on something he said. Just the three of you? Where were Jake and Ria?

Shrugging, he leads me into the kitchen where he offers me some coffee but I decline. No clue, he text saying something had come up and I tried ringing him this morning but got his voicemail.

That does not sound good at all, something is definitely up with him. I think something is wrong Uncle Alex. He’s not at work, at home or here, that doesn’t leave a lot of options.

With an eyebrow raised, he says, Maybe he’s at Teagan’s?

Teagan! Of course, do you have her address? How the fuck did I forget about Teagan? She’ll know where he is.

No. With a smirk on his face, he says cheekily, I thought being her best friend that you would have it.

I roll my eyes at his sarcasm. We’re only best friends for Ria’s sake. I don’t even have her phone number, I couldn’t bring myself to enter it into my phone. I never thought that would come to bite me in the ass but it has. Do you have it?

He shakes his head. No, I don’t think she wanted any of us to have her number.

Damn. How can so many people be unreachable in this day and age?

It’s seriously mind boggling.

Not to mention annoying as hell.

He’ll turn up Brooke. As an afterthought he says, "Maybe he took Ria to Seattle to visit Hayden and Olivia, he does that sometimes.

True, he does go and visit them a bit, doesn’t he? Tapping my chin in thought, I suddenly blurt out, I’m going to go but nice talking to you.

He calls out to my retreating back, I’ll let you know if I hear from him.

Okay, say hi to Cooper for me. Fast walking back to my car, I bring up my contact list and try Olivia but she doesn’t answer so I try Hayden.

It almost rings out when I finally hear his voice. Brooke. What can I do for you?

Do you know where Jake is? I really should have said hello or something first but I’m starting to panic.

If Hayden doesn’t know where he is then maybe I really should call the sheriff. He could be hurt somewhere.

What if he really did go to visit Hayden and Olivia but never showed up because he was in a car accident? They could be lying in a ditch somewhere or worse.

I can’t even bring myself to think of the other options, it’s just too painful.

With what sounds like a huff, he says, Yes.

Great. More vague people. Do you mind telling me where he is?

This is getting beyond annoying and I’m not above driving to Seattle to get the information I need out of him.

Either that or I’ll send Dad around to annoy the shit out of him until he breaks.

I know Hayden’s a cop but cops can break too.

You just have to know what buttons to push and Astley’s are great at pushing buttons.

Shuffling can be heard on the other end of the line and I sag in relief when I hear Jake’s voice. Brooke, what is it?

Jake, thank god, I’ve been so worried about you. Tears actually spring to my eyes, I’m that relieved to hear his voice.

With a snarky tone, he says, I’m surprised you had time to be worried with all the fucking you were doing yesterday.

I actually thought about you mid…never mind. I’m pretty sure that I should never admit out loud that I thought about Jake while having sex with Brendon. Actually, I did that when I was having sex with James too, weird. Jake, what’s wrong? Why are you in Seattle?

It’s not unusual that he would go to Seattle but I thought he would have at least told me first and why didn’t Pete say anything? Or Hank?

Going to Seattle isn’t that big of a deal but they made it seem like something was wrong.

He curtly replies, Ria and I are on holiday.

Yeah, I’m starting to highly doubt that that’s true. Why didn’t you tell me you were going on holiday Jake, I could have-

What? he scoffs. Could have come too?

Why is he being like this? No but I was so worried that-

I’m fine Brooke, I just need some space that’s all.

Space from what? I ask quietly.

Montville. Work. Life…You.

Me? It’s like he picked up a knife and plunged it straight into my heart. Why do you need space from me?

I thought we were friends.

I thought we had gotten to a place that our bond was unbreakable.

What the hell did I do to make him run off like that?

He hasn’t sounded this mad since the morning after we slept together but we haven’t even come close to having sex again so I can’t think of anything that I’ve done that would piss him off this badly.

If he would just tell me what I did or what’s wrong then I could fix it.

I could help him.

I just do, stop calling me and stop calling Hayden and Olivia.

Jake…will you be back? I’m trying really hard to fight back my tears but my voice wavers a little bit at the end.

My life in Montville was going so well but Jake’s a big part of that.

What will I do without him?

He’s my buddy.

With a bit of a delay, he quietly says, Yes.

When? I’m not sure how I will handle not being able to see or talk to Jake and Ria whenever I want. They’ve become such a big part of my life here.

It’s crazy, I’ve only