The Debt Series

The DEBT is a 4 part novella series based on Cowboy, ex-soldier Matt Stone. This part includes part 1, with the complete set in volume 2. Matt Stone rode into Markleeville one hot dusk, with a wind at his back that promised summer thunder. He was tall and lean, with a narrow, clean-shaven face above the collar of his oilskin duster. His eyes were a hard pale blue, like chips of ice, and his black hair was long like an Apache's and held back with a strip of leather. The coat was open, revealing a buckskin vest and the pair of silver Colts at his hips. He rode a huge, sleek black horse with a bullet scar showing in white hairs across one flank. Its name was Lucky. That horse had carried him through Gettysburg alive, and then taken him west, where he'd spent three years wandering, trying to get the echoes of battle out of his head. Lucky had a mind of his own, which could be good or bad. Good when Matt needed help getting his drunk-self back to camp. Bad when the damn horse figured out how to untie his lead and took off wandering somewhere. * Mature audience *

After her father steals from a prominent crime family, Luna is abducted and forced to watch the Morozovas murder her father. She was supposed to be next. She was a witness, after all. But as Maxim Morozova brushed away Luna's golden hair, looked past her fresh cuts and bruises, and stared into her topaz eyes, he saw something he didn't expect to see—the angelic face of a nurse who'd saved his life two years before. The same nurse he briefly dated before she abruptly said good-bye.   Did he owe her a debt? He wasn't sure. So, he would keep her until he decided what to do with her, while also doing his best not to let his old feelings reemerge. Hopefully, that voice inside of him, that always pushed him to do what was necessary, would convince him that she was a loose end that needed to be tied. And he wouldn't have to worry about the consequences of letting her live.   But life doesn't always work out the way you want it to, especially when you make the mistake of mixing business with pleasure.

After leaving Max, a well-connected criminal, Luna is questioned by the police about her disappearance. She lies to protect him and becomes the girl who cried wolf. Stigmatized, her life begins to unravel, and her connection to Max becomes front page news. She's determined to salvage her old life, but that proves so much harder when a hitman shows up to kill her. When she calls for help, there's only one person she wants. The only person who can truly protect her.   Max has a new career path and new ambitions, but he can't get his mind off of the girl who left him—twice. When their connection becomes public, he tries to pull her back into his life so he can protect her, but she resists. It's only when her situation is dire that she finally reaches out to him. Now that she's back in his life he's determined to protect her and keep her—no matter the cost. Little does he know how steep the price will be.

The DEBT: based on Cowboy, ex-soldier, Matt Stone.     Matt Stone rode into Markleeville one hot dusk, with a wind at his back that promised summer thunder. He was tall and lean, with a narrow, clean-shaven face above the collar of his oilskin duster. His eyes were a hard pale blue, like chips of ice, and his black hair was long like an Apache's and held back with a strip of leather. The coat was open, revealing a buckskin vest and the pair of silver Colts at his hips.     He rode a huge, sleek black horse with a bullet scar showing in white hairs across one flank. Its name was Lucky. That horse had carried him through Gettysburg alive, and then taken him west, where he'd spent three years wandering, trying to get the echoes of battle out of his head.       Matt managed to escape death in Gettysburg and just when he begins to believe he has something good with Anne, destiny takes a shot and sends everything spinning out of control.

* The Rage is Book III in The Debt Series. It is recommended that you read books I and II before reading book III.   "Emotions consumed me, and I couldn't see my way through them, so I tried to f*** them out of me. To find some semblance of quiet in my head. Luna gave me that peace for a short while, and in doing so, I felt more connected to her than I ever have to anyone. But it didn't take long to get into my head again. I don't want to need someone. I don't want to feel desperate to have someone make me feel sane."   Max knows that keeping Luna means making changes. He's trying to be the best version of himself, but it's hard when he was raised to be the ruthless king of Falmouth City. And it's harder still when there is darkness inside of him that won't stay silent.   "The anger is back. Louder and more insistent than before. Something is broken inside of me that I can't fix, a monster inside of me always sleeping with one eye open, waiting for something or someone to disturb it."   As the fallout from Max's father's death unravels, Max will have to fight enemies he didn't know existed to keep his loved ones safe. But as the days go on, his situation becomes more complicated. To come out on top, Max will have to come to terms with who he is and who he is not. But will that person be worthy of the woman he loves? And will she accept him?