He short-circuited my brain. I had nothing. Not. One. Damn. Thing.
“Then there was the exhibition,” Micah said quietly. “Imagine my surprise when my own sister who doesn’t answer her cell phone ends up in my arena and on my bank.”
“Whoa,” Eve said in a whoosh of breath next to me.
“Yeah,” Marty said quietly.
“The exhibition in Philly was you?”
“Ascend is one of several of my projects. It’s a long story that we can get into another time, but my executive assistant came up with the idea, a way to spark interest in women’s sports and working with charities. Imagine my surprise when I found out you were there…and you guys were the underdog team. Another thing we have in common.”
“You don’t look much like an underdog,” Marty said.
“Not anymore, no. Underground fighting kept me alive. I took every last dime I made from it and with some help, grew it into what you see today. It’s still just money.”
“Look at her. She’s stunned. Like zapped-with-a-taser stunned,” Marty said as she poked me in the arm.
“Stop poking me, dammit. I just—I have a brother. I—we need to do a DNA test, right?”
“As soon as you’re ready. I’m going to be in the area for another week,” he said as he took out a business card embossed in gold with his personal cell number on the back. “Call me and we’ll make the arrangements. Once it’s confirmed, we’ll talk. Sound good?” He stood and slid the chair back to the table he took it from and began his retreat, but after a couple steps, he stopped. “Maisy?”
“Yeah,” I said, glancing up at him.
“I haven’t had a family in a long time. I’m hoping when we find out what I’m pretty sure we both know is true, maybe we can change that.”
I had no concrete evidence. He was a total stranger, but that look in his eyes, that loneliness lurking there, I recognized that to my very core. He had money and power and despite it, he was here at Banked Track looking for his missing pieces.
I scraped back and walked over, catching the way his eyes widened right before I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes. “I hope you mean that because I hold on to my people, and once I do, I don’t let go.”
***
So guys, did you love it?
I mean, sex on skates. That totally happened.
And I made you wait so freaking long for it…oops.
I had no clue these two were going to be a slow burn turned raging inferno bathed in tears. I had them all plotted out, but both of them jumped right off the page and bitch slapped me into submission. Kind of like Maisy bitch slapped Cain, lol.
And Maisy’s the nice one…
Imagine what happens when I try to bend Eve to my will!
Wanna find out?
She’s ready to slide in like a fucking boss and land on your ereaders March 30th!
Preorder HIP WHIP now!
Ohhhh…and don’t think I’ve forgotten about getting Patti a little. She’s got a certain someone in her past that she needs to reckon with too!
And, are you curious about Remy, Dom, and Linc???
Start with Remy and Parker’s story in BALLS TO THE WALL!
AND THE BLURB FOR…
HIP WHIP
There’s more to me than the punk on skates.
I’m easy to dismiss as a rebel with my piercings, tattoos, and spiked hair.
But I’m also the one with the head for business.
Rough beginnings taught me to count on myself.
So I made sure I was ready to go it alone.
Or so I thought.
Until I found my family on the flat track. My derby sisters.
And I became the one who won’t let them fail, their hip to whip so they can surge ahead.
The one they can count on for a boost when it’s their time to shine.
We’ve stumbled on an opportunity, an unexpected dream, one I know how to bring it to life.
At least I did, until Mack Henry showed up with his accusations dripping with derision.
I’m not perfect, but I’m not a liar or a cheat… and I’m definitely not a thief.
With Banked Track hanging in the balance, I’ll fight with everything I have.
And like so many times in my past, I’ll claw my way to victory.
I knew I shouldn’t have left my aunt alone.
She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever known, but she’s easy to fool.
I thought I did her a favor leaving town.
Making my mistakes at a distance where they couldn’t hurt her.
But leaving meant opening her doors to predators, waiting to take advantage.
And this derby team, they’re so much more clever than I could have imagined.
Convincing her to sell Banked Track was unbelievable enough, but convincing her to hold the mortgage?
Next level manipulation.
This was my fault.
I didn’t protect her from vultures looking to take advantage of a lonely, old woman.
But I’m here now and they won’t get Banked Track without a fight.
Eve McAllister thinks they have an ironclad contract.
But there’s nothing I won’t do to see it disintegrate into a pile of ashes at Eve’s roller skate covered feet.
CONNECT WITH ME
You can find me online at:
www.CaseyHagenBooks.com
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BOOKS SERIES BY CASEY HAGEN
BEAUTIFULLY BRUTAL
TALLULAH COVE
FIERCE PROTECTORS
SO WRONG IT’S RIGHT
ABOUT CASEY HAGEN
Casey Hagen pens her snarky, passionate stories from the salty air of Kennebunk, Maine. She’s a born and raised Vermont native, a New England girl to the core, with Ben & Jerry’s in her heart and real Vermont maple syrup pumping through her veins.
She’s the proud mother of three girls and a new, first-time grandma with an insatiable addiction to Fall Out
