Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) Read online

  Viola’s Risk

  The Twin Destinies Saga

  Book Two

  By,

  Cheryl Davis

  Copyright © 2014 Cheryln Davis

  Viola’s Risk

  Written by, Cheryl Davis

  ISBN Number: 978-1-312-05824-8

  Edited by: Christina Escue @ C.E. Editing, email: [email protected]

  Cover Art by: Cora Graphics, email: [email protected] or website: www.coragraphics.it

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Acknowledgements

  To the most fantastic mother in the world, the woman who showed me that there were no limits to your imagination if you picked up a book and read it, I love you and thank you so much for the gift of loving to read. Really, my journey as an author began there. You are my inspiration, Mom, and I thank you for everything!

  A huge thank you goes out to my wonderful editor and best friend Christina with C.E. Editing for tolerating me through the writing process, understanding what I’m trying to convey in the story and being willing to tell me, without hesitation that what I wrote is crap and needs to be rewritten! None of my books would be anywhere without you!

  I have to say that I have some of the most fabulous beta readers in the world! Donna Bossert, Michelle Williams, Christina Escue, Raygan Taylor, Caryn Santee, Holly Collins, Tarnya Rutherford, and Jessa Markert, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this book and give me your honest opinions and critiques! You all help to keep me on track and make me a better writer!

  Thank you to Cora Graphics for making yet another amazing cover for this book! Your work is gorgeous and your talent is greatly appreciated! I look forward to each time that we get to work together!

  To Chrissy Peebles, Erica Stevens and Wanita May, you all are amazing! Thank you for all of the time that you take to answer questions when I have them! I have no words to describe how much that means to me in this journey.

  Tarnya Rutherford, thank you so much for all of your hard work with my fantastic street team and your beautiful swag. You are one of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve ever met and I appreciate everything that you do!

  To the best street team in the world, Dayron Colon, Catherine Liddemore, Linda Shafer, Raygan Taylor, Stracey Charran, Echo Navarro-Dysart, Michelle Williams, Caryn Santee, Holly Collins, Janet Juengling-Snell, Jessa Markert, Peggy Frese, Donna Bossert, Jon Davies, Joy Whiteside and Kendall McCubbin, I thank you for all of your hard work sharing and getting my work out there to the world! You have no idea how much that helps!

  Last, but certainly not least, my wonderful husband and children, I love you and wouldn’t have made it this far without your love and support through this entire process! Thank you so much for sticking with me. I know it can be a bumpy ride sometimes but I hope that it’s all worth it! You all are my heart and soul and I do this for you!

  Dedication

  To one of the best women that I’ve ever known in my entire life, Grandma Jean Clark, you will be missed each and every day. I dedicate this book to you because you accepted me into your family with a warm smile, open arms and loving heart without question. I know that you shared a love and passion for reading and tried to pass that on to all of your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren as much as you possibly could. This one’s for you! Heaven’s a brighter place with your spirit shining bright up there! We all love and miss you.

  Books by Cheryl Davis

  Destiny Begins: The Twin Destinies Saga Prequel Novella

  Cora’s Kismet: The Twin Destinies Saga Book One

  Viola’s Risk: The Twin Destinies Saga Book Two

  Table of Contents

  Viola’s Risk

  Copyright © 2014 Cheryln Davis

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  Books by Cheryl Davis

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Destiny Begins

  Cora’s Kismet

  Chapter One

  Viola had never felt more alone than she did right now, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that had happened the night before. Cora hadn’t even taken her stuff with her when she’d suddenly been mated after their unbinding ceremony had ended, and left her to be with Liam.

  Her mind whirled with everything that had taken place in the last few days. The new power coursing through her veins was making her uneasy. It was foreign and she didn’t feel as if she could control it the way Cora had done a few times already, even though they’d had their powers bound until last night.

  Rolling over onto her side, she stared toward the window, wishing she wasn’t so alone. Her mind kept wandering back to when Anna had kidnapped her and held her hostage. The most awful part of it had been the awful recording that kept playing over and over and over again, trying to convince her that fulfilling her destiny was wrong.

  Closing her eyes, a handsome face hung behind her eyelids. With her mind, she traced his strong features, feeling like a traitor to her sister, Liam, Sage and her newfound parents. He was on Anna’s side, yet she felt pulled to him the same way Cora described feeling pulled to her mate Liam.

  “No way,” Viola exclaimed into the empty room. “There’s no way I’m meant to be with someone who’s loyal to the other side.”

  Sitting up, she tried to pull herself together and put the handsome guy out of her mind, with little success. She wiped her face wi
th her hands and left the bed, heading for the shower. One bright side to having the room to herself now was no fighting for shower time with her twin. That was Liam’s battle now.

  Viola dragged the hot shower out as long as she could, hoping it would help her feel sleepy. As the hot water started to fade, she turned it off, frustrated that her mind was not slowing down in the slightest. She still kept seeing the face of the man from Anna’s place.

  Putting on her pajamas, she crawled into bed and tried everything she could think of to block him from her mind, but it would not cooperate with her at all.

  Giving up, she let the memories of him run their course.

  She remembered how she’d felt the electricity flow between them when he’d put his hand over her mouth and taken her from the room she and Cora had been sharing in the first house their parents had taken them. He’d been so gentle with her as he carried her the back ways through the house, as if he knew the exact layout and had been there many times before.

  As much as she’d wanted to scream for help, she’d been caught up in his smoky gray eyes. The world had seemed to fade around them both. She knew he felt it too. There was a deep connection binding them together, even though they’d never seen each other before now.

  Her brain would not form the thoughts and commands for her to call out for help as he quickly navigated through the house and out through a secret entrance. He loaded her into the waiting vehicle with no resistance, because she’d been so captivated by him and their undeniable connection. She knew in the back of her mind that she should be fighting him, but couldn’t seem to make herself do so.

  She wasn’t even feeling the fear she knew should be running through her. All she could process was him, his strong muscles wrapped around her body, holding her tight and how much she’d love to taste his perfect, kissable lips.

  As he slid into the vehicle next to her, she had a brief moment of fear, which faded as soon as his eyes returned to hers. He reached across her body to pull the seat belt and latched it securely in place to keep her safe, before buckling his own belt. She heard the driver ask him a question and saw his lips respond, but didn’t comprehend anything that was being said.

  Shaking her head, she pulled herself out of the memory of him that was flooding her senses. She needed to find a way to move on from him. There was no possible way her parents would approve of her mating someone who was loyal to Anna and Patrick, and their cause. She couldn’t even believe, after everything that had gone down, she was still thinking of him.

  With a deliberate focus, she turned her thoughts away from him and tried to focus on the events of the past evening during their unbinding ceremony. Things started off well enough until that old hag showed up and crashed the party.

  She’d seen the exchange between Cora and their father, but couldn’t hear anything that had been said. Wishing she could have, she rolled over onto her side and wondered why the woman had tried so hard to steal their powers.

  The woman was old, but extremely strong-willed and determined to succeed in her mission. It took both Sage and Liam to fight her, and had killed Liam for a few minutes, before Cora had performed her little miracle. Everything was such a mess.

  Avoiding the crushing loneliness that came with thinking of Cora and Liam’s impromptu mating ceremony, she switched her thoughts back to a few days ago when her major summer plans had included getting paid to sleep. Things had changed so much from that day until now.

  There was a soft knock on the door before it cracked slowly open and her newfound mother poked her head inside.

  “How are you doing my dear?” she asked with concern filling her voice.

  “I’ll be okay,” Viola said, not wanting to confide in someone that she didn’t know all that well.

  It was more than obvious that Angelica didn’t believe her daughter because she came further into the room and closed the door with a soft click behind her. Before Viola could object, Angelica was sitting on the edge of the bed and smoothing Viola’s hair back from her face with a mother’s touch.

  All she could do in response was close her eyes as the touch she’d longed for her entire life stroked and soothed her in a way not even Cora had soothed her.

  “Baby girl, I know you are wary of us and I can’t say that I blame you. Both of you have lived hard lives no matter how much Thomas and I tried to make sure you had everything either of you could have ever wanted. Please don’t shut me out right now. I know you are lonely and pained. I would like to help in any way I can,” Angelica said in a gentle, imploring tone.

  At first, Viola said nothing. She considered her mother’s words, wishing she had Cora here to be a buffer between them. Cora was better at all of this than she was.

  “What can I do to earn your trust?” Angelica asked. Viola felt the emotion behind her mother’s words.

  “I don’t know,” Viola answered. She wished she had a definite answer for her mother but she didn’t.

  “The day Thomas and I decided it would be safer for you and Cora to grow up away from us, I held you both close to my body and cried my heart out. I couldn’t believe that after the miracle of us having you both, when we shouldn’t have even been able to conceive at all, I had to let you go before you were even able to defend yourselves. My heart did not become whole again until you both came home. I promise you, I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust,” Angelica spoke in a gentle tone and Viola could hear the pain in her voice.

  “I wish it was that easy. I can’t tell you what you want to know because I have no idea. All I know is that things are so confusing right now. I wish Cora was here with me right now,” Viola said, pain and loneliness creeping up into her voice.

  “I know you do sweetie. Everything has changed for you so fast your head must be spinning. I’m not Cora, but I’d be glad to help you try to sort through everything,” Angelica said with hope in her voice. Viola felt bad because Angelica was trying so hard to be there for her, but she just couldn’t bring herself to open up to the woman just yet. She knew she couldn’t mention the guy rolling around in her thoughts to her mother.

  “I’m used to always having Cora here. None of this feels right,” Viola whispered. It was the most she was willing to divulge at that moment.

  “I can relate to that. Before I knew what Anna was, she and I were very close. She was the barrier between our mother and I. We told each other everything. I never knew she had in her what you and Cora told us of your experience living with her. She’d always been very loving and caring with me. She was my guide and I looked up to her,” Angelica said with sorrow in her voice. “If only I had known then what I know now. It would have saved you both a lot of heartache and pain.”

  “Anna is very good at making people believe what they want to about her,” Viola said, anger lacing her words. “No one ever suspected what she was like before it was too late.”

  “We used to lie in bed for hours after dark talking,” Angelica whispered. Viola could hear the pain in her mother’s voice. Anna had meant the world to Angelica, in a way only a sister could, and now that the truth about her was out, Angelica was mourning the loss of her closest confidant and friend, her sister. It was something Viola could identify with her mother about.

  “That’s how Cora and I are…were,” Viola said with loss filling her heart.

  “The two of you will still be close in the way only sisters can be Viola, don’t ever doubt that. Cora did not leave you and never would. The two of you have just reached the next stage of your lives. Cora is not Anna and will never betray you. She was frantic when you were abducted,” Angelica told her with complete confidence.

  “I don’t want to be a third-wheel,” Viola whispered. Part of her fear being revealed, even though she’d have rather kept it locked tight inside of herself.

  “You won’t be. Cora would never allow that. She adores you. I’m sure you know that,” Angelica said, doing her best to reassure her daughter.

  “I want to believe that,�
� Viola responded.

  “You should believe it. Keeping Cora in that car while the rest of us came in to rescue you was very difficult. Sage was worried that he was going to have to physically restrain her, and risk a fight with Liam in the process, to keep her from going in there and risking her life for you,” Angelica confided.

  “Really?” Viola asked, her voice perking up with hope.

  “Yes. Without a doubt, even though it would have hurt Liam, she would have entered that building, putting her life at risk to save yours. Have no doubts about losing your sister Viola, because you have nothing to worry about,” Angelica said and smiled.

  “Thank you,” Viola replied.

  “You’re very welcome my dear. Is there anything else bothering you that I can help you work through?” Angelica asked.

  “I do have a question…” Viola started but let her voice trail off.

  “What is it?” Angelica asked with extreme patience.

  “Who was that horrible woman who showed up tonight?” Viola asked and shuddered.