Broken: Frost Series Part 1

By D.L. LeBlanc

After a man had left her broken, she successfully shut herself off from all men. She loved her organised, boring life; until she meets him. Could he break through her barriers and make her want to live & love again?

He wasn't looking for anything serious. He was there on business, and his motto was get in, get out, and move on; until he meets her. Could she break through and become more valuable to him than his business empire?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365383496

Book preview

Broken: Frost Series Part 1

Broken: Frost Series Part 1

Copyright © 2016 by D.L. LeBlanc

All rights reserved.  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing 2016

ISBN 978-1-365-38349-6

Lulu Publishing

Prologue

It hurts. The pain is unbearable.

Is this what sex is supposed to feel like?

It didn’t hurt this much when she had lost her virginity.

She looks up at the face looming over her. He is so handsome; he appears to be an angel, with blonde hair and blue eyes, but he’s not acting like an angel.

Please, she cries. No more.

He smiles a sadistic smile before he wraps his hands around her throat. He had tied her wrists to the bed frame, so she can’t make any movement to stop him. She kicks her legs trying to disengage him, but he’s too strong, too large.

He laughs and squeezes harder. She struggles for breath but can’t get any. She feels a sharp twinge of pain at the side of her neck and something liquid.

He had asked her about erotic asphyxiation countless times, but she had always said no. It did not turn her on. Most of what they were trying did not turn her on, but she would always give in to him.

He had been so patient and loving the first time they had sex. After a few months, he wanted to experiment, so she went along with it. Lately, he was asking for things that were more dangerous. Things she wasn’t comfortable doing.

Her vision blurs. She can no longer see him, but she can feel him. He is squeezing the life from her, but he was still hard and pounding into her. She was going to be torn.

It won’t matter if she was damaged. She is going to die like this. She only had sex with this one man and her body was going to be found tied to a bed in some erotic fantasy gone wrong. That’s what people would think. He would tell the police it was an accident and she would be labelled a slut in her death.

Her parents will be shamed by her memory.

Her eyes roll back in her head as she loses conciousness.

Chapter 1

What is that sound?

It is a low volume song, but it’s getting louder.

I open one eye and groan. I was having such a good sleep, before my alarm rudely interrupted me. I reach for my cell phone on the nightstand and tap the screen to dismiss the alarm.

Why couldn’t I have been born rich? Or have won the lottery? Hell, I’d even take a job that paid a half decent wage. It’s 6:30am so I have to get out of bed and get ready for work.

I’ll be honest. I love sleeping. Some people like going to bed for more exciting reasons, but not me. Eight to ten hours a night and I was set.

I work as an intake worker at the local Job Bank office. It is just a fancy name for receptionist, which is a fancy word for secretary. The hours are good, I work Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The pay, however, is not. I earn enough money to pay rent for a one bedroom apartment, a car payment, and groceries. Of course, I still have a student loan to pay, so that’s one more bill.

My parents are both retired so they pay my cell phone and cable because they want to help. I go to their house every Sunday for dinner. It’s a nice visit, but also a free meal. They would help me more financially, but I like my independence.

Once a month, I’ll go to a bar or a restaurant with some friends.

I would love to have a pet, but it’s not in my modest budget.

I finally drag myself out of bed and my first stop is always the bathroom for my morning ritual. It starts with peeing before showering.  I love long, hot baths, but I love my sleep more.

Most days I’m grateful for what I have. I have a full-time job, a car, an apartment, and my health. Other days I wonder what went wrong. I had always been a good student. I graduated high school the top of my class and went on to college. I had wanted to be a journalist or writer, but I took the practical route and took business.

I was getting tired of living by the ‘it could be worse’ motto.

After my shower, I make a smoothie. I drink it while I dress, do my hair, and makeup. I wear a black pencil skirt and a lilac blouse. I comb my long, light brown hair, and add some anti-frizz cream. It is naturally straight, but can get frizzy in the summer.

Makeup is minimal. My acne cleared up in high school, so I apply a light layer of cover up, and eyeshadow made specifically for brown eyes. I then apply pink lip gloss instead of lipstick, because I hate reapplying lipstick all day.

I grab my purse, put on black pumps, and lock the door behind me. It’s a beautiful sunny morning, so I roll the windows down in my grey hatchback for the drive to work. It only takes me five minutes to drive there, but I enjoy the scenery.

I live in a nice neighbourhood and you would think my apartment was a house. It is two level, brick building with an upstairs and downstairs apartment. Right now the downstairs apartment is empty because the last tenant had not been a good one. When he moved out the landlord had to replace the carpet, repaint it, and have a cleaning company come in. The apartment is still empty, but probably not for much longer.

I turn off my street and follow the harbour. Houses line the streets until I get closer to downtown, then it turns into hotels, stores, and a gas station. A cruise ship is docked further down. We have a cruise ship most days in the summer.

I turn into The Harbour Hotel so I can park my car. I rent a parking space at the hotel because I can’t afford to pay $8 a day to park at a meter. Plus, I can’t afford a parking ticket if I get too busy at work and can’t run out to pay the meter. I pay $35 a month at the hotel, which saves me a bit of money. It isn’t that great during the winter when I have to trek up the street through snow and ice.

I walk up a block to get to the building I work in. It’s a two story concrete building that holds the Job Bank, a gym, a daycare, and small café. I enter through the main door and get in the elevator to the second floor.

I unlock the door to the office and am immediately greeted by Sally. She’s approximately fifty and has let her short hair turn grey. She’s wearing a black pantsuit and looks very professional. She’s worked here since graduating college.

Katie! I’m so glad you’re here.

Why wouldn’t I be? I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Of course you’re here. You’re always early. Sally claps her hands together as she continues.  Mr.Frost is arriving this morning and we need to make a good first impression. Not that we wouldn’t, but we need to be overly professional when it comes to him.

I place my purse in my desk drawer while Sally rushes around turning on various computers. My desk is at the entrance, but we have a bank of desks with computers in the centre of the office. Clients can use them to update résumés or search for jobs.

Three offices were off the main office. Sally’s, Blayr’s, and Miranda’s. Sally oversees the whole operation, while Blayr helps clients search for jobs and prepares them for interviews. Miranda helps clients with government  funding for education.

I, on the other hand, schedule appointments, answer enquiries, make photocopies, and fax documents. It really is a dream job. I couldn’t ask for a better job with my business degree. I shake myself out of my pity party. I should be more grateful since I’ve seen the hard times that have hit the people here first hand.

Educated people having to turn to employment insurance or social assistance because of our lousy economy. Families torn apart because one or both parents has to work out West in the oil fields, travelling back home for short visits. Parents missing their children’s milestones because they have to put a roof over their head and food on the table. Others who aren’t so lucky and have turned to drugs, which leads to stealing to support their drug habit.  I should be grateful that I even found a job in my hometown.

How could I forget that Jaxon Frost was arriving today. I turn my computer on and load the appointments for the day. Sally’s whole day was set aside for Frost.

He is a wealthy businessman from Vancouver, visiting to possibly purchase and reopen our local mine.

My city once had a thriving economy due to the mining community. The last mine had closed when I was a child. We still had a museum that was dedicated to mining. I had gone on a school field trip and learned how different my community had been. Families didn’t have to leave the province to work. We had more restaurants and stores back then. Few people had to rely on social assistance. Then the mines closed and the community slowly fell apart.

Proud, hardworking  people had to ask for handouts. People that only ever worked in the mine had to go back to school and were made to feel stupid, because so much had changed since they had gone to school. Some families packed up and moved and I think they were the lucky ones.  It wasn’t a good time to live here.

Things had improved slightly, but not enough. Our local mall  and restaurants thrived because the money from out West was being spent here. The gym in our building was doing well and of course the Job Bank was doing well. So many people needed a job.

It would be great if Frost purchased and opened the mine. He could definitely fill his workforce with people from our area and maybe people from outside the province. Our workers had been welcomed out West, so it would be nice if we could provide employment for people outside of our province.

Plus families would no longer be seperated. It was not just difficult on the family members that were left behind, but the parent or spouse that left work and went directly to the airport to fly across the country, sometimes only for a few days.

I was getting ahead of myself. First, he had to assess the situation.

Miranda was on vacation and Blayr was off site for the day so the office wouldn’t be too busy. Sally and I could devote all of our time to him. After Sally finished getting the main office prepared, she went in her office. I wasn’t alone for long.

Adam enters and approaches my desk. He is a regular at the Job Bank. He leans against the desk and I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s leaning forward to get a better look at my cleavage. Luckily, I wore my button up blouse.

Any new job prospects?

"I’m