No Going Back: St. Fleur, #4

NO GOING BACK

A St. Fleur Novella, Book #4

By AJ Renee

No Going Back

A St. Fleur Novella, Book #4

By: AJ Renee

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Copyright © 2017 AJ Renee

Edited by Cassie Robertson

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

e-ISBN: 9781386311980

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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 recipient. 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 ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and/or are used fictitiously and are solely the product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to persons living or dead, places, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

ALSO BY AJ RENEE

ST. FLEUR SERIES:

Widower’s Aura

Always Mine

Duplicity

No Going Back

Taxed by Love

Complications

LOVE IN SCRUBS SERIES:

Joshua

Jason

Wes

BRODERICK COVEN SERIES:

Cursed Love

Cursed Sight

Cursed Whispers

Cursed Touch

Cursed Luck

ALUMBRA PACK SERIES:

Rebel

Bold ~ Coming 2022

Fierce ~ Coming 2022

OTHER TITLES:

Finding Love at the Falls... (Short Story)

Beauty Unmasked

Winter’s Surprise

Unlucky in Love

Not Playing Fair

Seduced by Magic: A Steamy PNR Anthology

A Deadly World: Vampires in Paris

Billionaires Club

Fractured Fairytales Book One

Take Two: A Collection of Second Chance Stories

Table of Contents

ALSO BY AJ RENEE

DEDICATION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY AJ RENEE

Dedication

To my wonderful readers... thank you for all your support.

Chapter 1

Nothing was going right.

His face was hurting like a motherfucker. This wasn’t how Rocco had thought his life would go.

Rocco touched the tender skin around his eye. He didn’t need to look in the rearview mirror to see the angry, swollen bruise. Curling his fingers around the steering wheel of his 1965 Ford Mustang, he pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal. The needle climbed the speedometer as he sped out of town.

Rocco was almost thirty-five years old. He wasn’t married. He had no kids. Hell, he hadn’t been laid in almost a year. And here he was driving—no, speeding—out of town after drinking a shot of Jack.

He wasn’t one to get into fights, but there was no way he could have avoided the clusterfuck that morning. He most definitely wasn’t one to have a drink and get behind the wheel of a car. He had towed his share of vehicles that had crashed thanks to alcohol. And yet there he was. Something he’d vowed to never—

Shit! Rocco noted his speed as flashing red and blue lights neared his bumper. Seriously, not one damn thing is going right today.

He slowed the classic and pulled onto the soft shoulder, hoping he wasn’t driving over anything sharp. Rocco put the car in park and grabbed his paperwork.

Please be Noah, he mumbled then groaned when he spotted the smaller figure.

His right eye throbbed, and the swelling had worsened in the last ten minutes. In twenty minutes, he wouldn’t be able to see out of it. He should have taken the ice Jaime Lynn had offered him back at Whiskey’s, the town pub.

Where’s the fire, Rocco? Is everything okay? Deputy Julie Jolie, or Deputy JJ as everyone called her, asked.

Rocco turned his head a little to the right, hoping to hide the disaster on his face. Yeah, sorry about that. I forget how easily Stella responds. He was dying for a glimpse of JJ, but he couldn’t let her see him like this. Too many questions. I promise I’ll slow down.

Deputy JJ only stared at his profile. He could feel her taking in every detail, and on a normal day, that would make him want to puff out his chest. Today? Today he didn’t need her seeing right through him, as he was sure she was doing at that moment.

Rocco’s muscles flexed as the tension around him increased. He readjusted his fingers on the steering wheel. He realized his mistake when the action brought attention to his battered hand.

Rocco? Her voice came out raspy as her fingers brushed the red marks on his left knuckles.

The touch was feather soft, and a shock of something he couldn’t describe ran along his skin. Rocco looked up at her and saw the moment her eyes landed on his right eye.

Oh my God! Her hand moved to the inflamed skin, and he flinched. What the hell happened to your eye? What’s going on?

Nothing, he muttered and looked out the windshield, avoiding the pity on her face. Look, I’m sorry for speeding. I’ll be more careful.

Rocco—

Seriously, JJ, either give me a ticket or let me go, he snapped, all his frustration bursting at the seams.

JJ gasped. Get out of the car.

JJ, I’m—

It’s Deputy Jolie. Now get out of the car, she said in a hard voice.

Dammit, the day was just getting better and better, he thought as he released the seat belt and set his papers on the seat next to him. JJ opened his door, and Rocco unfolded his body. When she leaned past him into his car, he was forced to move aside as she shut off the engine.

What are you doing? he asked.

Turn around, Mr. St. Martin. I've got no reason to interrogate you, so I’ll skip over reminding you of your rights.

He froze at her tone and watched with surprise as she pulled out her handcuffs. You’re arresting me? This could not be happening. What the hell did I do?

Besides the fact that I smell alcohol on your breath, I can take you in just for driving this recklessly. Her blue eyes, which normally reminded him of clear skies, were cold. Turn around.

Rocco did as she asked and found himself escorted into the backseat of her police car. He was officially in the Twilight Zone. He should have hit the snooze button this morning. Anger filled every cell of his being. He would love to blame his baby sister for this, but it was his own fault.

Now he was in the back of a police car. Stella was on the side of the road, halfway out of town. His right eye could only open a sliver, and his head was pounding.

The ride to the small building that housed the sheriff’s and deputy’s offices went by faster than he’d expected. JJ didn’t speak a word to him, and he felt like dirt for snapping at her. None of this was her fault, and his momma had raised him to respect women and the law. Shame washed over him as he realized he had failed her in not only one of those teachings, but both.

JJ parked in front of the sheriff’s office and stepped out. When she opened the door for him, he couldn’t help but notice how that uniform didn’t do her body justice. He’d been lucky enough a couple months back to see her wearing form-fitting workout clothes. His body warmed at the memory of her sexy curves.

Do you need help getting out? JJ asked, shattering the mental images.

How the hell was he lusting after the woman who had thrown him in the back of a police car after handcuffing him?

No. He fumbled out, realizing how much he used his arms when exiting a vehicle. Her small hand wrapped around his bicep, and he couldn’t help but flex it.

Don’t be such a man, she said and helped him out.

Rocco looked at the woman who was at least a head shorter than him. I— He stopped when he noticed a crowd gather across the street.

Residents of St. Fleur pointed in his direction, and clips of muffled words reached him.

Arrested?

Black eye!

Can’t see...

Rocco turned his back and forced it ramrod straight. He hadn’t done anything wrong—okay, that wasn’t entirely true.

I’m sorry, JJ mumbled as she escorted him toward the building.

Inside, Sheriff Noah Tyler did a double-take before shooting JJ a questioning glance. Instead of stopping Rocco in front of the sheriff, JJ walked him down the hall to one of the two jail cells. With a practiced move, she removed the handcuffs and stepped away.

Rocco rubbed his sore joints. "Seriously, Deputy JJ?"

Only she didn’t say a word. Rocco listened as the jail door shut behind him before she disappeared down the hall. Rocco looked around the decently sized cell.

Fucking hell. He sat on the cot, and with his elbows on his knees, he scrubbed his face. "Ow! Dammit!"

Somehow, he’d forgotten that half his face was on fire. Hanging his head, he hoped Patrick was feeling a helluva lot worse than he did at that moment.

Thirty minutes passed, and Rocco was beginning to crawl out of his skin. He never should have gotten into