Ripple (Persy & Sully) (Seaside Valleria #2) Read online

  Ripple (Persy & Sully) (Seaside Valleria #2)

  Marianne Knightly

  Contents

  Also by Marianne Knightly

  Synopsis

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  A Note from the Author

  About the Author

  Also by Marianne Knightly

  Acknowledgments

  Ripple (Persy & Sully) (Seaside Valleria #2)

  Copyright © 2018 by Marianne Knightly

  ISBN# 978-1942729143

  All Rights Reserved.

  * * *

  Cover Design: Marianne Knightly

  Editor: Jami Gold

  Copyeditor: Jessica Snyder

  * * *

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This ebook remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed for any commercial or non-commercial use without permission from the author. Quotes used in reviews are the exception. No alteration of content is allowed. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual places, events, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Also by Marianne Knightly

  Sign up for Marianne’s newsletter for exclusive news about sales and releases!

  * * *

  Seaside Valleria Series

  Book 1: Rush (Hector & Millie)

  Book 2: Ripple (Persy & Sully)

  Book 3: (coming 2018)

  Book 4: (coming 2019)

  Book 5: (coming 2019)

  * * *

  Royals of Valleria Series

  Book 1: Alexander & Rebecca

  Book 2: Marcello & Grace

  Book 3: Arianna & Finn

  Book 4: Charlotte & Nate

  Book 5: A Royal Holiday (Novella)

  Book 6: Catharine & Edward

  Book 7: Royally Ever After

  Book 8: Lorenzo & Lily

  Book 9: Sarah & Vittorio

  Book 10: Permanently Princess (Novella)

  * * *

  Box Set: Books 1-3

  Box Set: Books 4-6

  Box Set: Books 7-9

  * * *

  Royals of Valleria Short Stories (exclusively for e-newsletter subscribers)

  Story 1: Delusional (featuring Alexander & Rebecca)

  Story 2: (coming soon)

  * * *

  The Italian Shipping Millionaires Series

  Book 1: Dante

  Book 2: Adrian

  Book 3: Giovanni

  Book 4: Luc

  Box Set: Books 1-4

  * * *

  Copyright © 2018 Marianne Knightly

  To anyone who has ever been shamed. Remember that you are not alone.

  Synopsis

  Her voice was a rough whisper. “Sometimes I feel like I’ll never have peace.”

  * * *

  He reached up to cup her cheek. “Honey.”

  * * *

  She loved the way he said that. Sometimes his ‘honey’ was thick and sweet, sometimes low and gruff. Other times it was full of need and want and passion for her. She wanted to drown in his words, in him.

  * * *

  He leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “I’m right here with you. I know it won’t be easy, but we’ll get through this. We’ll find our peace.”

  Persy has been restless and running from her tragic past for years. Since leaving Ireland, she’s stayed the longest in Masillia, soaking in the quiet calm of the sea and now working at the local pub, the Seashell. Is she staying because of the peace she finds here? Or because of the passion she shares with the sexy cop who spends his nights with her?

  * * *

  Sully never planned to stay in Valleria long-term. His one-year assignment with the local police is coming to an end, and soon he’ll return to his life back in Ireland. Yet, every night, after work, he finds himself at the Seashell. When the bar closes in the early hours, he walks Persy home—then takes her to bed. Their nights are full of passion, not promises, which works for them both.

  * * *

  Or it did.

  * * *

  One night, everything changes for Sully and he realizes he wants more than an affair. He wants her, all of her.

  * * *

  Can their relationship move past the lure of the night to the bright light of day? Can they move beyond the aches of the past towards the dreams of a future together?

  * * *

  *Please note: This book contains sensitive content that may be considered triggers.

  Welcome to Valleria, a country nestled along the Mediterranean. Whether it’s the small towns or larger port cities, you’re sure to find a friendly face—or more—along Valleria’s seaside shores. Far from the politics of the palace, follow this group of friends as they find love, support each other, and perhaps even meet a royal or two in the seaside city of Masillia.

  Chapter One

  Ronan “Sully” Sullivan downed the last of his beer, then let his gaze slide down the bar of the Seashell, his favorite local pub, and rest on a very nice, heart-shaped ass. He’d watched that ass—and the woman it belonged to—all night. He was currently imagining everything he would do to that ass, and that woman, later that night.

  Hector Perez, owner of the Seashell, took Sully’s empty glass and stacked it inside a column of other dirty glasses. “How long you gonna keep this up?”

  His eyes slid back to Hector. “Keep what up?”

  Hector jerked his head towards the woman. “You and Persy. How long are you gonna pretend you’re not seeing each other?”

  He nearly scowled. Hector had become a good friend over the past year, ever since Sully had first come to Valleria, and specifically to this seaside town of Masillia, for a year-long assignment with the local police.

  Right now, however, Sully wanted to kick his ass for being so damn nosy. “We’re not seeing each other.”

  Hector quirked a brow.

  “All right. We’re seeing each other. But it’s not like that.”

  “Not like that?” Hector’s interrogating tone added a measure of disbelief. “So, you’re not sleeping with her?”

  Sully bit back a curse. “Well, yeah, but that’s it. We’re not a couple.”

  Hector shook his head. “Amelia thinks you’re both full of shit.”

  Now Hector was bringing his fiancée into the conversation? “I can’t imagine Millie saying ‘shit’, much less discussing us with you. I’m also having a hard time right now dealing with the fact you’re a guy giving me shit about a woman.”

  “If my woman worries about something, I handle it so she stops worrying. She’s worried about Persy, and you’re the reason why she’s worried about Persy, which means I’m talking to you about it.”

  He could not believe he had to deal with this shit.

  Hector put his beefy forearms on the bar and leaned slightly towards him. “Don’t hurt her.”

  Irritation bubbled under his skin like an itch. “You know me better than this. I’d never hurt a woman.�
��

  “There are a lot of ways to hurt a woman, Sully. I’m not just saying this because she’s Amelia’s friend. She’s also my employee and my friend, and I protect my own.”

  Possession rose within him in a flash. “She’s not yours,” he growled.

  “She needs someone to watch her back. That someone is me. Think of me as her badass big brother.”

  Jesus. “We’ve been ‘seeing’ each other for months now. It’s a little late to get protective.”

  Hector’s eyes narrowed. “It’s never too late to get protective. I know you’ve been ‘seeing’ each other. I knew the first time you ‘saw’ each other. Christ, who could fucking miss it? The only reason I never kicked your ass was because I know you, and I know you’re not an asshole.”

  He never thought he’d take ‘you’re not an asshole’ as a compliment, but from Hector, he would. “Thanks. So, if you’re not going to kick my ass, what’s the point of this conversation?”

  Hector leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced at Persy, who was finishing up with a customer, then shifted back to Sully. “Just because I didn’t kick your ass before, doesn’t mean I won’t do it in the future. Take care with her, yeah?”

  Something twisted in Sully’s gut. “You know something I don’t?”

  “Her story is hers to share. If she hasn’t done that with you, it’s none of my business. Just be careful with her.”

  He didn’t like Hector knowing something about Persy that he didn’t. “I’ll take care. My word on it.” He held out his hand, and Hector shook it.

  Hector called out to her. “Last call, Persy!”

  She waved back to Hector without looking. “On it!”

  Hector gave him a last look, then grabbed his towering stack of glasses and walked back towards the kitchen.

  Being a cop, and therefore not one to cause trouble—most of the time, anyway—the staff at the Seashell usually let him stay in the pub while they closed down.

  So, he watched while Persy finished up with the last table of customers. Then he narrowed his eyes when one of those customers—a man in his late twenties—slipped her a napkin with something written on it. She looked at it and smiled.

  The guy must have slipped her his number. He’d seen that happen to her before. She always gave the guy a smile, then got rid of the napkin when she turned her back.

  This time, she turned.

  She looked at the napkin again.

  Then his blood boiled as he watched her give the guy a shy smile and slip the napkin carefully into her pocket as she walked away.

  What. The. Fuck?

  Sully lifted up on his stool, ready to leap forward and tear that napkin into pieces, then sat down again, the seat rattling beneath him. That was his smile. Why was she giving it to that guy? Why did she keep his number? What the fuck had changed?

  He and Persy were casual. It didn’t matter that it was the best fucking sex he’d ever had. It didn’t matter that the sight of her under him, the sight of him moving inside her was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever seen.

  She didn’t do relationships. She’d told him her conditions when he suggested they sleep together. She was all for casual, but she’d never give him something more. Since his assignment with the Masillian Police Department was ending, which meant he’d be heading back to Ireland soon, her conditions had suited him just fine.

  They knew some basics about each other, like surnames, but that was it. He had yet to find out if Persy was a nickname or a shortened version of something else, and they’d been fine with that. They hadn’t made any promises to each other, though they had agreed to let the other person know if they were sleeping with anyone else.

  She hadn’t been. Neither had he. Why would he need anyone else when he had her in bed?

  He blinked, realizing for the first time that he didn’t want her sleeping with anyone else, seeing anyone else, or taking anyone else’s phone numbers. Now, for some reason, he wanted a little more from her.

  Clearly, however, she was done with him.

  Fuck that.

  He wasn’t going to let it happen. She wasn’t going to be fucking anyone but him.

  Later, when they were in bed, he’d make her pay for taking that phone number. And after, he’d make it clear what he wanted from her.

  He watched her ass as she walked to the register. His hand fisted on the bar, but he didn’t move. He wanted to move. He wanted to show that young bastard that she—and her ass—belonged to him.

  But he couldn’t, because it wasn’t true.

  Not yet, anyway.

  The pub’s door opened and Millie stepped through just as the man left. She looked around and, likely because there were no customers left, she shut and locked the door.

  She hopped up on a stool. “Hey, Sully.”

  “Millie. You helping close tonight?”

  She shook her head, while also peering down the hall, which led to the kitchens, office, and restrooms. “I just wanted to walk Hector back home.”

  The side of his mouth tipped up. “He’s not going to be happy you came down at three in the morning just to walk him back two feet.”

  She smiled as though she knew that already but didn’t care. “He’ll get over it.”

  “His legs bothering him?” Hector was a double amputee. He’d lost both his legs below the knee while serving in the Vallerian Army.

  “Just a little. He’s getting new prosthetics in a few weeks, though, which should help.”

  “What the fuck, babe?”

  She turned and smiled wide at Hector’s growling voice.

  He walked up to her, crowding her space. She didn’t seem to mind. “What are you doing here?”

  “Waiting for you.”

  “Why?”

  “I wanted to walk you home.”

  “We live above the pub, babe. Not far to go.”

  “Then it’s not far for me to come visit, either, is it?”

  He growled. “Amelia.”

  “I missed you. I miss closing with you.”

  His gaze softened. “Baby.”

  She gave Sully a furtive glance, then gave Hector a quick peck on the lips. Millie’d never been one for public displays of affection.

  Hector, however, was.

  Clearly giving no thought to anything else, Hector kept her lips against his and deepened the kiss. Sully averted his gaze until Millie let out a soft sigh.

  “I miss closing with you, too, baby.”

  “So, schedule me for it. It’s not fair I don’t close anymore when everyone else has to.”

  He gave her a short kiss and stepped back. “No.”

  “Hector.”

  Sully could sense an argument brewing. The pair sparred once in a while, but he’d never seen anything worse than that.

  Hector moved behind the bar. He closed out Sully’s tab, handed Sully his credit card back, then started to close out the till. “You’re building a business, babe. You need to focus on that.”

  “I miss working here.”

  He snorted. “I love my pub, but I’m under no illusions. No one misses closing, babe.”

  Sully’s eyes flitted to Persy again, just as she disappeared with a tray of dishes into the kitchen. He was used to working long nights as a cop, and didn’t mind waiting until her shifts ended. He wondered if she minded working late and if she minded that he waited for her.

  Millie continued to make her case. “But I’m only working a few hours a week now.”

  Cash and receipts in hand, Hector turned back to the bar and leaned over it towards her. “You’re only working a few hours a week at the pub. But you’re working at least forty hours, if not more, making jewelry and going to shows to sell that jewelry.”

  “I figured Millie’d come by tonight.”

  Sully turned his head to find Persy behind him, watching Millie and Hector ‘arguing’. “Did you?”

  She nodded. “The two of them have been dancing around this issue for a whi
le.”

  “So, who’s right?”

  She turned to him, her bright blue eyes still alert, even after a late-night shift. “They both are.” She walked away, greeted Millie, checked the door was locked, then began swinging the chairs off the floor and putting them upside down on tables.

  Sully watched her confident movements, which led to him remembering her confident movements in bed, and he barely heard Hector and Millie talking.

  “Hector,” Millie whined.

  Hector sighed. “Baby, I’m not going to let you work yourself to death. That was your life. It’s not anymore. Get used to it.”

  “It feels…”

  “What?”

  “…wrong.”

  “Why is it wrong?”

  Millie sighed. “I just feel like I’m not doing enough. Or that I’m abusing my position as your…your…”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “My…?”

  “Fiancée.”

  He grinned. “Anytime you want to abuse that position, babe, feel free.”

  She ineffectively threw a bar napkin at him. “Hector!”

  Hector threw his head back and laughed.

  A rumble from Sully’s phone tore his thoughts from Persy and the conversation around him. His eyes widened at the message from one of his sisters. May had a teething baby, which meant she’d be up, so this wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, but he did get worried. He went to her message as Hector and Millie continued their discussion.