Bane Read Free Page A

Bane Westmoreland she had fallen in love with had promised to honor their wedding vows. Before marrying someone else he would seek her out to ask for a divorce.
    She thought about the other promise he’d made and wondered if she was the biggest fool on earth. He’d vowed he would come back for her. That had been five years ago and she was still waiting. Was she wasting her life on a man who had forgotten about her? A lot could have happened since he’d made that promise. Feelings and emotions could change. People could change. Why was she refusing to let go of teenage memories with a guy who might have moved on with his life?
    Legally she was a married woman, but all she had to show for it was a last name she never used and a husband who’d left her with unfulfilled promises. Her last contact with him after her father had sent her away was when he’d called to let her know he was joining the navy. Did he expect her to wait until he got tired of being a sailor, moving from one port to the next? What if an emergency had come up and she’d needed him?
    She knew the answer to that without much thought. Had an emergency arisen, she could have reached him through his family. Although the Westmorelands had no idea where she lived now, she’d always known where they were. She could have picked up the phone and called Dillon, Bane’s eldest brother, if she’d ever truly wanted or needed to contact Bane. Several times she’d come close to doing that, but something had always held her back. First of all, she knew the Westmorelands blamed her for a lot of the trouble Bane had gotten into.
    As teens, her and Bane’s relationship had been obsessive and she didn’t want to think about the number of times they’d broken the law to be together. She’d had resorted to cutting school, and regardless of what her parents had assumed, the majority of the time it had been her idea and not his. Nothing her parents or his family said or did had torn them apart. Instead, their bond had gotten stronger.
    Because of the difference in their ages, her parents had accused Bane of taking advantage of her, and her father had even put a restraining order in place and threatened Bane with jail time to keep him away from her. But that hadn’t stopped her or Bane from being together. When they’d gotten tired of their families’ interference, they had eloped.
    She reached inside her shirt and pulled out the sterling-silver heart-shaped locket Bane had given her instead of a wedding ring he couldn’t afford. When he’d placed the locket around her neck he’d said it had belonged to his deceased mother. He’d wanted her to have it, to always wear it as a reminder of their love. His love. She swallowed a thick lump in her throat. If he loved her so much, then why hadn’t he kept his promise and come back for her?
    Her mother had mentioned that Bane’s eldest brother, Dillon, had called a year ago when he’d heard about her father’s death. According to her mother, the conversation had been brief, but Dillon had taken the time to inquire about how she was doing. According to her mother the only thing he’d said about Bane was that he was in the navy. Of course her mother thought her daughter was doing just fine now that Bane was out of her life, and the Westmorelands probably felt the same way since she was out of Bane’s. What if her mother was right and Bane
was
doing just fine without her?
    Drawing in a deep breath, Crystal forced her thoughts back to the car following her. Should she call the police for help? She quickly dismissed the idea. Hadn’t the note warned her not to trust anyone? Suddenly an idea popped into her head. It was the start of the holiday shopping season and shoppers were already out in large numbers. She would drive to the busiest mall in Dallas and get lost in traffic. If that didn’t work she would come up with plan B.
    The one thing she knew for certain was that she would not let the person tail her home. When