Better When He's Brave by Jay Crownover
DEDICATION
Dedicated to everyone’s inner bad girl. That bitch gets to have all the fun! And you better watch out if you dare to cross her.
INTRODUCTION
SOME OF THE THINGS that happen in the Point are outlandish and larger than life, and I love it that way! It’s one of the reasons this series is so much fun to write. So as you read, keep in mind that this is fiction. Any liberties I take with police procedure are for the sake of the story, and not because I haven’t done the research. So play along with me and allow yourself to get lost in the mayhem, romance, life, and chaos that run rampant in these stories.
When I’m talking about Titus’s police station and his office, you might notice it seems outdated. It definitely doesn’t have the bells and whistles that most modern cop shops come equipped with. The reason for this is that I am obsessed with Homicide Hunter on Investigation Discovery . . . OMG, it is the greatest thing in the world. The show takes place in the seventies and eighties here in Colorado Springs, and all I could see when I was writing was that police station and Joe Kenda’s office. So the vision is old and battered, which fits with the overall dreary and ugly feel to the Point. And if you watch the show, you will so be able to recognize the inspiration!
Again thanks to everyone who is giving this series a shot. We all need new blood, a creative outlet, an escape . . . and the Point is mine. I love that I get to write these men and woman with no rules and stretch the bounds of what we see in New Adult and even what we see from me. It’s incredibly fulfilling, so I appreciate everyone coming along for the ride . . . and what a ride it’s turning out to be! Every single time I think I’ve gone too far or reached the edge, I always find another corner to turn or another twist to tangle with. Half the time I’m as surprised as you guys are to see where it all ends up. There is nothing more exciting and thrilling for a writer than that. These books are full of dirty fun and I really am kind of like a kid in a candy store when I write them.
We all know a man is so much Better When He’s Brave, so I can’t wait for you to meet Titus!
EPIGRAPH
Bravery is being the only one who knows that you are afraid.
—Franklin P. Jones
Prologue
AT THE BEGINNING OF the end.
Drip, drip . . .
Splat, splat . . .
Rattle, rattle . . .
Clank, clank . . .
Whoosh, whoosh . . .
Thud, thud . . .
“FUCK . . .”
Groan . . .
I tried to lift my head up after the second time the metal pipe smashed into the back of it, but it was too much. My ears were ringing, and blood dripped down over every inch of my face and splattered on the cold cement floor across my booted feet. I didn’t want to think about how deep that puddle was or how wide it was spreading. That was a lot of blood. Too much blood. All of it mine. I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, so I couldn’t see the scattering of men around me as they took turns with fists and whatever else they could find to work me over where I was chained up to the exposed pipe above my head. I rattled the handcuffs—handcuffs that I used every day to try and keep this city in line—against the pipe, but knew I wasn’t getting free anytime soon.