Don't Run From Me Read online

  Don’t Run From Me

  Lorhainne Eckhart

  Contents

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  The McCabe Brothers

  Don’t Run From Me

  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

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Family Matters

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  What’s coming next

  Please Leave a Review

  Other works available

  Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist

  About the Author

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  The McCabe Brothers

  The McCabe Brothers, a spinoff of the big family romance series The Friessens from a Readers’ Favorite award—winning author and “queen of the family saga” (Aherman)

  — “Eckhart has a new series that is definitely worth the read. The queen of the family saga started this series with a spin off of her wildly successful Friessen series.”From a Readers’ Favorite award—winning author and “queen of the family saga” (Aherman)

  The McCabe Brothers

  Don’t Stop Me (Vic)

  Don’t Catch Me (Chase)

  Don’t Run From Me (Aaron)

  Don’t Hide From Me (Luc)

  Don’t Leave Me (Claudia)

  Don’t Stop Me

  Fifteen years ago, Vic McCabe was headed down a one-way road to destruction with the love of his life. But then the unthinkable happened, a mistake that changed their lives forever.

  Successful billionaire contractor Vic McCabe is a man every woman wants, but he gives his heart to no one. However, one day a reporter shows up, asking questions about a past he’s buried, a mistake he made fifteen years ago that could destroy his future and that of the woman he’s tried to forget.

  After evidence surfaces, dredging up details of the night that changed his life forever, Vic is forced to seek out the only woman he’s ever loved—the woman who has sworn to hate him forever.

  Don’t Catch Me (Chase)

  He stopped a robbery. Now he has to do the right thing.

  * * *

  Having left his life in politics, lawyer Chase McCabe is on his way to meet his brothers and sort out family matters when he stops for gas and walks in on a robbery in progress. However, he discovers the culprit is just a kid, and her situation may not be as clear as he thought. Authorities have written the girl off, and his need to fix everyone’s problems sets in, putting him on a collision course with a mysterious woman with secrets of her own and entangling him in a precarious relationship that ties him to a place he was just passing through.

  Don’t Run From Me (Aaron)

  A compelling emotional tale about the undeniable power of second chances.

  * * *

  Fresh out of the fighting circuit and to those that didn't know him, Bad Boy Aaron McCabe seemed as if he had it all. Except what everyone doesn't know is the nightmares that haunt him about a tragedy he's never recovered from losing the only woman he ever loved.

  * * *

  But soon Aaron is caught up in a complex web of secrets, second chances and a gripping twist with two mysterious women that entangles him in a relationship he never believed he was ready for.

  Don’t Hide From Me (Luc)

  Sometimes what we can’t see is standing right in front of us all along.

  * * *

  Luc McCabe is a man on the edge. Not only has he given up on his ideal happily ever after, which includes a man who’ll love him and children of his own. He’s leaving behind his old life that has been only about endings.

  * * *

  What Luc doesn’t realize is sometimes love happens unexpectedly.

  One moment in time could change her future forever.

  From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lorhainne Eckhart comes a riveting and edgy romance about a young love driven to the breaking point.

  * * *

  Even though Claudia is part of the McCabe family, with four older brothers she barely knows, she has a dark side no one in their right mind would mess with, and she still sees herself as alone. That is until one night, when she witnesses an unspeakable crime that blurs the lines of morality. Her first instinct is to run, but when a mysterious handsome man enters her life, promising to keep her safe, she’s caught up in a web of secrets, not knowing who to trust. When her brothers unite, will they expose the truth or destroy any hope Claudia has of finding love?

  Didn’t get a chance to read the other books in the McCabe Brothers?

  * * *

  The McCabe Brothers

  Don’t Stop Me (Vic): Fifteen years ago, Vic McCabe was headed down a one-way road to destruction with the love of his life. But then the unthinkable happened, a mistake that changed their lives forever.

  * * *

  Don’t Catch Me (Chase): He stopped a robbery. Now he has to do the right thing.

  * * *

  Don’t Run From Me (Aaron): A compelling emotional tale about the undeniable power of second chances.

  * * *

  Don’t Hide From Me (Luc): Sometimes what we can’t see is standing right in front of us all along.

  * * *

  Don’t Leave Me - Claudia: One moment in time could change her future forever.

  Don’t Run From Me

  A compelling emotional tale about the undeniable power of second chances.

  * * *

  From a Readers' Favorite award—winning author and "queen of the family saga" (Aherman): Fresh out of the fighting circuit and to those that didn't know him, Bad Boy Aaron McCabe seemed as if he had it all. Except what everyone doesn't know is the nightmares that haunt him about a tragedy he's never recovered from losing the only woman he ever loved.

  * * *

  But soon Aaron is caught up in a complex web of secrets, second chances and a gripping twist with two mysterious women that entangles him in a relationship he never believed he was ready for.

  1

  Aaron flexed his fingers and then squeezed his hands, the red and black wraps tight. He was ready, hearing the crowd, the noise, the cheers as the match before him went on: Dregar, unbeaten, versus Trooper, a new guy from Oregon. The crowd was electric, and the announcer on the overhead was loud, raising the crazed energy in the coliseum.

  He was waiting for the call, for the locker room door to open. He could hear the frenzy. The energy was through the roof tonight, and he needed a minute to get in the zone, to focus on what he had to do and keep his thoughts from all the dark places they continued to slip to. He would focus on the fight and every punch he landed. He had trained for this, his body was ready for this, his mind was ready for this… He just needed to keep his thoughts centered and in the present.

  The door squeaked.

  “They’
re ready for you,” said Jim, his trainer and manager. Jim knew Aaron well, knew his moods and his routine before every fight. He knew not to go on and on, because Aaron wouldn’t hear him. Aaron wanted quiet, with no one in his face.

  He fisted his hands again, feeling the wraps snug, protecting his callused skin. His bare chest and abs were smooth, and he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror by the door. He was toned, hard. His bare feet were shoved into sandals, his red shorts low on his hips, a black robe resting over his shoulders. He slung his arms into it, knowing the routine.

  Jim just walked with him without saying a word. Aaron was in his head, not hearing him or anyone else right now. He needed to settle his thoughts. He needed to contain the ache that always started in his chest, in his heart, eating away at his guts and moving up until it stuck in his throat and he would do anything to get it out. It was the same before every fight—the same pain and crushing loss. Her face would come to him slowly, then her scent.

  Jim was in front of him as he left the locker room. The stench of sweat and cologne hung heavy in the air. The beefy security guys dressed in black sports shirts and blue jeans, all muscle, were controlling the crowds and lined the rows and the entrance. Then there were the fans in the arena, which was always jam packed. It was loud chaos, and he walked with his head down, focused, seeing only hands reaching out into the aisle as he passed.

  He didn’t hear his name, but he heard the fans chanting, and that was when he felt the loss of her. The tightness filling his chest turned to fire and rage, and everything disappeared from his peripheral, the sounds drowning into a hum that built as he approached the cage. He was warm even though he knew the air conditioners were cranked. Jim pulled his robe off, and he stepped out of his sandals. A hand touched his shoulder. Jim said something, but Aaron was too focused on his pain, his hurt, and the fight he was facing. He nodded out of habit and to get him to stop talking. There was a zone he needed to get into to fight, but Aaron was past that now.

  He was never scared.

  He was ready to fight. He wanted to fight.

  He stepped into the ring and heard the announcer, his name echoing in the arena. His opponent was on the other side: Matterson, from Georgia. He wore black shorts, the same tight second skin, five foot ten and one hundred eighty-five pounds. Aaron had three inches and fifteen pounds on him, but that wasn’t his only advantage.

  As soon as the bell rang, he saw her. That was when it all hit him, not her face but the screams, the noise, the fear and the panic and the fact that he hadn’t been able to do a damn thing to help her, to get to her. He had been caught up in his own hell. He hadn’t been strong enough.

  When he went at his opponent, even though he could hear his fists, feel the punches, the pounding of flesh, the connecting of bone, the blood, he didn’t stop. He kept going. His adrenaline surged and roared in his ears, and his two realities merged in that moment just like they did every time he stepped into the ring, stepped into a fight.

  He would win, but he had already lost.

  This fight, like every one, was a do over. What he’d once struggled against had been too much, and he was reliving it again and again in a different time, a different place. He could win his fights now, but the one that counted couldn’t have been won. He hadn’t been able to save her—Brittany. He relived the horror of that day twelve years ago. He’d been young, eighteen, believing he knew everything and could do anything. The fact was that he’d known nothing at all.

  He fought for her now, but he still couldn’t save her.

  His arm was raised as he was declared the victor. He was out of breath, seeing Matterson on the ground, his team around him, helping him to his feet. Aaron had won again, as he did every time he stepped into the ring, but it was a win that filled him with nothing as he took in the crowds. He could hear the noise, the cheers, the chanting for him. McCabe, McCabe, over and over. The energy should have lifted him, but it left him a spectator, seeing it all from the outside looking in.

  He saw the groupies, the screaming women and cheering men. The vibration of adrenaline was still crashing through him. He blinked, suddenly back in the arena, seeing the lights, the rumbling crowds, and the flashing cameras. He took in the banner strung between two women, one in a tight stretched white tank, with no bra, leaving little to the imagination as she jumped in the air: McCabe, I love you! But she was just a face in the crowd, because the woman he loved, the one who haunted his dreams, the one he fought for every time he stepped into the ring, this was all for her.

  He was doing now what he hadn’t been able to do then, but none of it made him feel anything except the crushing weight of loss, because she was gone now, and it hit him harder than it had after any other fight. Brittany was the only woman he’d ever loved.

  He climbed out of the ring and slipped into his robe. Hands dabbed at something on his face—a cut, most likely. There were smiles, cheers, slaps on his back and his shoulders from his team. He’d made his fans happy, his coach happy, the screaming women happy, except Aaron didn’t care about any of them.

  The only person he wanted to make happy was the one person who wasn’t here: Brittany, with her sweet face, her hazel eyes, her auburn hair, and the dimples he loved.

  He hung his head, his hood pulled up. Again it hit low in his gut, the thud of emptiness as he saw it clearly, the plea in her eyes as she’d reached out across a courtyard to him. That second had changed his entire life, because Aaron hadn’t been able to do then what he could have done now. He hadn’t been able to save Brittany.

  2

  The changing room was crowded. A reporter was talking to one of the other fighters, and Jim was standing with Aaron’s assistant, Trey, whose light hair was so long in front that he had to keep flicking it to the side. It was the only aspect of his efficient assistant that irritated him.

  Aaron pulled on his sweats and slid his feet into sneakers, leaning down to tie them. An ice pack brushed against his shoulder, and he stood up, hearing the clatter of locker doors and the buzz of voices in the background. He tasted something metallic in his mouth—blood.

  “Ice for your jaw, for the swelling,” Jim said. Aaron wanted to brush it away, but he knew the man wouldn’t let him. His mustache was in need of a trim, and his blue eyes meant business. “You need those cuts on your face tended to. See the sports doctor to get that one over your eye closed up.”

  Aaron lifted his hand and brushed the wetness from his forehead, and it was then he realized he was bleeding. How had he not known? He closed his locker door and walked over to the sink, taking in his swollen face in the mirror: blood on his forehead, his nose and eye swollen, but nothing broken, just messed up.

  “Nice,” he said, knowing his opponent looked far worse. “I can clean myself up back at the hotel.” He snatched his hoodie from the locker, pulled it on, and dumped everything else into his gym bag, the ice pack forgotten.

  “Hey, hold up a second,” Trey called out as he jogged over from where he’d been speaking with the other fighters’ team members.

  Aaron had his hand on the door and pulled it open. He was done and ready to go. He stepped into the hallway, which was packed with security, the other teams, and groupies who’d managed to make their way back, dressed like truck-stop hookers. He heard whistling, calling out, propositions, the same as every fight. He could take his pick, anyone or all of them. It was all the same, all about the sex. He simply pulled his hoodie up to cover his head and walked on.

  “Aaron, you heading back to the hotel?” Trey said. “I’ll catch a ride with you. I wanted to talk with you about your next fight, some of the details…”

  “Later,” Aaron said, cutting him off. Trey sported the beach bum look, but Aaron knew underneath he was all nerd, and his attention to detail never had Aaron wondering what the hell was going on. Trey handled everything for each fight, for training, for hotels, traveling, and PR. But now Trey was changing the rules. He kept walking, and Trey was still there. “Just the sa
me, Trey,” Aaron said. “Catch a ride with Jim.”

  Just like he did every fight, Aaron left alone. They got him there, and he got himself home, which he’d insisted right from the start. It was what he needed at his low point, which was where he was after each and every fight. He was raw, vulnerable, and he needed to slip out and patch himself up alone from the inside out. Then he’d be able to start another day.

  “Aaron!”

  He heard the yell, the familiar voice, and took in his brother Chase standing off to the side. His light hair was longer than usual, touching the sides of his ears. He hadn’t shaven, and his sharp blue eyes were unsmiling.