D.R. Rosensteel - Ionic Attraction

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright 2020 by D.R. Rosensteel. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

10940 S Parker Rd

Suite 327

Parker, CO 80134

rights@entangledpublishing.com

Crave is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Lydia Sharp and Judi Lauren

Cover illustration by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

ISBN 978-1-64063-875-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition January 2020

Dear Reader,

Thank you for supporting a small publisher! Entangled prides itself on bringing you the highest quality romance youve come to expect, and we couldnt do it without your continued support. We love romance, and we hope this book leaves you with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

xoxo

Liz Pelletier, Publisher

To Brenda, the love of my life. Our attraction has been ionic from the day we met. You still take my breath away. Because of you, Darkside has no power over me.

Chapter One

Zach

The days of watching his back were suddenly over. So was the terror of the torture machine.

The neutron force field across Zachary Keens cell dissolved. The guard named Ace grudgingly waved him out. Zach grunted. He should have been thrilled at his unexpected early release, that he wouldnt have to carry out his threat. Hed sworn to Ace that theyd have to kill him before they would put him back in the machine. And he meant it. But as he walked down the long, monitor-lined hallway in front of the jailer, his footsteps echoing, gibes coming from the other kids cells, two thoughts burned in his mind. One, how badly hed disappointed Mom. Would she ever be proud of him again? And tworevenge on the snake that set him up.

Zach did a double take at the enormous wall monitor. That was him on the screen. His shoulders seemed wider, muscles tighter than he remembered. Hed lost count of the pushups he had done. To say that he worked out for his health was on par with calling the Tiananmen Square Massacre a difference of opinion.

The faux-hawk hair wasnt bad. A transformation generously provided by the juvie barber, and a far cry from the run-your-hand-through-and-be-done hairstyle he wore in his high school sophomore days. Maybe the shorter hairstyle would make Mom believe hed cleaned up his act. Seeing him in jeans and a tee instead of juvie orange wouldnt hurt, either. She never said anything during her visits, just looked at him and shook her head. All his life, shed told him how proud her boys made her. Then this.

The day they arrested him was a blur. The only clear part was the way they cuffed him and treated him like a serial killer. Humiliated in front of his whole family. His year in juvie was hell. It had changed him, he knew. He went in naive, a geeky sixteen-year-old. He came out bitter and scarred.

Zach missed his family, couldnt wait to see them. He hoped they felt the same.

I dont want to see you back in here, the warden said when Zach came to the end of the corridor.

Ace sneered and filled his lip with snuff. Zach flinched when he reached out to deactivate the cuffs.

No, sir. Zach kept his head down. He had learned that lesson on Day One. Never look authority in the eye, or your life would be miserable. On Day Two, hed learned another one.

Trust no one.

Somebody pulled strings, the warden said. Youll finish high school at the Mastermind Complex with your brothers. The thought of seeing them again put a lump in his throat, but he wasnt about to give Ace the satisfaction.

He and his brothers were geniuses. Zachs quantum physics prowess had earned him accolades from the science community, but none of it mattered once Ace shoved him into that cell. Ace owned him. High school bullies were amateurs next to prison bullies. Being a genius put a target right square in the middle of his back, so Zach had to learn to fight. Like everything else, he learned quickly, and he learned well. It became his super power on the inside, and the only thing that kept him alive. His brothers knew all the details of juvie life. The bad food. Laundry duty. School work. The fights. Everything.

Except the machine. There was nothing they could have done about it anyway. It would have just stressed them.

Records expunged. Nice second chance, Keen, dont you think?

Yes, sir. He knew that. Didnt know who did it or why.

You and your brothers close?

Yes, sir. Extremely.

Triplets, right?

Yes, sir.

Do you have that mind bond thing that triplets are supposed to have?

They did. They called it the Bro Link. And it was strong. No, sir. Thats just a myth.

Keen?

Sir? Zach shrugged off the impulse to look up and instead stared at the wardens shoes.

Good luck. You dont belong in here.

He nodded and left the wardens office. When they got to the prison gate, Ace smirked. Youll be back. Your kind always comes back. Then you belong to old Ace again. Remember that, boy. He spit black tobacco juice onto Zachs shoe and shoved him out the door. Zach stumbled but caught himself. He glared at Ace then turned away. Spitting on him was the nicest thing the man had ever done to Zach. Scads nicer than shoving him in the machine. As the locks clicked behind him, Zach wiped his shoe on the grass and took his first breath of free air. Smelled wet. It was raining. Papa was supposed to pick him up at the gate, but the street was empty. His first day of freedom wasnt off to a good start.

Would Mom even come?

Suddenly the Bro Link triggered, and Zach was inside his brothers heads. Movies about twins and triplets had the mind bond all wrong. Zach couldnt see what his brothers saw. He couldnt hear their thoughts. It wasnt like that. There were no images, no voices. There was justknowing. And Zach knew his brothers were excited about something. About him.

A grin that he couldnt control spread across his face. He couldnt wait to see them. Ignoring the downpour, he looked up and down the street for signs of Papas SUV.

Zach!

Nolans voice made Zachs heart leap. There, across the parking lot, his family was waiting in the August rain. Mom And Papa, Mikey, and Nol. They were all there. Like Zach, his brothers were thin with black hair, piercingly dark eyes, and light porcelain-like skin, but Mikeys hair was pompadoured, while Nolan had a buzz cut. Zach took off at a dead run and dove into open arms.

Hey, buddy! Papa pulled him into a tight hug. Mom and both brothers joined in, and Zach squeezed hard. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Mom began to sob, saying his name over and over. She reached up and touched his cheek. Zach hadnt felt that for a year, and it sent waves of comfort through him. Mom didnt hate him. Shed come for him. He was rescued.

I missed you. Zach buried his face against her cheek. Then Papa broke down, and Zachs brothers lost it, too. The whole family held one another, sobbing silently, warm rain drenching them, until the tears stopped.