The Second Time Ends In Sirens (The Damaged and Devoted #1)

Prologue

It’s so hard being a female in a male-dominated career field.

I’m in my senior year of high school in a program that prepares you for the police academy.

No one takes me seriously enough to think I’ll actually move forward and graduate.

The only person who has any faith in me is my boyfriend, Gavin.

We started dating at the beginning of the school year.

He has been my number-one supporter since the first day we met.

We spend as much time together as we can.

My home isn’t home to me, and I hate being there.

At least when he’s not working, Gavin makes time for me.

He recently purchased his first car. It’s not perfect, but we spend most of our time together in his garage as he works on it.

I love watching him tinker. He has his mind set on attending the police academy, but I think he should follow his true dream and become a mechanic.

However, his mind is pretty much made up.

Gavin is the first boy in my life who has never hurt me, the first one to gain my trust. The first boy who has uncovered the scars of my past. He has also given me pieces of himself, so many of his firsts.

He gave me his trust and his everything.

I was ashamed I couldn’t do the same. But he understood and never judged me.

We grew so close. Our relationship was so strong.

Well, I thought it was. I thought we would have been ones who ended up high school sweethearts, with a family.

I remember the day I scared Gavin. I had one of the worst asthma attacks I’ve had in years.

Not only did we learn Law enforcement, but we also learned EMS and Firefighting.

After a full day of practicing patient rescues, we had one last thing to complete.

In a timed exercise for the females, I had the fastest time until I collapsed in the stairwell.

Gavin was the first one to reach me. “Are you okay, Любовь?” He asked as he helped me find my inhaler and administer it.

Gavin came to the US at the age of five.

Both of his parents were born and raised in Russia.

His accent isn’t as thick as theirs, but it’s still present, more present in emotional situations.

The first time he called me Любовь, I asked him what it meant. He explained that it means love.

Ironically, life has a funny way of completely knocking you on your ass when you’re at the highest point in your life.

We shattered and came crashing down. He ruined me, pushed me away.

He left me high and dry like everyone else in my life had.

I’ll never forget that day. The pain in his eyes.

He didn’t want to, but he said he had to.

He didn’t let me catch him as he fell. I tried to take away his pain, but it only made him push me farther away.

He didn’t just step away from me…he ran.

Leaving me standing alone in the rubble.

He told me he loved me, and that’s why he had to let me go.

His emotions shut off, and he just stood there as everything around me came crashing down.

He didn’t reach for me. He just apologized and walked away.

I know why he was hurting. But no one should be hurting alone.

You should let the people who love you care for you.

He didn’t. He was the protector. He took the brunt of everything.

He was supposed to be my gravity, my “Grav”, instead, he just stood there as I plummeted.

Gavin Petrov built me up and put me together only to rip me apart piece by piece.

I waited for so long. Hoping, praying… that he would just come back to me.

Yet he never did. I had to force myself to stand up, to brush myself off.

To learn to walk alone. That it’s okay to be the only person in your corner, I stood up, and I graduated.

I got knocked back down again after finding out my health was in the way of my dream job.

I had to change career paths. And I did it, and in time I healed.

I found a job I eventually started to love. I moved on.