A Safe Place To Land (My Journey Series Book 1)
17 parts Ongoing MatureAfter turning twenty-one, Maya sets out to find the birth mother who might explain everything. A violent encounter with a mysterious man plunges her into a darker world. He is as haunted as she is-fierce, damaged, terrifyingly tender. Their chemistry is immediate and volatile: refuge that threatens control. As Maya digs into the past, buried secrets fracture her identity and force impossible choices. Trauma refuses neat endings. Love becomes both lifeline and liability-can redemption survive, or will the darkness destroy them both? What will Maya uncover about herself and his past as she tumbles down this dark path? Is he her safe place to land?
Chapter 18 Peek: "I don't know how to let people stay," I whispered. "Everyone leaves when they see the real mess. I figured... give you the exit before you take it." "I'm not going anywhere." Fierce, broken, certain. "Not ever. You hear me? You're stuck with me, trauma, and secrets and all." The swing creaked between us, chains groaning like they carried the weight of every word we hadn't said yet. Grayson's hand stayed on my cheek, thumb brushing the wet tracks, but his eyes searched mine, desperate, terrified I'd vanish again.
"I need you to hear me," he said, voice low and scraped raw. "Not just listen- HEAR me." I tried to look away; he gently held my gaze.
"Every person who was supposed to catch you let you fall. Your godfather found out you were struggling and just... vanished from your life. Your grandmother pretended the pain didn't exist if she didn't have to look at it. Your dad said cruel words, but he never said the ones you needed either-he just drifted further away until one day he handed your mom divorce papers and forced you out of the house you grew up in. And your birth mom?" His voice softened, careful. "She couldn't even be bothered to be in the courtroom to be the family she decided she didn't want."