Book Title: Redeeming Jayden
Author and Publisher: Brina Brady
Cover Artist: Brina Brady
Release Date: June 10, 2022
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Age Gap, Hurt/Comfort
Themes: Trust
Length: 61 972 words/ 232 pages
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
JAYDEN BARRON
Twenty-two-year-old artist Jayden Barron is summoned home from New York City by his father to assist in the family business of painting and selling replica art to international rogue buyers. Nothing prepares him for what he encounters when he arrives, however, his entire family is missing.
Those his father has been dealing with rarely return missing people alive. The family attorney sends Jayden out of the country for his protection, straight into a haunted castle with a singing ghost who leaves him lilacs in the middle of the night. Fortunately, the castle also has Harlan Wendell.
HARLAN WENDELL
Affluent, generous, thirty-two-year-old, German interpreter, Harlan Wendell has every material possession he could want, but no love in his life. He hires young Jayden to recreate his family portraits lost in a fire. It isn’t long before he realizes that Jayden is much more than an employee to him, and they begin a relationship that fulfills both their desires.
When events take a dramatic turn and secrets are revealed, can Harlan protect Jayden and their love?
Age Gap, Rogue Artist, German Translator, Haunted Castle, Missing Family, Secrets, Steamy, MM Romance Suspense, HEA, KU
The thrashing rain and howling wind woke Jayden from a disturbing nightmare, with him screaming at his father lying in a coffin. He shoved the canopy bed curtains open, stepped down the stairs, and raced to the window. The enormous clouds drifted through the frightening tar-black sky towards the castle. He didn’t want to be alone after that horrific dream of him shouting at his father during his funeral. The anger at his father for putting his family at risk remained and would until he found them, but he would never forgive his father. Why didn’t he take his mother with them? None of it made sense.
Jayden was dressed in his tattered jeans with a black T-shirt and a matching hoodie. He tore out of the bedroom when a bolt of lightning crackled through the sky. He zipped up his hoodie as he wandered in the hall, searching for his two guards, and finding them sitting in an open space at a round table playing cards. Jayden was glad the night shift guards weren’t there. He hoped they could help him find what he needed, but the actual reason he raced out of his room was that he didn’t want to stay in there alone during the storm. Jayden had forgotten which one was Lucas and which Gleb was. Eventually, he’d learn all their names, but there were so many people working for Harlan. Name tags please.
“Can you guys take me to the room Harlan interviewed me in?” Jayden asked.
“Yes. I’m Lucas and this is Gleb. We’ll get you there, but Harlan probably locks it up.” Lucas spoke with a heavy German accent.
Both of them stood over six feet, but Lucas had golden-brown skin and buzzed his black hair close to his scalp without any facial hair at all. He had several gold stud earrings. Jayden gave him an A+ for those studs in his ears. He was a total alpha man.
Gleb’s brown hair was as short as Lucas’s was, but he had gray eyes. However, either Gleb didn’t shave, or he wore his beard close to his face. Gleb wore a snug T-shirt that displayed his roped forearms covered in tattoos. Another A+ in his book. Damn they were hot.
They led him to the room where Harlan had interviewed him, but he had locked the door, so they couldn’t get in.
“I need to make a list of art supplies from the print inside that room. Can you get the keys to open it up?”
“It’s almost midnight,” Lucas said.
“Unless it’s an emergency, we can’t disturb him for a key. You’re going to have to wait until you see him during breakfast,” Gleb said.
“What do you know about Harlan?” Jayden asked.
“He hires mostly gay men, but he hires women,” Lucas said.
“Are the guys working outside gay?” Jayden asked.
“No. I don’t know for sure, but some might be. He hired gay guys for inside jobs. I heard he doesn’t want straight men inside the castle unless they are going to donate money to a charity, then he’ll invite them for a benefit ball,” Lucas said.
“He has tons of parties for the rich gay gentlemen from some club in Munich. He invites all the gay employees to the parties,” Gleb said.
“Gay parties sound like fun.”
“They are,” Lucas said. “I met Gleb here at one of his parties. We hooked up there. You’ll find someone. Give it time.”
“He also gives a lot of money to charities. He runs a tight ship here in the castle. Follow his rules and you’ll be fine.” Gleb spoke with a strong Ukrainian accent.
“He has rules?” Jayden played with his hair.
“Yes. He’ll let you know when you settle in.” Gleb gave Lucas a covert look, like they knew something Jayden didn’t.
As they were leaving the room, Harlan met them in the hall. He wasn’t wearing his black suit anymore. He wore tight jeans and a brown sweatshirt matching his eyes. He looked less unfriendly and stuffy. To be honest, he looked damn good and extremely hot. Jayden wanted him in his bed soon.
“Are you okay?” Harlan asked Jayden.
“I needed the print of your mother to make my supply list for you.”
“Gleb and Lucas, you both can go back to where you were. I’m going to talk to Jayden privately.”
Jayden wondered if Harlan was angry with him. Had he dismissed his guards so he could yell at him? He didn’t know what he had done wrong, but it had to be bad if he wanted to talk to him without the guards around.
Harlan unlocked the door and went inside the room while Jayden waited in the doorway. He returned and handed the print to Jayden, then locked the door.
“Thanks.”
“Come with me. I want us to talk,” Harlan said.
They walked down another long hallway to a room with a fireplace and two big stuffed chairs. This was probably where he’d start shouting at him and fire him before he signed any contract. He had fucked something up. Soon, he’d find out what he had done.
“Sit down.”
Jayden sat and stared at the flames in the fireplace. What was he doing in this room with Harlan? He was already in trouble, but Harlan had mentioned nothing about castle rules. He shouldn’t be in any trouble on his first day without Harlan informing him of any so-called castle rules.
“Why are we sitting in here?” Jayden asked.
I am from Huntington Beach, Ca. I taught various subjects at a Continuation High School in Los Angeles, California for 27 years. I obtained a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in History, Secondary Social Science Credential and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Reading and Secondary Education from California State University, Long Beach. I also enrolled in some creative writing classes at UCLA.
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