The Secret Goddess (Goddess Series Book 1) Read online

  Copyright © 2022 M.J. Faraldo

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN 9789915408538

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Thank you

  Acknowledgement

  About The Author

  Books In This Series

  For Jav and Ozzy, my two rocks.

  Chapter One

  The sun shone on the beautiful summer morning, the perfect day to walk to work. Jasmine and sweet roses filled the air as Kyra left her house. It reminded her of home.

  The bookshop she purchased a few years back had been an ideal find, only five blocks from her apartment. Her dream of owning a little fountain of knowledge and escapism had finally come to fruition.

  The sun’s rays entered her, and she stood a little straighter. Life couldn’t get any better.

  Her cell phone rang in her purse, bringing her back to reality. She opened it as she neared the bookshop’s door, her other hand holding her coffee. Fumbling with both the keys and cell phone, she tried to get them both out at the same time.

  “Hello?” she answered without looking at the caller ID. Using her shoulder to hold her phone, she placed the key in the lock.

  “Hello, darling. How are you?” Her mom greeted in a cheery tone.

  “Hey, Mom. I’m just getting to work. Can I call you in a bit?” she asked as she stepped into the cozy shop. Books lining the walls made her smile a little. She scanned the shelves. The almost empty shelf under the Romance sign caught her attention.

  “Sure,” her mom said, but her tone made Kyra pause.

  Kyra closed the door behind her but didn’t flip the sign to open yet. She walked toward the back, turning the lights on as she went.

  “You know what, never mind, I have a couple of minutes,” she said and sat down at her desk.

  Her breathing slowed; the soft hum of her computer dulled the car noises. She took the last sip of her coffee as her mother continued.

  “Well, your father and I wanted to ask if you could come over for dinner tonight,” Her mom said and then added, “We haven’t seen you in days, and I’m making lasagna.”

  Kyra’s stomach rumbled.

  “I love lasagna.” She smiled at the picture of her parents that sat on her desk. The photo she took on one of their picnic trips upstate. “Okay, we’ll be there at seven.”

  “Well, we hoped you'd come by yourself, darling,” her mom said.

  A cold shiver ran down her spine.

  “Oh,”

  A bell rang, and she looked up.

  Her best friend, Chris, walked into the office. Chris’ eyebrows lifted.

  Kyra shook her head and closed her eyes for a second.

  “I’m sorry. I know what it must sound like, but we wanted to discuss some private matters with you. So, we thought it best to ask you to come without Jessie.” Her mother’s tone sounded sincere, but Kyra’s stomach sank a little more.

  Why couldn’t they be happy for her? She had been with Jessie for two years. The perfect couple only happened to people like her parents. They reacted great when she introduced them to Jessie, but as time went by, they had become more and more opposed to seeing him.

  “Okay. I’ll be there later if I can.” She hung up. She rubbed her temples to try and stop the headache.

  “Good morning, sunshine. Trouble in paradise?” Chris asked as she walked back from the break area with two mugs of coffee. She placed one mug in front of Kyra and sat down at her desk.

  Kyra took a sip from her cup and closed her eyes again. The warmth and the bitterness gave her the boost she needed to speak.

  “Morning to you, too. And no, trouble in family land, more like,” she answered. She sighed and opened her eyes.

  “Oh, was that your mom? I thought it was Jessie,” Chris said; she kept her eyes on the paperwork on her desk.

  “It was my mother, yes. She invited me for dinner tonight.” Kyra cleared her throat a little too late to hide the bitterness.

  “I thought you had ‘date night’ with Jessie tonight,” Chris said, her eyebrows went up a little.

  “I do have date night. So, I tried to kill two birds with one stone, but... I guess I’ll have to rearrange things.” Kyra’s phone vibrated. A message from her mom flashed; she turned the phone face down.

  “I guess your mom told you she didn’t want Jessie there?” Chris asked.

  Her and Jessie had more problems than Kyra would ever admit to, but the fact everyone thought they knew what was best for her irked her.

  “She’s being complicated. I seriously don’t understand what everyone’s issue is,” she said.

  The doorbell rang again.

  Kyra walked to the front; Chris must have flipped the sign to open when she walked in.

  “He’s boring, and he’s controlling. If you tell him no, he behaves like a child, and he’s not great looking,” Chris said as they walked.

  She turned to reply to her, but as she did someone spoke.

  “I’m sorry, am I interrupting?” the deep voice asked.

  The customer looked like a model taken from a magazine. He was tall, and his friendly face looked familiar, but she couldn’t place why.

  She took a deep breath as she realized he must have heard Chris’ list of Jessie’s flaws.

  “What can we help you with?” Kyra asked and turned the register on.

  “I just want to buy this book,” he said, handing her the book in question.

  ‘Egyptian Amulets and Religion’ by Elliott Miller.

  The book only sold three copies since it came out. The cover was beautiful, though, and Kyra loved having anything Egyptian.

  Chris walked behind the customer, returning a book to the shelf. She eyed Kyra and pointed at his back, giving him two thumbs up with a smirk.

  She bit her lip to stop laughing and rang the book up.

  “Will you be needing anything else today?”

  Chris pretended to faint and fanned herself with a book.

  The customer kept his eyes on Kyra.

  “Not today,” he said, his intense eyes lowered to her lips, then up to her eyes again. “Have we met before?”

  Chris narrowed her eyes and bent her head to the side.

  Had she met him before? He looked familiar, but something told her she didn’t know him.

  “I don’t think so, no,” Kyra said, handing him the book and taking the exact change he left on the counter.

  He said nothing else, but his eyes never left her.

  Her heart raced.

  He turned around and walked out, and as soon as the door closed, Chris went to the counter. A weight lifted off Kyra’s chest.

  “Holy smoking hotness, batman.” Chris grabbed a greeting card and fanned herself much like she had with the book. “See him? Now he was interesting. Tall, dark, and handsome type.” Chris pointed the greeting card toward her and added, “And he was staring at you with those sexy eyes.”

  “He was not.” Kyra felt her heart quicken. She needed to stop drinking so much coffee; her stomach turned.

  “He so was, and he was most definitely mom worthy. Did you see his legs? And his butt?”

  Her friend lo
ved the theatrics, always looking for Mr. Right and searching for him in the wrong places.

  “No, I was busy actually working,” Kyra said. She looked toward the shelves, taking a notepad and a pen out to scribble the series she had to order.

  “His sexiness hypnotized you, I could tell. Was he as hot as he seemed from behind? I only had a second to look at his face.” Chris laughed and dodged the scrunched-up paper Kyra threw at her.

  “Can we please work?”

  Kyra busied herself with the list she wrote and ignored the brief comments as much as possible.

  ❖

  By lunchtime, her stomach still felt a bit off.

  Jessie came in to pick her up at noon. As he walked into the shop, Chris yawned loudly.

  Kyra narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

  “Hey, Jessie,” Chris said and fake-yawned again.

  “Hey. Long night?” Jessie asked in his innocent, boy-next-door voice.

  “No, I’m just so boooored,” Chris said; her eyes darted to Kyra.

  “Bye, Chris, see you in a bit.” Kyra grabbed Jessie’s hand and dragged him out before Chris could say anything else.

  Lunch was the usual. They ate at the normal place; they had their regular meal. Half an hour seemed to last a lot longer when she spent time with her boyfriend lately. But they had a good relationship, or so she kept telling herself. His jealousy and neediness were wearing them down a little, but something kept pulling her in.

  Kyra walked back into the shop an hour later, expecting Chris to say something witty, but they were busy. And they stayed busy most of the afternoon; by the time 6 pm came, they were both exhausted.

  Kyra copied an order on her computer while Chris arranged the books near the register.

  Summer was great for tourists who wanted to read something during their downtime. Crime novels and romance were the most popular.

  “Who knew people were still interested in physical copies of books?” Chris dropped to her chair and lifted her feet on her desk.

  “I knew. That’s why we opened this place, remember?” Kyra said as she finished the order.

  She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Her feet were heavy, the idea of driving to her parent’s house made them feel heavier.

  “You’re right! You are so smart... sometimes.” Chris sat up and narrowed her eyes.

  “Whatever you’re going to say, don’t,” Kyra warned.

  The talk, she could feel it coming, and she wasn’t in the mood for it.

  “All I’m going to say is: you need excitement in your life. You must have felt the sparks flying when Mr. Tall, dark, and handsome walked in today. Shit, I saw them!” Chris opened her eyes wide.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kyra’s small voice betrayed her.

  She felt something from the customer, but no sparks. Something told her to stay clear of him. Her stomach agreed.

  “You are so full of it.” Chris threw a stress ball she kept at her desk at Kyra, and Kyra caught it.

  “I’m not saying you should cheat. I’m saying you should cut the boy-next-door loose and get yourself an exciting rebound. Like ‘hotness’ that came in earlier,” she said as she caught the ball Kyra threw back at her and squeezed it.

  “I know what you mean about Jessie, but there is something about him. I can’t explain it. Every time I think of leaving, something pulls me back.”

  She thought about breaking things off with Jessie on more than one occasion. Not that she’ll ever admit it to her mother or Chris, and their opinions had nothing to do with it.

  “Yeah, guilt. The fact you’re even thinking of leaving is a good enough reason to leave. Don’t get me wrong, Jessie’s so... nice,” Chris said and laughed. “Sorry, I know it sounds silly, but nice and boring do not need to go together. You need someone who makes you feel alive. You’re only like thirty, right?”

  “Hey! I’m twenty-five, you cow, I’m even younger than you!” Kyra said and laughed. She knew her mom and Chris had her best interest at heart; that’s why she couldn’t be angry at them.

  “What? By a day? What I mean is, do you really see yourself with Jessie for the rest of your life? With boring,” she fake-yawned, “Jessie?”

  “I’m thinking it over, Chris. I promise.” Kyra looked at her wristwatch and got up. “I have to go.”

  “Say hi to your mom and dad from me. By the way, they see the same thing I see,” Chris said as Kyra made her way to the front, purse in hand.

  “Right,” she whispered as she closed the front door.

  ❖

  She walked to her apartment quickly so she could change. After half an hour, she grabbed her purse and her car keys on her way out. Her cat Horus meowed from the kitchen.

  “You’ve got food in your bowl, your silly animal,” she said. He meowed again.

  She closed the front door and made her way downstairs; the elevator took too long, so she went down the stairs.

  It was Thursday, so the drive to her parent’s house wasn’t as bad as on the weekends.

  Pop music flooded her car as she remembered when she first met Jessie. Valentine’s day two years before. Kyra had been exercising in the park near her apartment, and Jessie happened to be in the same area running an errand for his boss. It hadn’t been love at first sight, but there was something about him. Kyra would be the first to admit Jessie wasn’t her usual type, but that’s part of the charm.

  After 20 minutes, Kyra turned into the driveway of her parent’s home. When she was younger, she hated the manor.

  The Jacobean house stood on an acre of land. The two-floor building had always been too big for the three of them. Its big, paneled windows and creamy stone made it look like a castle. Wisteria growing on the walls gave it a fantasy land feel.

  The gardens were amazing, tendered by Diego, their caretaker, and her mom. Together they created a little paradise. Roses, jasmines, and citrus trees sat in strategic places to fill every corner with freshness.

  And yet, it felt like a prison in her teenage years, courtesy of her overbearing parents and a lot of mood swings.

  Now, Kyra appreciated the surroundings more. She saw why her parents chose such a secluded place to live; an oasis right next to the city.

  When she was twenty, she bought an apartment in the city and announced she was buying a bookshop and moving out. To her eternal surprise, her parents encouraged her to do so. Her relationship with them had been great ever since.

  She parked the car at the entrance.

  The front door opened before she could get out.

  “Darling, you came!” her mother said as she came out and walked towards her car, the warm smile always in place.

  “I said I would,” Kyra replied. She got out and closed the car’s door.

  “I know, but you hung up, and I thought maybe... never mind, you’re here now. I’m so glad.” Her mother hugged her; it took Kyra a second to react.

  “I couldn’t say no to lasagna,” she said in a softer tone.

  “It’s almost ready! Best I’ve made in a while!” her mom said as they walked into the house.

  Kyra turned around right in time to see the sun hiding behind the trees in the far west of the manor. The orange sky always took her breath away. Sunsets reminded her of warmth, and it made her heart ache, but she could never explain why.

  She walked in and headed to the dining room, where her dad read the newspaper.

  “Hello, Kyra darling. How are you?” He put the paper down and got up to give her a hug.

  “Hey, Dad. I’m good, you?” She hugged him back and sat down in her usual chair on his left.

  “I’m starving.” He looked up towards the kitchen where her mom had gone. “Your mother was afraid you may not show up.” He pinned Kyra with a look she knew all too well.

  “I thought about not coming. It’s just that… I hoped you and Mom would like Jessie. We’ve been together for two years now.” Kyra couldn’t lie to her dad. Did she feel as strongly as she let on? No, not really. But it upset her on principle.

  “We do like him, darling. But he’s not for you.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I think you know already, but after tomorrow maybe everything will be clearer.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Kyra asked. Her dad got up.

  “We’ll talk after dinner if there is time, but everything is always clearer when we wake up.” He then walked toward the kitchen.