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  Paige

  Woman Empowered

  MJ Fields

  Contents

  By

  Thank you

  To The Reader of this book:

  Also By MJ Fields

  Playlist

  Synopsis

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  What’s Next

  About STEEL

  Forever Steel

  About the Author

  By

  MJ Fields

  Paige (Tied In Steel, Book Two)

  Copyright © 2018 by MJ Fields.

  All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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

  Book and Cover design by Jersey Girl Designs

  Edited by C&D Editing

  Proofread by Asli Arif Fratarcangeli

  2nd Proofread by Josie Charles

  First Edition: April 2018

  Created with Vellum

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to Ashley Graham, Hunter McGrady, Precious Victoria Lee, Chloe Marshall, Anita Marshall, and every woman who is considered plus size:

  Sharing your beauty helps others gain confidence.

  Thank you for making ‘curves’ sexy again.

  This book is dedicated to Women who Empower one another daily:

  Support, listen, guide, and love… always.

  This book is dedicated to my friends:

  Those from birth, from my school days, to now… we rock..

  Forever Steel,

  MJ

  Thank you

  Jules, Kris, Asli, and Elle, a million thanks for making this possible.

  To my blessings, my hearts, my readers… I f’ing love the passion you have for all things Steel.

  This is for you.

  Forever Steel,

  MJ

  To The Reader of this book:

  Paige is not your typical heroine. If you are offended by strong women with real life curves, she’s not for you. Also… neither am I, lol.

  Paige can be read as a standalone

  I hope you love her journey as much as I have loved writing it.

  Forever Steel,

  XOXO

  MJ

  Also By MJ Fields

  In The Steel Family Of Books

  The Men of Steel Series

  Forever Steel

  Jase

  Cyrus

  Zandor

  Xavier

  Raising Steel

  The Ties of Steel Series

  Abe

  Dominic

  Eroe

  Sabato

  The Rockers of Steel Series

  Memphis Black

  Finn Beckett

  River James

  Billy Jeffers

  The Match duet

  Match This!

  ImPerfectly Matched!

  The Steel Country Series

  Hammered

  Destroyed

  Wasted

  Tied in Steel

  Valentina

  Paige

  Gia (coming soon 2018)

  IN THE LRAH or THE LEGACY SERIES FAMILY OF BOOKS

  These families’ stories are intertwined starting with The Love series, they move to the Wrapped Series, the Burning Souls series, Love You Anyways, 27 Truths, 27 Lies, Her First Kiss, and His First Crush.

  Many more series will spin off from these characters already written and each will be a standalone series but for those of us who love a story to continue, I recommend reading in this order.

  Best read in this order

  The Love Series

  Blue Love

  New Love

  Sad Love

  True Love

  The Wrapped Series

  Wrapped In Silk

  Wrapped In Armor

  Wrapped In Always and Forever

  Burning Souls Series

  Stained

  Forged

  Merged

  LRAH Legacy Additions

  Love You Anyway

  Love Notes

  The Truth About Love Series

  27 Truths

  27 Lies

  Firsts series

  Her First Kiss

  His First Crush

  Coming soon

  Their First Fall

  (Untitled) Jamie’s story

  (Untitled) Lisa’s story

  (Untitled) Christy’s story

  The Norfolk Series

  Irons

  Shadows

  Titan (coming soon)

  The Caldwell Brothers Series

  (co-written w/ Chelsea Camaron)

  Hendrix

  Morrison

  Jagger

  Visibly Broken

  Use Me

  Stand Alone Sports Romance

  Offensive Rebound

  Playlist

  What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger by Kelly Clarkston

  Brave by Sara Bareilles

  Sit Still. Look Pretty by Daya

  Try by Colbie Caillat

  Masterpiece by Jessie J

  Confident by Demi Lovato

  Hot And Bothered by Tameca Jones

  Love Myself by Hailee Steinfeld

  Bounty On My Head by Grizfolk

  Fight Song by Rachel Platten

  In My Arms by Grizfolk

  Roar by Katy Perry

  F**kin’ Perfect by Pink

  Nothing In Between (Bitch) by Meredith Brooks

  Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara

  Who Says by Selena Gomez

  Angel by Fifth Harmony

  Just Like Fire by Pink

  This One’s For The Girls by Martina McBride

  Cool Girl by Tove Lo

  Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato

  Secrets by Mary Lambert

  Synopsis

  Four horrible break-ups.

  Being overlooked for promotion after promotion.

  Paige has had enough.

  On a whim, she quits life in America and heads to Italy for a much needed break.

  One drunken dinner with friends at a swanky members only club, Paige sets her eyes on two empty thrones set on a stage and decides she no longer dreams of becoming a marketing executive, she wants to be Queen.

  Empowered by her new found freedom.

  Empowered by the women in her circle of friends.

  Empowered by her choice to not be walked all over by men and their false promises.

  She is determined to be on top of her world, crown and all.

  Foreword

  Most Girls

  As a little girl, summer was always my favorite time of year. I was allowed to sleep in late and spend the days in our multigenerational home, doing all the things every little girl dreamed of doing.

 
; In the morning, I would dress in clothes of my choosing, not the normal school uniform I was forced to wear. I would eat a big, hot breakfast at a large table, surrounded by the two women in my life who I aspired to be like. And oftentimes, my maternal grandfather, who spoke in broken English, switching from English to Czech mid-sentence, was there as well.

  As a little girl, my family was everything.

  My mother was love. It seeped from her pores, through her smile, and in the way she cared for everyone in our home, our family. She was a seamstress, an artist, a dreamer, and a builder. Our clothes, our furniture, our artwork, it was all things she saw and wanted until she looked at the price tag … right before walking away from the object of her liking.

  She would spend hours hunting through thrift stores, consignment shops, estate and garage sales, until she saw something similar to what she hadn’t been able to buy. After that, she would spend days working away at her most recent project to make it nearly identical.

  I asked her why she didn’t just buy them, and she told me that we couldn’t afford to buy them, but she could afford to make them. In all my eight-year-old wisdom, I told her that she should get a job like my friend Nikki’s mom. She simply said, “Co je doma, to se počítá,” which means, “It’s what’s at home that counts.”

  I spent countless hours beside her, “helping” her create. I loved it … most of the time.

  When I became uninterested with the project, I would drag Babička—grandmother in her native Czech language—outside with me. She used to watch as I ran through the trees covered in Spanish moss, laughing while yielding a sword, pretending to be a Viking warrior princess who fought sea monsters. In other words, swinging a wooden sword that my mother had made me for Christmas at the Spanish moss—the sea monsters. She would laugh and play along, living in the moment. Babička was everything good about life and laughter. So much laughter.

  When Babička tired, I would make my way to the backyard where my grandfather, Dědeček, would be in the garden. He would immediately put me to work, pulling weeds or collecting the vegetables, herbs, and whatever fresh fruit was in season for the next day’s meals.

  I valued my time with Dědeček and the many lessons he taught me. Even in his broken speech, I understood everything. I understood through his movements, his actions, and tender care to the garden. Dědeček showed me how hard work could literally feed a family of six.

  My father, Evan, and older brother, Pace, would spend the summer days working at our family’s fishing charter company and marina thirty minutes away at Tybee Island. As much as I loved our home, my mother and grandparents, I longed to be with them on the open waters.

  One evening, I asked him if I could go out with them the next day.

  “Trust me; you don’t want any part of it,” Pace grumbled as he scrubbed his hands in the sink before dinner.

  My father tossed his head back and let out a hearty laugh, clamping his hand on Pace’s shoulder. “Your brother’s right, Pea,” he used my nickname. “The Arnesen One is no place for a lady.”

  I put my hands on my hips and declared, “I’m no lady. I’m a Viking warrior princess.”

  Again, Dad’s head full of blond hair fell back as he laughed.

  “I’m serious, Dad.” I tapped my foot so he could see just how serious I was.

  He squatted down to my level. “A woman’s place is in her home, Pea.”

  I jut my chin upward. “Then I want to be a boy.”

  He gently turned my chin to face him. “And I want my warrior princess to be able to dream, create, build, laugh, and learn from everyone who surrounds her; so that one day, when she meets her warrior price, she can be the center of his world, the invisible glue that holds everything together.” He then leaned in and whispered a secret. “That’s where the true power is, Pea.”

  I couldn’t help smiling at knowing that secret.

  “You become that, and you’ll someday find a man deserving of all the wisdom and love you have absorbed your entire life. He’ll want nothing more than to work so you can still spend a good part of your day inside your beautiful mind, creating a place that the lucky man can build there forever.”

  My father was wisdom.

  Entering high school with my best friends, Nikki, Laney, and Melyssa, I was excited beyond belief, mostly because we were no longer forced to wear a uniform.

  The very first day, the whispers started when I asked Nikki to borrow her cell phone so I could call my mom and ask if I could stay after.

  Why the whispers? One, I had to borrow her phone, because I had none, which was a rarity. And two, I didn’t send a text, because no one in my home had a cell phone, except my father who only used his in emergencies to call my mom at our home number.

  Laney pulled me away so I could “hear my mom.” But when one of my friends wasn’t around, I heard the whispers even louder. The whispers about my “bohemian style” clothes, my bag, my packed lunches, or how big I was in size, my hair—practically everything. Their whispers hurt. For the first time in my life, it occurred to me that our family’s differences may not be actual blessings.

  When the more popular girls saw that, they were like vultures feeding on my insecurities, battering my self-esteem, and making me feel like there was in fact something wrong with me.

  It was Nikki who observed this, and Nikki who mentioned Pace loudly enough that they heard his name.

  Pace, my brother, a senior in our school, was also the star quarterback of our football team. He was six-foot-three, like our father, blond, tanned, and blue-eyed. He was the “All-American boy” that all the girls swooned over.

  Soon the whispers stopped and I realized all those girls, the ones who were mean to me, were the same ones now being overly nice. They even tried to be my friend, which I knew had everything to do with the fact that they were interested in Pace romantically.

  I didn’t let it affect me. I didn’t feed into their manipulations. I also didn’t retaliate.

  The next school year, without Pace there, the vultures were back.

  Luckily, I had the girls. I had also hit a growth spurt. I wasn’t insecure about my chubbiness when I stood at five-foot-ten. I laughed at the whispers. And when my friends weren’t around, I became the Viking warrior princess. Those bitches didn’t dare mess with me.

  At five-foot-ten, I was able to carry off being a size fourteen. It didn’t mean I liked it, but it was what it was.

  I made the decision that I would never turn my back on my family or what they considered blessings. My blessings would come in the form of the ability to have enough money to take care of those I loved while working to afford the things I wanted, and be a warrior princess … who wore the most exquisite heels.

  Chapter 1

  What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

  Paige

  I am standing in front of the mirror of the twentieth-floor bathroom at Fast Forward Inc., one of the top ten marketing companies in the New York City area. I chose this female-owned company from the list of possible internships based on how badass NYC was. Not to mention the fact a woman-owned company would surely be easier to advance in than one of the good old boy firms.

  Nine years later, I have yet to lead an account, but I have been involved in several large projects and have been praised for my work. I haven’t made senior executive …

  I scratch my head, thinking. In fact, only one female has, and rumor has it, she and the owner, Cheryl, “like” each other, even though they’re both married.

  I shake off the annoyance caused by the fact that equality in the workplace is still a damn joke. It is in fact who you know and very possibly who you blow.

  I flatten out my favorite Vera blazer then look myself over, reflecting on a conversation I had with Mom and Babička a few years back before Babička’s dementia became obvious, and before the accident that left my mom with a brain injury, which causes her to speak much slower and move just as slow.

  They both told me h
ow proud they were of me. How impressed they were with how hard I work and still remain happy.

  At the time, I wasn’t all that happy. I had just broken up with Richard, a man who I thought was a lot like my father. He wasn’t. I didn’t tell them that, either.

  I make a good amount of money, and I earn every cent. I have great benefits and a retirement. I had a huge apartment in a trendy New York neighborhood, and yes, I still have three out of four of my best friends from the time I was in elementary school. My blessings. Still, I am annoyed as hell that I keep getting looked over for promotions.