Treasure is dedicated to every woman that has ever looked at herself and wished she were more like somebody else.

Thank you in advance for reading Treasure (revised plot). This book was formerly called Not the It Girl. I had two versions of Treasure on Wattpad. The first version had elements of a romantic triangle and is no longer available. This version (revised plot) does not include the triangle and focuses solely on the main character, Treasure (Zara Peters).

This updated version also has other wonderful modifications not in the first version of Treasure. I personally liked by both books. I revised this version for those that find the tension in a love triangle sometimes overwhelming. With the original Treasure, lots of drama ensued because 3 women were involved and readers said it was too much emotionally so I made a milder version.

And for those first-time readers to Treasure the word that readers use to describe it is ADDICTING. So get ready for a wild ride.

***

Bomb blasts shook the deep backwoods of Louisville, Kentucky leaving the grounds trembling and the trees quaking. Roman Gray's team made another successful hit. His men and members of the Drug Enforcement Agency spread out into the night.  Their mission: to wipe out an illegal opioid facility that trafficked drugs to high schools in Kentucky and neighboring states. 

The DEA joined forces with Gray Enterprises to end the disastrous organization. The company was a national security firm, owned by billionaire Roman Gray. His team stopped the bad guys all over the world. Batches of the drugs got tainted and killed hundreds of students. The DEA thought that they had destroyed all the facilities in a prior raid. But Roman's national security surveillance unearthed a complex of stored underground facilities.

Rolling booms spread throughout the forest as one bunker after another got destroyed. It was a stealth operation prior to their discovery. They did most of the damage to the facilities and components before the drug cartel arrived and engaged. Automatic weapons fire blazed through the air; the shouts of men fighting to the death rang out.

Roman and his second in command, Maxwell DeVaughn, along with a host of other men rushed through the darkened fields. They wore camouflage and infrared, night-vision glasses. They were way ahead of the warfare that raged behind, aimed at destroying the water towers that kept the facility in operation. They crunched through the darkened field racing the clock. It wouldn't be long before the bad guys discovered them.  The only saving grace was that they had scoped out the woods weeks in advance of the raid.  They knew where to hide their getaway vehicles.  It was just beyond the ridge near the water towers.

"Let's go," Roman whispered to his men.  He and one group of team members scaled the massive water towers placing explosive devices in critical positions while the rest of the team on the ground prepared the charges. Roman and Max handled the west side of one of the towers.  They attached special zip lines that pulled them up above the canopy of trees and attached the devices.

"I can't believe how well this is going," said Max.  Another boom exploded in the distance.

"Yes!" Roman cheered. "Another successful strike. I'm so pumped up right now.  I can't wait to see these things come down." He and Max slapped one detonator on after the other, while the other team members did the same. "They will be years trying to recover from this."

"They won't be recovering from this," said Max. "We've wiped out their solar panels, they're off the electrical grid systems, wiped out the bunkers and now the water supply. It's over, man, finally over."

Just as Roman slapped another magnetic disk on the tower his cell phone rang. The sound drifted through the night amplified by the wind.

"Damn it, Roman. Have you lost your mind?  You know we don't bring cells on a mission. We can get killed from the sound or let them track us."  He glanced at the phone and saw who was calling when Roman pulled it from his pocket.  He shook his head. Even Max knew that he wouldn't miss this call. Max looked down on the ground and saw their men looking up as if to say—what the hell?

Roman snapped around and glared at Max. "You must have forgotten what today is. If there was any way that I could have gotten out of this I wouldn't be here."

It took Max a moment before it clicked. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Roman."

It was the anniversary of the death of Calista Gray. Roman's beloved wife passed away from an aneurism while walking the fashion runway a few weeks before Christmas.  The death of his wife five years ago wiped him out until his childhood best friend and the woman that he'd always loved came to his rescue. That woman, Zara Peters had been there with him for every step.  She was his trouble and salvation.

Everything about the relationship between he and Zara was complicated. She visited him every year to help him get through his annual grief.  But a terrible fallout during her last visit changed things.  Zara said that she was never coming back and asked that he not call. What was his crime? He told her that he'd always loved her and that he wanted her in his life.  She walked away.  Roman knew the reason why but felt that she couldn't run from him forever.

Roman respected her wishes for once in his life. For an entire year, he'd let go, though it was hard as hell to do so.  The number of times that he'd longed to hear her voice and see her face had gone beyond his ability to endure. It had left him with an aching heart, sleepless nights and many times ordering his private jet to take him to her home in Georgia, only to return to New York before the plane landed.

He'd been in torment the whole day hoping that she would call. He surely knew that she remembered what today was. It hurt his heart like hell that this was the first year she wasn't there for him. So yeah, he'd bring his phone in the middle of a literal war zone. Yeah—she meant that much to him and more. This was one call he would never miss.

"Zara."

"Hi, Roe."

"You didn't forget. I miss you so much. You have no idea what this means to me that you called to help me get through my day."

Max banged his head against the water tower. He couldn't believe that not only did he answer the phone but also that he had no intention of being quick about it. From the look on his face, the man was undeniably smitten. They were all at risk of his voice carrying in the wind. Roman was the boss—there was nothing that any of them could say. He did a slash mark across his throat to stop Max from banging his head.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you last year," said Zara, her voice soft and soothing to his aching soul. "I know what today means to you, so..." She gave a long pause.  "So, I'm here."

"What?"

"I'm here, at your house. What time will you be home?"

Roman did a fist pump. The grin on his face kept widening. His heart raced with joy and elation. "I'm on my way.  It will take me a while because I'm in the middle of a work project. But I'm coming."

Zara had no idea what he did for a living other than he was into computer technology.  That's the way he intended to keep it.  He never wanted Zara worried about his dangerous work in global security.

"Ok, Roe, see you soon."

Max looked shocked when Roman stuffed the phone back in his pocket and hit the descend button on his zip cord. "Where are you going?"

"You finish this up without me.  You know what to do."

"Roman, wait!"

"You know what happened last year, Max.  You know I can't lose her. I've got to go."

Roman pressed the button and in an instant lowered to the ground. With a quick dismount of the cords and storing the cables back in his pocket, he hit the ground running.  The team members had heard enough of the conversation to know what was going on.  They knew how miserable he'd been that year. Many of them air clapped as he rushed through them.

"Go get your woman," one of them said.

Roman chuckled. His rental car was just beyond the ridge. He'd take a commercial flight back and leave his private jet to carry his team back home.

This would surely be the best Christmas ever because she came.  He had enough faith that she would probably call him today, but not enough that she would come. The fact that she did blew his mind and let him know that there was hope for recovery in their relationship. He couldn't drive to the airport fast enough. 

About two miles out he saw huge orange balls of flames through his rearview mirror.  He smiled knowing that the water towers were scrap metal now. The job got completed making him feel less guilty about leaving.  They'd only be an hour or so behind him as they waited for the full team to meet up and leave.

Roman piled into his first-class seat. He'd had an exhausting day and told himself that as soon as he was on the plane he'd go to sleep.  But that was before Zara called. It wasn't about to happen now.  Exhilaration spread through his body at the thought of her.  They'd known each other their whole lives meeting on the playground at school.

She was seven -years -old, shy and always bullied at home and at school.  As a child, he didn't know what bullying was.  They teased her because of her weight. He just knew that it made her sad and that he wanted to do something to fix it. From that moment on he became Zara Peters's best friend and protector.

He laughed to himself thinking of all the scrapes he'd gotten into at school for Zara.  A lot of little boys had black eyes and broken noses all because they dared to harass her. At some point, that protection turned into unconditional love. As bad as he wanted her she never could return his love for the scars in her own heart. He married Calista and did love his wife, but she was a substitute.

Roman sent a brief text to his driver letting him know when he'd arrive. He leaned his head against the cold window, looking at the world disappear as the plane rose in altitude. He smiled at the thought of her being in his arms. "Zara—my treasure."

To My Beloved Readers:

This book won the 2019 Nanowrimo competition. It was so fun to write because as I placed each chapter online I encouraged readers to help me write each chapter and they did. I had so much fun. The readers that helped me to build this story will always be appreciated. They are special. I had never done anything like that before. It's no small thing to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I did it in 28 days. Since November, this book has gone through 2 additional revisions. This book is the second revision.

I've had so many kind words and comments about the book that have really made my day. But this one has to be my all-time favorite:

The plot is perfectly made. I couldn't take any more stress if you twisted it more!

I laughed until I cried when I read that. That was one of my main goals in my stories to twist things up until your skin wants to crawl off your body. I love plunging emotions. Trust me, I feel those emotional surges before you do. Please remember to vote and comment. It really helps writers going.