I Won't Give Up (21 page)

“I
’m sorry.” She choked.

“Shhh.” I tried to soothe her.

“
No, please let me explain.” I nodded. “
I should have given us a chance after Levittown
. I was
too scared to
let you in. I didn’t think I was capable of loving you.
But I love you Cooper, so much,
I think I loved you before our last night together but that night I heard you say you loved me in your sleep.
That’s when I really realized I
was in
love with you.
I was so scared. I was afraid, afraid you’d be just
like the others.” She admitted.
“Then
I
found out about Riley and
it really hit me but I.
.
.I thought it was too late.” She sobbed. “
I was too busy trying to protect myself I didn’t see the danger lurking right in front of me.”

“
Garrett has quite a way with
words, he can be very convincing.”
I sighed knowing all too well how convincing he could be.

“I thought he was helping me, we spent a lot of time together, I thought I migh
t have even been falling
for
him.
I see now that there’s only ever been you Cooper, I’ll only ever want you.
” He
r
words cut me but she loved
me
.

“
Stop.
I love you too
and
we’ll have plenty of time for you to get used to how it’s going to be when we get out of here
.
I promise I’ll never hurt you
Fiona
.”
She seemed to relax slightly.
“Does this mean you’ll be my girlfriend?”

“Yes.” She smiled.

“
Okay I’ve had enough
talking
for now
.” I
crashed her lips
to meet mine
and
the bond was set. We kissed for what didn’t seem
nearly
long enough
.
I
grazed
my hands up her back, her hair,
and her
beautiful face. I guess I was trying to reassure myself that I was actually awake.

“What’s going to happen tonight?”
She asked.

“I’m going to fight.” I said ashamed.

“Is that why you’re such a good fighter? Did you used to fight for him? He seemed like he knew you.”

There was a knock at the door.

“It’s time.” Carl said handing me a bag. “For Fiona. I won’t let anything happen to her.
Promise.
” I handed the bag to Fiona it was some clothes. A pair of black sweats, a ribbed white tank and a hoodie.
I was thankful since she just had the robe from earlier.
She dressed quickly. I held her hand
tightly
as we were ushered down the hallway.
We were led to a waiting car and driven to the fight location. I was exhausted but I knew what I had to do and if it meant keeping her safe I’d cut off my right arm; not my left cause I’d need that for my wedding band one day. We were led through a maze of corridors in an old warehouse
.
I saw the
familiar
ring that was set up
. T
he room was
already
filled with spectators, mostly other
members of
mob
.
They loved to bet on fights.
Carl was standing with us, he looked at me and nodded I knew I had no choice but to trust him.

Giovanni came up next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

“You’ll be fighting Chris Venture. You know what to do and what I’ll do if you lose.” I winced knowing it would have something to do with Fiona. He ushered me to the ring and I climbed in
pulling my shirt off and tossing it in the corner
. I looked at Fiona who was pale and shaking, it was all the motivation that I needed. I looked at my opponent who was a pretty big guy probably around my height, built with blonde hair and a tan. He probably worked on a farm or something.

“Gentleman you know the rules. There are none.” He cackled.

I
studied
him to study how he moved. He was slow
and seemed to prefer his feet over his hands
. He stepped forward and raised his left leg trying to knock my legs out
, great a wanna be karate kid
. I jumped out of the way
as we started the game of cat and mouse
. He tried the same thing a couple more times before I made my move
hoping he’d tire fast so we could get this over with and I could get back to Fiona
.
I saw my opening and
I squared a
punch right below his right eye
,
his cheek was already swelling. He came at me swinging.
I boxed him again this time on the left side next to his ear. He lunged at me with his hands aiming for my throat
, he just grazed me but I wasn’t enough to hurt
. I landed a kick to his
kidneys
.
He
was obviously an unskilled fighter and definitely not trained in hand to hand.
He
managed a
roundhouse kick to my ribcage.
I winced, h
e may have even re-broke a couple.
Fuck.
It hurt. I
quickly
regained myself
I saw an opening and took it landing a punch to his nose making him fall back. I climbed on top of him and continued my relentless pursuit until I heard Fiona start screaming, only then did I stop.

The ref held a hand out pulling me to my feet declaring me the winner. I thanked all that was holy and went to go get my girl. I breeze
d
by everyone including Giovanni
who looked like he had something to say
. That was the longest ten minutes of my life.

“Well done kid.” Carl said when I reached them.

“Hey Crash you okay?” She looked like she’d seen a ghost she was so pale and tears were streaming down her face. She didn’t say anything but she put her hand on my cheek and looked at me letting me know she was.

“You’ve
done this kind of thing before.
” She asked
softly
but it was a statement not a question
. I felt a knot form my gut and nodded.
I didn’t want her to see my any differently.

“This was my life before you. I didn’t want you to find out like this.” I said ashamed.

“Is he dead?” She asked pointing to Chris.

“No but he’s going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up.”

“Will you tell me about it
now
?”

“Another time okay?” Now I was going to have to tell her, I’d omit the real bad stuff but she deserved the truth.
“Okay.” I leaned in and kissed her quickly so desperate for the feel of her lips. She kissed me back tears still silently falling down her face and I knew we’d get through this.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch.
Marco’s been wanting this to happen for a while, it was supposed to be Garrett but I think I would have lost then.
” Giovanni said. I gave him a curt nod.

“Very well. Carl will see to it that you get back to the house. I have some business to attend to.”

When we finally arrived back to the house it was the middle of the night. We were escorted to the loft. I closed the door, locking it behind me.

“Hey, I’m going to take a shower want to take one with me?” She looked so broken. She headed towards the bathroom leaving her clothes in a pile by the door. She turned the shower on letting the room fill up with steam. She took my hand and climbed in.

“All I can smell is
he
. Wash him off me. Please.” She pleaded. I rubbed some body wash in my hands and lingered over every part of her until she seemed satisfied.

“Better?”

“Much, thank you.”
Our lips crashed together.
I would never get sick of this.
We kissed until she pulled away, she smiled up at me slightly.
I kissed her forehead and brushed her hair with my fingers
.

“Come on. It’s late, we’re both exhausted let’s go to bed.” I grabbed a towel and wrapped her up then did the same to myself.
We climbed into bed I pulled her as close as I could until we drifted to sleep.

When
I opened my eyes I saw light filtering through the window
.
I
shook Fiona
awake
. I handed her
my t-shirt
to put on
since we were both naked
but
she placed it besides her.
I knew she didn’t want to wear the clothes from the night before since she said they smelled like Garrett.

She rubbed her hands up and down my chest before straddling
her legs around
me so
our bare chests were touching. Her lips met mine kissing
greedily
.

“Now’s not the time baby
.” I told her wishing it were different
, I’d like to have a whole day in bed just the two of us
and as soon as we got out of here I planned to do just that; I wanted to memorize every part of her.
She looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I knew I
was doomed;
I needed her just as much
. I needed
to feel that connection, to become one.

“I don’t care, please.
I love you.
I need you.”
She pleaded
between kisses
.

I couldn’t resist
. I tried not to seem over
eager. I rolle
d her onto her back and resumed
our kiss, trailing kisses down her neck until I got to her
chest
. I took her nipple into my mouth making her moan quietly,
I massaged her with my other hand until I felt like she was wet enough that I wouldn’t hurt her.
I moved back up to her lips and slowly eased myself into her
, it was
better than I remembered
and that was saying something because I was pretty sure it was heaven
.
I
started
slowly
moving
in and out
savoring
her warmth
.
I felt her muscles start to tighten and I knew she was close, I nipped her ear lightly with my teeth and whispered “I love you” and that sent her over the
edge, I followed shortly after.
I guess I should have pulled out but frankly I’d alre
ady planned on marrying her
so a baby would just speed that up a little.
I kissed her and pulled my shirt over her head noticing that it was a little short still skimming the top of her thigh so I pulled my boxers up her legs and folded them over a few times making them like shorts. I was fine just in my jeans I’d walk around naked if it meant that she was comfortable. She took my arm and looked at my newest tattoo.

“I can’t believe you did this.” She laughed.
I missed that sound.

“Well you know what they say about love, it makes you do stupid things. Though I wouldn’t call this stupid.” I was serious too I would never consider it a mistake no matter what the outcome was
, she would always have a piece of my heart
.

“Well I’m glad I get to be stupid with you
boyfriend
.” She said smiling. It was a genuine smile to which made my heart do a little flip.
I kissed her nose and pulled her close to me wishing more than anything that we were anywhere but here.
We laid there for a little while talking about what we were going to do when we got out of here.

There was a knock at
the door
but when
I opened it but it wasn’t Carl
I was suddenly really concerned
. He
told us that we were being moved
. I took Fiona’s hand and
kept her carefully placed so she was beside me but a little ways behind me incase I needed to fight. W
e walked down the corridors down to the front door where
a few more men were waiting. When he opened the door
Garrett’s black Tahoe was waiting. He was in the driver’s seat with an asshole grin on his face.

“No way, we are not going anywhere with him.” I shouted.

“Boss’ orders.”
One of the henchman said.

“I don’t give two shits
whose
orders they are. He’s gonna try and kill us.”