by Vi Keeland
Unable to sit anymore, I jump from my seat, anxiety getting the best of me. “Come on Vinny…you can do it!” I hear myself scream, but it’s like an outer body experience. Everything is in slow motion as I watch it all play out in front of me. Ten, nine…
Hearing anyone over the roaring crowd would be impossible, but yet, as I jump at my seat, one hand on each side of my mouth to direct the sound coming from within me, I could swear I catch Vinny’s eye…just for a split second.
Eight, seven…
Vinny fakes to the right, Lamaro falls for it, dropping his hands just slightly on the left and then Vinny goes for it, hitting him with a powerful right that’s too much for his opponent’s battered body to absorb.
Five, four…
His opponent staggers, a last ditch effort to remain on his feet, but his body can take no more. Collapsing to the mat in slow motion that ends with a thud as the arena goes quiet, Lamaro’s body sprawls across the mat on his back.
The crowd cheers as medical personnel rush into the cage. They run something under Lamaro’s nose and he comes through, his eyes darting open. For a second, it looks like he might attempt to get up, but then his head falls back and he realizes he can’t continue. It’s over.
Two, one…
The referee raises Vinny’s arm in the air and the crowd goes crazy. The decibel’s rising to painful levels, people jump out of their seats, screaming and shouting. Everyone loves to see the underdog win, especially one from their home town.
The cage starts to fill, and I watch with tears of joy in my eyes as Nico rushes to Vinny, lifting him in the air in celebration. Elle nudges me, “Come on.” She wants me to go with her to the cage to see them, help them celebrate the win. More than anything, I wish I could. Wish I could rewrite the story of my life to bring us both a happy ending. But I can’t and I want more than anything for Vinny to have his moment. “You go. Help them celebrate. I want him to be happy.”
Sadness in her eyes, she smiles at me, pulling me close for a hug. I watch as she tries to make her way to the ever filling, chaotic cage, but I can’t bear to let him pass me when he exits. So I leave, never turning back as I make my way out of the arena.
Chapter 52
Vince
The celebration at Nico’s gym is in full swing before we even arrive. Two hours of interviews and photos leaves me feeling restless, but also pissed off at myself. I won the fucking championship. I should be reveling in every minute of the attention, god knows in this business it sometimes doesn’t last long. There’s always someone bigger and better.
With every interview and every photo, I find myself looking at the door, wondering where she is. I still have no idea how she pulled off the shit she did. Liv doesn’t have the kind of money to buy them off, I’m not even sure how the hell she knew what I was up to.
Grabbing a beer from the makeshift bar set up behind the practice ring, I try to make my way over to Elle, but I’m stopped with every step by someone offering me congratulations. Nico’s brothers alone take up almost an hour. Great guys, but sure as shit can talk your ear off.
It’s after midnight by the time I’ve made the rounds, and the GIMPs have started to trickle in. Word spreads quickly when a gym party pops up, the groupies know it will be filled with fighters. Avoiding passing by two aggressive women that have no qualms letting me know their plans for the evening entails them sharing, I find myself standing off to the side with Nico.
Raising his beer to clink with mine, he smiles, “Tonight, we celebrate.” Drawing a long swig, he nods his head to me, “tomorrow, we talk about what the hell almost happened out there.”
Fuck. I nod my head. He must be happy, normally he’d be in my shit, never giving me space. “Where’s Elle?”
“Babysitter needed to go. She went up.”
Shit. “I really need to talk to her.”
Pushing off from the wall he’s casually leaning against, Nico chugs the rest of his beer. Slapping me on the back, he smiles. “She said you wouldn’t rest till you had answers.”
I wait, hoping she’s given him some to pass along to me. Help me make sense out of the last few hours.
“She said to tell you to go talk to your mother.”
“Really?” My mother has the answers? She’s usually the question.
Nico walks away and then stops, looking back at me pointedly and smirks. “Oh yeah, she said to tell you when you’re done with that, pull your head out of your ass and go get your girl before it’s too late.”
***
Seven in the morning is not usually a time my mother is awake, unless it’s from the night before. I quietly enter her apartment and I’m surprised to find her standing in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. She smiles at me and pulls down a second cup.
“I watched on TV.” She hands me a full cup of steaming black coffee, not letting go, forcing my eyes to hers. “I’m so proud of you.” Searching my mother’s tired, weary eyes, I’m surprised to find sober staring me back. I nod, accepting the compliment.
She sits at the kitchen table and sips her coffee, motioning for me to sit as she begins, “That woman loves you.”
My jaw clenches, she sees the anger in my face, it’s difficult to hide. She’s cut me deep.
“This is all my fault. You shouldn’t blame her. My lies got us here. I know it will be hard for you to understand, but she was only trying to protect you. Keep my lies from hurting you.”
“Start from the beginning, Mom. I don’t need protecting, I need answers now.”
Two hours later, and a bucket load of tears from both of us shed, I have my answers. It reads like a fucking tabloid story. One that Liv was supposed to write. But instead she lied, trading keeping my secrets for the job she’s dreamed about since she was a kid. And then sells her keeping that secret to my rich scumbag of a father, only to pay off my drug addict mother’s debt so that I can take a shot at my dream. Only in my life does shit like this happen.
Kissing my mother on the forehead before I leave, she reaches for my arm. “I have no right to give you advice. I’ve been a shitty mother to you. But if you love her, find a way to figure it out, because you’re a good man and you deserve to be happy.”
***
“Where’s your boss?” Skinny ass Summer turns at the sound of my voice.
“She’s already gone.”
“Did I ask where Liv is? I’m looking for your boss.” Her mouth hanging open, she points to a nearby closed door. I knock once and let myself in without waiting for his response.
Chapter 53
Liv
Ally drops me off at the airport. “Be nice to my car. I’m coming back soon to check on it.”
“You better.” She smirks. We’ve been best friends a long time, she knows I don’t care about the car…I’ll be back to check on her.
“I’ll drive it back Labor Day when I come to visit for the long weekend.”
“If you change your mind…” Ally hugs me hard and then pulls back to look at me, concern evident on her face. “Our door is always open.”
***
Still another hour before my flight, I stop at the coffee bar before going through security, waiting in the long line, staring blankly at the television monitor behind the cashier’s head. Lost in thought, it takes a few seconds for the words my brain reads as they scroll on the bottom of the screen to register. Breaking News - A Daily Sun Times Exclusive - Senator Preston Knight has a love child. I watch in horror as seconds later a photo of Vinny flashes on the screen.
Numb, I stare at the TV, a real wave of nausea rolling over me. Cold sweat percolates from within, sheathing my body, while dread and sadness consume me. How? I’d destroyed the evidence and the only people that knew had everything to lose and nothing to gain by leaking the story.
Shock still keeping my feet firmly planted, my brain finally reignites and begins to fire on all cylinders. I need to get to Vinny. Warn him. Tell him it wasn’t me. Make him believe me. I’m not sure why it�
��s so important, I only know I need to do it. Now. Grabbing my bags, I turn and take two steps back toward the exit, stopping in my tracks at the vision a few feet before me. Vinny.
Bags falling from my shoulder, I stare, confused, feeling nervous and anxious to see him, yet relieved at the same time. Four feet of empty space between us, my words barely loud enough to make their way to him, I whisper with emotion blanketing my face, “I didn’t leak the story.”
Hesitantly, Vinny takes one step closer. “I know.”
“You know?” Confusion clear on my face.
Another step closer. “I did.”
Eyes wide, I hear his words but don’t understand. “Why?”
One more step, he closes the distance between us. Every hair on my body stands at attention, my body inexplicably drawn to him like every other time before. Nothing quells my desire for this man. Not anger, not sorrow, not years of separation.
“Traded the story for your job back.” Gently, Vinny reaches for me, brushing his warm hand softly over my cheek.
“But why?”
“You and Elle run off to D.C. to sell your silence to pay off my mother’s debt, seemed like the least I could do.” He pauses. “Although I should also put you over my knee for putting yourself in danger like that.” The corner of his mouth twitches.
A small smile bubbles to the surface, although it’s quickly extinguished when my heart reminds me of how I’ve hurt him. How he hurt me. Again. Thoughts of Vince with Summer cause physical pain in my chest. Looking down, I draw a deep breath in, stealing a few precious seconds to compose myself. The words pass through my lips tasting like bile, “You and Summer?” Head still bowed, I steady myself for his response. But nothing comes. Without words or seeing him, I feel the intensity of his stare burning into me.
“Look at me, Liv.” His tone firm, but words soft, I take a deep breath in. Hesitantly, I lift my eyes and find his. Our gaze locked, he’s quiet for a moment before he speaks. Eyes searching mine, I find my own sorrow and sadness reflected back at me. “Nothing happened with Summer.”
“But Summer said…”
His voice is low and calm, yet his tone is firmer, more commanding. “Nothing happened, Liv.”
I want so badly to believe him…my body aches to trust his words. He sees my internal struggle on my face.
“You need me to tell you the details?” The words sound cruel, but he’s offering them to me because he knows how I am. Even if I told him I believed him, visions of the two of them would consume me, subconscious doubt never allowing me to fully forget. I need the full story, so my imagination doesn’t make up its own.
I nod.
Vinny closes his eyes for a moment, reaching for strength. When he reopens them, I see torment and it breaks my heart. So badly, I want to reach out and hold him, make it better, take his pain away, but I can’t. I need to hear what he has to tell me. Pain in his words when he speaks makes tears sting my eyes, but I fight to keep them back. “Summer came to see me. Told me about the story you were writing. I told her to get out, I didn’t want to believe her. She left me her card, with her home address written on the back.”
Vinny pauses. The hope I had felt hearing him say nothing happened with Summer begins to flee.
“I was pissed, Liv. Angry. I wanted to hurt you back. I just couldn’t shake it, no matter how hard I hit the bag or how fast I ran. So I headed out to find some random woman to help me forget. And somehow I wound up at Summer’s.” I flinch at his words. Releasing me from his gaze, Vinny bows his head. His expression one of shame, he continues, “It’s what I’ve always done, Liv.”
Unable to hold it all back any longer, a lone tear falls from my eyes, just in time for Vinny to look up at me and gently wipe it from my cheek. His hands cup my face and pull me closer to him. “Nothing happened. I went there and she let me in smiling. It would have been so easy.” He shakes his head, thinking back, remembering. “But I couldn’t do it. And her big gloating smile, just made me more pissed. She was enjoying hurting you. So I left. Didn’t lay a finger on her. Think I might’ve put a hole in the wall behind her door, I flung it open so fast to get the hell out of there.”
Vinny leans down to me, his face so close I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. “I didn’t touch her, Liv.” His thumb brushes my cheek tenderly. “Do you believe me?”
I nod my head, because I do. It’s the honesty in his eyes that makes me believe him.
Closing his eyes with a look of relief, he leans his forehead against mine for a long moment. There’s less tension and anxiety in his face when he pulls his head back, but some of it’s still there, lurking in the shadows of tranquility. “Why didn’t you just tell me about the story, Liv?”
I wish there was an easy answer. One that would take away the pain I see in the depths of his eyes. Pain that I put there. He trusted me and I let him down. Seeing the hurt on his face, knowing I put it there, hurts me even more than I ached thinking he was with Summer. But I know I need to be honest with him, give him what he just gave me, if there’s any chance of us ever getting past it all. So I start with the truth, because it’s where I should have started all along.
“At the beginning, I talked myself into that it wasn’t true. I think I thought I could prove it and I’d get both things I wanted…the job and you.” I pause, thinking back to the minute I realized I was only fooling myself. “Then I met Senator Knight. And Jax.”
Vinny’s jaw clenches. I’m not sure if it’s the mention of his father or if he’s remembering meeting Jax at the exhibition fight. “He put his hands on you, Mom told me.” He searches my face, fists clenching in an innate response, his protective instinct taking hold of him at even the thought of someone laying their hands on me.
“By the time I realized it was true, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I didn’t want to hurt you. You’ve always been proud of your father’s memory. Sometimes I felt like you needed it. I just didn’t want to take that away from you.”
“So you never used me for a story?” His voice is desperate, full of agony at even having to ask the question. He needs to know that it was real. Needs to understand I could never betray him like that.
“I wanted to protect you. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I. Protect. You. Liv. I don’t need you to protect me. That’s how it works,” he says, his voice rising, eyes stern and serious. He waits for me to accede.
“No.” My response spoken with conviction, it surprises him.
Squinting, he studies me for a moment, not saying a word. I suppose his look could be labeled menacing, yet it doesn’t make me waver in the slightest. Instead, I stand taller.
One eyebrow cocked, he questions. “No?” I can’t tell if he’s amused or annoyed.
“No. We protect each other. That’s how it works.”
Both eyebrows pop this time. Although I catch a hint of an upward tilt on the left side of his mouth before he’s able to hide it. He’s amused, but doesn’t want to let me in on the secret.
“Okay,” he finally responds.
“Okay?” I question. Feeling bold, I push further. “Why was that so easy?”
Vinny laughs, his face and whole body shedding the last of the anger, diving head first into happiness. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against him. Eyes sparkling, it warms my heart knowing I had something to do with putting the smile back on his face. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
Pretending to be offended, I feign trying to escape from his death grip. But the truth of the matter is there’s no place I’d rather be.
A few minutes later, Vinny picks up my bags and reaches for my hand. “You ready to get out of here? I’m pretty sure you owe me a shitload of makeup sex.” He grins at me.
Although even the thought of this man naked sends a shiver down my spine, there’s more I need to say. “Wait.” Vinny stops after taking only one step forward and turns back to me. “There’s more I need to tell you.”
He nods once a
nd waits, cautiousness in his stance. Closing the small distance between us, I reach up to the beautiful face that still takes my breath away, even after all these years. Draping my arms around his neck, I pull him closer so our bodies are touching, yet he can still see my face as I speak. My voice barely audible as my eyes finds his, I tell him what I feel in every ounce of my being, “I love you.”
He smiles, cupping my face in both his hands. “Love you too, Liv. Think a part of me always has.” Softly, Vinny’s lips cover mine as he seals a kiss on words I’ve waited almost a decade to hear.
Epilogue
Veterans Day – Months later
Liv
Walking into the steam filled bathroom, I marvel at the sight of the gloriously naked body stepping from the shower. It’s been months, yet it never gets old.
Vinny grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist. Lucky towel.
“Morning.” He leans down and kisses my lips, uncaring that water is dripping everywhere, a playful, devilish grin on his handsome face.
“Good morning.” I smile.
“It could be.” Taking the towel from his waist, he purposefully lifts it to his shoulders to dry off, leaving his very aroused bottom half delightfully naked, standing firmly at attention. The confident, knowing smile tells me it’s a calculated move and has nothing to do with needing to dry off. He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively when he catches me staring.
“You’re insatiable.” I laugh.
Wrapping his hand firmly around the back of my head, he tilts my head toward him. “You know I get turned on when you use SAT words.” Another hot, wet kiss planted chastely on my lips.
“Insatiable is definitely not on the SAT.”
“Whatever. Keep talking.” Allowing the towel to drop to the ground, he reaches down under my knees, scooping me up into his arms.
“Existential, exculpate, ebullient, evanescent, ephemeral.”
Reaching the bed, Vinny quirks one eyebrow. “Ephemeral?”
“Short lived. Fleeting.”
