Going by where his voice seemed to come from, he was kneeling right beside my grave...but it still sounded horribly far away. The hole must be deep. I was going to be deep down in the earth, with hundreds of pounds of soil on top of me.
“I thought you couldn’t be...because nobody would send someone to save a feckin’ waste of space like me. I thought I was long past saving. But you showed me—But then I couldn’t—“
He took a breath. Something warm and wet splashed onto my cheek.
“—I couldn’t save—God damn it, Sylvie! It was meant to be me!” More wet drops on my face. When he could speak again, he continued. “I promise I’ll take care of Alec. And I’ll find a way to get Rick. I’ll get that bastard, if it takes me twenty years.”
I heard him pick up the spade and stand up. “You were the sweetest girl I ever met,” he said. “And I will never, ever forget you.”
MOVE! I tried to open my eyes, but they weighed a thousand tons each.
There was a whump and something heavy and powdery landed across my legs. A few bits bounced as far as my neck.
MOOOVE! But nothing happened.
And the earth kept falling.
Aedan
I put the spade down and looked out across the water. It really was a beautiful place. She’d be happy here.
Jesus, how the hell am I going to tell Alec?
I looked down at Sylvie’s grave. I’d thought that she’d have to do this for me—that’s why I put the spade in the back of the car. I never thought I’d be the one doing it for her.
I knew I had to finish. She was almost covered up with the first thin layer. I’d left her face until last. I couldn’t bear the thought of throwing soil down onto it, the dark clods breaking across those lips.
I stepped down into the hole instead, putting my feet either side of her body. I’d push the earth with my hands, instead. I’d gently cover her face and then I’d just be shoveling earth onto earth and it would be easier.
Jesus, she looked so perfect. Like she was sleeping.
I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers one last time.
And heard a tiny noise from her throat.
I jumped back, staring down at her. But there was nothing else. My eyes filled up with tears. I’d just squeezed her chest a little and the air had moved.
I put both hands behind the earth that covered her stomach and started to push it onto her face.
And her eyes opened.
Sylvie
I couldn’t see, at first. My eyes had been closed too long. There was just blinding brightness and then I felt myself being lifted up. Was this heaven?
The shapes resolved and I focused on Aedan’s face as he lifted me out of the grave and hugged me to him. He was saying my name over and over again but my tongue was thick and slow and I couldn’t seem to move enough air to form words. He put his ear to my chest and listened intently and I knew that it was going to be okay.
He put me in the back seat and drove us a little way away, in case anyone came along and saw the hole and started asking questions. Then he sat in the back seat with me and held me as the drugs slowly wore off. It was another half hour before I could speak again. Full movement took an hour and I was still weak and shaky.
But I was alive. And the very first thing I could do, as soon as I was able, was to pull my man close and never let go of him again.
Sylvie
I called Heather to tell her that the plan had worked. Then I spent a week holed up in Aedan’s apartment, going stir-crazy, while we figured out what to do. I’d quit my job before the fight so no one was looking for me, but we couldn’t take the chance that word would get back to Rick that I was alive.
Then Heather called to tell us that Alec had shown signs of movement. Apparently, his vitals had started to perk up every time a certain nurse came in and, that morning, he’d opened his eyes.
I picked out the nurse at the nurses’ station when we passed, because all her friends were clustered around her saying how great it was. Blonde and curvy. Alec had somehow known, even in his sleep.
When we walked in, he was able to weakly turn his head to look at us.
“Don’t exhaust him,” Heather told us. “It’s going to be a while before he’s up and around. But from the tests we’ve done so far, there should be no lasting damage.”
Alec croaked something. I had to put my ear right to his mouth to make out the words. “Everything feels heavy.”
I hugged him close. “Yeah. I’ve been there.”
Alec turned to look suspiciously at Aedan. “What’s he”—he coughed—“doing here?”
Aedan and I looked at each other. “There’s a lot we need to catch you up on,” I said. And took Aedan’s hand firmly in mine.
Alec stared at our clasped hands...and nodded, still looking suspicious. Then a hint of a smile broke across his face.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Alec croaked. “Just remembered a dream I had.” And this time, when he looked at Aedan, he smiled.
What the hell is that all about? I turned to Heather. “Thank you. For everything.”
“You can thank me by never going near those people again,” she said.
I pulled Aedan and Alec into a three-way hug. “Never again.”
***
Alec’s recovery took a month, but a lot of it was just rest and physio exercises, so we got him out of the hospital and into Aedan’s apartment after just a few weeks. While he healed, Aedan gave notice at the docks and I used the money he’d saved up and the winnings Rick had given him to pay off the hospital bills. Alec and I finally gave up the apartment we’d lived in with our parents. It killed us to do it, but we knew we had to move on. If Rick or someone who knew him ever saw me in the street, we were all in danger.
We talked a lot about where we wanted to go. There was never any question that the three of us would make our fresh start together—Alec and I were inseparable and Aedan and I were together for life. The only thing we had to figure out was where to go. And then, one afternoon when we were sprawled around Aedan’s living room fighting the heat with popsicles, Aedan stood up from his chair and said, “Chicago.”
Aedan
“Why?” asked Sylvie.
“It’s got the docks—I can pick up some work there, maybe get Alec sorted out with something, too. And options for you—bar work, hotel work…and college, once you get the money together to go back. Good hospitals, if Alec needs them.”
“And it’s a city, so there’ll be a boxing scene…right?” asked Sylvie. “I know you’ve been thinking about it.”
She was right—I had. Ever since Travere had died at my hands, I’d hated the idea of fighting. I’d thought I was the monster, when really it had been Rick. Sylvie had helped me see that and training her had woken something inside me. Boxing was the one thing I did really well. I nodded.
Sylvie folded her arms. “Proper boxing,” she said. “With rules, and gloves?”
I nodded again. “I want to do it right, this time. I’ll have to start at the bottom all over again, but it’ll be official. Legit.”
Sylvie frowned at me. “There’s something else, isn’t there? Lots of big cities have ports and colleges. Why Chicago?”
She could read me too well.
“Okay,” I said. “The other reason is...the last brother I lost contact with is there. Carrick, the silver-tongued bastard. At least, last I heard, he was there. I don’t know how we’ll find him, but maybe we could give it a go.” I looked her right in the eye. “I reckon maybe it’s time.” It was exactly what I’d avoided for years. But facing up to death had snapped things into focus. I felt like I had a second chance, now, and I wasn’t going to waste it. And if I could find my brother—if I could find all my brothers—maybe I’d finally share the horror of what happened to us with Sylvie.
Sylvie grabbed me and pulled me close. “That sounds like a great idea. Alec?”
Alec nodded. “Sounds as good a place as anyw
here. Fuck it, let’s go.”
I started scouring the internet for a car that would hold together long enough to get us and our meager possessions to Chicago. But, before we left, there was one last thing we had to set in motion.
Sylvie
We couldn’t be around for it. It had been over a month since the fight, long enough that Rick wouldn’t suspect Aedan of being the rat. But all that would be for nothing if Rick saw him hanging around while the police raided The Pit. And if he ever saw me again, he’d know he’d been duped.
So we got our road trip underway. We got the call when we were passing through Cleveland. We pulled into a gas station and the three of us leaned against our battered SUV, peering at my phone’s screen.
It was a video of the bust, shot by a local news crew. We saw police flashlights light up the gloom of The Pit. The audience turning in horror and trying to run, only to be held back by a small army of police officers.
When they found Rick, he was as smug as usual. He knew there was no hard evidence proving that he’d organized the fights. He could just claim to be another member of the audience. None of the fighters would dare to testify against him.
Except he wasn’t going to be arrested for the fights.
Aedan pointed to a police officer. “That’s Charlie,” he told us.
Charlie pushed to the front and snatched Rick’s cane from him.
“You can’t do that!” Rick yelled. “That’s mine! It’s a medical device!”
Charlie grinned. And twisted the crystal top, just as Aedan had told him to. He drew out the plastic vial. “I’m glad you confirmed it’s yours,” he said. “Because that’s a lot of cocaine. More than just possession. That’s intent to supply, right there.”
Rick went pale. I knew what he was thinking—even if his lawyers got the charges to slide, it was enough for the police to get a search warrant for his yacht. God knows how much coke they’d find there, as well as computer records and paper trails that might prove he was the fight organizer. The last view I had of him was his fearful glance at the camera as Charlie slapped the cuffs on him.
No one would ever have to fight at The Pit again.
Aedan shoved the phone back into his pocket. It felt like the end of a chapter. The road, stretching out into the distance, felt like the beginning of a new one.
“I call shotgun,” said Alec, slipping into the passenger seat. He was still a little weak in one leg, but he was getting stronger every day. As I watched, Aedan’s pet gull flapped lazily down and settled on the roof of the car. It had so far followed us all the way from New York and showed no sign of turning back, as long as we kept tossing crackers out of the window for it to catch.
I stayed outside for a moment, enjoying the sunshine. “Winters in Chicago are meant to be even colder than in New York,” I grumbled, pressing myself against Aedan’s chest.
“I’ll keep you warm,” Aedan said, pulling me hard against him. His breath was hot on my neck. “‘Long as we get a place where the bedrooms aren’t right next to each other. I don’t want to be banging you with your brother next door.”
I punched him in the arm to shut him up and he tapped me playfully back, and then we were wrestling, giggling and punching and kissing, with a clear road ahead.
<<<<>>>>
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Punching and Kissing, please consider leaving a review.
The story of Sean, Aedan’s brother, is told in my #1 bestseller Growing and Kissing.
To save her sister, she must team up with the most notorious bad boy around
Louise - I need $500,000 or my sister dies. My only chance is to use my skills with plants to grow weed...but I know nothing about being a criminal. I need Sean O'Harra, the sledgehammer-wielding enforcer everyone fears. He's the last person I should get involved with...but I go weak every time I'm near him.
Sean - I know I should stay away. She's too feckin' innocent to get involved in my world. But as soon as I see her, I have to help. I have to protect her from the cops, the rival gangs...all while resisting the urge to grab her, kiss her, and show her what bad really is.
Saving Liberty (Kissing #6) Page 45
