by J. M. Walker
“I can help you,” Rory offered, running a shaky hand through his hair.
“No.” He was upset and unstable. I wouldn’t put him through that. He lost a girlfriend and a best friend. This was now all on me.
“Vince.” Angel came toward me and cupped my shoulders. “You call me if you need anything. You hear me?”
“I will.” I nodded. “Thank you.”
***
Since I refused to take Gigi back to our apartment after everything went down, I brought her to her parents’ place once she was discharged from the hospital. Both Angel and Jay promised to take her to see Hannah whenever Gigi requested it, but we all knew that it wouldn’t do Hannah any good if Gigi didn’t get any rest. So, much to her dismay, of course, her parents brought her home and I tucked her safely in her bed.
She had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. With my kiss on her lips and my whispered I love you in her ears, I left her bedroom.
Angel had promised to make sure to distract his wife, so I wouldn’t be questioned as to why I was suddenly leaving. But knowing that both Gigi and Hannah were safe, I needed to get this done and over with so we could all move on.
Once I was seated in my car, I took a deep breath and then another. I lifted my hands, checking to see if they were shaking and when they weren’t, a wicked grin spread on my face. I remembered back to a time where I overheard my parents talking. They were reminiscing about the past. My uncle Kenny had been mentioned and I heard something about dogs. I was maybe sixteen at the time, I couldn’t recall, but what I did remember and promised to take to my grave were a few key words.
Hitman.
Lethal.
Powerful.
Blood money.
I never brought it up to my parents until a few days ago when I revealed everything that had happened and how Mason and Tenise were working together. But what bothered my parents most was who Tenise actually was.
“I had no idea that my brother had a kid.” Mom shook her head while Dad paced behind her.
“Tenise did all of this because we…” Dad muttered a curse.
“She’s sick,” was all I said.
“What about Mason?” Mom asked.
“I’ll take care of it.” I stood at the same time Dad stopped. Our eyes locked. He knew because he would do the same thing.
Instead of saying anything like most parents would, all he did was nod once.
It was the only indication I needed that I was doing the right thing. The only thing. Not that I was waiting for his permission but the fact I got it, was all that mattered.
Driving across town, I approached the outskirts and pressed my foot harder on the gas. When I left the city limits, my eyes flicked to the mirror, the See you soon sign becoming smaller and smaller off in the distance.
Half an hour later, I was pulling down a long gravel road. I stopped the car, killed the engine and left the vehicle. My bones vibrated beneath my skin, my hands clenching into fists, knowing what was to come.
I walked for another thirty minutes before I got to the spot I hadn’t been at since we were kids. Mason and Rory brought girls there to have sex with, while I only went for the scenery. I hadn’t been to the ravine in so long, I had forgotten about it.
When Mason had problems with his parents because he was your typical shithead teen, he would disappear and come to this place whenever he needed to get away.
Making my way to a clearing, my gaze landed on Mason. He was standing in the middle of a bridge that overlooked a lake and a small waterfall. The water was shallow, so if anyone fell over the bridge, they would break something before actually drowning.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” was all he said as I approached him.
When I was a foot away, I placed my hands on the railing. “Why?”
His breath caught, knowing I wasn’t asking about how he waited for me. “I was in love with her. I am, in love with her. You have to understand—”
My head whipped around, locking eyes with one of my best and oldest friends. “I don’t have to understand shit.”
He looked away, his jaw clenching.
“Tell me one thing.” I waited for him to look at me and when he didn’t, my hands tightened on the railing. “Did you shoot her?” I knew he did but I wanted to hear him say it. I wanted to hear him admit how he had a hand in almost killing my future wife and my daughter.
Mason’s eyes flicked to mine. “Tenise shot her in the stomach.”
“I know.” I still couldn’t get the image of Gigi’s blood on my hands out of my mind. “But Gigi was shot twice. Did you shoot her in the thigh?”
He looked away that time. “I heard a noise and missed. I thought it was you. It wasn’t but we left anyway.”
My heart jumped. “You had the kill shot.”
“Yes.”
That single word weighed heavily on my soul because I knew that this was it. Our friendship was officially over. Although it had been after I found out that he was involved with Tenise, that single word meant a finality that neither of us were prepared for.
“What are you going to do?” His voice shook a bit like he knew. He messed with something that belonged to me.
“Nothing.” I crossed my arms under my chest, looking out at the vast scenery before us.
“What do you mean?” His words took on a tremor that I felt down to the marrow of my bones.
I wanted him to be scared. I wanted him to shake and tremble in fear as he wondered what I was going to do to him. I wanted him to pay for the shit he had done and the pain he caused. The fear he put in me all for the name of love. Love. Fucking please. He didn’t love Tenise. He said he did. But he didn’t. If he did in fact love her, he would have gotten her the help she needed long ago. Not play into her little games and destroy innocent lives.
I turned my body toward Mason, meeting him square in the eye. “I want you to suffer and think about what you’ve done. Taking you out would be too easy.” I took a step closer. “Although, I could take you out. I have learned from the best after all.”
His eyes widened a bit, something flashing behind his green eyes.
Tilting my head, I sucked in a deep breath, channeling the strength I knew I needed to get these next few words out. “I loved you like a brother. You were my family, but you broke a pact,” my voice cracked at that single word.
“I fell in love,” was all he said.
I bit back a scoff, my jaw clenching. Taking that final step between us, I cupped his nape and leaned my forehead against his. “I loved you. I still love you, but both of you almost killed my girlfriend and unborn child. For that, I’ll never be able to forgive you.” My hand squeezed his neck. “But you’re going to do something for me.”
“What’s that?” he murmured.
“You’re going to jump.”
He stiffened, trying to pull away from me but my grip only tightened. “What the hell, Vince? You want me to kill myself?”
I leaned back, looking over the edge of the bridge we were standing on. “You won’t kill yourself. Not if you land the right way.”
“And what way is that?” Mason pulled out of my clutches only because I let him.
“I’ll guess you’ll figure that out when you land.” I turned to walk away. “I suggest doing it quickly because trust me, you don’t want me to be the one who pushes you.”
“Vince.”
I stopped.
“I am sorry.”
My stomach twisted at his pathetic apology. “Jump, Mason. It’s the only way you’ll get out of me killing you.”
When I was a few feet away from the bridge, I heard a yell. Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I dialed a number and brought it up to my ear. “Yeah, I’d like to report an accident.” I gave the 911 operator all of the details and hung up before they could ask me for my name. Taking a step toward the bridge, my eyes scanned the ground beneath it.
Mason was lying there, clutching his knee.
Even fr
om where I was standing, I could see that it had bent the wrong way when he landed. Blood seeped from a spot at his head. A bone protruded from his jeans just under his knee. His cheeks were coated in tears. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, but it would have to do.
“Help me,” I heard him say.
My stomach tightened. A part of me wanted to go to him. To help him. To get him to safety but I couldn’t. He needed to know and understand.
Others would have used brute force but not me. Not when I had a family of my own that I had to get home to. I couldn’t jeopardize that happiness just for revenge.
Mason should have gone somewhere else. Somewhere that had enough water beneath the bridge, that when he jumped, the only thing he would have to worry about was drowning. Instead, he had to worry about bleeding out. He was lucky that making him jump was the only thing I did to him, but I had Gigi and Hannah to get home to. I refused to go to them with that darkness tainting my soul.
He just better pray that I never saw him again because making him jump off a bridge would be the last thing he would have to worry about.
Gigi
It had been a few weeks since I was shot. I was healing nicely, and we were finally bringing Hannah home from the hospital.
Ever since he had found out what Mason and Tenise had done, there was an edge to Vince. Something happened but he never told me what. I didn’t press and knew that if he needed me, I would be there. Until then, I left it alone.
Vince pulled us up in front of a house sitting on a large property. It was surrounded by trees. The house was just outside the city. It was close enough that it wouldn’t take long to get back into town but far enough that the road wasn’t overrun with traffic.
“Whose house is this?” I asked, looking back at Vince.
He winked, killing the engine and leaving the car.
I opened the passenger door as he came around to my side of the vehicle and held out his hand. I slipped my fingers between his, letting him help me out of the car. “Vince.”
“So impatient.” He chuckled, placing a soft peck on my forehead before going to the back of the car and pulling the car seat out of it. Hannah was sound asleep. She looked so peaceful. Not like she had almost lost her life. “Come.” Vince kicked the door closed and came up to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me up the sidewalk to the front porch.
“I’m not impatient you know. I just have no idea what we’re doing here.”
“I’ll tell you in a moment.” He went up the steps and unlocked the front door. “Ready?” He pushed it open and stepped to the side. “After you, Gigi.”
I had no idea what was going on but went into the house anyway. My eyes widened at what laid before me. To the right was a large living room. To the left, a set of stairs went up to a second floor. Straight ahead of me, was a hall that I could only assume led into the kitchen. “Vince, who lives here?”
“We do, baby.”
I spun around. “What?”
Vince placed the car seat on the floor, lowering to one knee. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a diamond ring.
I gasped, covering my mouth. “Vince.”
“From the first moment I remember meeting you, I’ve been in love with you. I made it my mission to crack down your walls and show you that even though you no longer had the career you wanted in dancing, that you could still be happy.”
I lowered to my knees, covering his hands with mine.
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to mine. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Gigi. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I threw my arms around his neck and crushed my mouth to his, knocking him back onto his ass.
He chuckled, hooking an arm around my middle. “You’ve made me the happiest man in existence.” He slipped the ring onto my finger. It had a gold band with a single solitaire diamond. It was perfect. “You hear that, baby girl?” he asked Hannah. “Your mama is going to finally make an honest man out of me.”
I laughed, kissing him fully on the mouth. “I love you.” I kissed him again. “I love you so damn much,” I said between pecks.
“And I love you.” His hands cupped my ass, pulling me flush against him. “Let me give my girls a tour and then later…” His thumb brushed along my bottom lip.
A sly grin spread on my face. “You want to christen the house?” I asked, waggling my eyebrows.
“I want to give you a special tour. Later.”
“I like that idea.” I sealed it with a kiss, a silent promise that I refused to break.
Later that evening, we were lying in bed. Holding, touching, just being together in a way that we almost lost.
Because of Tenise and Mason, everything could have turned out much worse. Vince never told me what happened with Mason, but I knew he had confronted him. How could he not? All he told me was that Mason ended up in jail with a few bumps and bruises and maybe a broken bone or two.
I shivered at the thought of Vince losing his temper like that.
It had been a few hours since Vince proposed. He promised over and over again how he would take care of me. Take care of us. He truly showed me that he was determined to break down my walls.
An impromptu one-night stand so many years ago started our obsession.
And now we were together.
As a couple.
As a family.
Finally, after all of this time, we were one.
Vince
I slipped my fingers between Gigi’s, glancing at our wedding rings. All this time after so many years of doing what I could to make her mine, she was finally, in fact, officially mine. In every sense of the word.
I ran my free hand along the scar on her lower abdomen, grazing it lower until my thumb brushed over the scar in her upper thigh. It had been over a year since she was shot by both Tenise and Mason. She still had nightmares, but they were getting few and far between as the days went by.
“Vince,” Gigi breathed, throwing her head back and rolling her hips against mine.
I was deep inside her body and as much as I wanted to control the movements, I was enjoying watching her take her pleasure from me. Her husband.
After everything that had happened, I never thought we would get to this point. We didn’t talk about how she almost died. And because of that, I never took her, or her feelings for me, for granted.
“Vince.” Gigi kissed me softly. “Stop thinking, baby. It’s just us. We’re fine. I’m fine. I promise you.”
She knew me too damn well.
I cupped her nape, deepened the kiss, and took over.
“Tell me a bedtime story,” Gigi murmured later that night.
My body stirred as she pushed her ass into me.
“Once upon a time, a boy loved a girl with everything he was made of. He finally got her to fall in love with him just the same and they started a new life together. After some minor setbacks, everything was perfect in their little world.” I kissed the side of her neck. “They had a baby girl who was the most perfect little baby.” I cupped Gigi’s chin, turning her head to face me. “And their love, it went deep. Deeper than anything either of them had ever felt before. The boy couldn’t wait to create more lives between them and spend the rest of his life with the girl. His love. His person.”
“The end,” Gigi whispered, her eyes welling.
“No, Queenie.” I kissed her nose. “This is only the beginning.”
***
(Gigi)
We had only been married for a few months before I found out I was pregnant with our second child.
I stared down at the test in my hand, hoping, no, praying that Vince wouldn’t be upset that we were having another baby and so soon. Especially when Hannah was still so young.
A warm body came up behind me. “Is that what I think it is?” Vince asked, slipping his arms around my middle.
“It is.” I turned in his arms. “Are you upset?”
He lowered
his mouth to mine, taking my very breath away. “Never,” he murmured, giving my lip a gentle bite.
I shivered. “God.” I pushed him back, shaking myself.
Vince chuckled. “You thought I’d be mad?”
“Well…Hannah is still a baby herself.” I shrugged, realizing how silly I sounded.
Vince smiled. “I love you, Gigi. I love Hannah and I’ll love this baby you’re currently carrying in your tight little body.” He brushed the back of his hand over my lower stomach.
I threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
He smirked, crushing his lips to mine. “No, thank you, Queenie. Thank you for giving your heart to me and thank you for being mine.”
After all this time. Through the heartbreak, pain, and fear, we were happy.
Finally.
Gigi
“I can’t believe we’re here.”
Vince looked down at me, keeping his hand firmly in mine. “We can go somewhere else. Or just go home.”
“No.” I smiled up at him. “I just…I’ve told you my fantasy, but I never thought we’d actually be doing it.”
“Why not?” He stopped me before we could enter the large building. “We’ve been married for over a year. Gotta keep things fresh, Queenie.”
“Things are always fresh,” I reminded him. “But it’s just a fantasy. I don’t think they come true for a lot of people.”
Vince pinched my chin, tilted my head back, and placed a soft peck on my lips. “You’re my wife. That means your fantasies are mine to fulfill.”
“Just like yours are mine to fulfill?” I asked, breathless.
He smirked against my mouth. “You fulfilled my fantasy the moment we fucked for the first time.”
I laughed, punching him lightly in the stomach and pushing out of his hold. I took a few steps away from him, staring up at the building that, if you hadn’t done your research ahead of time, you would never know was an actual BDSM club.
