He stares at me for a moment before turning back to the door. Just when I think he’s going to go after him, he turns, setting the gun back on the counter as he stalks across the floor and sits down next to me. Without a word, he pulls me into his arms and crushes me to his body. His hand slips into my hair and he massages the back of my head as I cry into his shirt, letting go of years of pain I’ve been hanging on to.
“I’m so fucking sorry, baby,” he whispers, his voice conveying the pain he’s feeling right now and I pull back, shaking my head as my lip wobbles.
“Please don’t ever apologize. You’re the first person in twelve years that’s been able to reach a part of me I thought died that night.”
His brow furrows and I’m surprised by the shimmer in his gaze. Is he crying for me? “God, I knew something bad had happened to you, but I never imagined… Do you know how badly I want to go after him right now? I want to make him hurt for every time I’ve seen this pain in your eyes. I want to make him suffer for even thinking of hurting you.”
“And that’s why I love you,” I whisper, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He fists my hair and takes over, kissing me with a desperation that I feel echoed through my own body.
“I love you, Princess. So much it would probably scare you, but I do.”
The three words I’ve been dying to hear from him mean so much more now that he knows the truth about my past and I can’t help but smile through the tears that are still slowly falling down my face.
“I’m not afraid of loving you anymore, Chance.”
He pulls me in and kisses me again, healing another little part of me. When he pulls away, he smiles and presses his forehead against mine.
“Damn. I’ve been waiting to hear you say that again since Wednesday night. I wasn’t gonna say it until you did.”
I laugh a little, shoving his shoulder before resting my head on it. “Ass.”
His arms wrap around me and we’re quiet for a moment before he whispers, “Will you tell me what happened?”
I nod. He knows the worst of it now and for some reason, talking to him about that night feels good – like I’m letting it all go. I start at the beginning, telling him about moving from New Orleans and meeting Austin. When I tell him I gave him my virginity, he lets out a growl but I keep going. As I start telling him about the night of the party, his body grows tense underneath me.
“When I woke up the next morning, all I could remember were these little flashes, but my body hurt so bad. I stumbled into my bathroom and I had bruises everywhere, around my neck, on my arms and legs. Ivy found me there and she and my mother rushed me to the emergency room.”
He squeezes me tighter, his jaw clenched in anger. “Please tell me they paid for what they did to you.”
“Not exactly,” I whisper. “I stayed home from school the next day and when Ivy came home, she was crying. Austin had taped the whole thing and it was everywhere. Everyone at school saw me getting raped but they all thought it was consensual. They thought I was just a slut who wanted to get fucked by seven different guys. When my mother found out, she was enraged. I thought she’d go to the police and finally be the mother I needed her to be but that’s not what happened.”
“What happened?”
Taking a deep breath, I try not to get angry as I tell this part of the story but it’s hard not to. “She gathered up all the reports from the doctors and the videotape before going to the families of the boys and blackmailing them.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he snaps, his body practically vibrating in anger. I climb off him and he stands up, pacing the room as he runs a hand through his hair. As much as I hate how upset he is, it feels amazing to have someone in my corner, someone who will fight for me, and someone I can trust with my life.
“No, I’m not. To this day, I have twelve million dollars sitting in my account that I refuse to touch.”
“Shit,” he hisses, stopping to look at me. “That’s where the money came from?”
I tilt my head to the side, studying him. “You know about the money?”
“Yeah,” he mutters, looking nervous. “Streak found it when I asked him to research you. I only asked though because I was trying to figure you out.” He meets my gaze. “You mad at me?”
“Maybe I should be but no, I’m not. I didn’t exactly give you much of a choice, did I?”
He shakes his head, sitting down next to me again. “That’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have done it and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re right. It won’t because anything you want to know from now on, just ask me. I love you, Chance, and I’m done taking things slow. I want this,” I say, taking his hand. “If you do.”
“Baby,” he says, kissing our laced fingers. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you. Just took me a bit longer to convince you.”
I roll my eyes, despite the fact he’s saying everything I’ve wanted to hear since I first realized I was in love with him. “You just wanted to fuck me in the beginning.”
“No, this was more than that from the start and you know it.”
I can’t deny his words. Even when I was fighting with everything I have, this was more than just sex. We were always meant to be more.
“Since I was a little kid, I always wanted a family of my own, a real family where the dad stuck around and the mom wasn’t drunk all the time but no one ever fit the bill until I met you, Carly. Hell, maybe that’ll scare you, but I’ve known since I first saw you standing in Ali’s living room that there was something special about you. You were made for me.”
Biting my lip, I swing my leg over his thighs, my skirt bunching up around my hips, and face him as I press him back into the couch. His expression morphs into one of surprise.
“Are you sure?” he asks and I lay my finger over his lips, telling him to be quiet. After everything that’s happened today, this is exactly what I need and he’s not going to stop me.
His eyes soften as he slips his hand into my hair, cupping the back of my neck as he pulls me forward onto his waiting lips. He kisses me with reverence, spilling the love he’s been holding back into one single kiss and I melt in his lap, finally at peace in a way I’ve never been before. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he stands with me in his arms and doesn’t pull away until he gets to my bedroom and lays me down on the bed.
“I love you,” he whispers, meeting my eyes briefly before he leans in and presses a quick kiss on my lips. His hands slip under my shirt as he starts peppering kisses down my neck. I arch into his touch as he trails his fingers over my skin, caressing me softly instead of going for my tit or clit like he normally would. He’s worshipping me tonight and after all the memories that have popped up over the last thirty minutes, it’s exactly what I need.
“Chance,” I breathe out, gripping the back of his shirt as he moves down to kiss my belly and I pull it over his head. It doesn’t even slow him down. He pushes my shirt up and presses his lips to my belly before swirling his tongue across it and I grip the sheet underneath me, arching off the bed again.