by Vi Keeland
“Yeah, what I’m about to give you isn’t going to be ephemeral.”
***
Lying in bed sated, my ear pressed to his chest, I listen as Vinny’s heart beats steadily. The sound soothes me, leaving me feeling replete, a feeling I’ve come to cherish after so many months of chaos swirling around us. Thinking back, things could have gone so differently. The press had a field day with Vinny’s admission. Months of nonstop badgering from reporters could have taken its toll, but instead, somehow, it bound us even tighter. Me and Vinny against the world.
After giving the exclusive story to the Daily Sun Times in exchange for my job, we hung low for a while. Vinny needed to recover physically from his fight and mentally from the toll the last 25 years had taken on him. Preach, Nico’s old trainer, loaned us his lake house, a serene, picturesque hideaway where we could escape the hordes of reporters and photographers vying for a piece of Vinny.
Like Vinny, Senator Knight eventually gave the media his side of the story, falling far short of full disclosure, although finally admitting to a one night drunken affair. Mrs. Knight stood dutifully by his side the entire time, a plastered smile on her perfectly made up face. I noticed Jax was suspiciously missing from all of the family photos aimed at restoring the Senator’s public image, but I kept my thoughts to myself.
“I have to get up soon.” Vinny strokes my head as he speaks.
“I know. But I’m so comfy.” I snuggle closer to him, his warm body feeling incredible flush against mine. My body uncaring that it just spent the last hour greedily consuming his, the desire for more of him is just never quelled. Selfishly, I want to stay in bed all day, forget the ride they have planned, and keep him all to myself. I’m worried that today will be hard on him. Nico, on the other hand, thinks it will be good for Vinny. Help him get past the sour memory of his lost father by riding in the Veteran’s fundraising motorcycle run again this year. I’m not so sure. The loss to Vinny, of a father that never really was, came harder than anything else. He grieved the loss of a man he honored from the time he was a child. A veteran that he clung to for purpose in his darkest hours.
As Vinny gets dressed, I’m still undecided on giving him what I’ve planned. For five weeks, I’ve tossed the idea back and forth, one day thinking it was a great idea, the next wondering if I was crazy for even considering giving it to him.
Eventually, we both begin to get dressed. “You okay?” I sit on the bed next to Vinny. He’s been quiet since he got back out of bed.
He nods silently, seemingly lost in thought. “There’s lots of Veterans out there that should be honored. I keep telling myself it’s not about me. But it’s hard not to be reminded.” He pauses. “I don’t know, I feel like I lost someone, yet I never really had them to lose.”
My decision finally made for me, I walk to my purse and pull out an envelope. Removing a single page I’d written and balled up so many times, I offer it to the man I love as comfort. Vinny takes it and begins reading.
Staff Sargent Charles Fisher, Jr.
3/30/1960–1/19/1988.
Survived by his parents, Charles Fisher, Sr. and Laura Cantly Fisher, Staff Sargent Charles Fisher, Jr. was laid to rest on January nineteenth, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight.
A dedicated, two tour military hero, Sgt. Fisher was killed in the line of duty in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Three days before the end of his second tour, Sgt. Fisher was passing through Helmand in route to the US Embassy, when he came upon a bus exploded by the detonation of a suicide bomber.
Acting quickly, and without regard for his own safety, Sgt. Fisher dragged seven children from the burning vehicle while under enemy fire. As he removed the final child, insurgents moved in closer, finding a new target for their hostile fire, hitting Sgt. Fisher five times. All victims were rushed to a nearby military hospital. Miraculously, all seven children survived. Sgt. Fisher was pronounced dead on arrival.
A look of confusion on Vinny’s face, I remove the dog tags he’d ripped off his neck the day he found out the truth about his father.
“These dog tags belong to a hero. I researched the ID number. The man you’ve honored by wearing them may not be your father, but I thought you would be proud to wear them today anyway.”
Vinny closes his eyes for a minute and I watch as his throat works to swallow. Eyes opening to a window of emotion, pain that was only just recently in the forefront being overshadowed by caring and love, he leans down and lowers his head. Gently, I slip the worn tags around his neck, softly kissing his cheek.
Vinny pulls me against his chest for a hug, wrapping his arms around me tightly. “You rewrote the ending of my story with the truth.”
I smile against his chest. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but I guess I did. Releasing his grip on me, Vinny pulls his head back enough to look into my eyes. His baby blues shoot an arrow straight through my heart, “I’m rewriting the ending to our story, Liv. I’m giving you your happily ever after. I promise.”
Finally, more than seven years in the making, I have no doubt that he will.
*****
Dear Readers,
If you liked Vince & Liv, then please check out Jax & Lily this Spring. Growing up the privileged son of a wealthy Senator, Jax Knight followed the path he was expected to follow. But after realizing everything he grew up believing was a lie, he decides it’s time to forge his own way. And for the first time in his life, things don’t come easy. Especially love. The MMA Fighter series concludes in Worth Forgiving, the story of Jax & Lily.
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Other Books by Vi Keeland
Worth the Fight
http://www.amazon.com/Worth-Fight-Vi-Keeland-ebook/dp/B00FLG5B9S
Belong to You
http://www.amazon.com/Belong-You-Cole-Novel-ebook/dp/B00BUTCXLE
Made for You
http://www.amazon.com/Made-You-Cole-Novel-ebook/dp/B00DPWVKS6
First Thing I See
http://www.amazon.com/First-Thing-I-See-ebook/dp/B00AWXY3HG
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Acknowledgements
To Andrea, how did I make it through the day before you? I’m not even sure where to begin. Thank you for beta reading (the same book a dozen times), midnight stalking, 5AM chats, and your constant support and guidance. I can’t believe it took us so long to find our friendship when it was clearly meant to be.
To some very special women, Carmen, Jen, Dallison, & Nita, thank you, thank you, thank you! For beta reading, editing, honesty, support and friendship.
Thank you so much to all of the bloggers that generously give their time to read and support Indie Authors! Without your support, our stories would not be read by so many!
Finally, thank you so much to all the readers. It is so much fun to create stories when you have amazing readers to love your characters. Keep your notes coming, I truly love hearing from you!
All my best,
Vi
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapte
r 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Epilogue