Worth the Fight
Page 28
“Yes, of course.”
I answer questions for the next twenty-minutes. I answer as best as I can. Who Nico is to me. Why I was here. Why I was locked up. Why he was holding a gun to me and Phoenix. Everything and anything they could think of, it was asked.
“Are we done yet?” My patience is running thin and the pain in my arm is intensifying. I don’t want to stand here all day answering questions when I don’t know the answer to most of them. I’ve helped them as best as I can. Now I just want to cuddle my boyfriend and go home.
Home. Where is home?
“Yes, miss, that will be all for now. If we have any further questions, we will be in touch.”
I nod my head and go to find Phoenix.
He was escorted outside to the ambulance as soon as they arrived.
I spot him quickly when I walk out of the house. It’s getting dark out, the wind is picking up, and there is a crisp chill to the air. I wrap my good arm around myself as my body wracks with a shiver. I’m not dressed for such weather in my running clothes.
I make my way over to Phoenix.
“Are you finished?” he asks, pulling me to step in between his legs.
I wrap my arm around his neck, being careful of his arm, which is now in a sling.
I sigh. “Yup. They asked me all sorts of questions, most of which I didn’t know how to answer. My brain is fried.”
Phoenix chuckles. “I’m sure they will want to talk to me at some point.”
“That can wait. Is your arm okay?”
“Nothing that a few stitches and rest won’t fix. I was told that I need taking care of. Fancy being my bitch, woman?”
I slap his good arm. “No, I fucking don’t, you sexist pig!”
He bursts out laughing. “Sweetheart, we both know that you’ll end up looking after me. How could you just leave me, the wounded, to fend for myself?” He pouts.
Oh, God. I can’t keep a straight face. I’m trying really hard too.
“You are too much, Phoenix James. Do you know that?” I can’t hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing.
I hiss, the pain from my injured arm shooting through my body.
“Shit, your arm. You need to get that seen to.” I nod. I do.
A little while later, after I’ve been checked out, only finding out that I’ve just twisted my arm funny and that I have a cut in my cheek, we’re finally ready to go home.
“C’mon, let’s go home. I need some rest and to watch you make me some dinner.” Another smack to the chest. “Okay, I’ll watch you call for takeout.”
“That I can do.”
Phoenix’s warm hand rests round my shoulder as we head toward my car.
We stop next to his car. “Take my car.”
“Phoenix, I am not driving that beast. I don’t even think my feet would be able to reach the pedals. Hell, I probably wouldn’t be able to see out of the windshield.”
He chuckles and shakes his head at me.
Reaching my car, I open the passenger side, open the door, and help Phoenix get comfy. Then I run around to my side and get in.
“Sir, we found a body!” a police officer shouts, coming out of the building.
I snap my head in Phoenix’s direction. I can feel the blood draining from my face. They’re going to find out that it was him. I’m going to lose him.
“They’re going to know it was you,” I whisper quietly enough that only Phoenix hears.
His eyes widen a fraction before returning back to normal.
“I saw you.”
“Let’s talk about this back at my apartment. Now isn’t the time or the place.” I nod, close the door, and after starting the engine, drive off.
Nobody questions why we’re leaving. I’m pretty sure we’ll be hearing from the police pretty soon. First off, I need to find out what is going to happen to Phoenix when they find out.
I put my foot down on the accelerator, hurrying home.
****
I’m pacing.
I settled Phoenix on the sofa, got us both a drink – a glass of red wine, I need something stronger than water – and now I’m pacing.
Back and forth. Back and forth.
“Sweetheart, you’re going to burn a hole in my carpet if you carry on,” Phoenix jokes.
I stop pacing and level him with a glare.
“This isn’t a joking matter, Phoenix. They’re going to find out it was you who killed him, and you will go to prison. I can’t lose you. I’ve just gotten you back.” I’m losing my shit.
My fingers run through my hair, gently tugging.
Even though my father is locked up, he’s still ruining our lives. When will it end?
“Emilia, sit down and then we’ll talk.” He’s calm, but I detect the demand in there.
I do as I’m told.
Picking up my glass of wine from the table, I down it in one go. I need more. In fact, I need the rest of that bottle with the way today is going. I jump up from the sofa, rush into the kitchen, and refill my glass. Carrying the half empty bottle, I place it on the coffee table along with my now full glass.
“Okay, talk.”
“I think, first of all, you should tell me what you were doing there in the first place?”
I sigh. “I followed you, Phoenix. I heard your conversation with my father. I’d been stirring about it all day today. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. When I came here and you told me to wait, I couldn’t, not knowing what I knew. I don’t know why I had to see for myself. You’ve told me repeatedly to trust you, and I do.” Hurt flashes in his eyes. “I don’t know. I guess I’m a sucker for torture. I know I shouldn’t have watched, but I didn’t understand. Why did you go along with it, when you promised me that you were trying to find a way to get out?”
Now Phoenix sighs, loudly.
“Emilia, Emilia, Emilia. What am I going to do with you?” My eyes hold his, the hurt now gone, being replaced with something else, though I’m not sure what it is… “I was finding a way to get out, and now I have.” I open my mouth to ask how, but Phoenix holds up his hand, silencing me. “We’ll talk about that in a minute. I only ever started working for your father so that he would leave you alone. I was fed up of him hurting you, sweetheart. It tortured me to see him ruining your spirit and controlling you. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it, so when he made me a proposition, I took it. I’ve been waiting until I was strong enough, smart enough, to be able to make sure that I destroyed him. There was never any doubt that I couldn’t. I had to do it for my parents, and most importantly, for you.”
“I’m so sorry about your parents. You must miss them.”
“I do. Every day. They died to help your Mom and you. They didn’t deserve to die, but they wouldn’t have had it any other way. They wouldn’t have let you be ruined by Nico, but as long as I have you, I’ll be fine. I’ve had years to grieve for their loss. With you, though, a million years wouldn’t be enough.”
Phoenix scoots closer to me, until his knee is brushing against mine. The contact sends a jolt of electricity through my body, setting me on fire. The simplest of his touches does that to me. My eyes close when he cups my face. I push into his palm, reveling in his touch. It’s delicate and gentle.
“We can’t get back the time we missed when we were apart, but don’t think for one second that I didn’t know how you were or what you were doing. I knew every little thing you did. I watched from the sidelines, waiting for the day that I could try to make you mine again.”
“You were very persistent,” I murmur, opening my eyes.
“I wasn’t giving up without a fight for you, sweetheart. You’re worth it and so much more.”
“I was such a bitch to you though. You didn’t deserve that.”
“You weren’t a bitch. You were just hurt. You thought I had hurt you. Your trust was shattered by me, and I led you to believe that I had betrayed you. I didn’t expect my fight to be an easy fight. Like I said, you were worth it and so much more.�
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I smile. I can’t help it. He’s such a romantic at heart.
My romantic.
“I’m glad you didn’t give up on me. I’m glad you pushed and pushed, pissing me off in the process.”
Phoenix leans forward, resting his head in the crook of my neck, and chuckles.
“I’m glad I pissed you off.” His breath tickles my neck, my body becoming covered in goosebumps. Fuck, I’m getting turned on. This can’t happen right now, not whilst Phoenix is hurt.
I put some space between us and move back. Phoenix raises his eyebrows in question, dropping his good arm on the back of the sofa.
I give him a sheepish smile.
“We need to talk. We can’t do that when you’re breathing on my neck and putting that sexual power over me that you have. You need to rest, remember!” I scold playfully, wagging my finger at him.
“Sexual power, eh? Am I turning you on by breathing down your neck and cupping your face?” His voice goes down a few octaves. He’s getting to his bedroom voice – low and sexy.
“As sad as it sounds, yes, you are, and that can’t happen right now.”
“And why not?”
“Because, Phoenix, you have a bullet wound that needs to heal, and we have talking to do.”
Even with only one good arm, his strength is unbelievable. In one swift movement, his arm is underneath my bottom, and then I’m being transferred into his lap. I screech in shock and wrap my arms around his neck.
“This is much better. Where were we?” He starts trailing kisses from behind my ear, down my neck. I moan. I can’t help it; it’s my ticklish spot, and he knows that.
“Phoenix, we need to stop.” I don’t push him away though.
“Tell me that you want me to stop, and I will.”
His hand is removed from under my bottom, moving to trail over my leg to my thigh. His thumb starts rubbing the top of my leg through my leggings. I shudder. He’s so close…
“Tell me, Emilia, and I’ll stop.”
I can’t. I must though. But I can’t.
My body jolts as his hand rubs over my clothed pussy, the material of my panties rubbing against my clit.
“Too late,” Phoenix murmurs.
I’m spun around so that I’m now lying on my back on the sofa with Phoenix hovering over me. His eyes roam my body, gazing from my heaving chest down to my pussy, which I’m sure under all of these clothes is pulsating, swollen with lust.
My reply is a breathy moan.
As his lips come crashing down on mine, all thoughts of other conversations go flying out of the window. I can’t even remember my name right now, let alone what we need to talk about. It can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I need to get lost in this beautiful man, who can pleasure me like no other and love me like no other, going into the New Year with a bang.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
We never did get around to having that conversation. I found out a few days later, when the police came over to question Phoenix and ask me some more questions, that my father had ‘killed’ Joe. When the police had finished their investigating, Phoenix finally told me that he had set my father up. The gun my father held at us was actually that gun that Phoenix had used to shoot Joe. He planted it on the floor in the room, knowing that Nico would pick it up, therefore getting it covered in his fingerprints. That was his impulsive plan to get rid of my father, and thankfully, it worked.
I was angry for a few hours, but then I was relieved. Phoenix did that for us, to allow us to live without the clutches of my father around. For that, I am truly grateful.
It’s been two weeks since that day.
Zoe insisted that I take a few weeks off of work to get my ‘shit back together’, as she put it, and to relax. I protested, argued that I wanted to carry on working to give myself something to think about, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I’m glad because I got to spend a lot of time with Phoenix, just us, with no interruptions.
We’ve become inseparable. I’m no longer a bitch to him, and he’s no longer a cocky bastard; well, most of the time anyway. There are still moments when he grates on my nerves, but that’s a relationship. What’s a relationship without a little arguing? In fact, it was only yesterday I felt like hitting him over the head with a saucepan. I entertained the idea, although I’d never do it.
Talking about our relationship, it’s progressed quite fast. Yesterday, Phoenix asked me to move in with him. I freaked, of course. I said I’d let him know, left the apartment, and went to my own for a few hours. It was the easy way out, but I was freaked. It was all moving too fast for me, but after thinking it over for a few hours and with a little help from Maxine, I realized that I’m never at my apartment anyway. I’m wasting money, paying rent for it when I’m not actually living there.
The fact that I ran made it look like I didn’t have faith in our relationship; that I don’t think it will last. That couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s taken a while, but spending nearly every day with Phoenix for the past two weeks, and not wanting to kill him, has brought things to perspective for me. I want him, all of him, forever and always. I always have, ever since I was a little girl and he was just my best friend. That will never change, and I know that now. I could try to forget it, but it would never happen. He’s ingrained into my heart like a tattoo, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve asked myself on numerous occasions why I’ve finally been able to forgive him after I witnessed him killing another person. Wasn’t that the sole reason why I stopped talking to him in the first place all those years ago, because he was turning into my father? Then I remember everything he’s told me since we started talking to each other again – that even though at the time it didn’t feel like it, everything he did was for my safety, one way or another. Even though things went tits up, and my father was still abusing me even when he said that he’d stop, Phoenix did come through on his promise to save me. He saved me and so much more – he brought my mother back to me. I don’t even have to think twice about forgiving him, because at the end of the day, all that matters is our love.
After I’d seen sense, I went and apologized to Phoenix for doubting us, for doubting our love, and agreed to move in.
We’re officially in the next stage of our relationship.
Next step – marriage.
I’m not thinking about that yet. Maybe in a few years.
“Emilia, are you ready? We’re going to be late at this rate.” Phoenix asks, banging on the bathroom door where I’ve been holed up for the past fifteen minutes.
“I’ll be out in a minute, just touching up my make-up,” I lie.
“Okay, well, hurry up because we need to leave.”
I hear his footsteps retreating. I sag and exhale. I’ve been ready for nearly twenty minutes now, hiding in the bathroom like a child because I’m scared. I guess I need to search for my big girl panties and pull them up before Phoenix knocks down this door and drags me out.
I stand up and quietly open the door.
Okay, so I haven’t found my big girl panties yet – sue me.
“You finished hiding yet?” Phoenix asks, amused, standing with his shoulder resting against the doorjamb.
I jump back, nearly falling ass over tit.
“For God’s sake, Phoenix, do you have to creep up on me like that?” I all but screech. My heart is beating a million beats per minute right now.
“Well, I figured you weren’t going to come out with me in the room, so I was stealthy,”
“I can tell.” I deadpan.
“Are you ready to go? We’re going to be late if you carry on dawdling.” Phoenix pushes off from the doorjamb and walks over to close the window, always Mr. Safe when it comes to making sure everything is safe before we leave the apartment.
“Phoenix, I don’t think I can do this. Maybe I should cancel. It’s too soon,” I rush out.
He turns, walks over to me, and cups my cheek in the way that he does to sooth me. It works.
I keep forgetting that Phoenix would know. He was in contact with my mom for many years.
I sigh. “You’re right. I can’t keep cancelling. I at least owe her a chance to make things right. It wasn’t her fault that she had to leave. I just need to remember that.”
“Let’s go.”
I nod.
We decide to take Phoenix’s car. I don’t think I’m really in any state to drive. My legs are shaky as shit.
I’m silent on the drive to Coffee Beans, where we’re meeting my Mom. When I asked Phoenix to text her to make arrangements because I’m not ready yet, I said I wanted to meet at Coffee Beans, somewhere public. It’s safer for me, and that way I can get up and leave if things don’t turn out the way they’re supposed to. I really hope it doesn’t come down to that. I want my mom in my life. Every girl should have their mom in their life, and I’m no different. I want to be able to go on shopping trips with her, laugh when she tries on something that doesn’t suit her, do stupid things with her, and just become best friends like mothers and daughters should be. That’s why I’m nervous as hell. I’ve had nightmares the day before I’m supposed to be meeting her that she’s going to turn out exactly like my father, or admit that she never wanted me, which is why she left. Even though Phoenix reassured me that it’s not true, that my mom wants to get to know me more than anything, there’s always that little nagging feeling in the back of my mind. And lets face it; I’ve not exactly had the best role model for a parent. He didn’t exactly instill trust into me.
“We’re here,” Phoenix says, his deep voice startling me.
“I don’t even remember how we got here,” I admit.
“Look at me.” I do. “It’s alright to be nervous, but please have an open mind. This is going to be as hard for Lottie as it is for you. She lost her daughter too.” I nod.