I Won't Give Up

by Sophie Monroe

  “Hello.” Levi answered.

  “Dad.” She said. “Yes. I’m okay, I don’t know where I am.” Giovanni put his hand out and put the phone on speaker.

  “Mr. Prescott do you have the demanded ransom?”

  “I’m working on it, it’s hard being that it’s the weekend.”

  “Well work a little harder, especially if you’d like to see your daughter again.” Then he hung up the phone.

  “Take them to the loft and hold them there until I say.” He demanded to Carl.

  I followed them to the loft back on the third floor.

  “Don’t try anything we’ll be right outside the door.” Carl said with a wink closing the door behind him. I knew he was putting on a show for the other guys. I locked it as soon as it was shut. Hopefully this nightmare would be over soon. I walked over and placed Fiona on the bed, she curled up into a little ball. I bent down and I kissed her forehead; I could tell she was tired both physically and emotionally. Then it hit me, they weren’t as smart as they thought they were since they never thought to frisk me and I still had my cell. I pulled it out and texted Luke what was going on, I turned it off and put it back in my pocket. I climbed into bed next to Fiona. I turned her towards me cradling my arms tightly around her, savoring every inch of her beautiful face.

  “I’m sorry.” She choked.

  “Shhh.” I tried to soothe her.

  “No, please let me explain.” I nodded. “I should have given us a chance after Levittown. I was too scared to let you in. I didn’t think I was capable of loving you. But I love you Cooper, so much, I think I loved you before our last night together but that night I heard you say you loved me in your sleep. That’s when I really realized I was in love with you. I was so scared. I was afraid, afraid you’d be just like the others.” She admitted. “Then I found out about Riley and it really hit me but I...I thought it was too late.” She sobbed. “I was too busy trying to protect myself I didn’t see the danger lurking right in front of me.”

  “Garrett has quite a way with words, he can be very convincing.” I sighed knowing all too well how convincing he could be.

  “I thought he was helping me, we spent a lot of time together, I thought I might have even been falling for him. I see now that there’s only ever been you Cooper, I’ll only ever want you.” Her words cut me but she loved me.

  “Stop. I love you too and we’ll have plenty of time for you to get used to how it’s going to be when we get out of here. I promise I’ll never hurt you Fiona.” She seemed to relax slightly. “Does this mean you’ll be my girlfriend?”

  “Yes.” She smiled.

  “Okay I’ve had enough talking for now.” I crashed her lips to meet mine and the bond was set. We kissed for what didn’t seem nearly long enough. I grazed my hands up her back, her hair, and her beautiful face. I guess I was trying to reassure myself that I was actually awake.

  “What’s going to happen tonight?” She asked.

  “I’m going to fight.” I said ashamed.

  “Is that why you’re such a good fighter? Did you used to fight for him? He seemed like he knew you.”

  There was a knock at the door.

  “It’s time.” Carl said handing me a bag. “For Fiona. I won’t let anything happen to her. Promise.” I handed the bag to Fiona it was some clothes. A pair of black sweats, a ribbed white tank and a hoodie. I was thankful since she just had the robe from earlier. She dressed quickly. I held her hand tightly as we were ushered down the hallway. We were led to a waiting car and driven to the fight location. I was exhausted but I knew what I had to do and if it meant keeping her safe I’d cut off my right arm; not my left cause I’d need that for my wedding band one day. We were led through a maze of corridors in an old warehouse. I saw the familiar ring that was set up. The room was already filled with spectators, mostly other members of mob. They loved to bet on fights. Carl was standing with us, he looked at me and nodded I knew I had no choice but to trust him.

  Giovanni came up next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

  “You’ll be fighting Chris Venture. You know what to do and what I’ll do if you lose.” I winced knowing it would have something to do with Fiona. He ushered me to the ring and I climbed in pulling my shirt off and tossing it in the corner. I looked at Fiona who was pale and shaking, it was all the motivation that I needed. I looked at my opponent who was a pretty big guy probably around my height, built with blonde hair and a tan. He probably worked on a farm or something.

  “Gentleman you know the rules. There are none.” He cackled.

  I studied him to study how he moved. He was slow and seemed to prefer his feet over his hands. He stepped forward and raised his left leg trying to knock my legs out, great a wanna be karate kid. I jumped out of the way as we started the game of cat and mouse. He tried the same thing a couple more times before I made my move hoping he’d tire fast so we could get this over with and I could get back to Fiona. I saw my opening and I squared a punch right below his right eye, his cheek was already swelling. He came at me swinging. I boxed him again this time on the left side next to his ear. He lunged at me with his hands aiming for my throat, he just grazed me but I wasn’t enough to hurt. I landed a kick to his kidneys. He was obviously an unskilled fighter and definitely not trained in hand to hand. He managed a roundhouse kick to my ribcage. I winced, he may have even re-broke a couple. Fuck. It hurt. I quickly regained myself I saw an opening and took it landing a punch to his nose making him fall back. I climbed on top of him and continued my relentless pursuit until I heard Fiona start screaming, only then did I stop.

  The ref held a hand out pulling me to my feet declaring me the winner. I thanked all that was holy and went to go get my girl. I breezed by everyone including Giovanni who looked like he had something to say. That was the longest ten minutes of my life.

  “Well done kid.” Carl said when I reached them.

  “Hey Crash you okay?” She looked like she’d seen a ghost she was so pale and tears were streaming down her face. She didn’t say anything but she put her hand on my cheek and looked at me letting me know she was.

  “You’ve done this kind of thing before.” She asked softly but it was a statement not a question. I felt a knot form my gut and nodded. I didn’t want her to see my any differently.

  “This was my life before you. I didn’t want you to find out like this.” I said ashamed.

  “Is he dead?” She asked pointing to Chris.

  “No but he’s going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up.”

  “Will you tell me about it now?”

  “Another time okay?” Now I was going to have to tell her, I’d omit the real bad stuff but she deserved the truth.

  “Okay.” I leaned in and kissed her quickly so desperate for the feel of her lips. She kissed me back tears still silently falling down her face and I knew we’d get through this.

  “I see you haven’t lost your touch. Marco’s been wanting this to happen for a while, it was supposed to be Garrett but I think I would have lost then.” Giovanni said. I gave him a curt nod.

  “Very well. Carl will see to it that you get back to the house. I have some business to attend to.”

  When we finally arrived back to the house it was the middle of the night. We were escorted to the loft. I closed the door, locking it behind me.

  “Hey, I’m going to take a shower want to take one with me?” She looked so broken. She headed towards the bathroom leaving her clothes in a pile by the door. She turned the shower on letting the room fill up with steam. She took my hand and climbed in.

  “All I can smell is he. Wash him off me. Please.” She pleaded. I rubbed some body wash in my hands and lingered over every part of her until she seemed satisfied.

  “Better?”

  “Much, thank you.” Our lips crashed together. I would never get sick of this. We kissed until she pulled away, she smiled up at me slightly. I kissed her forehead and brushed her hair with my fingers.


  “Come on. It’s late, we’re both exhausted let’s go to bed.” I grabbed a towel and wrapped her up then did the same to myself. We climbed into bed I pulled her as close as I could until we drifted to sleep.

  When I opened my eyes I saw light filtering through the window. I shook Fiona awake. I handed her my t-shirt to put on since we were both naked but she placed it besides her. I knew she didn’t want to wear the clothes from the night before since she said they smelled like Garrett.

  She rubbed her hands up and down my chest before straddling her legs around me so our bare chests were touching. Her lips met mine kissing greedily.

  “Now’s not the time baby.” I told her wishing it were different, I’d like to have a whole day in bed just the two of us and as soon as we got out of here I planned to do just that; I wanted to memorize every part of her. She looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I knew I was doomed; I needed her just as much. I needed to feel that connection, to become one.

  “I don’t care, please. I love you. I need you.” She pleaded between kisses.

  I couldn’t resist. I tried not to seem over eager. I rolled her onto her back and resumed our kiss, trailing kisses down her neck until I got to her chest. I took her nipple into my mouth making her moan quietly, I massaged her with my other hand until I felt like she was wet enough that I wouldn’t hurt her. I moved back up to her lips and slowly eased myself into her, it was better than I remembered and that was saying something because I was pretty sure it was heaven. I started slowly moving in and out savoring her warmth. I felt her muscles start to tighten and I knew she was close, I nipped her ear lightly with my teeth and whispered “I love you” and that sent her over the edge, I followed shortly after. I guess I should have pulled out but frankly I’d already planned on marrying her so a baby would just speed that up a little. I kissed her and pulled my shirt over her head noticing that it was a little short still skimming the top of her thigh so I pulled my boxers up her legs and folded them over a few times making them like shorts. I was fine just in my jeans I’d walk around naked if it meant that she was comfortable. She took my arm and looked at my newest tattoo.

  “I can’t believe you did this.” She laughed. I missed that sound.

  “Well you know what they say about love, it makes you do stupid things. Though I wouldn’t call this stupid.” I was serious too I would never consider it a mistake no matter what the outcome was, she would always have a piece of my heart.

  “Well I’m glad I get to be stupid with you boyfriend.” She said smiling. It was a genuine smile to which made my heart do a little flip. I kissed her nose and pulled her close to me wishing more than anything that we were anywhere but here. We laid there for a little while talking about what we were going to do when we got out of here.

  There was a knock at the door but when I opened it but it wasn’t Carl I was suddenly really concerned. He told us that we were being moved. I took Fiona’s hand and kept her carefully placed so she was beside me but a little ways behind me incase I needed to fight. We walked down the corridors down to the front door where a few more men were waiting. When he opened the door Garrett’s black Tahoe was waiting. He was in the driver’s seat with an asshole grin on his face.

  “No way, we are not going anywhere with him.” I shouted.

  “Boss’ orders.” One of the henchman said.

  “I don’t give two shits whose orders they are. He’s gonna try and kill us.”

  This could not be happening right now. He was trying to move us closer to the SUV when out of nowhere a gunshot was fired. The goon that had his hand wrapped around Fiona’s forearm went down. The others started looking around to where the shot came from when another shot went off, it didn’t hit anything but it was enough to make them take cover. It was obviously someone trying to help us or at least I’d hoped. I took the opportunity to start swinging. I took out the one to my right he wasn’t very big and an easy target, I locked him in a chokehold until he was unconscious. The one behind me tried to put me in a headlock but I used my head to crack into his nose giving me the upper hand and knocking him out. That’s when I saw a black Range Rover come barreling through the gate. Luke. There were only two more guys standing in our way of freedom and Garrett.

  “Get in.” Luke shouted I practically pushed Fiona into the back seat and was almost in myself when I felt a sharp pain in my side I saw Garrett standing there with a gun in his hand. I some how climbed the rest of the way into the car.

  “Oh my God.” Fiona shouted. Luke stepped on the gas with the door wide-open flying out of the driveway. He barely stopped at the corner and picked up Carl. He must’ve been the one that fired the shots. My side was burning and my insides felt like they were on fire.

  “He’s bleeding do something.” Fiona cried.

  “Hold on.” Luke said. He started heading for Mercy General. My body was going into shock. I closed my eyes slipping in and out of consciousness.

 

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Damn Regret

  Fiona

  I can’t believe that it was Garrett that was holding me captive like this. I finally figured out that the other voice belonged to that asshole Eli. They were talking in hushed whispers when a phone started ringing. I was pretending to still be passed out.

  “Yo.” Eli said.

  “Yeah Dad I’ll be right down.” He said hanging up the phone. “I gotta go help my dad with something.”

  “That’s fine. I’ve got plans with her anyways.” His tone gave me goose bumps. I heard him open the door. I wished I could see where I was but he didn’t remove the blindfold. He grabbed my wrists and I started to panicking. I tried to struggle. I felt him slap me in the face. He pulled my shirt over my head before he slammed my wrists against something metal and hard before securing them too tightly.

  “What should I do first you little tease?” Garrett said pulling my jeans off harshly.

  “Stop you’re hurting me.” I pleaded. He ripped my panties off with much more force than necessary than did the same with my bra until I was completely naked.

  “I want you to watch.” He said taking the blindfold off. He was fully clothed except his fly was undone and his erection was bobbing freely. I felt the bile rise in my throat. I was sick to my stomach at the fact that here I was about to be raped. I couldn’t believe this was the same guy that I trusted. I tried to remain calm.

  “Open wide princess.”

  I couldn’t help it I started screaming. Please someone, anyone help me. Almost on cue the door flew open. Cooper!

  I couldn’t believe he was actually here. He ran up and punched Garrett in the back of the head but he didn’t go down. I saw Cooper take everything in, while he was side tracked Garrett got a punch in; the scuffle ensued. Cooper landed a few more punches before grabbing a tie from a bathrobe that was lying on the floor and rolling him on his stomach securing his legs and hands together. I was shaking uncontrollably. How did he find me? He picked me up and started heading down the hallway when a large domineering man appeared, I saw Eli come into view and I started shaking again, his face went ghost white. Good you fucking bastard.

  I nuzzled my face into Coopers neck and took a deep breath and closed my eyes I felt his grip on me tighten. He was my safety. A big ugly guy walked up to Cooper and looked like he was going to try and take me from him. I tightened my arms into a vice like grip. Cooper looked at him like he was going to kill him while wearing me. Giovanni saw and waved his hand for us to proceed. We walked with them downstairs with the other’s close behind. We ended up at of a pair of double doors to what I assumed was his office. It was a large room that smelled like leather and cigars. There was a mahogany desk that sat in front of a wall off windows there were two brown leather wingback chairs in front of the desk. Giovanni walked to the back and took a seat.

  “Please take a seat.” He ordered. Cooper keeping a firm hold on me.

  “Okay, where do we begin?” Giovanni said.

  “
It was all Garrett’s idea.” Eli said feigning innocence.

  “Yes we’ve already determined that. Where is Garrett? And how did this plan come about?”

  “I don’t know where he is, he was with Fiona. We met her a month ago, we didn’t know who she was at the time but then he put two and two together then Garrett saw it as a perfect opportunity to pull some weight for the ‘family’.”

  I couldn’t listen anymore. I tuned everything out and focused on counting Cooper’s heartbeats until he stood up. A young guy probably only a few years older than us lead us to what appeared to be a foyer.

  “Are you okay?” He whispered. Was I okay? I’ve never been less okay in my life. I shook my head no.

  “I love you.” I needed to hear him say that. I kissed him quickly to assure myself that he was really here. I think he needed the same reassurance.

  “Cooper, I love you too you know.”

  “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

  “Pst…” I looked at the guy that we had followed out here.

  “Hey Carl.”

  “Listen Coop this shit ain’t right. The fights, everything else…well they ain’t really right either but kidnapping this is a whole new low even for Giovanni.” I wondered how they knew each other, he looked older than us but maybe they went to school together before he moved.

  “Not much we can do about it now is there.” Cooper’s voice sounded grim.

  “Nah not really but I’ll make sure you’re safe while you’re here. ‘Kay kid.”

  “Thanks Carl.”

  My body was in shock and I kept dozing in and out in the comfort of Cooper’s arms. I felt so safe even though that was probably the furthest thing from the truth. He was my charm and I was his bad luck though for whatever reason I think he thought that I was prize. They called us back to the office.