Into The Deep

by T A. McKay

  “It wasn’t long after the big money starting coming in that Elle started to complain about not seeing enough of me, and no matter how much extra time I tried to give her, she was never happy. I soon realised that the thing that made her the happiest was when I was buying her things. Clothes, jewellery, holidays, you name it—I bought it. I should have seen the warning signs then but I was just happy to have someone by my side. The day I went for a ride to clear my head was the day I found out that she was cheating on me.” I can’t sit next to him and not touch him anymore. I need to have some sort of contact, so I reach out and entwine my fingers with his, hoping to give him some of my strength.

  “I'm sorry, Rocco. I know what it’s like to have someone cheat on you. There is nothing more humiliating than that.” He looks at me with an expression of pain.

  “That's the thing, Makenzie. I needed to clear my head because I wasn’t upset that she was cheating, I was relieved.” Wow. Not the experience I had when I found out about Carl and the devil woman.

  “That’s why I needed to get away, to think. And well, you know what happened when I was out. I don’t even know if I had made a decision about what I was going to do, but when I woke up it didn’t matter. When I opened my eyes in the hospital, I grabbed onto Elle with both hands and refused to let go. I needed her to be with me and no matter what she seemed to do, I was always willing to take it.” Even though I knew I wouldn’t like the answer to my next question, I needed to ask it.

  “What did she do to you, Rocco?” He uses the hand that I'm not holding, to scrub through his hair making it stick up slightly.

  “Wow. I never thought I would have to relive this again.” He lets out a huge breath. I move closer to him on the sofa, needing as little distance between us as possible.

  “Some things were worse than others. If she was in a good mood then there was a good chance the only thing she would do was ignore me. Other times, the times she would get angry, they were the times I wished I had my body back so I could have left. She spent the whole time in the hospital telling me how useless I was, how no woman would ever want my broken body. When you hear something enough you start to believe it.”

  “I think I remember hearing those words somewhere before.” I squeeze his hand, trying to make him feel better.

  “Ha, yeah. Well what can I say? When you are told something every day for a long time, you kinda start to believe it. So it might take me a little while to leave all that self-doubt behind, and believe what you are trying to say.” Dropping my hand, Rocco leans forward and refills my wine glass, picking it up and handing it to me.

  “Am I going to need this?” He gives a chuckle, but it doesn’t, even in the slightest, sound happy.

  “I will let you decide. Do you want me to continue?” I nod my head at him, taking a drink of wine to cover the fact that I don’t trust my voice.

  “It started off just verbal. She wanted me to know how much she was suffering, how much she was doing to help me; which is actually funny as she never once took me to my physical therapy appointments. Once I got released from the hospital it got worse. She was living with me by this point and there was no where I could go. I was still in a wheelchair when I first came home. It was before I started swimming, and I hardly had any strength and honestly I needed a lot of help. There were times I was stuck in bed while she went out with her lover.”

  The one thing I didn’t want to do was show any emotion during the story that Rocco was telling me, because I knew how important it was for him to get everything out. It was easier said than done as I could feel the tears building in my eyes. The lump in my throat is getting hard to swallow around, taking a shaky breath I try to calm my nerves. Rocco must have noticed my reaction, letting me see how bad of a job I'm doing of covering it. He takes the glass from my hand and places them back on the table. Sitting back he pulls me into him, turning me so my back is sitting against his chest; wrapping his arms around me, holding me tight. It is easier talking to him like this, having his warmth against me, and not having to look into his eyes.

  “Did she ever hurt you? Physically, I mean.”

  “A few times, only one time pretty bad. She’d been out with Jamie, that’s the guy she left me for, and she left me in bed to take care of myself. It was a bad day and the pain I was suffering made it difficult for me to move. I remember she was gone for hours, it had gotten dark outside and I was really hungry. I would have called Mason but if she had come home to him being there she wouldn’t be happy. They didn’t exactly get on.” I laugh thinking that must be the understatement of the year. I know how much Mason hates her, even now.

  “He may have mentioned his love for her, just a little.”

  “Yeah, Mason doesn’t have any problem letting people know he hates her, but I can’t blame him. I think he always knew there was more going on than I told him, especially after getting hurt that night.” I turn my nose into his neck, breathing in his scent.

  “What happened?” I keep cuddled into his neck, wanting to stay as close as possible to him. He places a kiss to my head before he answers me.

  “I wasn’t just hungry, I also needed to go to the bathroom, I held on as long as I could, I even tried to move myself but I just couldn’t. By the time she came home it was too late.” He stops talking and I feel his arms tighten around me. I stay quiet, knowing it must be taking a lot for him to admit all this. When he speaks again his voice is soft.

  “She was so mad. All I remember is her screaming at me, calling me names. She picked up a vase from the dressing table and threw it at me. Lucky for me, her aim wasn’t great and it hit the wall instead of me. She kept screaming about how she would have to clean up the mess, and how I never thought of anyone but myself. She climbed onto the bed and pushed me to the side so she could remove the sheet, but she pushed too hard and I fell onto the floor. I landed awkwardly and the pain that shot through my spine was the worst thing I had ever felt.” I feel Rocco’s tears drip from his face down onto mine. I pull away and look at him. The pain I see in his eyes as he relives this moment steals my breath. I have never seen someone look so vulnerable. I cup his face in my hands, using my thumbs to wipe the tears from his cheeks. I lean forward and gently kiss him.

  “Don’t tell me anymore. I don’t need to know. It’s done, she can’t hurt you anymore. I have you now and I won’t let you fall.” I place little kisses to his face, starting at his eyes, kissing his tears away. Then downs his cheeks, across his strong jaw and back up to his lips.

  “I have you.” I whisper. I feel his sigh against my lips as he places his forehead against mine.

  “Stay with me tonight, Makenzie. I just want to hold you.” I nod slightly against his head, feeling my heart beating hard in my chest.

  “Anything you need, Rocco. Anything.”

  Rocco’s bedroom fits really well with the rest of the house. It’s a large bedroom, my whole apartment would probably fit into this one room, with light walls and dark furniture. It seems to be the design that Rocco likes the most. Even his office has the dark furniture. I’m lying in the biggest bed I think I have ever seen, but the fact I’m lying in Rocco’s arm I wouldn’t care if I was lying on the floor. He has his arms wrapped around me tightly, like he doesn’t want me to be an inch away from him. Between all the food I have eaten and the wine I have drunk I can feel myself drifting off to sleep. I am so relaxed in his arms, I could spend my life here and never want to leave.

  “Why do you like me, Makenzie?” His whispered voice breaks through my foggy mind.

  “Your body, it’s hot.” I feel his laughter against my back and it makes me smile.

  “Everything, Rocco. I like everything about you. You’re a great friend, loyal, hardworking and as I mentioned, hot as hell.” I can hear the slur in my voice, I know it won’t be long until I'm asleep. He places kisses along my neck and shoulders.

  “That all sounds good. Sleep now pretty lady, it’s late.” With a final kiss I allow sleep to take me, but ju
st before I drifted into darkness I hear Rocco whispering against my ear.

  “You better watch out, Makenzie. I think I could easily fall in love with you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Damn, woman. You scrub up well.” I’m standing just inside the door at Rocco’s work function. The room is full of people, dressed in their Sunday best. Everywhere you look women are stunning in their expensive and beautiful cocktail dresses and the men all looked rather handsome in their tuxedos. But by far the most handsome guy in the room is stood next to me. When I first saw Rocco at my door I was lost for words. I just stood and stared, which was funny as he was doing the same to me. It took us both several minutes to finally speak, and then Rocco refused to come into my apartment claiming that if he did we wouldn’t make it to the function.

  The second best looking man in the room is Mason. He looks almost as good as Rocco does in his tuxedo, but no one will ever look as good as the man here with me.

  I look down at what I'm wearing and smile to myself. I had bought this dress just before I left Carl, and now I was happy to finally have somewhere to wear it. It’s an ankle length red silk gown; it’s skin tight and makes me feel sexy as hell. One of the things about this dress is that I can’t wear underwear with it. It’s making me feel daring, but also a little exposed. I have never been the type of person with the confidence to go without panties, but knowing that I can maybe shock Rocco with this little bit of information later gives me the push I needed to do it.

  “Thank you, Mason. You don’t look so bad yourself.” I laugh as he gives me a little pirouette.

  “Save a dance for me sexy, and if I don’t get lucky Rocco better watch out, because I'm taking you home.” He walks away with a wink to Rocco. Rocco slips his arm around my waist and whispers in my ear.

  “I better not let you out of my sight tonight, Mason might steal you.” Turning to face him, I press a kiss to his lips.

  “Never gonna happen.” The smile he gives me is the one that gets me every time. The one that lit up his whole face and honestly, the sight brightened my soul.

  Rocco has kept good on his word, and I haven’t been more than a couple of steps away from him all night. He’s made sure that he is always connected to me in some way, a hand on my lower back or our fingers laced together. My confidence has steadily grown as we walk around and meet people, and I’m able to connect to everyone that I’ve met so far. Everyone that I’m introduced to seems really nice; they have all been friendly and showed genuine interest in getting to know me. Rocco seems to flourish in this situation, he is a very social person and truly gives people his full attention and even without them saying anything, I know it means a lot. I'm not surprised that his business does so well, if this is the person that goes into all those meetings he must be very skilled at charming them—he definitely charmed me.

  After a few hours my heels are seriously killing my feet so when Rocco suggested I sit down—I didn’t argue. He made sure I had a drink before excusing himself to chat with a group of business partners. I don’t mind sitting down, it gives me a chance to people watch and observe what everyone was up to. I can see Mason trying to work his charms on a redhead at the other side of the dance floor. He looks like he’s making progress with all the hair flicking and arm touching she is doing. Mason looks around and the smile on his face dies and he freezes. I look in the direction he is staring but I can’t see anything that seems out of place. There is a group of guys chatting and a female hanging onto the arm of one the guys. I look back to Mason and he notices me looking at him. He gives me a little nod and goes back to chatting to the redhead. I look back at the group but they’re all still talking, and it makes me wonder if maybe Mason has spent the night with the female. It really wouldn’t surprise me, I make a mental note to ask him about it later. This is the type of information that I can use to my advantage, getting to tease him for a change.

  Strong arms grab me around the waist and a kiss is placed to my shoulder.

  “Would you like to dance, pretty lady?” That deep voice in my ear, makes the butterflies in my belly appear. I wonder if there will ever be a time when he doesn’t make them flutter every time he’s near. I sit there trying to be calm as I say over my shoulder.

  “I don’t know, my date may get jealous.” I am rewarded with a bite on my neck. God, does this man know what he does to me?

  “Move your arse, hot stuff.” He grabs my hand as he moves away from me towards the dance floor. I pretend to myself that I am following him as I have no option but I know it’s not that, I am going to be in his arms again and there is nowhere else I would rather be.

  “You’re very demanding, Mr Cole.”

  “Only with you.” He finishes that with a kiss. I think it was meant to be a sweet brush of his lips, but soon it deepens. Sparks fly around my body as his tongue meets mine, brushing over it gently before he sucks it into his mouth. Pulling his body closer to me like we are all alone, I don’t even care who is watching us. I will never get enough of this man.

  “Do I really need to hose you two down? Every time I turn around you are trying to have sex.” What is it with Mason constantly stopping my pleasure? I groan when Rocco’s lips pull back from mine.

  “What do you want now cockblock?” I say in a voice that I hope sounds angry, but I don’t think I pull it off. I feel Rocco’s chest going up and down against mine as he laughs.

  “Oh, someone has her talons out tonight.” Mason says with a laugh. I love the fact we can tease each other without anybody’s feelings being hurt.

  “But I need to speak to your man, I will only keep him a minute. Promise.”

  “Fine. I should go freshen up my make-up anyway.” I turn back to Rocco and place a chaste kiss against his lips.

  “I won’t be long.”

  I come back from the bathroom and look around the room for Rocco. I’m heading towards the bar to see if maybe he is waiting there for me. I see Mason standing to the side of the bar, and he’s glaring again. I thought Rocco was with him? I look about again, starting to wonder exactly where Rocco is; the way Mason is looking is making me feel uneasy. He looks so angry and I have never seen Mason angry before, he finds the laughter in any situation. I follow his stare again and he is looking at the same woman as earlier, the difference this time is that she isn’t standing with the man from before. She is talking to Rocco, and he doesn’t look happy. She has a sneer on her face that I don’t understand, and Rocco has lost that spark of joy that he had when I left a few minutes ago. I can’t figure out what is going on; we haven’t spoken to this woman tonight so I don’t even know who she is. Rocco looks up from the conversation and our eyes meet, and my heart breaks. It is the same look that he had last night when we were talking about…then it hits me.

  This is Elle.

  The woman that broke his soul, is now standing in front of him saying, god only knows. I am just about to move when Rocco closes his eyes and his chin drops to his chest. I can only imagine the pain that he is going through and the protective instinct within me wants to run to him, slap her silly and pull him into my arms. He shakes his head at something she says, and her smile gets even bigger. Lifting his head he looks back at me, and I can see the unshed tears in his eyes. Then he does the thing that I thought we were passed, the one thing I thought he wouldn’t ever do again. He walks away. I can tell by the look on his face that he isn’t just going somewhere to compose himself, he is leaving the function, leaving me.

  I start to rush after him when a laugh reaches my ears. I turn around and see Elle laugh as she watches Rocco walk away with a look of defeat radiating from his slumped shoulders. I have heard people talking about the red mist that takes over when they are angry but I never believed it. Until now. The only sound that I can hear is her bitchy laughter, all other noise has disappeared. My focus is fully on the smile that the bitch is wearing, the one that I want to wipe from her face. I can’t control my body, it’s like someone else has taken control. Clo
sing the distance between us quickly, all my thoughts are on finding out what she did to him. Standing in front of Elle, watching the look of triumph in her eyes, I react before any thought can enter my mind. My hand connects with her cheek, with enough power to snap her head to the side. Elle turns her head back to me with her eyes wide and she has lost the smile that had been on her lips.

  “You’re a bitch! What did you say to him? What shit did you tell him to mess with his mind this time?” I don’t even notice the crowd that has gathered around us. All I can focus on is the woman in front of me that, by now, must have worked out who I am. Her hand has dropped and she is smiling again.

  “Ah, so you’re the one who tried to put the smile back on Rocco’s face? I wondered why he looked so happy. But don’t you worry your pretty little head, I reminded him exactly who he is.” I lunge for her, but before I can make contact a strong pair of arms wrap around me, pulling me backwards.

  “Mason! Let me go, I will do to her what you have always wanted to do.” I hear him laugh behind me, but he doesn’t loosen his hold on me.

  “As much as I would love to see you beat her down, Makenzie, she isn’t worth it.”

  He whispers into my ear.

  “He needs you, Makenzie. Don’t let your hate for her take you away from him; we need to find him.” I stop fighting against his hold.

  He’s right, at this time she isn’t worth my time. She’s worth nothing but the man that stole my heart is. I need to go to Rocco, before he believes all her words again. I look her up and down with disgust filling my expression.