I squealed when he showed me, jumped into his arms and kissed him over and over until we were both laughing.
“It’s about fucking time,” I said and laughed again. “Can you believe we were ever foolish enough to think this was a simple business arrangement?”
“Ye know from the beginning I fell hard for ye,” he told me. “I think the business idea was te keep ye close so I’d grow on ye.”
“Well it worked,” I smiled. “Whatever you did to me has won me over. I can’t wait to start sorting out the details of our ceremony.”
“Keep planning your dream wedding, kitten,” he said. “Buy anything you want, the sky’s the limit.”
“I have to go dress shopping with Jessica and Charlotte later,” I told him. “Until then you have me all to yourself.”
“Good to hear,” he growled and swept me over his shoulder. He took the stairs two at a time up to our bedroom and set me on the bed.
“I love you,” I told him as his eyes lit with fire and lust and he began to trail hot kisses down my body to my sweet spot.
God how he knew how to work that sweet spot.
“I love ye too, kitten,” he replied and parted my thighs with his hands and dipped his face between them, drinking me greedily.
I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of being with him.
We had an hour to fool around so I returned the favor and wound up riding him reverse on our chaise lounge in the corner.
Being with Knox was like being drunk, I never could quite pin point how we ended up in the places we did but we always had a good time getting there.
I had the driver pick my friends up along the way and arrived at the bridal store just on time.
They had champagne and caviar laid out for us, along with three private attendants and our own back dressing room. Money did certainly have its advantages at times.
I tried on the first gown, and it was a definite no.
“You look like a frilly cupcake,” Jessica laughed and I pushed at the poofy lace, trying to get it to flatten out.
“I’m hungry for cupcakes now,” Charlotte giggled and tried to help me smooth it down.
“I’m putting this in the big fat nope category,” I said and stripped it off.
The next seven gowns were big fat nopes as well and I was starting to think I would never master this whole getting married thing.
I tried on the next gown, turned around and laughed at the looks on their faces.
They were caught in mid sentence, mouths hanging open and wonder in their eyes.
“That’s the one!” Jessica yelled and clapped her hands.
“Oh my god, it’s stunning,” Charlotte agreed and I turned to look at myself in the mirror.
It was a mermaid cut, strapless, simple and elegant. I looked like a doll in it, it hid my imperfections and highlighted my assets and in short…it was the dress.
“How much is this one?” I asked the assistant, hoping it wouldn’t be too outrageous.
“Sixty three thousand, but that doesn’t include any alterations,” she said. “The dress will go back to the designer for those. It’s one of a kind you know.”
“I can’t spend that much on a dress I’ll wear for one day,” I groaned and looked at myself again.
“You idiot,” the store manager snapped at the clerk as she walked back into the dressing room with a veil. “Mister O’Connor expressly told us to not disclose the price of any gowns. Please, Miss, don’t tell him. He’s covering all your expenses so the price is of no consequence.”
“But still, that much?” I said with disbelief.
“When are you going to get it?” Jessica said, rolling her eyes. “You’re rich now, the price really doesn’t matter.”
“I guess so,” I said and turned back with a smile. “Okay, I’ll take it.”
The manager added the veil and I was sold again. I looked incredible.
This was for my big day, and after finding the perfect dress I didn’t think anything could possibly go wrong.
Charlotte’s cell phone kept going off so she finally reached in her purse, pulled it out and read the texts.
The manager helped me take the veil off and slid out of the dress. I was pulling my yoga pants on when I noticed Charlotte’s stricken look on her face.
“What is it?” I asked, pulling my loose shirt over my head.
“It’s Joe, it’s bad news,” Charlotte said. “Oh my god.”
“Is Joe okay?” I asked.
“Joe’s fine, it’s Knox.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, trying to keep the panic from my voice. “What did he say?”
“They’re at the gym,” Charlotte replied slowly as if afraid to tell me the information.
“And?” I prodded.
“It’s immigration. They arrested Knox for being here illegally. For working without a permit.”
“Arrested? Where did they take him?” I gasped and felt my knees buckle.
“Joe doesn’t know, they wouldn’t tell him anything. And Jake’s still in the hospital.”
“How am I supposed to find him?” I asked the air, knowing full well nobody in the room would be able to answer me.
Chapter Thirty Six
Lennon
I tapped on the door to the hospital room and waited for a response.
It swung open and I was met by a gorgeous blonde woman with a perfect little baby bump on her toned body.
Jake’s wife I assumed.
“Hi, I’m Lennon,” I said in a hushed tone. I didn’t know how far along Jake was in his recover or how much he could handle right then.
“I know,” she said with a sunny smile, “thank you for taking care of him, by the way. I’m Melody, his wife.”
I didn’t know how much Melody had been told about Jake’s injuries, as in how he’d gotten them, so I shook her hand and said, “Congratulations, you two must be excited.”
“Oh we are,” she grinned and looked down at her belly. She wasn’t that big but her pride was shining from her face. That must be that pregnant woman glow everyone talked about.
“Lennon, is that you?” Jake asked from inside the room. Melody opened the door wider and stepped aside so I could sit by Jake’s bed.
“They took him,” I blurted and started to sniffle. “I don’t know where or how to find him.”
“Who took him? I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand your message,” he said.
Melody pulled a chair next to mine and took my hand in hers to comfort me. It felt nice, like I wasn’t just drifting around by myself trying to rescue Knox all alone.
“INS took him, they said the fight was illegal. His papers weren’t in order so they’re shipping him back to Ireland,” I sniffled and fought the tears.
“Damn,” Jake said, “they weren’t. They expired Saturday, but I assumed you guys would be married by then so it didn’t matter. The fight wasn’t illegal though, that’s pure bullshit.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked and drew in a quivering breath.
“We’re going to call our lawyers and get this shit dealt with,” Jake replied in a low voice.
“Language!” Melody corrected him. “We’ll have a baby very soon, so enough of the swear words, Mister.”
Jake grinned. “Yes ma’am.” He turned to me and said, “You see what I have to put up with?”
“You’re right,” Melody said, “you want me to give you lessons?”
I laughed, “I might need them, but before that I need to get Knox home.”
She frowned at that and squeezed my hand. “We’ll help you do whatever it takes.”
“I’m going home tomorrow,” Jake said, “in the meantime I’ll text you all the information you need and the lawyer’s numbers. We need to start the ball rolling on this right now.”
I smiled and felt the anxiety drain from my body. With them on my side I felt like I wasn’t alone in this, I had friends to back me up and we would find Knox come hell or high water.
/> ***
I didn’t like the lawyer a whole heck of a lot, but I liked that he was angry about the entire situation and seemed willing to fight for us.
Henry Collingworth the Third was expensive at a thousand an hour plus a fifty thousand dollar retainer, but luckily Knox had recently added me to a checking account so I had access to all the money I needed.
“You go home now,” Henry said, his pudgy hands gripping the papers he had tracked down regarding Knox’s status in our country. “There’s nothing else you can do until I find out where they’re holding him or if they’ve already sent him home on a flight to Ireland.”
“They’d do that?” I gasped.
“It’s not the worst thing,” Henry said disdainfully, “it’s not like he’s going back to Syria or Afghanistan. Count him lucky.”
“But I’m here and if he’s there then we can’t get married,” I said with a frown.
“Then get married over there, fill out the proper forms, wait three months and move back here,” Henry replied with a tone that indicated he thought I was a simpleton.
I decided to not fight it, I would find out where Knox was located, go to him and sort our lives out regardless of Henry’s judgment.
I hadn’t made it back home before my phone buzzed. I grabbed it and found a text from Henry letting me know that Knox was being held in a nearby INS detention center and was being marked for processing back to Ireland on the next flight.
Which was tomorrow.
I yelled at the driver to turn around, gave him the address and didn’t unclench my fists until we pulled up in front of a low, grey government building.
Once inside I demanded to see Knox and to my surprise, they lead me back through the security doors to a plain room with a table and two chairs.
My leg was bouncing as my body tried to contain my nerves, and when the door opened I jumped up so fast I sent the metal chair clattering to the concrete floor behind me.
Knox walked in wearing an orange jumpsuit that did nothing to take away from his sexy, arrogant swagger and his wide smile.
“Kitten,” he said and I jumped into his arms.
Chapter Thirty Seven
Knox
“Come on Joe, yer fighting like a fekking granny,” I bellowed and jabbed a one-two punch in his direction. He tried to duck out of the way but my second throw caught him on the side of the head and knocked him down.
“Shit,” he grunted as he hit the floor of the ring. I stopped punching but didn’t stop moving. I danced around on my feet, kicked and swung my feet around until he got up.
“What’s yer problem, boy?” I asked and dodged in to deliver another punishing blow to Joe’s midsection.
He managed to duck back out of the way, put his fists up and said, “Charlotte. She won’t let me get any sleep.”
I laughed and swung my foot towards him in a roundhouse kick, caught the edge of his hip and knocked him back down.
“The key to havin a lady and fighting is to balance it all,” I told him and waited again until he dragged himself to his feet. “If ye give her every ounce ye got, you’ll never get to where ye want to go.”
“What if you had met Lennon when you were first starting out?” he grumbled at me. “Think about that, you would have done the same thing.”
“Naw,” I replied, stopping for a moment to consider. “Lennon’s the kinda girl who understands my obsession with being the best. She woulda known when to let up on me and put her pussy away so I could get some rest.”
“Then she needs to have a talk with Charlotte because that bitch is insatiable,” Joe said, wiping the back of his hand against his sweaty forehead.
“Ye gotta be a man, son,” I told him and began to dance around again, jabbing the air near him but not striking him. “Ye need to know when te put yer woman in her place. It’s fer yer own good and hers. Lennon supports me one hundred percent and I love her for that, but my fighting is my place and not hers to dictate.”
“I guess,” Joe replied, “Charlotte says that kind of talk sounds sexist though.”
“It ain’t sexist for a man to take his rightful place next te his woman,” I told him. “And any woman worth her salt will respect a man who takes when he wants shite instead of asking for it like a beggar. It’s been like that since the time of cave men, I tells ya.”
“I’ll give it a shot,” Joe said and I slammed my fist out but he ducked and I missed. “I’ll learn how to keep dodging your shots in case Charlotte doesn’t take the cave man speech too well.”
I brought my other hand up and hooked him under the chin, driving him back against the ropes.
“Ye’d better hope she’s not as quick as me, the King,” I laughed and assailed him with a flurry of fists.
He was wearing his protective gear today though so he took them all and even managed to get a couple blows back against me. Joe had potential, but it was gonna be a few years of hard training before the kid was up to par to compete.
I didn’t mind though, he was a good lad.
I heard the door to the gym open and I stopped in my tracks. It was a private place and Jake was in the hospital, so there should be no walk in traffic.
“Ken I help ye gentlemen?” I asked the two thick necked suits who had just crashed my training session.
“Are you Knox O’Connor?” the taller of the two asked.
“Aye, I am,” I replied, motioning to Joe to stand aside as I stepped down from the arena.
“We’re placing you under arrest for being in the United States illegally,” his partner said. He kept talking but the words faded out as I realized what was happening.
“I’m here on a permit, ask my manager,” I told him
“Your permit expired last Saturday,” the first agent said. “As of that time you are in the country against the law.”
“Let me call me lawyers,” I said, “they’ll handle all this.”
“We can’t let you do that,” the second suit said in a commanding voice. “Now place your hands behind your back or we will use force.”
“Joe, tell Lennon,” I said as it hit me. They were taking me away in hand cuffs without my phone or letting me contact me girl. “Tell her to go to Jake. He’ll know what the fek this is all about.”
I turned and crossed my wrists together, felt one of the suits slide zip ties around them and winced as he jerked them upwards to tighten the bond.
“Now ye didn’t have te go an do that,” I said, “I guess ye’ll be bragging te yer friends later how ye took down the heavyweight champion of the world, won’t ye?”
They didn’t reply and they refused to be goaded into giving up any details about my arrest on the way to the detention center.
Inside they stripped me, processed me and refused to tell me a god damned thing. I felt bloody sick inside thinking about me girl on the outside, running around trying to save me sorry ass.
I paced my cell, as much as I could. It was packed with men of all nationalities, all heading back from where they’d come.
I couldn’t stop moving though, I gnashed my teeth and demanded information from anybody walking past, but the god damned arseholes ignored me.
At long last somebody came te get me, dragged me ass down the hall to a dingy room.
They opened the door, I walked in and was complete again when me girl jumped into me arms and I bore her up in a grand hug.
I wished to death I could never let her go, but I knew me time was counting down from the minute I saw her.
I’d do anything to get her back to me though.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Lennon
I suppressed a sob as I walked slowly down the hall of the detention center.
It had been decided that morning, Knox was being sent back to Ireland.
I would meet him though, in Belfast. I would take the private jet the moment my passport came through. That was the problem, even a rushed job would take a couple weeks and I didn’t know how I’d ever survive that
long without him.
Jake was waiting for me outside; he slipped his arm around my shoulders and Melody held my arm on the other side to help me back to the car.
“You’ll be with him before you know it,” Jake said. “The time will pass.”
“Take some time to take care of yourself,” Melody told me. “I’ll take you on a couple spa days, we’ll go back and get that wedding dress you told me about, we’ll get you a makeover. Think of it as a bit of a fun vacation before your marriage begins.”
“Thank you,” I said, “but I feel so guilty having fun while he’s been sent away.”
“It’s not like he’s in jail, he’s in Ireland and you’ll see him before you know it,” Jake said. “Mel’s got a good point, have fun and pamper yourself. You know Knox would want it that way.”
“He’ll call me when he gets back,” I said. “It’s so weird that I can’t follow him, my stupid passport is going to take too long.”
“You’ll have to settle for Skype sex,” Melody giggled, “that’s not the end of the world. At least this won’t happen if you’re skyping.” She rubbed her hand up and down her belly and grinned.
I laughed, looked down and said, “Okay, you do have a point.”
“See? It’s not all bad,” she said and grabbed my hand. “We’re going to have fun before I’m tied down with a baby and you’re tied down with a husband.”
“Okay, we will,” I said and felt grateful for having such good people in my life.
Melody and Jake dropped me off at Knox’s house…or should I say our house, and Sylvie was waiting for me at the front door.
“Oh, Miss, I’m so sorry about what’s happening,” she said with tears misting her eyes. “I will take good care of you though. I will make sure you are fed and looked after until you can see that man of yours again.”
“Thank you Sylvie, Knox will be happy to know I have so many supportive people in my life.”
“He’s so proud of you, did you know that? He talks about how happy he is to have you here and how he loves making sure your life is perfect.”
“I know,” I replied. “If only the rest of the world would get on board with making our lives perfect, hey?”
IRISH: a Bad Boy Fighter Romance Page 12