I cupped a hand to my mouth.
“I visited him in the hospital after the fight, worried about him, and they said he’d probably never walk again. The cops were there . . . I spent the night in jail.” He touched his wrists. “And I wish Da never bailed me out. I wish he’d let me feckin’ rot there. I deserved it.”
“But it was an accident! This guy chose to get in that ring with you.” I couldn’t help but come to his defense, despite how I felt about the fighting.
“The Garda—the police—tried to turn me against Donovan. I knew a lot about his business dealings, but I also knew that I couldn’t rat on him. I knew he wasn’t past hurting the people I cared about . . .”
“Jesus.”
“Since I wasn’t allowed back at the hospital to see Owen, my folks went—they told me that Owen was paralyzed. He’d be in a wheelchair forever. And it was my fault. My parents gave him a big settlement, and then I talked to Donovan. I threatened him—demanding that he leave me be.”
“Wow.”
“Donovan hated me for walking out on him. He had a few of his guys hold me down and beat the shit out of me. And I let them. I deserved it after what happened to Owen.”
“And now you’re back?” My shoulders shrank as sadness overwhelmed me.
“I’m not sure if there will be a way out this time.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “My family might have money, but Donovan has power. He owns half the city. And I’m honestly not sure how I managed to escape him for so long.”
“That’s why you created the center? To try and keep the kids out of his clutches?”
He nodded. “Redemption.”
“You can’t blame yourself—”
“I can, and I do. I remember what I did to Owen every day. And it has kept me from fighting, until now.” He shook his head, and a flash of anger lit his eyes. “You see, Anna, we all make choices. I made mine a long time ago. Now I must suffer the consequences. Now you understand why I’m dangerous for you, why you can’t be with me.”
Adam started to walk away, and I stood there, watching him leave.
“No.” The word escaped from my lips in a whisper. “No,” I said louder and finally moved to catch up with him. “No, Adam.” I touched his shoulder.
He spun to face me, his hands locked at his sides.
“I refuse to accept that,” I cried.
He shook his head, his eyes hard as steel. “Last night was it for us. We can’t—”
“If you don’t want this to continue because you don’t give a shit about me, that’s one thing. But if you’re the man I think you are, then don’t back down. Fight. Fight for yourself! Fight to be the man you know you are, the man you are when you’re with me. Fight for the kids at the center.” My body trembled as his eyes seemed to melt into a blue like the sea. “Do what you have to, to save your friend, and then get away from Donovan and never look back.”
Adam’s chest rose and fell in deep breaths. Then he closed the gap between us and pulled me against him. “Jesus, Anna—who the hell are you?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adam
“Absolutely fucking not.”
I looked up at Donovan, whose dark eyes were drilling into me. His arms crossed over his chest, and his shoulders rolled back as his spine straightened. As if that would intimidate me.
“I don’t want to fight. I’m done.” I hadn’t trained or thrown a punch since I revealed the truth to Anna on Sunday. And I didn’t want to, ever again. If she thought I could be better, maybe I could. I owed it to myself and her to try.
“What about our agreement?” He cocked his head, and I focused on the dragon tattoo on his neck. The tongue darted from the mouth whenever Donovan moved.
“Feck the agreement.”
“So you no longer give a damn about Les? Or Anna?”
“You no longer care if I go to the Garda?”
Donovan laughed—a deep, irritating laugh. “You don’t have the balls. You didn’t do it before, and you won’t do it now.”
“Try me,” I bit out.
Donovan closed the gap between us until I could smell his breath on my face, stale and ashy. “Do it, then.” He sniggered and raised his brows. “But you know nothing will happen to me. Anna won’t be so lucky. You can send her back to her little farm in Kentucky if you want, but she won’t be safe there.”
“You won’t touch her.” I tried to remain cool as I called his bluff, eying the three arseholes that were acting as his shield.
“You really willing to take that risk?” He rolled his eyes. “I have a lot of money riding on the match with Frankie. A lot of bets coming in. You’re only two fights in, and people are already favoring you to win.”
My palms twitched at my sides. “And what reassurances do I have that you’ll stop threatening me after the fight in November?”
“I’ll give you my word.”
“Feck your word. You knew Les was my best mate when he started fighting for you a few years ago. Did you bring him under your wing on purpose—was this some plan of yours to get me back?”
Donovan laughed and exchanged looks with the men at his side. “Now that’s a grand idea. I guess you’ll never know.”
I wanted nothing more than to take them all down, right here and now.
I leaned forward. “If this isn’t done after I fight Frankie in November, I’m coming after you. And I won’t stop until there’s nothing left of your face but blood and bone.”
I tapped out the message and sent it to Anna, my body charged and ready to go. Her response was quick.
Thank you for the gift. But I’m thinking this present is more for your benefit than mine.
I smiled. She was right. Jesus, I was growing hard just picturing her in it.
I started to type a response but stopped when I noticed my sister in the doorway.
She hadn’t knocked, of course.
“If you came here to try and talk me off the ledge again, you’re wasting your time.” I leaned back, my seat reclining.
Holly slid a file across my desk. “I need you to sign something,” she muttered without looking at me. “I’ve been out of the country for a week, if you hadn’t noticed.”
I had, although only because she hadn’t shown up to harass me in a while.
“I thought you weren’t working late these days,” she said as I scribbled my signature on a paper and shut the folder.
I glanced at my watch. It was after seven. Every morning this week I’d been going to the hospital to visit with Abby. I was still kicking myself for what happened to her—and I knew Anna was, too.
Abby was okay. Thank God. I’d checked her into a top-notch rehab facility this morning, with her ma’s support.
“Sean told me, by the way.”
My sister’s voice pulled me back to the conversation. My elbows rested on my desk, my fingers lacing together as I waited for her to deliver her news.
“Sean figured out that you’re fighting because of the intern. Does she have any idea that you’re throwing your life away for her?”
I was on my feet, my heart hammering in my chest. I came around to face her, bracing a hand on the edge of my desk to ground myself. “She has a name,” I hissed.
Holly tilted her head, squinting at me as if she could stare me down. Good luck with that, sis. “Are you sleeping with her, too?”
“And that would be your business because?”
“I’m in charge of HR. I need to know if you’re screwing up in more ways than one.”
“Just go.”
“Send her home. Don’t do this. I’m begging you.” She blew out a loud breath. “You don’t even go to the football games anymore. I remember a time when you’d fly in from Beijing if it meant making a game. We’ve lost you, Adam. You’re gone.” Her voice was shaking.
“Leave my office.” I lowered my head, not able to make eye contact with my damn sister.
When I looked back up a few moments later, she was gone. My stomach roile
d with guilt, but I didn’t want to think about it right now.
I wanted to think about seeing Anna.
Within twenty minutes, I was standing outside her hotel door. I thought about knocking instead of using my card, but I was worried she’d answer the door in my gift, and I didn’t want any passersby to get their greedy fill of her.
“Anna,” I called when I opened the door.
The room was dark. I dropped my overnight bag on the floor and shut the door. “Anna?” Fear curled inside me when I didn’t hear a response.
I dashed through the sitting area and opened the bedroom door. There, I wiped a palm down my face in relief. Candles were lit around the bedroom. At least a dozen.
The bathroom door opened, and Anna flicked off the light behind her.
When she entered the candlelit bedroom, I officially lost my ability to think straight. She was wearing my gift, and only my gift—brown leather cowgirl boots and a straw-colored hat. Her body, golden from the Kentucky sun, moved toward me, her green eyes capturing mine as she came slowly across the room. Her body was fit, her long legs and full breasts on display. This was a woman with confidence. She’d told me that arsehole ex had taken her confidence, but the woman standing before me was completely unselfconscious . . . and utterly breathtaking.
“You didn’t need to buy me these, but thank you.”
She was standing in front of me, and my cock was hard as a rock. I wanted to pull her against me, but at the same time, I just wanted to look at her. I longed to absorb every inch of her into my memory.
My hand swept up to her chest, gliding over her nipple. “Do you know what you do to me, Anna?”
She wet her lips as a sexy smile teased the edges of her mouth. “I think I can tell.” Her eyes dragged down the front of me, landing on the waistband of my dress pants.
“I don’t mean that.” I laughed a little. “Well, not just that.” I pressed my hand to her cheek. Her skin was soft and smooth beneath my palm.
“Then what?” she rasped, her eyes focused on mine.
“The feeling I used to get from winning a fight gave me a high like nothing else.” I swallowed as I processed the ideas that had just begun to whirl in my mind. “Until now. Until you.” I wrapped my arm around her, tracing my fingers down the middle of her naked back before slipping them around the curve of her ass. My other hand grabbed hold of her hip, tugging her closer to me. “I crave you now. When I’m training, I’m not focused. All I want to do is be with you.”
“That’s not good.” She stepped back, and I lost my hold on her. “You can’t lose focus. I—I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
If only she knew . . . But no, she could never know.
“Don’t worry, love. I’ll never lose. Not as long as I have you in my corner.” I couldn’t believe I was saying this, keeping her in my life after all the shit I’d done. I knew deep inside I didn’t deserve her, but for some damn reason she made me feel like I did. I wasn’t sure if the feeling would last or how long she’d be here, but I wanted to grab hold of her for as long as bloody possible.
“Promise me you’ll never get hurt.” She pressed a hand to my chest, her lower lip trembling a little.
She was worried about me? For some reason, that thought had never crossed my mind. “I promise.” I tipped her hat to better access her eyes. “I promise,” I said once more.
When she finally nodded, I pulled her into my arms. My cock throbbed against her, and I was desperate to get out of my clothes and feel her skin against mine.
She must’ve read my mind because she began working at the buttons of my shirt. I stepped back and undressed the rest of the way.
Her lips curved into a delicious, seductive smile. “Want me to take off the hat and boots?” Her hand rested on the brim.
“Hell no!” I roped her back into my arms, and her body smacked up against mine. I lifted her and tossed her gently on the bed. Her hat fell off behind her, unleashing her hair, which wildly splayed out beneath her head as she lay there, looking up at me.
She pulled her legs up, resting her boots on the bed. She placed a hand over her belly button, and her other covered one of her breasts. “Touch yourself,” I said as I gripped hold of my shaft.
“I don’t . . . I’ve never—”
“What?” I released my grip in surprise.
“I mean I’ve never done that in front of anyone.”
I tipped my head back, almost relieved to hear those words. I didn’t want to imagine Anna doing anything with anyone else.
“I want to watch you.” My eyes landed back on hers.
She pulled her lip between her teeth. She probably had no idea how damn sexy she looked.
Her hand slipped down to her pussy, and she softly stroked. Watching her, I grew harder than I thought possible. I wrapped my hand back around my cock, admiring the way her tits rose and fell with each breath.
When her eyes shut and a soft mewl escaped her lips, my body tensed. “Feck.” I grabbed a condom from the stash I’d stored in the dresser by the bed and ripped open the pack with my teeth as I watched her finger herself.
I rolled the condom on, but then kneeled down and spread her legs apart. I ran my fingers from the top of the boot up to her inner thigh. She gasped and her back arched when I moved her hand, pinning it to her side as my mouth came down over her wet center.
God, she tasted so damn good.
She moaned as she grinded against my face. My hands slipped up under her ass, my fingers biting into her flesh as she started to orgasm.
I shifted away and was on top of her in one quick movement, plunging inside her as her body still quaked from ecstasy. Her hips bucked up again, and she groaned, clutching the comforter at her sides.
I pumped harder and faster—letting go of all my problems, only living in the moment as the world slipped fast away. My past seemed nothing more than memories from a movie I’d watched—they weren’t mine, they couldn’t possibly be, not with how goddamn good I felt right now.
“Adam . . .” She purred my name, and it rolled off her tongue, vibrating against my chest where her lips were pressed.
My body was slick with sweat, rubbing against hers. Her legs were wrapped around me, squeezing, hanging on tight as she rocked into another orgasm.
“Feck, Anna . . .” I growled as I came.
I collapsed off to the side of her, gathering a few deep breaths. “That was . . .”
“Otherworldly?” she prompted, which had me blinking a little as I came down from the high.
“Aye.” I folded my hands on my chest and stared at the ceiling. She rolled to her side and rested her hands over mine.
“Don’t fall asleep. I want more,” she whispered in my ear.
“I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you, love.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Anna
I flicked at the crumbs on my chest. This toasted bagel smothered in Irish cream cheese tasted so much better than the ones I was used to eating in Kentucky.
Adam was on his iPad, typing an email to some important contact about a media deal he was working on. The sun had started to glint up from above the neighboring buildings; light pierced through the thin sheer curtains in the bedroom.
I ate the last bite of my bagel as I looked over at him out of the corner of my eye, trying to be discreet. His naked chest was on display. His jaw was in need of shaving—although he looked sexy as hell this way. And I’d desperately enjoyed how his stubble had tickled me when he’d gone down on me last night.
“I meant to ask you earlier this week,” he began, “but did anyone say anything to you at the office about the fight?”
“Yeah . . . they may have mentioned it.” A few times . . . I had done my best to dodge the conversation whenever possible.
“And?”
“The guys think you’re a hero and Kate thinks you’re, like, a god now. Apparently fighting is sexy?” I shrugged.
“Hm.” He set his iPad on the
end table and shifted to better face me.
“But you were the sexiest to me when you were riding that horse—or maybe when you were roasting marshmallows with the kids.”
His hand slipped under the sheet, resting over the silk of my nightgown. He flashed me a smile. “You are always sexy to me.”
I swallowed, wondering if this was a line. I had no reason not to trust him. Then an annoying thought crossed my mind, and I couldn’t help but ask. “How many girlfriends have you had?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Well, you know about me, and I was curious.” I blew a hair out of my face and nervously rushed my fingers to my chest, brushing at the last remaining crumbs that had fallen between the V of my silk nightgown. “We’re not official or anything, but I—”
He raised a brow. “We’re not? Was I supposed to make some sort of declaration of it? Because I’ll be damned if I’m okay with you dating another bloke.”
I smiled. “You’re totally pivoting.”
He showed me his palms. “Not at all.” Then he winked at me.
Oh God, if he didn’t want to share the number, that meant it was probably even worse than I imagined. “Well, did you ever love anyone?” I wanted to kick myself for bringing up the “L” word, because obviously we weren’t in that place (and how could we be, with me going back home in two months?), but still . . . had he?
He sat up straighter in the bed, his back to the headboard. “Did you love Jax?”
Ugh, him with the misdirection again! “I thought I did, but no, I don’t think I did.”
“Well, I only had one true love, and that was fighting. There wasn’t much time for relationships back then. And in the last five years, I’ve not been interested in anything serious.”
The thought of his casual flings made my stomach turn.
“He still texts me.” The words fell from my lips after a few awkward moments of silence, and I wasn’t sure why. I guess not telling him made me feel like I was lying, somehow. I pulled my phone off the nightstand and scrolled to the texts from Jax.
Dublin Nights Series Box Set: On the Edge & On the Line Page 21