Vanessa #2
I get out of the SUV, and Hendrix tries to take my arm to help me inside.
“I got it,” I tell him, and he holds up his hands in surrender.
I walk to the front door, albeit slowly, and open it. Danny and Rocky have everything pulled off the shelves behind the bar, and they’re wiping down bottles when I walk in.
“Holy shit, Vanessa. Should you be up and walking?” Rocky asks before he sets the bottle down, comes around the bar, and walks up to me with a worried look on his face.
“I’m fine. Where the hell is Braxton?”
Rocky looks like he really shouldn’t answer that question. I simply stare at him with anger rolling off me in waves.
“I’m right here,” I hear the voice say—a voice that I’ve been craving for the last five fucking days.
Rocky moves out of my way, and I see Braxton for the first time since he came to the hospital room then fucking bailed on me while I was asleep. And trust me, the irony is not lost on me.
I walk over to him without stomping—even though the situation absolutely calls for it—because I know it would irritate my wound, and slap the check gripped in my tight fist against his chest.
“I’m not your whore. No need to pay me for services rendered.”
“Vanessa,” he says on an exhale. “That’s not what this was.” He grabs the check before it falls to the floor.
“No? Well, it certainly isn’t something you would try to give your old lady. Especially by handing it to another man to have him do your dirty work for you,” I seethe, standing toe-to-toe with the biker.
Braxton runs a hand through his short hair. “I thought it would be easier this way. No hard feelings, and you wouldn’t have to explain anything to me. He was supposed to tell you that.”
“One,” I say, holding up a finger. “It’s not Hendrix’s job to tell me anything.
He isn’t your errand boy, and neither of us appreciates you putting him in that position.
If you have something to say to me, you say it.
You don’t send anyone else in as your mouthpiece.
” I hold up another finger. “And two, what the actual hell did you think I was going to explain to you? That I’ve been waiting for your call or text while I’ve been lying in a bed, recovering from a gunshot? ” I scream.
Ozzy comes out of his office and looks at me then at Braxton.
“I take it you didn’t talk to her like I told you to.
” Braxton shakes his head and Ozzy rolls his eyes.
He turns to the prospects who are both standing behind the bar now and jerks his head toward the door.
“Come on. Let’s give them some privacy.” He heads out the door, followed closely by the prospects.
“Glad you’re okay, Van,” Danny says on his way past me, and I shoot him a tight smile.
“You should sit down,” Braxton says once the men are out of the building.
“I should kick your fucking ass is what I should do,” I mumble, but walk over and have a seat on the couch, nonetheless.
“Vanessa,” Braxton starts as he has a seat on the couch a few feet from me.
“When you woke up in the clinic, your mom was talking about getting far away from New York and moving somewhere you could be happy—by the beach or something. Even Noel was hoping you guys would move. She said you and your mom used to dream of sipping mai tais. When I heard your mom say the same thing, you agreed with her. I was trying to do what was right. That’s why I gave you the check.
I have money saved, and I figured having someone finally give you a leg up is what you deserved after all the shit you’ve had to deal with. ”
I study him for a few moments. “Were you hit repeatedly in the head while we were at the cabin?”
His brows dip low. “No.”
“Sorry, I had to ask because that’s the only reason I can come up with as to why you made such an asinine assumption.
I had just woken up. I barely knew what was going on, and honestly, I don’t even remember that conversation.
The only thing I remember is you saying you had to take care of some things and that you’d be back.
Then I think I fell back asleep. It took two days before I could stay awake for more than thirty minutes at a time. ”
He opens and closes his mouth a few times, but no words come out.
“In case you’re still unclear, I wanted to be with you.
Wanted to move to Shine and find a house for my mom and sister.
Maybe get her a job somewhere—and definitely some therapy.
But I wasn’t hoping I would live with them.
I was hoping I would be able to stay at the clubhouse with you, if you wanted to stay here.
And if not, I was hoping to find a house to live in with you.
Maybe get out of the dancing business and try waitressing out or something.
I had fun doing it at the clubhouse all these weeks. ”
“That was what you wanted? Past tense?” he asks quietly.
I blow out a breath, the sadness in my chest feeling as though it’s leaking into every crevice of my fractured heart.
“The last five days I lay in that bed without you were so goddamn hard. I didn’t understand why you were pulling away from me.
Then, when you sent Hendrix instead of manning up and coming to get me yourself, it broke my fucking heart.
The little boxes I kept everything in were falling apart when I was with you.
I felt safe. I don’t know if I feel that way anymore. ”
Braxton hangs his head and lets out a shuddering breath. Then he stands from the couch and walks in front of me and kneels, taking my hands in his.
“I am so fucking sorry,” he says with misty eyes.
“I wish I had gotten hit in the head. At least that would explain why I’m such a fucking idiot.
” He leans down and presses his lips to my knuckles before looking back up at me.
“All I wanted from day one was for you to let down your walls and let me in. Even when I agreed to the no-strings thing, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew there was no keeping you out of my heart. Out of my soul. I was a fucking idiot and got it in my head you needed to be free from anyone and anything associated with this life.” He clutches his chest. “I fucking love you, Vanessa, and I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that you can trust me. That I won’t run. That your heart is safe with me.”
A tear tracks down his cheek. The strongest man I know is on his knees begging me for a chance.
For forgiveness. I’ve been closed off for so many years, but the last weeks with Braxton, I felt like maybe I just hadn’t met the right person.
Someone I could be vulnerable with. I thought that Braxton was that person for me.
Then he pulled away and I wanted to kick myself in the ass for trusting him, trusting us.
But didn’t I make mistakes, too? And didn’t he see past it because he knew what we have is more than our mistakes?
Finally, I open my mouth to speak. “Braxton,” I croak out, then clear my throat. “I would be a special kind of hypocrite if I didn’t give you a second chance.”
A breath of relief rushes from him, and he reaches up, crushing his lips to mine. My hand moves to the back of his head, and I run my fingers through his short hair. A small whimper escapes, and Braxton pulls away.
“Are you okay? Am I hurting you?”
I shake my head. “No. I got shot in the back, not the mouth,” I reply with a teary laugh.
“I fucking love you, too. I don’t want us to fuck up anymore.
No more keeping things to ourselves. No more thinking we’re doing the right thing for the other or anyone else by being dishonest. It’s full transparency or nothing. ”
“It’s you or nothing, baby. All of you. The good, the bad, the ugly. I want every piece of you, and I want to give you all of mine.”
“I promise.”
Braxton takes my face in his hands. “I love you, Vanessa.”
“I love you. So much.”
He presses his lips to mine again, and for the first time since coming to Shine, I feel like I can finally breathe.
That I have a home in the last man I ever thought I would see again, but the only man who ever made me feel safe.
The only man who is patient enough to break through my walls, take my heart, and hold it in his hands like it’s the most precious thing in the world to him. And in a way, I guess it is.
The door to the clubhouse opens and Ozzy walks back inside. “I figured it was safe when I didn’t hear any more yelling.”
Braxton releases a quiet laugh. “It’s safe.”
“Good,” Ozzy says.
My mom and sister walk in, and when she sees Braxton still on his knees in front of me and the teary grin on my face, she smiles softly. “Ozzy asked if we’d like some help moving out of New York. He said we could live here until we found our own place.”
“But there’s no rush, Irina. You and Noel can stay here as long as you need to,” Ozzy clarifies.
“Right. Thank you,” my mom says. “I’m guessing we’re staying?” she asks.
“Yeah, Mom. We’re staying.”
Braxton turns his head toward me. “Welcome home, baby,” he says, bringing my hands to his lips and kissing my knuckles.
Leaning forward, I take his lips in a kiss that’s probably completely inappropriate to give him in front of my mother, but I don’t care.
For the first time in my life I have a real home, a real family, and real love.
A new life ahead of me with Braxton by my side.