Chapter 22
FIVE WEEKS LATER
I’ve won seven fights in the last three weeks.
I’m making good money, and got my mom and Mario off my back. For the month at least.
Paid Mickey off for the month last week only to be given the next deadline for the next fifteen hundred.
Yep, that’s right. He upped the payment.
I shouldn’t have expected that he’d keep the payments stable.
Just enough for me to get my footing. Mickey’s a bad guy.
A dick and a fucking waste of space honestly.
He bullied, manipulated, and tortured Roxie into submission. She’s been through hell and back and I hate that there’s still this thing that he’s holding anything over her head.
I just want her to be free.
Roxie’s barely left my sight for weeks. Not only because I had to make sure she was out of the woods for any worsening brain injuries, but because I’m terrified that if I look away, she’ll be hurt again. And only this time, she won’t make it.
I open the door to From The Ashes for her, and she smiles brightly at me, taking my breath away. The bruising around her eyes and neck have faded, the healthy color returning to her cheeks now that she’s feeling better.
Roxie’s looking and feeling better…and I’m doing everything I can to hide that I’m fighting again from her. From Asher, too.
We’ve had Roxie work towards becoming a full tattoo artist here, but she’s talking about cosmetology. I’m cool with whatever she wants. As long as she’s happy, that’s all I care about. That’s all I want.
It’s all I’ve wanted.
My eyes drift over to where she sits at the reception desk, looking up the different ways she could go to school. She’s been doing her hair and having me take pictures so she can apply for scholarships. Honestly, she’s pretty good. I’m impressed.
“Oh my god,” I hear her exclaim, leaning back in the chair so fast I almost worry the chair is going to fall to the floor. “Oh my god, I got in!”
“You did?” I drop the pencil I’m sketching with, and rush to hold her.
“Dear Ms. Westin, We’re pleased to say that we see real promise and talent in your application and we’re excited to offer you the full ride scholarship for this upcoming year!
” Roxie reads off the screen excitedly, her voice sounding shaky and breathless.
I wrap my arms around her shoulder as she reads, so fucking proud of her that I can’t keep my hands off of her for long.
“Roxie, baby, this is great,” I speak in her ear, kissing just below her lobe and she leans into the kiss, laying her hands over my forearm.
Her fingers gently ghost over my reddened, bruised knuckles as she softly trails her fingers over the length of my arm, and I bite back a hiss.
It fucking hurts, but I’m trying not to let it show.
She hasn’t said anything yet, but I’ve seen her looking.
“I can’t believe it,” she says in disbelief as she covers her mouth.
“I can,” I whisper in her ear, kissing her shoulder before twisting the chair around so she’s looking at me. “You’re amazing, and everyone sees it.”
“Everything seems to finally be working out,” she whispers softly, like she’s almost scared to speak too loudly.
I get why. I do. We’ve been dealt less than stellar hands in life, and if things go too well, the other shoe drops twice as hard. It’s happened to us both together and separately for years. This fear isn’t going to leave her just because of one or two good things.
But I’ll be here through every other thing to make sure she knows I’ll stay, no matter how hard the drop is.
“It is, baby. It’s all working out, carino,” I cup her cheek, pressing a small kiss to her forehead, trying to put all my pride for her in that kiss.
Her eyes close as I kiss her, her hand wrapping warmly around the arm holding her face.
“All thanks to you.” She smiles warmly as I lean back, looking right into those gorgeous brown eyes. I keep my face as calm as I can, but when she says it, I jolt inside. Did she find out? Does she know I’m saving up to pay off Mickey? Did someone let it slip that I was in The Underground again?
It’s not that I’m… No, I can’t even say that. I am intentionally keeping it from her. But I know that if she found out I’d made a deal with Mickey and that my family was pushing for more money…
I know that she’d do everything in her power to help me. To take on Mickey herself. Because that’s what Roxie does. She might be all independent and rely on no one, but I’d like to be the person she can rely on, that she can be soft with.
“Also,” Roxie says, holding onto both of my arms as I hover over her in the chair. “Harriet said I could rent her spare room.”
My heart drops, but I don’t let her see it.
She mentioned a little while ago that she wanted to live on her own, to have her own space.
That she loves me–and oh man, did she show me just how much she loves me all night long–but she wants to prove that she can be on her own.
I was–am–growly and supportive of course, but spouted off a million safety questions so she slid down to her knees and sucked my dick.
And I folded. Told her right then and there that I’d do whatever she needed in order to achieve what she wants.
She hadn’t talked much about it, but I’d gently pushed her to talk to Harriet. I knew that if she lived with Harriet, I wouldn’t have to worry so much because Harriet loves Roxie just as much as I do.
“Oh?” I ask.
Come on, Ty. Get it together, man, I scold myself to try and keep myself in check. Everything inside is telling me I need to keep her close, to keep my eyes on her at all times, to protect and defend and shelter her for once in her fucking life. But I know I can’t.
You can’t keep an inferno in a cardboard box and expect it not to burn.
Roxie’s this beautiful, wild, chaotic fire that I want to keep lit. She’s powerful and dangerous when provoked and I want to keep her intact, strong, fed, happy.
“Yeah, if I pick up a few shifts at the diner, and work here as much as I can, I can afford rent and all the stuff I need for cosmetology school. It’s only a two year program.
Maybe I can do that and be an apprentice here during my work hours.
Learn both skills at the same time.” She continues talking me through her plan, her whole being lit up like a damn Christmas tree and I can’t hold back anymore.
Not that I really was trying to in the first place.
I lean down and kiss her deeply, threading my fingers gently through her hair because I know she’s still hurting.
Licking along the seam of her lips, she opens her mouth, letting me in with a small relenting whine.
It quickly turns hot, and I press into her, making the chair she’s on roll back against the front desk.
Without breaking the kiss, I put my free hand on the edge of the desk to protect her head from impact.
Roxie’s arms wrap around my back, pulling me down to be closer to her while she lifts herself up to try and flatten her body against mine.
Oh, I’m all too happy to oblige, baby.
My hand leaves her hair and goes to her thigh, pulling her leg up around my hip. She moans in her throat, the sound tasting delicious on my tongue.
“Oh my god, you guys!” Asher’s booming voice breaks through the tension we’ve created and internally, I sigh. The moment’s broken, but we’ll make another one. Maybe back at our place. Maybe in the backroom. Maybe the bathroom, if I can convince her to be quiet.
“Seriously, you’re going to scar customers,” Asher says like he’s trying to scold us, but I really just have no shame when it comes to showing exactly how much I love this girl.
“It’s okay with me.” All three of our heads whip to the side where some random old geezer sits in the lobby.
I stand up straighter, stepping in front of Roxie and blocking her from his sight.
“Fuck right off,” I snap at him before turning back to her.
“Dude, that’s my next client.” Asher shakes his head at me.
“I don’t give a fuck. He’s being creepy.”
“Joe, come on back,” Asher tells the guy, waving him back towards his station but as he passes us, he tries to get another look at Rox, and just as I’m about to snarl at him, Asher steps in.
“Keep your eyes off my sister. She’s taken by that big brute in front of her.
He’ll kick your ass. Right after she does. ”
Roxie smiles, dropping her head to hide it, but I see it.
The creep and Asher walk off, and I notice Asher positions himself so that Joe can’t see the front.
He’s a good guy, Asher.
Definitely knows me well enough to know that if this asshole looked at my girl one more time, there’d be fists thrown. Not in the shop, I’m not stupid. But I’d probably follow him to his car and make sure he knows to stop being a sketchy fucker.
“Anyway,” Roxie giggles before turning me back to her. “Harriet said I could move in on Saturday. She said the room is already furnished, so I just have to move what few things I have at the house. Will you help me?”
Saturday? That’s only two days away. My eyes drop down to the floor in a wave of sadness that washes over me, but I have to keep reminding myself that this isn’t about me.
It’s about her. Growing and becoming who she wants to be, on her own.
I won’t stop that, even if I want to be at her back, protecting her from every danger—seen or hidden.
“Of course I’ll help you, baby.” I brush her hair back behind her ear and give her a tight-lipped grin before I lower my voice and bite my lip. “But if you move in two days…that means I have only two days to ravish you so much you forget why you ever wanted to move in the first place.”
Roxie just smirks lazily, heat and want filling her eyes as she pretends to be unaffected by my words, the protective possessiveness I know she loves, and the kiss we shared.