Twenty-One #2
He turns when I enter, his chest rising and falling with a heavy breath. He takes a long drag from his cigarette, then drops his gaze.
His voice is rough, shredded from the fight. “Wasn’t your lucky night, Ava. I’m still alive.”
I cross my arms tight over my chest, biting down on my lip in frustration. “I can see that. That’s just how the world spins, Maxim. Idiots get nine lives.”
A crooked smirk curves his lips as he pushes off the locker. He takes a swig from the bottle, then hurls it across the floor. It shatters into a thousand pieces, but he doesn’t even flinch.
He stalks toward me, arms spread wide, arrogance radiating off him. “I’ve got only one life, just like everyone else.”
He stops right in front of me, leans down until his breath scorches my skin. “But you know what makes me different?” His voice drops, dark and sure. “Even the Reaper himself wouldn’t dare come for me. No one can kill me, Ava. No one.”
His bandaged hand rises, cupping my chin gently but firmly. “Only you have that power. Only you can take my soul. Only you.”
The scent of blood clings to his skin, stinging my nose, but I don’t pull away. I can’t. My hand finds his arm, gripping tight.
“You really expect me to believe you after everything you did to me?”
His gaze flickers over the bruises on my face, and for the first time, I see something raw, grief, maybe even guilt. “Yeah, you should believe me, baby. I’m a lot of filthy things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”
“That’s what you say.” I narrow my eyes. “But you know what I think, Maxim? You’re bluffing.”
His jaw clenches so hard the veins pop along his neck. He releases me in one abrupt move and strides to one of the lockers. The cigarette hits the floor as he pulls out a handgun, then turns back toward me. He places the weapon in my palm and steps back, spreading his arms wide like a madman.
“I told you once I’d give you my life, didn’t I? Now, to make up for what I did, I’m gifting you my death. Take it all, Ava. Take everything.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever held a gun. The weight of it shocks me—so heavy it almost drags my hand down. To realize that a piece of cold metal can give me the power to decide whether someone lives or dies… it’s intoxicating and terrifying all at once.
I raise the gun, step closer until the barrel presses against his chest. He doesn’t even blink, those wild dark eyes locked on mine. I know his soul’s darker than that, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not my fault that my other half turned out to be a ruthless criminal.
“I could pull this trigger,” I whisper, “and walk away? Just like that?”
He nods. “No one would touch you. No one.”
“So your life… it’s completely mine?”
“Without a single condition, baby.”
I exhale sharply, pressing the gun harder over his heart.
“Then I’m giving you an order. Protect what’s mine.
Never again risk what belongs to me in some goddamn ring.
Never touch another woman. Never condemn me without giving me a chance to defend myself.
I command you to forgive yourself for what you’ve done.
And I’m begging you—tonight, take me and our daughter home. ”
With every command, his eyes soften, his hands lower, until he finally wraps his arms around me and crashes his lips onto mine. The gun slips from my hand and hits the floor as I rise on my toes, arms winding around his neck, kissing him back with all the hunger and hurt in me.
Our faces are bruised and swollen, but not even the sting of pain or the taste of blood on his lips can stop me. His mouth burns against mine, heat flooding through me, loosening everything inside. I want him, completely, desperately.
He moves forward, driving me back with every step until my spine hits the cold metal locker.
Then he kisses me again, deeper, rougher, wetter, owning every inch of me with his lips.
I don’t know how long we kiss, seconds, minutes, before we both break for air, foreheads pressed together, fighting to breathe, hearts pounding in unison.
“I love you, Ava. I love you so fucking much.”
The confession slips out between his ragged breaths, and my heart cracks wide open.
I’ve known for so long that I love this bullying brute, and now hearing the words I thought impossible from him fills me with a sudden fear of all this happiness.
Not so long ago, I was a lonely woman terrified of life itself.
I’d drawn a thick red line around every joy, retreating into the shadows like a hermit, letting my days and nights pass in solitude.
But today, I have everything I ever dreamed of.
So many nights, Sister Maria would talk of miracles, and I’d smile to myself inside, never saying a word, convinced miracles no longer happened to people like me.
But today, I understand: God’s eyes are wide open.
My eyelids flutter shut, and I press my forehead harder against his.
“I love you too, Maxim. I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you.”
He pulls my body flush against his, his voice low and husky:
“I should’ve claimed you that very day. One time in my life I played the gentleman, and look how that turned out.”
When his hard length presses into me, I clench instinctively, a soft gasp escaping.
I lift his hand and hurriedly unwind the bloody tape from his fingers.
As the stained strips fall to the floor, he slides his palm under my blouse, peeling it off my skin.
The same fate befalls the rest of my clothes.
His eyes fixed on my body, he shucks off his shorts.
The sight of his cock, hard as steel, makes my knees buckle, but luck is on my side, he catches me around the waist, lifting me into his arms. I wrap my arms and legs around him, and without a word, we head for the door at the far end of the locker room, where I realize the shower waits.