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Tears spill over her eyes as she sets the papers down on the table and climbs onto my lap, straddling my thighs. I wince as the sharp pain shoots through my leg, but I choke it back because I don’t want her to move.
Her lips hover mine as she runs her fingertips through my hair, “All this for me?”
“Haven’t you learned yet?” I whisper against her lips, “I’ll do anything for you. Anything it takes. I’ll kill for you, crawl for you, do mundane shit like buy bars for you. Anything babygirl.”
Pulling her against me, I kiss her again. I hold onto her like she’s going to slip away, and I move my lips softly, devouring every last moment. Her body presses tightly against mine, and I can feel a lifetime of emotions crashing over me.
All for her.
Only for her.
“There’s something we need to talk about Spence,” I whisper against her neck, sliding my arms around her waist as she stocks the bar for me. With the girls deciding to stay on part time at Rico’s, she has more down time, so she’s been popping into Afterlife to lend Riot a hand in attempts to force me to stay off of my feet.
It’s only been a few days since everything went down, so we are both still healing, and I’m supposed to be resting, but I’m a stubborn mother fucker.
I was hesitant to bring up this topic, but since she’s here, and I know damn well I won’t feel at peace until this one last thing is resolved, it’s time. It’s inevitable. This issue that hangs over my head, making my skin itch until I can finally take care of it.
“What is it?” she asks, tilting her head, granting me access to her throat as I run my tongue across her flesh.
She’s so fucking distracting.
Pressing a kiss to her cheek, I lean back, putting some space between us, “Liam.”
She whirls around in double time and looks at me with a questioning glance, “I - I thought you killed him?”
“I distinctly recall telling you I didn’t kill him,” I raise an eyebrow and fold my arms across my chest, widening my stance while I wait for her response..
“Travis, I - "
“You want your life back, and it’s back. It’s yours again. But I figured, when it came to this piece of shit who hurt you so much… as much as I wanted to tear him apart piece by piece… vengeance wasn’t mine to take.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve had him…detained.”
“Detained?” she cocks her eyebrow, and I grin.
“Here. In the basement. I may have had a little fun with him, but…he’s still breathing.”
Her mouth opens and closes a few times, but no words come out.
“Listen babygirl, you don’t have to have a hand in it. You can just say what you need to say to him, and I can take care of the rest. Whatever you need. Anything you need,” I step forward, brushing stray strands of hair from her face and cup her cheek with one hand.
“I - I want to see him,” her emerald eyes flick up and meet mine as I rub my thumb across her bottom lip. “I don’t know where it goes from there but, I need to say my peace.”
Nodding in response, I slide my hand down to the side of her neck and press a chaste kiss to her forehead. She answered quickly, almost a little too quickly, but I know that she needs this as much as I do. She will never truly be free from her demons while he’s out there in the world.
Taking her hand in mine, our fingers lace together as I lead her out from behind the bar. Guiding her through the building, we head right for the basement door. It briefly occurs to me that she’s never really seen my work, and I find myself becoming anxious that it’s going to make her run. I’ve worked that fucker over so many times, and even with holding back, I’ve made an absolute mess of him.
Looking into the scanner, I hold my breath as I swing the door open, and guide her down the steps.
Darren has done a decent job of hosing the asshole off everyday, but the stench of urine is strong. A not so subtle reminder that I’m going to have to call in the cleaners and pay them double when all of this is said and done.
Stopping mid-way down the steps, I turn and look back at Spencer.
“Listen, I - you’re gonna see some shit down here.”
“Okay?” she shrugs.