Undeniable (Undeniable, #1)(51)
“What part, babe? You can’t keep tryin’ to save Frankie from himself? Or you can’t keep f*ckin’ Chase? Or you can’t keep pretendin’ that this crazy shit between us is gonna go away just ’cause you keep runnin’?”
It was infuriating how well he knew me without even knowing me.
“All three,” I snapped.
“That’s good, babe, ’cause I can’t do this anymore either.”
I drew my brows together. “What can’t you do?”
“I’m gettin’ old, babe. Got grown-ass kids and gray f*ckin’ hair. Spent too much time married to a bitch I couldn’t stand and too much time beatin’ myself up for wishin’ I was balls-deep in a bitch eighteen years younger than me. Add that shit together and that equals me being f*ckin’ miserable for a long f*ckin’ time. So yeah, I can’t do this anymore. Can’t f*ckin’ live without you. Want you on my bike and in my bed. Want my kids inside you. Want you by my side, babe, for as long as I got left.”
By his side.
“By your side?” I whispered.
His hand went to my neck and tugged on the chain around it. For a moment, I thought he was going to break his father’s necklace again. Instead, he tugged it out of my shirt and held it up in front of my face. The medallion spun around. “You think I just like decoratin’ ya?”
I sucked in air.
It wasn’t his father’s. It looked exactly the same as his father’s, except the back of this one read Deuce.
My chin began to tremble. “I thought…I-I thought you’d put your father’s necklace back on me.”
He shook his head. “Told you, you shoulda never been wearing that. You shoulda been wearin’ mine.”
Sheesh. I was going to cry again.
“Fuckin’ listen, Eva, and listen good. Words are shit, and I ain’t good with them anyway. So here’s the f*ckin’ truth for you—straight up. I’m forty-eight years old, gonna be forty-nine all too soon, and I damn well know a good thing when I see it. And, babe, all I’ve ever been able to f*ckin’ see is you. Not many chances a man has in his lifetime to do right, to earn the love of a good woman, and to get a taste of true freedom. And, babe, for me, you’re all f*ckin’ three. Have been for a good while now.”
He dropped my necklace, cupped my cheeks, and tilted my head back.
“Whatever this shit is between us, it’s always been there, and it’s always gonna be there. I’m shit-f*ckin’ tired of tryin’ to ignore it. I’ll try to do right by you, Eva. You’d be the first, but I’ll f*ckin’ try my damnedest. And, baby, true freedom is the open road, the wind on your face, and a good woman on the back of your bike, holdin’ you tight like you’re her reason for breathin’ because she sure as f*ck is yours.”
My mouth fell open. Didn’t he just tell me he wasn’t good with words, and then he went and said all that to me? I was floored. Shocked to my core. I wasn’t wrong about him after all.
“Deuce,” I whispered, “you love me.”
He eyes went skyward, and he snorted. “Babe. Yeah. Long time now.”
? ? ?
Deuce watched her go liquid. Every part of her just went soft. Fuck, he loved that look. That look told him that he was her whole f*cking world.
“OK,” she whispered. “No more running.”
He breathed in a ragged breath of relief.
“Jesus, babe,” he muttered as he ran his knuckles down her cheek. “’Bout f*ckin’ time. Now, where’s your f*ckin’ room?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Deuce, accompanied by Cox, walked onto the thirty-fifth floor of Martello Tower, into the law offices of Fredericks, Henderson, and Stonewall, and stopped in front of a very pretty, very young, wide-eyed receptionist.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Cox muttered. He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket and slapped it down on the desk. “A thirty-f*ckin’-thousand-dollar appointment, which buys us you keepin’ your mouth shut and not callin’ security. You feel me?”
Her mouth fell open, and she stared down at the envelope. “Thirty thousand dollars?”
“Yup.”
“Legal?”
“It’s not tagged, darlin’.”
She jumped out of her chair and spun around. They both stared as her skirt-clad ass went up in the air as she bent down and rummaged through a file cabinet. She resurfaced with a purse and sweater and snatched up the envelope.
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “I hate Mr. Henderson! He is the worst boss I have ever had! I’m so going back to bartending!”
She let out an excited shriek, flashed them a killer grin, and ran out of the office.
They looked at each other. “That was easy,” Cox said.
“She forgot her photos,” he said, pointing at her desk.
Shrugging, they headed past reception and straight into Chase’s office.
He glanced up from his laptop.
Deuce stepped forward. “Eva Fox,” he growled.
Chase glanced between him and Cox and stuck on Cox. His eyes went wide. “Jesus,” he muttered. “It’s about time you came and picked up your kid. Wasn’t sure how much longer I could stomach pretending the little spic was mine.”