Madeline Sheehan - Undeniable

I shook my head.  "I can't do this anymore."

"What part babe?  You can't keep tryin’ to save Frankie from himself?  Or you can't keep fuckin' Chase?  Or you can't keep pretendin' that this crazy shit between us is gonna go away just cuz you keep runnin'?"

It was infuriating how well he knew me without even knowing me.

"All three," I snapped.

"That's good babe, cuz 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 fuckin' hair.  Spent too much time married to a bitch I couldn't stand, 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 fuckin' miserable for a long fuckin' time.  So yeah, I can't do this anymore.  Can't fuckin' 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 fathers.  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 fuckin’ 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 fuckin' 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 fuckin' 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-fuckin’-tired tryin’ to ignore it.  I’ll try to do right by you Eva, you’d be the first, but I’ll fuckin’ try my damndest.   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 fuck is yours.”

My mouth fell open.  Hadn’t he just told 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 hadn’t been 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 fucking world.

“Okay,” 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 fuckin' time.  Now where’s your fuckin’ room?”

Deuce, accompanied by Cox, walked onto the 35th floor of  Martello Tower and into the law offices of Henderson, Fredericks 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 fuckin’ 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 her chair and spun around.  They both stared as her skirt-clad ass went up 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 passed 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 spick was mine."

Cox's fists clenched.

"Eva Fox," Deuce reminded him.

Chase glanced back at him.  "I'm a little busy right now.  Do you mind coming back another time?  Maybe making an appointment?"

Cox sat down on a leather armchair and put his feet up on Chase’s desk.  "We'll wait."

"Yeah," He said, spotting a photograph of Eva.  He picked it up off the desk. "You take your fuckin' time."

Her high school graduation.  She was wearing her gown, holding her cap in her hand and grinning, looking like she didn't have a care in the world.  His mouth went dry looking at it.  That photo had been taken right before he'd had her in that alleyway and made her his forever.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"  Chase murmured.

Yeah, she fucking was but he wasn't going to mince words.  He had come here for a reason and it wasn't to discuss how beautiful his woman was.

"Thought you only had to worry 'bout Frankie Deluva, yeah? And since Deluva's locked up tight you thought you had nothin' to worry 'bout."

Chase smirked.  "I take it I was wrong?"

"Yeah asshat," Cox said.  "You were fuckin' wrong."

Chase pointed his index finger between him and Cox and grinned.  "Are you both here defending Mrs. Fox-Deluva's honor?  Because if that's the case, I'm sorry to tell you but I'm pretty certain I fucked it all out of her."

"Sorry slick," He said to Chase.  "Eva's got fire inside her you ain't never touched."

"Considering I've touched every possible part of her there is to touch, including her womb, I'm inclined to disagree with you."

His nostrils flared.

"Oh," Chase arrogantly continued.  "Didn't you know?  Funny thing about condoms.  They don't work very well when you break them before hand.  So as far as Eva's fire is concerned, I think I've cornered the market."

"Funny thing 'bout condoms," He growled.  "They don't work very well when you don't use them at all."

He watched, satisfied, as Chase lost his grin and anger flickered in his eyes.

"Oh, dinchya know," He said.  "Been cornerin' that fuckin' market 'bout twelve years now."

Cox leaned forward and plucked a framed photo off the desk.  "God damn Kami looks slammin' in a bikini," He drawled.  "Like her better naked though.  And ridin’ my face screamin' my fuckin’ name."

Chase shrugged.  "You think Kami screams, you should hear Eva."

Holy shit he wanted to kill this asshole.

Chase folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his desk chair.  "That baby is mine," He said evenly.  "I made sure of it."

Gritting his teeth, he counted to ten before he did something that would land him a cell next to Frankie.  While he was counting, he stared at the picture of Eva.  Why did this asshole have a picture of Eva from her high school graduation?  Unless…

He looked back at Chase.  Fucker was a cruel bastard but if he’d just wanted a taste of Eva he wouldn’t have tried to get her pregnant, he wouldn’t have her photo on his desk; a photo taken twelve years ago no less, and he wouldn’t give a shit who else she was fucking.

Jesus Christ…

"I know what Eva sounds like when she's screamin'," He said quietly, waiting for the reaction he knew would come.

"Know what it feels like to be buried deep inside her sweet pussy squeezin' my shit so fuckin' hard it hurts."

Chase’s face went tight.

"Best part -and you should know this since you’re fuckin’ her- is when she’s comin’ and screamin' she loves me and-

Chase lunged forward in his chair and his fists came down on his desk.  "Shut the fuck up!"

Yeah.  Chase Henderson loved Eva Fox.

"Funny thing 'bout Eva," Cox said.  "Prez don't ever shut up 'bout her.  We quit tryin' to make him a long fuckin' time ago.  Always talkin’ 'bout her big titties and tight pussy-

"Get out," Chase hissed.  "Or I'm calling security."

"Don't worry, kid," He said.  "We're gettin' the fuck out.  Came up here to feel you out, see what the fuck your game was.  See if I needed to take you to ground, but I get it now, know exactly what you're about.  You ain't got no game.  You just want my woman, plain and simple.  Wanted her for long time now.  Wanted her so bad you were desperate enough to settle for fee for service fuckin' instead of love."

Chase's jaw locked up tight.

"I ain't got shit to worry 'bout.  Eva's never gonna look at you as anything more than a ride she got off on.”

"GET! OUT!"