A Fighting Chance Read online

  “Woman, you want to place your shit somewhere else?”

  “Sure thing Slick,” she says enunciating the last word with a grin.

  Chloe smacks her hand over her mouth to stop her giggle. I sigh and look to the floor for strength. What does Chloe see in this chick? She was a pain in my ass at the bar, and she’s still a pain in the ass today. She’s damn lucky she puts a smile on Chloe’s face, or I’d tie her ass to a chair and torture her. I stomp my foot on the ground pretending like I’m going to get her, she giggles and runs into the other room. Her cell phone rings in her bag and she grabs it on the way to the far side of the room. She takes one look at the display and her whole demeanor changes. I’ve worked with plenty of women with issues ranging from abusive husbands to dominant John’s, and I know this look on her face.

  She turns around and answers the phone in a hushed whisper. I glance at Chloe who gives me a worried look as we both try to hear her side of the conversation.

  “Reno, I’m at a friend’s house. I know you said to come straight home after school. I tried calling you. I left you a message saying that I was coming over to Chloe’s house for dinner to show her my new books.” She stops talking to listen, and I can hear the guy screaming explicit after demeaning explicit at her. She glances at me over her shoulder, and with a shaky voice says, “I’ll be home in an hour. I promise.” She presses the end button and tosses it back in her bag, then hugs her purse to her chest.

  “Do I need to step in here?” I ask sincerely.

  “No, Slick…I mean Max. Everything’s fine,” she says, and like the whole conversation never happened, she skirts around me and heads into the kitchen.

  “Can I help with anything?” she asks Chloe.

  Chloe opens her mouth to speak when the front door opens. Ava walks in looking worse for wear. She tosses her briefcase on the bench by the door and walks out of her shoes on her way to the kitchen. She grabs a slice of cucumber out of the salad bowl and plops her ass in a chair at the table, puts her head down on the plate in front of her and doesn’t move. Chloe and I exchange looks between Savvy and Ava, both unsure who to talk to first.

  Savvy puts her books on the floor and takes a seat at the table, too. Chloe and I grab dishes and place them on the table. We take seats and dish out food. Savvy acts like everything is as right as rain, and Ava seems to be asleep.

  “Ava, honey, would you like some pasta?” Chloe asks.

  She picks her head up off the plate only long enough to scoot it toward Chloe. Chloe scoops some pasta onto her plate, and then Ava abruptly moves it to the side of her face still on the table. Chloe gives me a shrug, then serves Savvy her food.

  Believe it or not, Ava ate her entire plate of food with the side of her face planted on the table. When she was done, she got up and went to her room. Savvy nervously looked at her watch through the entire meal. When she was done, she brought her plate to the sink, picked up her behemoth-sized bag full of books and walked to the front door.

  “Maybe some other time we can go over my books. I have studying to do, I should really get home. Thank you for dinner, it was amazing, I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Savvy, wait…” But before Chloe could even get up from her chair and to the door, Savvy was already half way to her car.

  “I feel like I should have done something more. Who’s Reno? Have you ever heard of him before?” Chloe asks me.

  “No, I was going to ask you the same thing. She’s never mentioned him to you at the bar before?”

  “No, this is the first time I’ve heard his name. What about Ava? That was strange, even for her. I know she’s working real hard at work trying to make partner, but she’s never come home looking like that.”

  We cleaned the kitchen then went to Chloe’s room. It’s been a long day. I’m sure it’s been a long exhausting first day back for Chloe, too.

  I walk up behind her and run my hands down the back of her arms. She turns her head slightly to look at me and smiles.

  “How was your first day back to work?” I ask, continuing to rub her arms up and down.

  “I don’t want to talk about my first day back,” she says turning around in my arms. She jumps up, straddles my hips, and plants her lips on mine. Her fingers dig in my hair, tugging and scratching her nails on my scalp. I walk forwards placing her back against the wall as she frantically grabs for the hem of my shirt and rips it off my head. Pulling back slightly, she expertly undoes my belt, button, and zipper. I put her down only long enough for her to pull my jeans and boxers down. She licks up my dick, and then sinks her hot little mouth down as far as she can go. Not so fast, little girl. I pull her up and wrap her legs around my waist again. She leans back again and removes her scrub top, tossing it to the floor behind her. I reach behind her and unhook her bra. She removes it from each arm, grabs my face between her hands, and presses her breasts to my chest. I walk her to her bed and drop her with a gentle plop. She smiles and reaches for me. I straddle her hips pressing my erection into her belly.

  “See what you do to me? You drive me wild, woman.”

  She unties her scrub bottoms and wiggles them down as far as she can reach, then kicks them off with her feet still leaving her panties on. She reaches for them to take them off. Oh, little girl, have you learned nothing. I grab them in my hand and rip them off. I bring them to my nose and smell her intoxicating scent. Her scent is like a drug, and I can’t live without it. Like a starved man, I descend and get my high. Only when her legs quake between my head do I get my fill.

  I stand beside the bed and pull her by her ankles to the edge, and root myself deep inside. Her arms go above her head and her eyes roll in the back of her head. She locks her feet behind my legs and pulls in at my every thrust. I reach down and grab one breast with my right hand and rub her sweet little nub with my left thumb. Her legs shake uncontrollably as she comes again and pulses on my cock, and I release my own.

  The love in my chest for this woman hurts like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s not a painful hurt, but one that I welcome and cherish so fucking much. I kneel on the floor and rest my head on her lap. She scratches my scalp with those amazing nails of hers. She sits up, wraps my head against her chest and hugs my head. She kisses the top of my head and scoots up on her pillow. I climb in bed behind her, wrap my arms around her waist, and bury my nose in her hair.

  She squeezes my arm and says, “Can we go see Samuel together sometime soon? I know you said you didn’t get to go to the burial. I’d like to go with you, if that’s alright.” Words that used to cut like a knife when I’d think of Samuel and his passing drift in my ears like a song. I smile and can’t imagine going to see him with anyone except Chloe.

  “We can make that happen,” I say and close my eyes. We will both sleep peacefully tonight.

  Chapter 12

  Chloe

  The next few days at work and home are pretty much like the previous days before it. Max drops me off at work, then heads to his office, and then picks me up when my shift is over. We make dinner together in which sometimes Ava joins us and some days she’s not even home from work. He sleeps in my bed with his arm draped over my waist to make sure my demons stay on the road where I left them.

  Saturday, Max has his secret ride that he wants to take me on, and I couldn’t be more excited to get dressed up in my brand new smoking hot leathers. My purple leathers and my sparkly purple helmet, that is. Sunday we will have dinner at the Wellingtons, our first Sunday dinner back as a couple. Max and I are stronger than ever, and I can honestly say he’s the love of my life.

  Work is awesome, I love my job. I love working with my brother and he’s even been dropping hints about the idea of opening a private practice together. Wouldn’t that just be a dream come true.

  I invited Savvy to Sunday dinner, but I haven’t heard back from her. I’m worried about her, and this Reno character, he sounds like a royal douche. I’ve called her several times to see how classes are going, but it just
goes straight to voice mail and I haven’t heard back from her. If by tomorrow she doesn’t return my call, I’ll hunt her ass down. Well, Max will hunt her ass down. I’ll just tag along while he does his thing.

  I’ve been to counseling with Fiona several days already this week. Friday is my last session for the week, and each day I go, I feel more and more like myself. We’ve set a six-month schedule for three days a week, with the plan to lower that to, once a week, depending on my neediness. I don’t know if I’ll ever not need Fiona. You live a life, and in that life, shit happens, some worse than others. I may need Fiona for the rest of my life to keep me on track and to keep the swirling voices in my head at bay. Yes, those voices are still there. I write them in my journal and they go away. Only to be replaced by new ones. Am I crazy? I don’t think so.

  Sleeping in Max’s arms, I’m woken by the buzzing of his cell phone on the night stand. He answers it with a rough bark, then disconnects without saying another word.

  “I have to go somewhere. How about you climb in bed with Ava?”

  “Is it work?” I ask looking at his face. Even in the dark I can see the look of worry on his face. I know Max still thinks I’m made of fine china and he wouldn’t leave me, especially at night, unless it was a real emergency. “Max, what is it?”

  “It’s Savvy. That was Levi. Look, just go get in bed with Ava. I’ll be back as soon as I can, then tomorrow morning well go on our ride like we planned. OK?”

  “No, I’m coming with you. If this has to do with Savvy, I’m coming with you.”

  Max sighs, and then says, “Alright, we’re just going to my office. Levi has Savvy there.” Well, I wouldn’t have taken no for an answer anyway. His hand comes to my knee. And even in the dark, I can see the seriousness in his face. “Savvy got beat up. It’s not going to be pretty. I just want you to be prepared.”

  My heart sinks and immediately I think of Reno. That bastard laid his hands on Savvy, I just know it. I quickly get dressed, and we head to his office. In a back room of the office, Max has a bedroom set up just for situations like this. On the bed, I see Levi sitting with Savvy. Max doesn’t take kindly to men who lay their hands on a woman, and by the pissed off look and the body language coming from Levi right now, I can tell he feels the same way. She has an ice pack on her eye and some abrasions on her knees, and some pretty ugly bruises forming on her upper arms in the shape of fingers.

  I run to her and hold her while she cries. Levi gets up and he and Max walk out into the hallway talking in hushed voices. I just hold Savvy while she cries. Like she did for me, I didn’t pry or make her tell me her story. I’m just there to hold her and be there when she needs me.

  Savvy and I fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms. I was woken up to Max gently shaking my arm. The early morning sun is shining in through the window, and I can’t believe we slept the rest of the night in this tiny twin size bed together. I look at Max’s hand on my arm and see bruised and bloodied knuckles. I don’t ask why or how. I know why, and I know who. And I’m completely fine with that. I also realize that I slept without any demons, without Max’s arm draped over me. Yes, I slept with Savvy, but even that is an accomplishment in its own.

  Looking in the doorway I see Ava. What is Ava doing here? Max says to me in a whisper, “Ava’s going to sit with Savvy for a little bit. We have someplace to be that can’t wait.”

  Savvy’s still sleeping, so I gently remove myself from her clutches and kiss her on the head. She has a really bad swollen black eye, and the bruises that she had forming last night are now an ugly black color and cover most of her upper arms. I hope Max gave him a sock in the eye for me, too. I don’t know what Reno looks like, but if I ever run into him, I’ll nut punch him then wrap them around his neck until he screams like a little girl.

  Stepping out into reception, Max has brought my leathers from home and they’re sitting on the receptionist’s desk. It’s hard to enjoy them as much as I was hoping to, knowing my friend is lying in the other room beaten up by the hand of a man who should love his woman, not abuse her.

  “Is he…” I begin to ask.

  “He won’t be bothering Savvy anymore,” he says flatly.

  And that is all that needs to be said about that. I look sadly at the door where Savvy sleeps. I was looking forward to this ride, but my friend who stood by me also needs me.

  “We’ll only be gone a few hours. Ava promised not to leave her side until we get back. Levi will be here, too. Reno is nowhere near here, I can promise you that,” he says to me running his knuckles softly down my cheek. There’s a strange look in his eye, and I’m about to question him about it when he says, “You know I’d never raise a hand to you, right?” His Adams apple bobs in his throat as he looks so lovingly into my eyes.

  “Never,” I assure him not even missing a beat.

  “I love you, Chloe,” he smiles.

  “I love you too, Max,” I say with a lump in my throat.

  I feel slightly better as I put on my purple duds. Max hands me a box with a purple bow on it. I’m slightly shocked by it. What could he possibly be giving me now? I sit down in the receptionist’s chair, place the box in my lap and open the lid. How in the hell did he know? Inside is a kickass pair of purple combat boots. They crisscross lace up to the top and have four buckles on the outside of the boot. They have a thick, black chunky sole and my feet tingle with anticipation to put them on.

  “But…”

  “I saw you looking at them online,” he answers my unfinished question with a grin. I jump out of the chair and give him a huge hug. My man knows me so well.

  I flip off my shoes and sink my feet into the coolest combat boots I’ve ever seen in my life! Now I feel like a badass! When you see a hot, tatted, muscular man sitting on a Harley and you think to yourself, yep that is one fine badass specimen of a man, that’s exactly how I feel right now about myself. Except, I’m a badass chick.

  Max gets on the bike first, and like last time, he steadies it for me to get behind him. We take off with a rumbling roar and head out of the city. The sun is still rising in the East, the wind is blowing my hair under my helmet, and I feel as free as I did last time. I completely understand a man’s passion for his bike now. There’s just no other feeling quite like it.

  After almost an hour ride, he slows the bike and heads down a dirt road. Small rocks and dirt fly from the rear tire as I’m instantly hit with an overwhelming feeling. It’s filled with dread and anger and I’m not exactly sure why. Max’s hand comes to my knee and gives it a squeeze. He never lets go, until he parks the bike in front of a run-down old house in the middle of nowhere. I know this feeling now. It’s unmistakable. I was drugged when I was brought here and it was dark, and I was in shock when I left here in an ambulance.

  I never knew what the outside of this house looked like, but I’m certain this is the house of that man who kidnapped me, the man who I shot dead in this basement held me for three long years. I can tell you the exact number of dots in the white drop ceiling tiles. I can tell you the exact paces it took to get from one side of the room to the next. I can tell you the exact amount of time it took the water to run down the pipe from the toilet upstairs when it was flushed. I can tell you all this, but I could never tell you what the outside of this house looked like, until just now.

  My chest constricts and it’s hard to breathe. Max gets off the bike and puts the kick stand down. He pulls my legs together facing the house then stands behind me, squeezing me almost as tight as my chest is constricting my lungs. They burn for air. Terror fills my soul. Why would he bring me here? I hear his soothing voice in my ear, but the words don’t comprehend. My head starts to feel fuzzy and I think I’m about to pass out, when a loud semi-truck pulls up beside us and blares its horn demanding my attention.

  “I’ve got you. Just watch,” he says in my ear. Just watch? Just watch what? I’m so confused. The front of his body is pressed tightly to my back. His arms have mine crossed over my chest, his
lips are at my ear repeating over and over, “I’ve got you. Just watch.” My ears start ringing as I hear a loud mechanical noise coming from my left where the semi is. My eyes won’t let me take them off of the nightmare filling my vision. I know he’s dead. I know he’s not in there. I know he can’t hurt me. Why is Max doing this to me?

  “Breathe, babe. Just watch. I’ve got you and I’m not letting go. Just hold on, they’re almost ready.” Tears stream down my face as a million different emotions crowd my brain. The voices aren’t screaming anymore. They’re shouting in my head and wrap around each other creating a monster that I’m sure will swallow me whole any second. Just when I think my lungs can’t take anymore and I’m about to finally pass out, there’s a loud noise and things start to come into focus. It’s a wrecking ball and it just hit the house. The large metal ball passes through my vision in slow motion as it hits the house again. The left side of the roof and wall crash inside the house. I cover my ears and close my eyes, but Max pulls them away and says, “Listen, babe. Open your eyes. Feel it, feel it in your soul.” Only then did his soothing voice break through and my lungs fill with desperately needed air.

  The ball swings again, and the front window smashes into a million pieces as the front of the house crumbles inside itself. The tortious bonds that bound me to this house fly up to heaven with the dust and smoke from the wrecking ball. It’s liberating and cleanses my soul of what I didn’t even think was still there.

  I watch every swing of that ball, and with each one I felt a lightness to my spirit, and peace and joy fill my heart. As the last wall comes down, I realize that I have a huge smile on my face. For good measure, the wrecking ball drives up the heaping pile of what used to be a house of horrors. It sinks almost flat to the ground. What was once a basement is now filled with a house that can never haunt me again. The driver of the wrecking ball gets out of his cab and walks over to Max and me.