Blood of Cupids (13 page)

“Are you kidding me?” He screamed.

He seemed stunned at my outrage. It may have been a little
out of left field, but I had been holding it in for quite some time. I know I
was not blameless in all of this, but he had promised not to break into my
apartment anymore. Did he just forget that?

“No I’m not kidding. Were you looking for something? Did you
think I was hiding something from you?”

“Obviously you were.”

“Oh, don’t start with that.”

“Don’t start with that? That’s exactly where we should
start. When did you figure out who I was?”

Flashes of my mother raced through my mind. I tried to shake
the image. “When I saw your tattoo.”

“So practically from the moment you met me?”

“Not at all. And no. I recognized your tattoo, but it wasn’t
until after you left that I put it together.”

“You still kept that from me for an entire week.”

“I tried to push you away.”

“Oh God. That’s what that was about? So what, when you
realized you couldn’t do that you sent your family to do us in?”

“Ryan, no. No, please don’t think that. I had no idea what
they were going to do.”

“And yet you just happened to be there.”

“Exactly! Do you think my father would allow me to be near a
place that he was planning on blowing up?”

Ryan stood. I knew this was a tough subject. The fact of the
matter was that we were just mixed up in this awful business. We shouldn’t be
having this fight because we never should have met. Still, for my own
rationality, I needed him to know that I didn’t set him up.

“From what I’ve heard of your father, he’s pretty ruthless.”
He started.

“He would never hurt me.”

“Is that what your mother said?”

“What—?” I stepped back. What was he trying to say? What did
that even mean? “—Ryan, don’t walk down that path. You know nothing about my
family.”

“Except that he found out she was cheating on him and killed
her.”

“Get out of my house.”

“No.”

“Get the fuck out of my house!”

My hand sprang free of the sling, and I pushed him with
every ounce of power I had left. Unfortunately, in my anger, I had forgotten
about the gaping hole in my arm. Flexing the muscles to push Ryan away shot a
blinding pain through my entire body. I screamed and fell to the floor,
bouncing on the wood beneath me.

He was right on top of me, beseeching me to calm down, to
let him help me. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to see his face. I had no idea what
lies they had been spreading at his club, but I was the one with the memory. I
was the one who saw the tattoo. I was the one who witnessed my mother’s murder.

“Ryan, go away. I don’t want you here.”

“Well, I don’t give shit. I’m not leaving.”

“Why are you so goddam stubborn?” I was screaming through my
pain. Getting shot was numbing, it all happened in slow motion. This was
different. I felt as though time was racing, and I could hear my blood swishing
in my head.

He lifted up my shirtsleeve and started adjusting my
bandage.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking to make sure your little stunt didn’t rip your
stitches out.”

“Oh.”

I took a deep breath. I hadn’t thought about that. Another
trip to the emergency room would be just what I needed to complete this
horrific night.

“You’re fine. Come here.” He lifted me to a seated position
and helped shift my sling.

“I’m sorry for pushing you.” I said.

“Sorry because you hurt yourself in the process?”

“Mostly.”

“I might have deserved it. Are you calm now?”

“More so than before.”

“I’ll take it.” He took a deep breath. “Why were you at my
match tonight, Grace?”

“The truth?”

“Only.”

“To protect you.”

He laughed a little too loudly, but I followed with the
chain of events explained to me by my father. It was all a complete
misunderstanding, and it was about to cause a war.

“Think we can stop this from getting any worse?” I
questioned.

“Are you suggesting we come clean to our families about
our…relationship?”

“Think we can find a different route?”

He lightly brushed my hair from my face and kissed my lips.

“I’m going to clean up the mess I made.”

“Did you find anything?”

“No. Are you hiding anything?”

I gave him a sly smile. Nothing can stay hidden for long.

 I stopped him with my next thought. “Ryan, after you
figured out who I was, and thought that I had deceived you, why did you still
take me to the hospital?”

He stopped for a second and looked at me. “I don’t know.”

At least he was honest.

I had made quite a mess of her place, but I was so angry
after leaving the hospital, in my head it was the only solution. I wanted to
destroy something of hers, just as she had destroyed something of mine: my
family’s clubhouse. I don’t know what I expected to find, but I thought I
must’ve slipped up at some point and gave her crucial information about our
intentional escapades. Maybe she’d written something down, planning on passing
the information along after I had left.

But I had found nothing, and now I was paying the price for
my raid. But what was I even doing there? How much was I willing to sacrifice
for this girl that I had only met a week ago? And could I really trust what
she’d told me? And why did it matter? My loyalty should be to my family. This
was never going to work; why was I wasting my time?

I replaced the couch cushions, examining the last piece of
my puzzle. Everything was put back in its place, and it was time to put me back
in mine. I had to break things off with Grace. She would certainly understand,
and most likely agree with my reasoning. Plus, no matter what, my Pops was
right. If her father found out about us, we’d both be in for something awful.

I made my way through her apartment and back into her room.
She was lying on the floor; in the same place I left her. She looked so
peaceful sleeping there that I really didn’t want to disturb her. I knelt down
beside her, and her eyes fluttered.

“Hey.” Her voice was quiet, weak.

“Hey, you comfy?”

“It’s not so bad. Plus, I tried getting up, but I really
didn’t have the energy.”

“Do you want me to move you to the bed?”

“No. I’m kind of okay with this right now. Lay with me?”

“Right here?”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t say ‘no’ to her, nor did I want to. I lowered
myself to the floor, resting my head on my forearm. “You’re right. It’s not so
bad.”

“See, I never would’ve discovered this if I hadn’t been
shot.”

“Look at you, finding the silver lining.”

“I’m not usually this optimistic. Maybe I should keep on
these pain meds.”

“Speaking of pessimism…”

“I was speaking of optimism. Why are you trying to bring me
down?”

How were we so comfortable with each other? At any point,
either of us could snap, speeding up the outbreak of this inevitable war
between us, and yet, we were lying on the hard ground, talking about absolutely
nothing.

I touched her cheek with my thumb, and her eyes closed as
she leaned into my hand. She blinked back open and bit her lip.

“Okay, give it to me.”

“Grace, don’t.”

“I get it, Ryan. This isn’t going to work. I knew that from
the very beginning. We were born to hate each other.”

I knew it had to be said, but the sound of those words made
my ears ring. She was too strong for my liking. I didn’t want her to be
rational. I wanted her to be yelling at me again.

“Can you get angry, and tell me that I’m a jerk who only
thinks about himself? This breakup is way too easy for you.”

“But you’re not. You’ve been so amazing to me tonight, even
though I know you still don’t trust me.”

“I do.”

“Stop it. Do you know how long I considered the possibility
that you knew who I was the whole time? That you were sent to find me and
seduce me to gain my trust? It wasn’t until the look you gave me when that man
said my name that I realized you had no idea.”

“I didn’t.”

“I know. And yet you still took care of me. You’re a better
person than you give yourself credit for, Ryan. And if you want me to be all
sappy about us, it really does pain me to end this.”

I wasn’t one for words, so she was clearly carrying this
finale of ours, but I wanted to show her that I felt the same way. I placed my
hand on her hip and drew my body closer to hers. She could express her feelings
verbally, but mine would need to be physical. I stared into her eyes and ran my
hand up and down her back, reminding myself of the curves I had only earlier
washed. Her voiced purred at my touch, and I inched my hips forward, willing
our bodies to touch one final time.

“Just once more.” I pled, and without permission stole her
lips with mine. I didn’t want to hurt her, but a kiss was not enough. It had
been such a long night, and I needed a release. I needed her to give that to
me. I pulled her on top of me, trying to ignore her little cries of pain at
each movement, but it was too much to overlook.

“I’m hurting you.” I pulled away.

“No. I’m fine.”

“You’re lying to me.”

“I don’t care; we’re doing this.”

There was no saying ‘no’ to Grace. I grabbed her shorts and
threw them down her bare legs, finding her lips with my teeth and her warmth
with my needing hand. She moaned, causing her tongue to vibrate in my mouth. I
needed more. I needed to be inside. Grace pulled the string on my shorts and
started to struggle, freeing me from the fabric.

“Okay, this needs to go.” She lifted her sling over her
head, dropping her arm to her side.

“Grace, no.”

“Dammit, I have two hands, and I will use them.”

I was not winning this argument. She whined as she pulled
off my shorts, but refused any help I offered. She ripped off her shirt, then
mine, and placed herself directly over me.

My feelings of longing far outweighed the torture I suffered
looking at her bandaged, bruised, and naked body. Still, I felt a twinge of
pain for her as I pushed into her lust. We both sighed, accepting one another.
Grace slid up and down, allowing her body to take over the movements. Her face
cringed at every pass, and I knew she must be hurting. I slowly lowered her
chest to mine, pushing my hips forward and forcing myself to stay inside of
her. I rocked back and forth, holding her body in place. She rested her head on
my shoulder and moaned into my neck. I felt so close to her. I felt compassion
for her. I felt an intimacy I had never before experienced, with anyone.

Why was I going to let this end? I hugged her close to me
and flipped her on her back, planking over top of her. My hips continued their
motion.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes.”

“Can you wrap your legs around me?”

She did as I requested, opening her hips to me and allowing
me to push further. She was surrounding me, welcoming me, taking me in like I
wanted to be taken. I pushed fast and retracted slow. I wanted to feel all of
her. We answered each other’s screams, escalating with each thrust. Her
pleasure was overcoming her pain as her movements grew, matching mine. We gave
a final attack and were motionless for a second, unable to move from our
combined liberation.

I collapsed next to her, both of our chests rising and
falling together and our cries slowly dying as one. I looked up at her ceiling,
not sure of what to say next. But I didn’t need to say anything. Her hand found
mine, and our fingers interlaced. Of course I trusted her. How could I not?

I turned my head to give her my assurance, when I heard the
faint sound of a door creak open in the darkened living room.

“Grace, I think someone just came into your apartment.”

She stared at me, fearfully. “Shit.”