Page 23 (1/1)
"Zero This is it Take it or leave it You’ll get another chance at the title again but you can kiss it good-bye for another three or four years"
"Shit," I added, trying to remember all the stuff that Father Pat had toldhold ofto fifty in my head, Iis more important than Em"
Four weeks to the day that we made an offer, the run-down, ramshackle shit hole that we’d fallen in love with became officially ours It had been torn down and beat up but I intended to rebuild it, and Eive it a soul The irony that the houseup the keys froh the park When we got to the bench, Eto be asked, she cuddled her body intoher as she listened to my heartbeat, I felt safe Is that odd? For a woman to make a man feel safe?
I don’t mean to say that I was afraid of the people around h that the prospect of ever getting ed or jumped didn’t botherE heart of reatest strength and my Achilles’ heel The only way to hurt ht so why are you procrastinating?" she askedit off, I take it?" I queried with a raised eyebrow
"Yes, love," she said with a sers back and forth between ainst the contrast of er and she wouldn’t letit back It aile could be so strong and brave and I couldn’t find the words to explain that I wasn’t giving up I was standing round to stay and protect as ht," she tolddecision This trial could be adjourned or it could be over in a couple of days, and then what? You’ve throay your shot at the title for nothing"
"And what if the trial goes ahead What kind of h that alone? The fact that I couldn’t protect you once is so I have to live with for the rest of my life But to let you stand there and face hi I won’t ever do So please, baby, please don’t ask"
"But I’h family that I’ll practically have an army behind me It doesn’t matter what Frank did because I will be in the front of that courtrooain And when I’ to be exactly where I should have been last ti my husband raise his title belt"
A swell of pride ran through ined the look on E me to sacrifice my place at her side so that I could stand before her and lay the world at her feet I didn’t like it Not one little bit, but Em was the smart one If this hat she wanted, I’d s the bitter pill and give it to her
"Okay, love You win I’ll fight" She squealed with excitement "There are rules Lots and lots of rules," I warned her
"I wouldn’t expect anything less," she said It humbled me that she was pleased withhiesture of love than that, I couldn’t think of one, and I knew I’d change h
"I’ll train with Kier and Danny alone, everyone else goes to court with you" She nodded her head at the most obvious of my conditions "Every time the court adjourns, you callday You callokay or it will fuck with n up for rape counseling I want to take you betweensessions If I can’t be with you for the trial, then I can be there for this"
"I don’t think I need counseling, O’Connell I’ with it are two different things The trial is going to bring up soly stuff and you need to prepare for that" She snorted through the thick, ugly tears rolling down her face
"Finally," I said, threading ently toward me so that I could look into her eyes "No matter which way that sick fuck looks at you, no matter what he says, you remember that you’re irl you were before he did what he did, but I know the wohter but becausehe can say or do in that courtrooe that I need you to remember how much I love you You can’t let hioes down, he’s going to get in prison everything he gave to you"
"I love you, O’Connell You know that?" she said toher nose
"I love you too, Mrs O’Connell," I whispered, kissing the top of her head The next couple of h, but once Frank had been put away, I had faith that the worst would definitely be behind us
"So we’re on? For real?" Kieran asked me
"I don’t like it, but it’s what Em wants So, yeah, we’re on" Kieran and Earnshaw fist-bu the most of this opportunity It didn’t occur to me to worry about whether or not I could win or how painful the cost would be to achieve that win My body was conditioned to feel pain for so long that I didn’t fear it I worried about how much Em could endure with this trial and without me, and it bothered me that she had to try
Earnshaw looked at ht decision, but that’s easy forto lose So what do we need to do to get you through this?" he asked I looked over at Danny, who still looked concerned He loved Ehter, and he was by her side when Frank stabbed her But this was a world title fight, which meant he needed to be with , and there was no easy fix