Page 24 of If You Fight

Chapter Eight

Ryder

When a half hour had passed and Robert hadn’t called me back into his office, I hoped to God whatever had been occupying his attention kept doing it and headed out toward Serena’s apartment. I needed to avoid the cameras positioned outside the living quarters area of the estate, so I made my way around the back of Serena’s townhouse. I found the cellar door open and crept up the very stairs that fuck Oliver had thrown her down.

She stood with her back to me looking out the kitchen window at the courtyard. Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her softly on the neck just below her ear.

“I missed you. It was so fucking hard watching you sit through all that today and not being able to help you get away from all those people.”

Serena turned in my hold and looked up at me. “I stared out from behind that veil and didn’t feel one thing. Not for him. Not for his parents. Not for my father. All I wanted to do was run to you and beg you to whisk me away from all of it.”

“It’s over now. He’s gone, and he’ll never hurt you again.”

She stood on her toes and kissed me softly. “Because of you. I owe you my life so many times over, Ryder. You’re my savior.”

I pressed my forehead to hers and whispered the only truth I knew about us. “I would do anything to protect you, Serena. I’d give my life for you.”

“Don’t even think that,” she said, hugging me tightly and pressing her cheek to the spot over my heart. “I couldn’t go on if you weren’t in the world. I wouldn’t want to.”

Tilting her head back so she had to look at me, I gazed into her beautiful dark eyes. “I promise you, Serena, I’m not going anywhere. They’d have to drag me out of this life to make me leave you.”

“I laid in bed for the past few nights hating that you were so close by but still I couldn’t have you next to me. I’m tired of playing these games. I’m not married anymore, so what would anyone care if you and I were together?”

As much as I wished it was that easy, I doubted it ever could be. Not with Robert still living. His need to control everyone in his world, especially Serena, meant we’d never get to be together without his blessing.

And the chances of him giving that seemed unlikely, at best.

“I don’t care what anyone thinks, Serena. All I care about is that I love you and you love me. The rest of the world can disappear for all I care.”

“But do you think we’ll be able to be together now?” she asked, her eyes so full of hope that I hated what I knew to be the truth.

“It doesn’t matter. We’re together and we love each other. That’s all that matters.”

She slid her hands up under my suit jacket and slid it off my back. Holding it up to her face, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she pressed the collar to her nose. “I wish I had this with me the past few days. It smells like you. Your cologne and the way your skin on your neck smells like a man should smell. Masculine, strong, powerful.”

I watched her revel in the scent of my jacket and loved how sensual she was. Since the night I met her, she’d been that same soul who seemed purer than anyone else I’d ever met. I loved that about her. A tiny thing like the smell of my cologne made her smile.

She was too good for me, but I didn’t care. I needed that sweetness and goodness she brought into my life, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.

Opening her eyes, she smiled up at me. “I bet you think I’m being silly, but I read somewhere that of all the senses, the sense of smell can trigger some of the most powerful memories of them all.”

“Oh yeah? What memories does smelling my suit jacket trigger?” I asked, teasing her even as she charmed me.

Serena inhaled the scent of my jacket again and smiled. “That first night you wore a suit in front of me. Do you remember that night? I taught you how to dance downstairs in the guest room. Remember?”

“I remember,” I said as the memory of that night settled into my brain. “You looked so beautiful that night. You were in that little dress and that old guy who’s friends with your father kept grabbing your ass as you danced with him.”

Her mouth turned down into a pout. “That’s not what I was talking about.”

I slid my hands around to cup her ass and pulled her to me. “That’s not all I remember, though. The wine cellar. How incredible you felt in my arms. How long I’d wanted to feel your body pressed against mine.”

“I love that memory, even though you were a huge tease that night,” she said, frowning.

Kissing her hard, I stuffed my hand into her hair and tugged gently. “No looking sad in front of me today. I want to see you smiling when I’m around.”

Her tongue slid across her lower lip and she grinned up at me. “I always smile when you’re around, Ryder. Even when I’m mad at you, I’m still happier when I’m with you than I am when I’m not.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

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