Page 60 of The Heavier The Chains…
Chapter 23
The hope that saves us.
Kenzlee~
Talon dragged me through the crowd until we came upon an old maintenance room. Because the garage was abandoned and unused, the only light coming through the room was from a window aligned near the ceiling. I’m not going to lie; the place looked like a serial killer’s ideal lair.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Kenzlee?” Talon snapped, and whatever was left of my heart began to crumble.
I was right.
He didn’t want me here. Iwasunwelcomed.
“Tal-”
“You can’t come here without telling me, White,” he continued, surprising me. “It gets crazy and you can’t be out there without Lars and Hunter or, at least, one of them. You or Alex could get hurt.”
“You would care if I got hurt?” I blurted the question out because I hadn’t expected him to admit to caring about me in any capacity after what happened at the park.
He looked like my question had caused him physical pain. “Kenzlee…”
The tears started, but I was beyond what my pride was demanding of me. I wanted Talon to love me more than I wanted millions of dollars, and I didn’t care if that made me the biggest fool on the planet. I could live with being a fool. I could live with being labeled a fool who did everything I could to save a love I knew I wasn’t going to get from anyone else. What I couldn’t live with was doubt and cold pride for the rest of my life.
Talon might tell me to get lost, but at least I’d be able to walk away with no regrets that I wished I had tried harder.
“Talon, I know you…you don’t want me anymore, but-”
“Kenzlee,”he groaned right before his hands captured my face and he slammed his lips down on mine.
My knees gave out on me.
My knees weakened, but Talon’s arm came around me, and with one hand cupping my face and his arm wrapped around me, holding me to him, he kissed me like he was drowning, and I was his only chance at air.
He only pulled away long enough to chant, “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.” I was sobbing in his arms, but that wasn’t stopping his kisses or his confessions of regret. “I’m sorry, White. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Weak.
Talon made me weak.
Or maybe it was strong.
Maybe he was making me strong enough to push past what would make my pride happy, and give in to what makes my heart, soul, and mind happy. “I love you, Talon,” I blubbered between kisses. “I’m sorry if I-”
Talon stopped kissing me and taking my face in his hands, his blue eyes stilled everything in me. His voice sounded rough and painful when he said, “You have nothing to be sorry about, Kenzlee. God, you have nothing to be sorry about, baby. This is me. This is all me, and I will do whatever the fuck I need to in order for you to forgive me. I will doanything.”
I looked into his beautiful eyes and bared my soul. “Tell me I’m not…tell me I’m not a waste of your time,” I sobbed. “Tell me I’m not a waste…of your love. Just…Talon, tell me I’m not a waste.” The last part was said on an agonizing whisper because that was my biggest fear. Without Kaden in my life anymore, my existence was wasted on a world that could do without me.
Talon’s forehead dropped on mine, and his hold on my face tightened. “Kenzlee, I need you to do something for me, okay?” I nodded, willing to lay my soul at his feet. “I need you to love me enough to erase yesterday from your mind, baby. I need you to erase it from your mind because I didn’t mean a word of any of it.”
That buzz came back.
That connection was back, fighting its way through the pain, regret, and desperation. “Show me how much you missed me, Talon,” I pleaded, and I didn’t care that he was sweaty and had spatters of someone else’s blood on him. I needed him. I needed him to erase yesterday from my mind. I needed him to undo what only he could undo. He was the source of all my heartache, so he was the only person who could make it all go away.
I really thought Talon would turn me around and just bend me over with his need to prove to me that he missed me, but he didn’t.
I grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him until we were back among the crowd of blood thirsty lunatics. But instead of heading towards the spectators, he walked us towards the section of the garage where the fighters were all awaiting their matches, and that’s where I saw Alexandria, Lars, and Hunter.
Alex wrenched her arm out of Hunter’s hold and ran towards me. When she got to me, her arms latched onto my shoulders and she looked me up and down, but getting a good look at my blubbering face, she asked, “Are you okay, Kenz?”
