Page 27 of Mending Our Chance

14 Marcus

“Marcus!”

I bolted up in my bed. Realizing I had been in the thralls of a nightmare only moments ago, I took a few deep breaths and tried to reorient myself to the present. My left leg was throbbing; a ghost wound. Very seldom did I relive the actual events of that terrible day in the Middle East during my nightmares. Rather, my hours of fitful sleep were full of impossible situations and suffocating realities which had never actually happened or I prayed never would.

“Marcus?”

It was the same voice that had awoken me. And I blessed the sound of it. Felicity. She saved me from the dreams. I held my head in my hands, panting hard as I paused to recover my composure. Then, with bare feet, I padded across the studio to the door. Somewhere along the way, I found my shorts and stumbled into them. The digital clock on the stove told me that it was two in the morning.

Felicity had stopped calling my name, but she kept up a light patter of knocking. Leaning against the door, I closed my eyes, still physically on overdrive as a result of the nightmare. She couldn’t see me like this. But I was weak—I needed her. And if she was here in the middle of the night, then she needed me, too.

I opened the door, expecting her to jump away in fright at my haggard visage. Instead, she came crashing into me. Her petite body trembled against mine and as I closed my arms around her, I realized she was sobbing.

“Felicity?” My voice was gravel to my own ears.

“Just hold me,” she cried against my chest. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

“I’m here.” And in that moment, I knew I never wanted that to change. “Let’s get out of the hall though, okay?”

Only, her legs wouldn’t work. So I picked her up and bumped the door shut with my hip. Pausing to slide the chain lock into place, I carried Felicity to the couch and sat down with her on my lap.

She took some time to quiet down and eventually began to talk. She told me that she and her aunt had fought earlier that morning. While Felicity tried to gather her thoughts, I visually pictured the old lady from our time together in California. I had always sensed the woman hadn’t cared for me. I wasn’t of their culture. In fact, I was a young man with a death wish from a rich family and I acted like a typical American country bumpkin. That time reminded me of how green I had been, and what delirious thoughts I had once held about fighting for my country—that was before I actually paid with a wound and a friend in a pine wood box.

As I held Felicity, my mind wandered back to the time that I met this crazy college chick. It had been a weekend getaway. She had been studying up at UCLA Berkley, and had come down with her friends because her aunt lived somewhere near my Marine Base at Pendleton. It was pure luck that we’d met.

We had partied, and eventually, it had just become Felicity and I—all summer long. We ended up ditching our friends because we were happy with each other. I had known she was perfect, but then I’d let my prior commitment to my country pull me away and I knew I couldn’t subject her to that life. It was that old adage: When you love someone, sometimes the best thing to do is set them free.

Now, fate had brought us back together, and here she was, taking comfort in my arms.

I held her tight and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. That was a mistake. The adrenaline from my nightmare had not worn off, and the memories of that summer, plus having this fabulous woman on my lap were doing crazy things to my body. I was all revved up. It took every ounce of willpower to keep myself from leaning down and tasting her lips. I imagined coaxing her into a deep kiss, then scooting her onto the couch and making her forget all about her aunt and that damned fight. My cock loved the idea. Thankfully, before I could succumb to temptation, Felicity whispered a few more details. In horror, I sat spellbound by her revelation.

Gianna Saccone was dead.

Guilt flooded through me and I profusely apologized for delaying the treatment.

“Hush.” Felicity pressed a finger to my lips, sending a shiver through me. “It was a good idea not to spend the money on her. This was a complication; there was nothing we could have done and this just shows that it was clearly too late for any kind of treatment.”

“But…” my voice trailed off. I knew how remorse could eat away at a soul. Hell, it happened almost every time I closed my eyes.

“No ‘buts’. I chose me. She could have gone to her brother for the money—I told her. But it wouldn’t have done an ounce of good.” Felicity hiccupped. “For once, I fucking chose me. It is the best damn thing I have ever done. And we are going to conquer the business world, Marcus.”

When she fell silent, I realized there was only one thing that I could do: I would take care of Felicity. I pulled her tight against me and nestled us into the couch. It was almost three in the morning by then, but neither of us slept. It was enough to just sit there and face the night together. And miracle of miracles, the torment in my own mind stayed quiet. For that, I silently blessed the beauty in my arms.

I want to bring her honor. To lay the world at her feet after I carved out a piece of it. But I knew I couldn’t conquer anything without this queen by my side.

I considered my options. Backing out on Argento was now possible given Felicity no longer needed the money for her aunt. But the more I thought on it, the more it made sense to keep my side of the bargain. I would finalize the sale of my soul to that devil. I would take him on as an investor and succeed. I would funnel the money quietly into the business, and Felicity would never have to know. We were landing an affluent sale next week which meant that my bargain with Argento was almost completed and he would have no hesitation in backing me. With his support, we could grow bigger, faster. We could stand out amongst the other businesses, because I knew that we produced better products and with more resources we could get the jobs done in record time.

Yes, Argento was staying. I would do this for Felicity.

~*~

Sometime after the sun rose, Felicity began to stir.

“Where are you going?” I asked as I pulled her back to my chest.

“I need to use your bathroom.”

“Oh.” I released her and watched her walk toward the bathroom.

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