Page 51 of Mending Our Chance

28 Marcus

We are not a fling, I growled as I stood outside Felicity’s apartment building and pushed the buzzer that evening. I had been about to come here earlier, but Matteo had told me that they were out with Felicity and wouldn’t be back until late. I told him that I needed to speak with her and to tell me when they dropped her off. That text hadn’t come until recently, so here I was, at nearly eleven at night, in the freezing cold, ready to do battle for my woman.

I had a plan and Matteo had told me that Argento had agreed to it. It was time to test my luck. At the realization that this was that moment, I clenched the bouquet of flowers in my hands—cheap ones—so that if she threw them in my face, it wouldn’t be a great loss.

“Let me in,” I ordered when she answered the intercom.

There was a long pause. I was tempted to ask her neighbor to let me in so that I could talk to Felicity. But apartment people are fiercely loyal, and come to think of it, that was a good thing. However, the door unlocked and I let out a sigh of relief.

I pushed through and sprinted up the stairs where I skidded to a halt in front of her door. Felicity stood waiting for me with the chain still in place. “Well?” she asked, her tone carefully neutral.

“Open up,” I pressed, tempted to make her break her damage deposit.

“No.”

“Fine. I’ll speak my piece here then.” I smashed the flowers through the opening. Felicity took them and I saw her ruddy cheeks darken with anger. Yep, those flowers are headed for the trash. “There is a party this Saturday night,” I ploughed on. “Argento is hosting it to mark our partnership. He is going to debut our company and stake his claim, letting the whole world know that not only is he backing us, but that if anyone messes with us, they also mess with him.”

“He never said anything about a fucking party!” Felicity crossed her arms, effectively crushing the flowers and making a mess of petals on the ground. She was clearly annoyed at my business dealings.

Mouth dropping open, I blurted out, “You spoke with him? I thought you were out with your brothers—”

“What do you want, Marcus?” Felicity interrupted me. “Just spit it out and go.”

Licking my chapped lips, I decided in that split second which battle I would take up. “Argento believes that if we make a strong and quick announcement, it will set our company up right from the start and ward off any sharks that are circling around us. I agree with him.” I released a deep breath, waiting for her to strike.

Felicity’s eyes opened wide and her nostrils flared. “How dare you!”

“I am here for your blessing.” I dropped to my knees. I had sworn to Argento that I could get her on board, not only with the party, but with forming the new found partnership. “We won’t go forward with this unless you agree. I do this because I’m well aware that you’re still in charge, Felicity.” I was giving her everything—including staking a claim that she was in charge.

“Fuck. You.”

The door slammed closed. But before she had a chance to click the lock shut, I rose off my knees, grabbed the handle, forced the chain to pop, and burst through the door. “I can oblige,” I ground out as I barged into the room. If this was how she wanted to play this out, I was going to take it. “I’m done dancing on egg shells around you. And I refuse to let us go backward.”

As I flung the door shut behind me, I absently realized that I was trampling over the flowers. It was the woman in front of me, however, who claimed my attention. There was no flicker of fear in Felicity’s dark eyes, and when my body crashed into hers, I found her waiting for the impact with anticipation.

Without missing a beat, my right hand fisted into her hair. Forcing her face upward, I swooped down to taste that defiant mouth, reminding myself that she had asked for it.

The feel of her body pressed to mine was exhilarating. I felt on the verge of dominating her. That petite body was calling out to me and the only thing holding me back was a shred of honor. It wouldn’t be right to fuck like animals in heat with both of us so hurt and pissed off.

Those red lips, however, were searing my resolve. I knew that if I didn’t pull back, this was going to end in bed. Hell, her apartment was bigger and had nicer furniture than mine, so we might not even make it that far. Even now, I was considering taking her on the kitchen table. But it wasn’t until her fingers slipped my shirt from the waist of my pants that I froze. Pushing her hands away, I held both of them tightly to one side and with my right hand still fisted in the dark lengths of her hair, I pulled her head away from mine.

“I’m warning you that I am done holding back on you, Felicity. The next time you ask for a fight, I won’t hold back.” My inhalation was sharp even to my own ears. “Because this isn’t over—this thing between us. I’m going to keep you.”

Dropping my hands, I turned and left the apartment, fully aware that I couldn’t be trusted around that intoxicating woman a moment longer. Until I mended things between her and her father, I wasn’t stepping in and taking what was mine. I had to prove myself and this was the boon I craved to give her.

As I walked away, I realized that I hadn’t gotten her to agree on the party. But if she had already spoke to Argento, then maybe my work of reuniting them wouldn’t be as hard as I had thought. All I could do was pray like hell that what was broken would soon mend.

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