“West was never loyal to Ken again. He seemed to like me, followed me everywhere. I let him out of the basement, and Ken couldn’t get him back down there no matter what he tried. If he came near me, West growled while standing in front of me with bared teeth. If Ken wanted to punish me or beat the shit out of me for something, he'd drag me out back and do it so West couldn't stop him. I’m sure the old fuck was afraid of that dog.
“Wasn’t until the day he shot and killed West for trying to protect me again from Ken’s abuse in the house, because he forgot himself, that I knew I couldn’t take any more. I took off after that day, lived on the streets for months and months. I did what I had to do to survive. No matter what it took.
“But there comes a time where you think, If this is all there is. If I am really the nothin’ my own father led me to believe I am, then what the fuck is the point of living'? I didn’t want to live another damn day.”
I can’t stop the tears from falling hard and fast. I can’t bear thinking about the man I love so lost and alone, feeling like he couldn’t go on another day. Wanting to die. Oh god, I can’t imagine the pain he was in.
I’ve never felt so down that I wanted to die, not even after everything happened to me. Not when Elisha was taken from me, and not in the years afterward.
I guess I always had something deep down to look forward to. The day my baby girl comes back into my life. The day I can hold her in my arms and tell her how much I love her.
What did Stryker have to hold onto?
Nothing. That’s what.
This time, his eyes lock with mine and hold firm. “But there was something that told me to fight, not to give up. I met BlackJack that very day. I tried to rob him at knifepoint,” He chuckles to himself and turns away from me again, but I’m sat here wondering how in the hell he’s still alive. “I don’t know what he saw in me that day, but he saw something. He told me to get the hell on the back of his bike. Thought he was taking me somewhere to kill me. I went because I had fuck all to live for.
“But he took me home with him, gave me a place to live, a job, a family. Ain’t never been more grateful to anyone for anything in my whole life. He showed me what it was like to be part of something. Being a Snake, I can't think of anythin’ I’d rather be. I fit with them, but I wasn’t like them. I didn’t talk and never shut up like the rest of them. I didn’t go out there fuckin’ every woman I came across, and that was because I couldn’t fuckin’ stand to be touched most of the time. I just wanted a quiet life. I didn’t think I deserved anything good in life, just as my old man told me.”
My big strong man has tears in his eyes, and that cuts me up inside in ways nothing else ever has or will again.
Does he not realize that he deserves everything good in this life?
Everything.
Mark is a wonderful man, no matter what he’s done in this life that might be considered wrong, I know he only did it to rid the world of the evil that stalks it. He was a child victim who took his life and turned it around. He protects the innocent of this world, and I am so proud of him for that.
“When I met you, I began to feel things I ain’t never felt before. I don’t know what it was about you, but every time you walked into the room, I would feel on top of the world just being near you.” I can’t help the smile on my face. It felt like that for me too. “The more time I spent with you, the more I began to believe that I was worth something.”
This time, I get out of my seat and make my way over to him. With my hand on his face, I force him to look at me. He doesn’t need to hide his pain from me. Not from me. “You are worth everything, Mark. Everything. I love you so much. Your childhood was a horrific one. You suffered at the hands of a man who was supposed to love you the most, in ways you should never have suffered, but it’s over now, baby. It’s over, and I am right here loving you just the way you deserve. I am always going to be here loving you.”
“You don;t see me differently?”
I smile and shake my head. “I will always see you for just who you are, Mark. The man I love with every fiber of my being. I see you just as you see me.” I wrap my arms around him, pulling him tightly against my body. “I love you.” I kiss his lips. “I love you.”
“I love you.” He mumbles against my mouth before kissing me hard.
There is nothing in this world that I wouldn’t do for this man. He needs me right now, and I am going nowhere. Sure, he shouldn’t be here on the night before our wedding, but I won’t let go until he feels ready to leave me for the night.
Tomorrow we get married.
Tomorrow we start our new life together.
Tomorrow we finally become one in everything.
Tomorrow...
Chapter Twenty-One
Stryker
Seeing her walking down that aisle toward me, won’t lie, I shed a damn tear. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in all my life. Her hair was pinned behind her head, curls falling by her ears, her dress was tight, silk, and ivory in color. She took my fuckin’ breath away.
Her dad walked her down the aisle, and the smile on her face was something I will never forget. Our eyes were locked tight, and no one else mattered right then.
Her father placed her hand in mine and told me to take care of his little girl. The only time her eyes left me was when her father kissed her cheek.
I gave Coral the church wedding because that's what she wanted, made it more special, she said. I’m not a religious man, but I would do anything for the woman I love, and if that meant getting married in a church in front of God and all our friends, then so be it.
I held her hands in mine when the preacher said it was time for us to exchange our vows. “Coral,” I smiled at her, she was smiling so wide at me. “From the moment I met you, you changed my life. You changed me. You make everyday summer, baby.” She giggled and squeezed my hands. “It ain’t no secret that I’ve always been a loner. I liked it that way. Until the day I met you. Never thought I’d meet a woman who'd claim this.” I lifted our entwined hands to my chest and tapped my heart. “But you did. Ain’t no one on this earth gonna love you the way I love you, baby girl.”
“Ditto.” She giggled.
“I make you this promise: I will protect you with my life for as long as I may live it. I promise to make
every day we’re together count. Everything you achieve in this life, I will be right by your side as your biggest supporter. You are my whole world, Coral, won’t be a day where I don’t love you, beautiful.” I wiped a tear from her cheek. Can’t deny that I felt a little emotional myself. “I don’t have much to offer you, but what I do have is yours. My heart is yours forever, baby. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She leaned forward to kiss me then thought better about it. I chuckled, and she laughed at herself along with everyone else in the room. “Sorry,” She mumbled to the preacher.
She clutched my hands tighter with a bright smile on her face. I couldn’t believe at that moment how lucky I was. I’d told her everything that happened to me as a kid, all the vile things I went through at the hands of my parents and not once did she look at me as a victim. I’ll never love anyone the way I love Coral. If she died tomorrow, I’d go with her. That's not me being overdramatic, that’s me telling the truth. Because without Coral, I don’t want to live.
“Mark,” I smiled at the way she said my name. She’d been wondering how our marriage would be legal if she were to call me Stryker in church and not Mark. She was genuinely worried about it. That’s why I told her using Mark would be fine in front of all these people today. “I came back to Tennessee for a vacation to see my friends, and I found you. I didn’t intend for that to happen, but the moment I saw you sitting across the room alone, I knew there was something special about you.
“When you were told to stay away from me, you tried so hard to do just that. You fought what you were feeling for me, all the time I thought you just didn’t like me.” We both laugh, that wasn’t it at all. “But since we did give in to what we felt, you have been the best thing to have ever happened to me. Every day you make me smile, every night you hold me close to you, every second we’re together, I know you love me.”