Hey guys, I'm so sorry that this chapter didn't load all the way the first time, I don't know what happened. But it's here now.
I hurried out to my truck and climbed in, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. Freaking out over whether or not Danny was hurt or worse was a good way to get myself killed, and I didn't want to do that. If I found out that he was dead when I got there, and knowing what I did to him, I might want to be dead, but I wasn't going to kill myself before I got there. As I started my drive to Hope I wondered if maybe it would have been a good idea for Gabriella to let Daisy know that I was going to be there soon.
While it may have been a good idea, I'm glad that she didn't. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, the latest being running away from Danny when I freaked out over remembering my life. But, if he was alright, I wanted to make up for it in my own way. And that meant surprising him at home. I know that if Daisy knew that I was coming, she would warn Danny. If Danny was half as pissed off at me as I would have been at him, had he done to me what I did to him, I would have taken off if I knew he was coming for me. I wanted to surprise him so I could actually see him face to face, and not have to wait for him to come home. Running away was my specialty. And I didn't want to force him to do the same.
The road was long, but my thoughts occupied my time. Before I realized it, I was driving through Hope towards his house. My big red truck got a few odd looks from people, but no one could see in through my windows. I had the darkest tint available for just that reason.
When I pulled in front of Danny's house, I sat in the truck for a minute trying to figure out what I was going to say to him if he was home. Finally, I decided that I had to stop being such a baby and just do it. Danny would tell me to be strong and take charge, to go for what I wanted. Until the moment I saw the news about the fire and the fireman that had died, I hadn't realized entirely what it was I wanted. Now I knew, I wanted Danny. That was all I wanted. If my parents disowned me for it, so be it, but I wasn't going to let anything stand in my way for a second longer. I only hoped that he still wanted me.
I got out of my truck and slowly walked to the front door. I rang the doorbell and waited patiently for Danny to answer. Footsteps grew loud as they neared the door, and I couldn't help but tear up as the door opened. When Danny saw me standing there he just looked at me with a pained expression on his face. I was so happy to see him alive that I threw myself on him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist. He didn't hug me back, just stood there patiently until I let go of him.
When he finally spoke, his voice was angry and sullen, "What are you doing here?"
I expected him to be angry at me, but this was way more anger than I had thought he would feel towards me, "I'm sorry, Danny." His eyes softened slightly before hardening again, "I saw on the news that fireman had been killed fighting the huge fire that is on its way to Colorado Springs, and I had to know that you were alright." It was awkward standing outside while he filled up the door, not letting me in, but I tried to ignore it, "I know that I've hurt you, but..."
He held up his hand, "Let's not have this discussion out here. Come in."
He walked inside towards the kitchen, leaving me at the door. Carefully, I moved inside, shutting the door behind me. He had gotten two beers out of the fridge and opened them, handing one to me. We sat down at the table and neither of us spoke. Finally, he said, "I've been so angry over the past few weeks. Angry and hurt. I couldn't figure out why you left. Then Daisy tried to make things better, but when she talked about you it was like she knew something that I didn't. When I confronted her on it, she got flustered and told me that you asked her not to say anything." A lone tear feel down his cheek, "You had my own sister lying to me for you. Do you even realize how much that hurts?"
I laid my hand over his, but he yanked it away, "Danny, I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you. But please let me explain what happened. You can hate me if you want, but at least let me tell my side of the story."
"I could never hate you, that's part of the problem." He wiped at his cheek and took a draw from his beer, "Fine, tell me your side of the story."
"I woke up the morning after you proposed to me, screaming from a nightmare I had. My memory had finally come back completely and I was terrified. I came out of the bedroom looking for you and you had left to go to work." He looked ashamed, "I'm not saying that to accuse you of anything, just telling you what was going through my mind. If you had been here, I don't know how I would have reacted. As it was, I fell apart, completely and utterly. I was just acting on instinct when I left you that note. From the things I was remembering, I didn't think that you would want me anymore. It's what usually caused my relationships to go bust."
"Why didn't you call me? I would have come straight home." He sounded so sad it was breaking my heart all over again.
"I know it's not an excuse, but I was scared. I was so terrified of what you would think of me that I couldn't think straight. All I could do was run away. My life was not a pretty sight before I met you, I was pretty fucked up. My family... my family is not something to mess around with, and I was terrified that if you knew about everything that my family has done, you would leave me."
"So you left me first?"
"Yes, I left before you could hurt me."
"I never would have hurt you," he said, astonished that I would even think such a thing. "There is nothing that you could tell me about your family that would make me ever stop loving you. All you had to do is trust me and I would have done anything for you. If I could give you the moon, I would."
"Don't say that until you hear what my family has done." He waved me on impatiently, "My parents did not come about their money honestly. My family has been mob for as long as I can remember. My grandfather was mob, and so was my dad. I never asked for specifics, but there was more than once that my dad came home at night with someone else's blood on his clothes."
His voice was neutral as he asked, "Are they still mob?"
"Well, my grandfather is dead, and I think that my father is running from it. He is still technically part of the family, but he hasn't actively participated in a few years. That's why they are in Paris until Christmas this year and didn't even know I was missing for those months that I was here."
I shut up for a few minutes and watched as a range of emotions crossed Danny's face, "And you, are you part of the mob?"
"No," I said empathetically. "First of all, my dad never would have let me do anything for them. He didn't want them to own me the way they own him. But mostly because I couldn't stand to be around any of them."
Danny didn't say anything for a long time and I couldn't stand it anymore, I stood and turned back to the front door so he wouldn't see my tears. As I walked to the door I said, "I'm so sorry, Danny. There are things about my life that I've remembered that still freak me out and I couldn't do that to you. But I'm sorry I didn't give you a choice. I'll go, but if you ever need anything, Daisy knows how to get in touch with me."
I had just opened the door when I felt his hand grip my wrist, "Dammit, can't you even give me a minute to process everything you've told me before running away again?" I didn't turn around so he couldn't see the hopeful expression on my face, "Look at me please, let's discuss this like adults before you decide if you want to leave or stay."
I turned around and when he saw the tears streaking my cheeks he looked pained, "So you throw my own words back at me?" I laughed, "Fine, what is it that you think about my family, now that you know everything?"
He took a deep breath and then broke into a small smile, "I don't care. You aren't mob, and that was all I needed to know."
I looked at him shocked, "Would it have made a difference if I was?"
He took a minute to think before responding, "No. I still would want to marry and spend the rest of my life with you, but I wouldn't have wanted to have children with you if you were."
My eyes filled with tears when I realized what he was saying, "You still want to be with me?"
Danny walked into the kitchen and opened a drawer. When he came back over he knelt in front of me and opened his hand. My engagement ring was sitting on his palm, "If you will have me, I still want to marry you more than anything else in the world."
"You still don't know who I am though. And why would you want to be with me when I was so horrible to you?"
left but I understand why you did. You were scared, but you came back. You came back to me and I want this second chance with you."
I fell on my knees beside him and wrapped my arms around him, "Yes, I will marry you." We laughed together, clutching one another like we never wanted to let go, "And my name is Isabelle Margaret Bellefleur, just to let you know." I stood up and pulled him up with me. Placing one hand on his waist, the other went up and cupped his cheek, "I love you so much, I'm so sorry that I ever did anything to hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt you."
He grabbed my left hand and slipped the ring back onto my finger, "I know you didn't, babe. I realized when you left why you did it. You were scared and I totally get that. Just next time you get scared at something, promise me that you won't run away. Promise me that you will talk things out with me like adults. I can't stand to lose you again. Losing you once was nearly more than I could endure."
"I promise."
I stood on my toes and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth, letting him deepen it. We were being soft and tender with one another, almost like we were afraid to each other. Since I hadn't been with anyone in weeks and he always made me feel as if I wanted to bent over and fucked every time we kissed, I wanted more. No, I needed more. I pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes, "I'm not made of glass, I won't break. I promise."
At that, his mouth came down on mine, hot and furious. We stumbled towards his bedroom, ripping each other's clothes off as we went down the hall. By the time we reached the room, we were both completely naked and panting. Danny was hard against my stomach. His bed was tall enough for me to rest my stomach on, so that is what I did. I bent over the mattress, spread my legs and gave him my best come hither look. Danny laughed lightly, but he came up behind me, resting his hands on my hips. The first time he entered me was slow, almost like he couldn't believe that he was getting to fuck me again. But after he pulled almost all the way back out, he started going in and out of me fast and hard, not relenting even a little bit when I moaned in painful pleasure. We were both so wound up from being apart that we didn't last very long. After I came screaming, he came, falling against me on the bed.
When he pulled away from me, my knees were weak and I was sore, but I was satiated. I pushed off the bed and turned around, pulling him against me and giving him a peck on the lips. "Now, why don't we go take a shower and wash the sweat off us."
"We need to tell Daisy that you are back."
"We can do that. Do you want to call her?"
"No, she is at the bar tonight." I gave him a look and he looked down his face flushing pink, "I want to show you off to the guys. They've been giving me shit ever since you left for being a petulant child, I just want them to know that you are back. Plus, Daisy really will be there tonight. This is the night that she and her girlfriends go to the bar and hang out. Her night away from her husband and kids."
"Okay, let's go to the bar then. I wouldn't mind seeing the guys again." I headed towards the shower and looked back over my shoulder, "But, we are going to take a shower first. I feel all sweaty after that satisfying sexual encounter we just had."
We climbed into the shower and I lathered up my hands, gesturing for him to spin around. His back turned to me and my hands massaged his back, then moved around to the front. My breasts pressed against his back and I could feel myself responding to being near his muscular back. My hands slipped down to his groin and I stroked him back to full hardness.
"Babe, if you keep that up I'm going to come," he groaned loudly and his hand slipped down over mine.
"Maybe that's what I want." I kissed the side of his neck, biting the side of his neck softly, "Did you ever think that maybe I enjoy driving you as crazy as you drive me?"
He grabbed my hand to stop the stroking and turned around. Grasping at my slippery waist, he easily lifted me up until my legs were wrapped around his hips and he was inside me. My back hit the tile wall and he just held me there, not moving inside me, kissing me hard. My nails dug into his back and I moaned loudly, "Fuck me hard and fast, now."
When he began pounding in and out of me I screamed with pleasure, my nails carving grooves into his back. Every time he entered me, my back hit the wall hard. I was definitely going to be sore in the morning, in more than one place. This time lasted a lot longer than the first time, and after a couple minutes I was ready for it to be over. The pleasure what intense, but my back was starting to hurt. I growled, "I'm so close. I want you to come with me." I leaned in and bit his neck hard and we both came hard.
Danny put me down gently and rubbed at his neck where I had bit him, "Fuck, babe, that hurt."
"But it got you off, didn't it?" Smiling coyly, I finished showering and turned off the water, "I'm going to have bruises on my back and ass from that pounding you just gave me."
It was his turn to feel smug, "Well, it got you off didn't it?" He used my own words against me and I couldn't help but laugh, "Besides, it was a lot of fun, and sometimes pain isn't a bad thing."
"There's nothing wrong with pain sometimes, but we are going to have to be careful for a while. It's going to hurt for a few days."
"Yeah, well at least you can hide yours beneath clothes," he laughed as he toweled off before putting on jeans and a shirt. "Mine is out there for everyone to see, and the guys are just going to love the teeth shaped bruise I will have right on the side of my neck. I can hear the vampire jokes now."
I put on a pair of my butter soft jeans and a soft V-neck purple bamboo t-shirt, with my expensive boots I bought before I came back to Danny. His eyes roamed over my body, giving me a strange look as he took in the expensive clothes, "Yeah, I know. My family has money, so I can afford costly stuff." I waved a hand at my clothes, "I didn't used to dress like this you know. The dress you found me in after my... accident, was more my style before you. You influenced me for the better."
He hugged me close and placed a soft kiss to my head, "I saw your new truck. It's exactly what I would have picked... well, not in cherry red though."
Laughing, I just grabbed my purse and headed for the door, my ass waving at him suggestively, "Well, I'm glad that you approve. I bought it because I heard your voice in my head telling me to not bother getting another sports car, they were dangerous and unnecessary. Your voice kept saying to get something big with good safety packages. I bought every upgrade that was available, so it's probably the safest truck they've ever sold. And the best part was, my parents paid for the entire thing."
"So, I'm guessing that you want to drive?"
I reached into my purse and tossed him the keys, "Danny, I know that I haven't always trusted you as much as I should have, but I promise you that I do. Go ahead, drive it. You'll love the turbo diesel engine, I know that I do."
Danny was like a little child when he heard the truck was a turbo diesel, walking quickly out the door and climbing into the driver's seat. I climbed into the passenger seat, laughing, "I'm glad that you approve of my truck. Try not to hurt her too much."
His hands caressed the steering wheel the same way he had caressed me earlier, "Don't worry babe, she is safe in my hands."