No Mercy (Black Ops MMA, #1; The Everyday Heroes World)

by D.M. Davis

“Make up your mind, Gabriel. Am I Angel—the girl you care about? Or am I Frankie—the girl you fuck?” I swallow the shot and welcome the burn this time as it warms my insides. “Or better yet, am I Francesca—the girl you hate—the girl you demoralize at every turn?”

When a guy shows he’s an asshole—you should believe him.

My Angel is destined for heaven, and I’m destined for hell.

It’s like she was never here. She never existed in my space. She never shared the same air I’m having trouble breathing now.

Cap’s a good man. He’s younger than my father, but he’s been more a father to me than any man’s bothered to be. He’s gruff and rough around the edges, but his green eyes hold the knowledge of the world, and they have a soft spot for me.

Let him stew in his sex juices, since that’s all he cares to share with me.

Cap would never let me dwell in this world alone, and whether I stay or move on, he’ll always welcome me back with open arms.

And air to breathe that’s not tainted by the man who stole my heart and trampled on it like it was just another hole to be fucked.

I didn’t leave her better than I found her. I left her worse off.

“Frankie.” He leans in. “I’d rather give it to you in inches.” His eyes bore into mine. “But I sense that’s not attention you’d welcome.” He steps back. “And since I’m tryin’ to make a good impression, I’ll give you this…” He rubs his chin, narrowing his eyes down the road. “I’d say about fifty feet, give or take a mile or two.”

I might not be having fun, but I’m sure as fuck not going home to an empty house. A stark reminder of what the rest of my life will be like if I can’t convince my girl I’m enough. Just me. Nothing more. Nothing else.

I’ve always felt a little wrong-side-out myself,”

I shake my head and hold up my hand. “Don’t get any ideas. I don’t need your inches. I’ve had enough of men and their inches.” I turn back to the tank. “But I could use a friend.”

“You need a man who knows how to give it to you slow and easy-like.” The husk in his voice tells me he’s serious. It’s not a line to get in my pants. I slant an eye toward him. “I had one of those. He did. Often. The problem is, I fell for more than his inches. But that’s all he was willing to offer.”

He’s a kindred spirit, comfortable dwelling in the darkness, but not afraid of the light.

It seems simple, small, but it’s exactly what I needed to avoid the light all around me when all I feel is dark. This place is a reminder—the world is bigger than me and my troubles—and amazing, if only you open your eyes to see. Even in the darkness there is beauty.

It more resembled a territorial fuck buddy who stole my heart but had no clue what to do with it, nor had any desire to find out.

I couldn’t fight her out of me. I couldn’t fuck her out of me. I couldn’t knock her loose. She’s here to stay. Even if I end up calloused and alone, she’ll still be with me. Even if she ends up with a guy like Rowdy, she’ll still be mine. My Angel. My own personal hell.

I know how to survive. I know how to fight. I know how to fuck. I don’t know how to love an angel.

Before he decided he no longer saw forever in her eyes.

there will never be anything better than Frankie in his life.

Cap gave me purpose. Frankie gave me life.

Gabriel “No Mercy” Stone held me until my broken pieces healed. He protected me. Worshipped my body. Made me feel like a goddess. He didn’t want my heart. I gave it to him anyway. He made no promises. No declarations of love or a future. He gave me his body, then gave me a baby. But he still won’t give me his heart.

Such a strong beast of a man brought to his knees by his inability to love me.

I saw a glimpse of forever in the eyes of my Angel. I felt the darkness lift. My own personal hell turned heavenly when she was in my arms. But today, the gates of hell opened up to welcome me back. There’s no room for a devil in her dreams of a family. No compromise. No living in the now. No living with what I have to offer. She’s got no mercy for a broken asshole like me.

“Tomorrow, next week, next month—it’s all the same. Nothing will be different. The man I love is no longer in there, no longer in my life. He doesn’t want me for the long haul. And I’m in a long-haul kind of situation.”

“It’s okay, Frankie. You cry all you need to. I’ve got broad shoulders to comfort you and enough Kleenex to dry up those tears.” He kisses my head. “And extra t-shirts to catch the rest.”

You have no idea the fear he put in every man who crossed your path. You got respect, not only because you deserve it, but because he demanded it.

Did I give up too easily, or did I only submit to come back and fight another day?

I’m not what she needs.” I let him guide me out of the bar and to his truck. “Then be what she needs.” “What if I can’t?” “Then let her the fuck go.”

One step at a time, one moment, one breath, one day, one broken dream at a time my day passes into weeks, bringing us to two weeks from his big fight.

What is the appropriate medium to give him news he’d never hoped to hear? A future he never intended to have? A legacy that could break the mold of his past or shatter his future entirely?

my life changed forever, heading down on a road he wasn’t willing to go, its destination nowhere on his life plan.

The world comes alive when you’re near, and it dies when you’re away.

I want to marry you so every motherfucker knows you’re mine. I want to put so many babies in you, you’ll be begging me to stop. I want it all a million times over, and then a million times more. But only with you, Angel. Only you. It’s always, ever, only been you.”

“It’s okay, Angel. You can tell me anything.”

When a man shows he has no mercy, you should believe him.

“I’m looking forward to exploring the gray with you.”

The baby is a bonus, not the prize. You are my prize, my grand championship title win, my now, my tomorrow, my forever after.”

You may have shown me no mercy all those years you were trying to keep me away. But now that I have you, I’m going to love you with no mercy.”

She needs my passion, my pain, my longing for her, my wanting to love her so hard she can’t walk for a week.

Girls? They hold the mysteries of the world. What would I teach a girl? To stay the fuck away from boys.

“I’m gonna love you like this every day of my life, Angel. Deep and hard, or slow and easy. You’re gonna know you’re my one and only. Ever only you. Every. Fucking. Day.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying right here—in bed, with me—where I can love you, feed you, and watch our baby grow inside you.”

Your fear of having a future with me wasn’t bigger than your fear of no future at all.”

I’m a better man for knowing you. I’m a better man for leaving you. And I sure as hell am a better man for coming back, begging you to love me and forgive me for all the shit I’ve put you through.”

“I’m the man who fell for you even when you were his. Who dreamt about you more than I had a right to. Who will always protect your heart even when it’s been broken by another.”

“Don’t you dare think for a minute what you give me is not enough.

It’s an amazing thing to be loved by Gabriel, my avenging angel. He deems himself the devil, but I see the purity of his soul, the integrity of his beliefs, and the strength it takes to come from nothing, expect nothing, yet offer up everything you have.

Rowdy held my hand when I wasn’t strong enough to face my fears alone. He gave me kindness without expectations. He believed in me when I couldn’t. He offered me a future when I feared I’d have none.