Bad Boys Never Fall (St. Mary's, #2)

by S.J. Sylvis

“Every time I fucking touched you, it was like touching an angel, Gemma. Perfect and captivating. I felt unworthy every single time.”

“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered, grabbing onto my hips and staring up at me with the same intense look on his face that he’d had when he walked in here earlier.

“Maybe...or maybe not,” I whispered, slowly lowering my knees to the ground. My hands found the button of his jeans, and his brow furrowed. “But we deserve this moment right here. We deserve to put a pause on reality.”

“I think I might fucking love you, Gemma.” My heart stopped as my eyes shut, trying to push away the uncertainty of everything to come. “But I can’t.”

“I know how trauma can change people, Gemma. That’s why you and I are the way that we are. That’s why you and I have something no one else does. That’s why we share a connection. We’re the same.”

“You scare the hell out of me because you are my weakness, Gemma Richardson, and if the wrong people get a hold of that, like my father or Bain’s father, they will show no mercy. You will be used as a bargaining chip, just like my mother.”

I said it before, and I’d say it again: Gemma Richardson was the one person I’d give up my humanity for.

His finger skimmed over the sensitive bundle of nerves, and my legs grew unsteady. “Mine,” he growled, nipping my lips again. “And I will break every one of his fingers for hurting you.”

“I fucking love feeling you come apart for me. I fucking love feeling you move against me, chasing that high that you deserve over and over again. It’s addicting, and I can’t stop myself from wanting every single part of you.”

“I fucking love you, Gemma. So much that I would burn the world down for you.”

“I love you, and I will not stop trying to make the world a better place for someone like you.”

I hated that I felt tethered to someone, and I didn’t want to admit it when I was alone, but it didn’t matter because my thoughts always came out on paper, and the last few times I’d lost myself to sketching, I’d found myself blending the charcoal until I got the perfect almond-shaped eyes that I was aiming for. The memories that I’d pushed away, the violence in my childhood—all of it—always came to me when I sat, mindlessly sketching. But things had shifted recently. I began drawing other things. Like Isaiah. And that was when I realized that I was hiding him, too.

“You’re still going to disappear,” he whispered, reaching up and pushing a stray hair away from my face. “But when things are safe, I will come for you, Gemma. So take this”—Isaiah pulled out a black Sharpie and threw it onto the table—“and mark where you’ll be, because I will come for you.”

“Please just mark where you’re going so I can find you when it’s all said and done. It’s the only way I’ll let you go. I won’t look until I know it’s safe for us both. I’ll keep it safe until I can trust that no one will follow me to find you or hurt you to get to me. I’ll keep it safe just like I’ll keep you safe.”

“It’s easy for me to think that when I’m with you. I’m not looking danger in the face when you’re in front of me.”

“That’s because I’m shielding you from it.” His hands came around my face, and he pulled me onto the floor and into his lap. “Trust me when I say I’ll protect you and keep you safe, Gem.

“Seeing you smile is my favorite thing. You need to do it more often. Promise me you’ll smile more when you’re gone.”

I trusted him…and I loved him. Something warm crept down my limbs at the thought of those three little words, and I knew, tonight, I would tell him. I had to tell him because I wasn’t sure when I’d get my chance again, and he needed to hear me say it. I’d shown him. I’d given him my everything, so he had to know. But Isaiah Underwood deserved to hear me say it.

I loved him. And he deserved my love. Every bit of it.

was calling to let you know the mail came. The results are back.”

“Read them. Right now.”

“Are you sure…? I was just going to leave it on your desk. I haven’t opened it.”

“Uncle Tate, does this have something to do with Gemma?”

“Open them, Beth. Read them.”

“Oh, wow. It’s…it’s confirmed, Tate. Gemma Richardson is your daughter.”

This truly was fucked-up. All of it. Gemma and I were destined to burn from the second we connected. The messy web had grown wider, and it was tangled with a disturbing past and wicked lies. She and I were innocently thrown into a life neither of us wanted or deserved.

And I had no idea that she would be able to crawl under my skin and bring to life my deepest, darkest fears. She proved to me that I had true insecurities lying underneath my guarded exterior, and one of the biggest threats was that I would bring harm to someone that I loved because of my choices. I thought I was doing right by her, and in the end, she still ended up here.

Gemma and I were destined to burn from the start, but it felt like I was the only one burning alive.

“Can you just tell him that I love him? And whatever he’s feeling, it’s okay?”

“You are unbelievable. The strongest person I know.”

“I love you.” Those three little words were the one thing I was sure of in the moment, and it felt good to get them out.

Gemma was my girlfriend, and the whole fucking lot of St. Mary’s would know it. Maybe I was a little possessive, but there was a difference between possessive and controlling. She was mine for as long as she wanted me.

The table was full of laughter and easy conversation. I couldn’t help but feel lighter sitting here, even though this moment and these relationships came from the most messed-up situation ever. It still felt good, though. I felt like I was surrounded by family, and it was then that I realized that feeling at home had nothing to do with where you grew up, how you grew up, or who raised you, and it had everything to do with where you felt the safest and the most loved.

And from where I was sitting, I felt loved and safe.

There was still a piece of me missing, but as for the pieces that were there, they were happy. I was happy and at ease. It felt so comforting that I didn’t have to watch...

“I think I’m ready to take you up on your offer now. I think I’m ready to see my sister.”