Love vs. Payne (13 page)

"I guess this is it," she said with a deep sadness and he nodded in response. "We can't see each other ever again." The words choked her up, she wished she could take them back and make them untrue.

"I want you to remember something," he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I will never be your enemy." he kissed her cheek, inhaling her scent for what he feared would be the last time. He fought the urge to tie her up, strap her into the front seat of his car and take her far, far away from this dreadful town. “And I will love you until the day that I die.”

Gia quickly turned away from him, then left the balcony before she broke down and begged him to run away with her. She walked through the room, seeing the bed they had just made love on and felt her heart swell to a gargantuan size. She forced herself not to look back at him as she left the room, because she knew it would destroy her if she did.

Maddox watched her go and felt his emotions begin to suffocate him as he realized he was powerless to stop her. He stood there on the balcony of the Paradise motel, the cool breeze lifting his black hair and Gia’s scent still clinging to his nostrils. He realized for the first time that losing her was a bigger sacrifice than losing a father who placed old grudges over his son's happiness. He watched the taxi pull away, tears burning his eyes, his life would never be the same.

Gia sat in the back of the taxi with tears streaming down her face. She did not know how she would survive this, she would never feel his strong arms around her again and never feel the heat from his powerful kiss. Worst of all, she would never again hear his voice whispering in her ear ‘I love you’.

She had just lost her enemy
and
the love of her life.

It had been seven whole days

Seven unbelievably long days

Seven brain-boggling, heart-mutilating, never-ending, devastatingly-long days since he had touched her last.

Maddox simply could not take it anymore.

He weighed his options, he took seven whole days to completely analyze the situation, overestimate the repercussions and prepare for the worst-case scenario, if they were ever caught. Gia Love was more important than any repercussions, so it was just a chance he had to take. He could not stay away from her for another second!

He would literally explode if he did.

He tried his hardest, he really did, he spent all his time trying not to think of her and that magical night at The Paradise. He needed a distraction and had even found himself attempting to spend more time with Paige. She was the only one he knew that irritated him so much, he couldn't think of anything else. Not to mention, she was a physically trained, if not emotionally absent, acrobat when it came to sex. He was even trying to numb himself with enough liquor to obliterate the image of Gia that persistently forced its way into his thoughts. Unfortunately, no amount of liquor or sex could calm his overactive imagination or erase his love for her. Nothing he tried worked and the more he tried to forget her, the more he seemed to need her.

He had to see Gia.

***

Gia was having a very hard time keeping her emotions inside. She had to hide her feelings from her family, lest they become suspicious. She felt like an empty, powder-blooded zombie, which was hollow despite its animated death. Although she knew her heart was still beating, she feared it was beginning to slow down. She had cried herself to sleep every night since their prom and even though she wanted to just say, "Fuck it"- she could not. She just could not bring herself to defy her father on such a serious level, he despised the Payne family. This was not someone her father did not like for simple, stupid reasons, this was someone her father had hated before he was even born. Although he had never even met Maddox, he still hated him for his bloodline, his roots, his family tree and especially his last name.

What happened? Her mission in life had not been to fall in love with her father’s enemy, it had been to make her father love her or at least pay a little attention to her. If she said 'fuck it', it would put the last nail in the coffin of her dying relationship with her father. He would never forgive her and she would never be able to teach him to love her. She just could not do it and she cursed herself for her weakness. Physically, she would survive this living-hell, but mentally she was destroyed.

She would never feel like that again, never play their game again, and never feel that unconditional love that always made her feel safe, but most of all-

She would
never
love like that again.

She would live the rest of her life existing on only the memory of that one perfect night. She was dead in real life, but she would learn to live again in her dreams, the only place where she could openly love Maddox Payne.

***

Maddox had to see Gia and there was nothing else to it. Even though he was getting sick of hiding, he went incognito for her benefit. He was prepared for the repercussions, but he wanted to protect her from them. Therefore, he decided to go undercover, with sunglasses, baseball cap and dressed in all black. He parked at a clearing in the woods just outside of the trailer park, not far from the trash dump.

He already knew which trailer was hers- the slim, compact, rust bucket with the boarded window and the broken screen door. He wanted to buy her a new house with a huge back yard, a master bedroom bigger than her whole trailer and a pool. He felt his dick harden as an image of her in a bikini by the pool with him, forced its way into his mind. He walked to the end of the trailer where her room as located. He looked through the open window, the tattered white lace curtains blowing in the slight breeze as he crept over the windowsill then quietly climbed into her bedroom.

He stood there silently for a moment, looking at the beautiful angel, wrapped up in an old moth eaten blanket. There was no bed frame for the beat-up mattress she slept on and there was a wadded sweater in place of a pillow. He looked around the tiny room that seemed more suited for a transient then a teenager. Sure, her room was clean and smelled fresh, but that was the extent of the luxury. He saw the cheap cardboard dresser that was missing a drawer and her backpack in the corner, but nothing else. There was no makeup, no perfume, no décor or anything else remotely feminine that would indicate that it was a female’s room. He knew that the Love family was poor, but he had no idea that the love of his life was living in poverty.

He was overwhelmed with emotion, wanting to take her far away from this squalor and give her a completely new life. He wanted to give her a room that spoke of her charismatic personality, her intelligence and her beauty. His wide, silent steps filled the gap between them before he sat down on the edge of the mattress, facing her. He reached out and touched a curl that had escaped from her thick ponytail and Gia’s eyes flew open.

“Oh god, what are you doing here?” she gasped as she sat up, her eyes wide with fear. She was not sure if she wanted to break down in fear-induced hysterics or scream in joy as she kissed him. “I’m dead if he finds-” she instantly hushed as she heard the footsteps outside of her door. Her brother was a lazy slob who slept all day and stayed up all night, so she was sure it was Trent since her father would be too drunk to respond to any noise at this point.

"Shush." Maddox took her head between his hands. She was paralyzed with fear and he felt his guilt rise along with his anger. The footsteps hovered by her door for a second before rerouting towards the kitchen and she almost cried in relief.

“They are going to catch us.” she whispered.

“Lock your door.”

“It’s already locked.”

“Then they can’t catch us.” he pulled her into his embrace.

"I missed you."

“I missed you too.” the words were barely out of her mouth when he grabbed her face and kissed her with all of the emotion he had been holding back for the past seven days. He kissed her long and hard, a deep, true kiss that sent bubbles popping from her mouth to her toes. They were both gasping for air when he finally pulled back and Gia felt as if part of her heart had went with him.

"Come with me." He whispered.

"No," she started to cry, "I can’t keep doing this to myself! Do you know how painful it is to have to keep trying to forget you?”

“I do,” he leaned towards her, “that’s why I can’t stay away.”

“This is killing me.” she tried to stifle the thick emotion that was ready to burst, "every time I have to leave you," she put his hands to her heart, "my heart dies a new, unbearable death. Please Maddox, please, you have to let it go, I can't stand saying good bye to you again." she cried, all of misery and her anguish pouring from her.

"I can't let you go, and I won’t." He held her hands as he stood up, forcing her to stand with him.

"Gia, what are you doing in there?” her brother Trent yelled as he tried to yank open her locked door. She froze and for the first time Maddox saw the true terror that she felt, written all over her face. It was not just loyalty that kept her at her family’s side, it was also fear.

"Nothing, I had a nightmare." She yelled back as Maddox held her trembling body close to his. She squeezed him tightly, almost cowering behind him. Maddox had known her for most of his life and never once had he seen Gia cower to
anyone
, not even himself.

"Well shut the hell up, I'm trying to sleep!" Trent stomped back to his room, calling her some rather vulgar names.

"I'm gonna fucking get him for talking to you like that." Maddox growled and Gia saw the murderous look on his face and knew that Maddox would be more than happy to beat Trent into submission.

"No, he‘s not worth it."

"Come on, let’s get out of here." Maddox grabbed her hand.

"No, I-" she gasped, trying to keep quiet, as he slung her over his shoulder and walked to the window before carefully climbing out.

“You don’t have a choice, I’m stealing you.” he cut her off.

"I can't believe we're doing this." she said once outside, her whole body tingling with a surreal exhilaration that was laced with a vivid fear. He ran as fast as he could to his car, carefully setting her in the passenger’s seat before he got in. "I have a bad feeling about this." she said, but at this point there was no way she could leave him.