TIGERLILLY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter SIXTY SEVEN

Frankie Xiao

An hour after leaving the uptown offices my fathers chauffeur is driving us through a familiar part of the downtown district and I watch as the park passes by the window, recognising it immediately.. The car pulls up a block away, out the front of a rundown brown brick building.. River's apartment..

I turn to my father unsure that I am understanding the change of his heart and his sudden generosity.. But when he nods his approval with an encouraging smile, I know he is letting me make my own decisions.. He is setting me free in the hopes that one day I will return home to him willingly.. "Go on.. Be happy, sweet girl.."

And I will.. I will treasure my father's love and take care of him until the day he takes his last breath, but I cannot live to please him.. I can only exist for myself..

"Thank you daddy!" I cry, leaning across to wrap my arms around him one more time before I jump out of the car and race across the street..

My sparkling white sneakers carry me up the stairs two at a time and when I reach the door, I begin to knock like a crazy person.. I rap so hard my knuckles hurt

-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-

"Fuck!" The echo of an irritated grunt inside is followed by the sounds of somebody rustling around..

I wait for what feels like forever before I knock again..

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

"Aye! Hold ye' horses! I'm bloody comin'! I'm comin'!" That familiar melodious voice sings out in reply and my nerves begin to buzz, catching alight with anticipation..

I can't wait to see his handsome face.. I can't wait to hold him in my arms.. I can't wait to tell him my news..
Our news..

After what feels like the longest few minutes of my life, the lock clicks and the front door swings open..

There, River leans on a sleek, walnut walking stick, looking a little disheveled but no less tempting in a pair of dark green sweatpants and no shirt.. His ribs are all wrapped up in crisp white bandages and his beard is a scruffy mess..

He is still as strikingly beautiful as he was the first time we met, except now I am sure there has never and will never be another choice for me.. I am so totally, unbelievably, never-endingly in love with him..

"Hi.." I squeak with a rising pitch, my mouth dry and my palms sweating as all the words disappear from my head and I am reduced to jelly in his doorway..

I have dreamed about this moment for weeks and now that it has come, everything I want to say sticks to my tied tongue..

He stares at me though dazed and dreamy emerald eyes, unseeing, as if I might be a figment of his imagination.. "Hey.. I--I was just thinkin' about ye', Wallflower.."

"You were?" My heart rate climbs up into my throat to pound relentlessly.. When I look up at his ruddy cheeks, messy hair and ragged breath, the swirling panic in my chest settles and I am calmed by his gentle presence..

He pants as if it had taken all his energy just to answer the door as his gaze falls away.. The jade-eyed tiger can't even look at me, his eyes shifting to the side as he hums awkwardly and I suddenly I remember how cold it had been of me to cut him from my life without warning.. "Uhh-- Aye.. I was."

"I was thinking about you too!" I puff from running up the steps and he reaches up to rub the back of his neck.. His pretty green graze flicks hopefully up to mine and those inky biceps bulge, his dragons dancing across the swollen muscle.. "All I ever think about is you.."