Ground & Pound

by Emily Minton

  “I don’t know what she told you, but it was a lie.” He looks behind him for a place to run, but sees Trey standing only a few feet away. “The bitch is always lying.”

  “Then, how do you explain the busted lip she had? Or, what about the damn bruise she’s sporting?” Trey asks in a near shout, stepping closer to him.

  I put my hand up, letting him know to step back. Focusing my attention on Jason, I growl out my next question. “Then, what happened to her? Her face was fine when she walked into your club, and it was busted up when she walked out. How the hell did that happen?”

  I know the answer, but I want him to dig his hole even bigger. The fucker’s too stupid to keep his mouth shut for very long, so I want to give him the opportunity to talk. Hopefully, I’ll learn all the stuff Emmy’s hiding from me about what happened at the club. “Answer my fucking question.”

  His eyes shoot from side to side, sweat beading across his forehead. “She walked into a door.”

  Trey lets out a snort and says, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Try again.”

  Jason whips around to look at him, his body shaking with fear. “No, really, one of the girls opened the door as she was going out. It smacked her right in the face.” He fidgets with his cheap dress shirt as he continues to look around, praying for a savior.

  Moving closer, I jerk him around to look at me and keep my voice cool. “Really, that’s funny. She told me something completely different.”

  “I told you she’s lying. She always lies. I would never hit her,” he sputters, trying to back away.

  Knowing he’s not gonna give me anything but more lies, I let my fist fly. Hearing the crack of bone, I say, “I saw you put your hands on her the first damn night I met her. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll never touch another woman again. You’ll look like the lying piece of shit you are.”

  Nodding to Trey, I take a step back. He moves forward and sends a punch directly to the bastard’s face. “You put your fucking hands on my sister. You bloodied her face.”

  Spitting blood on the ground, he tries to stay on his feet. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Stepping between him and Trey, I look into the bastard’s eyes. “It shouldn’t have happened in the first damn place. A real man never puts his fucking hands on a woman.”

  “I know… it shouldn’t have. I never should have touched her. I know I messed up.” He’s crying like a little bitch, shaking his head from side to side, now that we are laying into him.

  Sending a solid fist to his stomach has him flying back and landing on his ass. “Please, stop. I can’t take anymore.”

  I pull back my foot, landing a brutal kick to his gut. He goes to the fetal position, begging me to leave him alone. “Did she fucking beg you to stop? Did she ask you not to hurt her?”

  He doesn’t answer, so I tell him what I already know. “My woman took your beating and walked away. She’d never cry like a bitch, not like you are.”

  He mumbles something, but it’s drowned out by the sound of him sobbing like a baby. Realizing if I give him anymore, he’ll end up in the hospital, I step back. As much as I’d like to kill him, it’s not gonna change what happened but will only make things worse.

  Looking over my shoulder, I nod at Trey. “You get one more, then we’re out of here.”

  He steps around me and pulls his leg back. Just before he lands a kick, Trey stops. Going to one knee before Jason, he grabs the back of his hair. “I’m fixing to knock your ass out, but I want to make sure you remember something first. If you tell anyone about this, I’ll be back, and next time, you won’t leave breathing. “

  A chill runs through me from the menacing tone of his voice. The kid is gonna grow into a scary motherfucker. “Hurry up and get this over with.”

  Trey stands up, pulling Jason nearly to his feet. Drawing back his fist, he connects directly with his chin. Jason is out before he even hits the ground. As soon as he lands, Trey turns to me. “Let’s get to the gym. We shouldn’t need an alibi now, but I’d like to have one anyway.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Emmy

  Pulling into the gym’s parking lot, a smile crosses my face. Since I quit the club, I’ve been coming here nearly every day. I love watching Kane train; there’s nothing sexier than seeing him covered in sweat. When my eyes are not locked on him, I’ve been straightening up the office. It’s a mess in there. There is stuff everywhere—papers, folders, equipment. It looks like a tornado came through and destroyed the room. How the hell they know where to find anything is beyond me.

  I’m still looking for an actual paying job, too, but I’ve had no luck yet. Kane has been supporting me and Trey, but I hate to rely on him. After years of supporting Trey and myself, I need to contribute. Not pulling my weight makes me feel like crap, even though Kane says he likes being able to provide for me.

  Shaking off my thoughts, I climb out of the car and head toward the door. As I walk into the building, the boys shout out their hellos before going back to their training. “Hey, guys.”

  Looking around for Kane, I find him talking to his coach. Not wanting to bother him, I walk to the office to put away my purse on the desk. I’m just shrugging off my jacket when Kane calls out to me. “Babe? Can you come out here for a minute?”

  Following his voice, I walk out of the office and go straight to him. “Hey, baby.”

  He doesn’t return my greeting. Instead, he leans down and plasters his lips to mine. Just as my tongue hits his, he pulls back. “I want you to meet someone.”

  A second later, a huge hand grabs me and pulls me against the hard chest of a man. “So, this is the woman who’s got your ass on a leash?”

  Kane laughs before pulling me away from the man. “Yep, this is Emmy.”

  The guy shoots me a wink, bringing my attention to his artic blue eyes. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Nico.”

  My smile fades as soon as I hear his name. “Nico? The guy who is going to be fighting Kane.”

  “One and the same,” he says with the cock of a brow.

  Kane squeezes my shoulders and says, “Nico is one of my best friends, Emmy. He’s the one who got me started with MMA.”

  I don’t understand how two friends could be okay with beating the hell out of each other. Not only that, but they are standing here talking like nothing is going on. It completely confuses me, but I think maybe that’s where men differ from women. If Kane and Nico were two girls, the claws and dirty looks would be out right now. “I can’t say that it’s nice to meet the guy who wants to hurt my boyfriend.”

  “I don’t think your woman likes me, Kane,” Nico says with a laugh.

  Kane laughs. “Babe, don’t worry. Nico’s old ass isn’t gonna be able to touch me.” His arm tightens around me.

  Nico shakes his head. “Just remember, you cocky bastard, I taught you everything you know.”

  Hearing them talk and joke about the fight doesn’t put my mind at ease. “I’m going to go work in the office. I almost have everything organized.” I try to turn away, but Kane pulls me into his arms and laughs.

  There’s not a damn thing funny about this situation. I know Kane’s a fighter, probably will be until the day his body can’t take it anymore. Still, I don’t like the idea of someone hurting him. I can’t tell him that, though. He doesn’t need my worries filling his mind when he is in the ring with that ape of a man.

  Kane places another kiss on my lips. “You should come to work here, permanently. We need somebody to run the office.”

  “What?” I ask, hoping I didn’t hear him right. “You’re offering me a job?”

  He shrugs. “You’re looking for a job, and we need someone, so I don’t see the problem.”

  Of course he wouldn’t have an issue with making up a job for me. Hell, if he had his way, he’d be giving me money every day. I can’t let that happen. He has too many women after what’s in his wallet. I don’t want him to think I’m one of them. />
  “I’ll find a job. Don’t worry about it.” With that, I stomp to the office.

  I get that he is just trying to help me, but he makes me feel completely useless. I feel like a failure who can’t accomplish anything on her own. He has the best intentions with what he is doing, but he has no idea how it makes me feel. I used to be independent and fierce. Now, I feel like that girl who was so lost and afraid after my parents died.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kane

  The door swings open as Emmy stomps into the house. Her lips are pressed tight, letting me know she is mad as hell. She walks over to the couch and flops down in my lap. Her knee connects with my bruised thigh, and she growls out, “Guess what?”

  “Watch it, babe,” I groan, shifting her back just a bit.

  “Sorry! You sore?” she asks, running a hand down my arm.

  With the fight coming up, I’ve been training twice as hard, and my body’s paying for it. “Yeah, your brother took pleasure in trying to kick my ass today. He’s as strong as a fucking ox.”

  “Oh, you poor baby,” she replies, placing a kiss on my lips.

  I laugh at her antics before kissing her back. “What’s got you all pissed?”

  “I went on another damn interview and didn’t get the job. The dick that interviewed me was more interested in looking at my boobs than asking me about my qualifications.” She leans her head against my chest, pulling another groan from my lips.

  “Are you really that sore?” she asks, pulling back to look in my eyes.

  Hell yeah, I am, but there’s no damn way I’m gonna tell her that. “Nah, Trey just landed a hell of a kick to my thigh.”

  “I never thought my little brother could hurt the great Kane “Knock Out” Travis. Are you getting soft on me?” She arches an eyebrow at me as I laugh, then climbs onto my lap.

  My eyes narrow at her before I grab her hips and grind my hardening cock against her jean-covered slit. “This feel soft to you, babe?”

  “Nope, why don’t you let me take you upstairs, and you can show me how hard you really are?”

  Releasing her hips, I run my hands up her back. “Deal, but first, I want to talk to you about something.”

  She nods before she responds. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Why won’t you come to work for me?” I ask, knowing it’s gonna lead to another argument.

  She wiggles in my lap to pull her purse from her shoulder. Pulling out some papers, she lays them on the couch. “I picked up some more applications, so you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve already told you, Trey and I don’t need your charity.”

  Her words piss me the fuck off. “Charity?”

  She finally moves off of my lap to sit on the coffee table. She picks up the papers and starts to study them. “Yeah, your charity. You’re already letting us stay here. The least I can do is get a job to help pay our way.”

  “How is coming to work at the gym, charity? You’d be running the office, not sitting on your ass,” I say through gritted teeth, tired of her shit.

  “If you needed an office manager, you would have already had one,” she says, flipping through the applications. “You can’t make up a job for me, like you did Trey.”

  “What?” I ask, wondering how the hell she comes up with such stupid shit. “Do you honestly think we can run a gym the size of Top Cut without an office manager?”

  “If you needed one, why didn’t you already have one?” she asks, looking at me.

  This woman drives me fucking insane. “We did. Her husband was working for a construction company in town. She quit when he got transferred to Seattle.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that,” she whispers. “So, you really need someone?”

  “Yeah, we do.” I ground out, pissed that she is still questioning me.

  She shrugs, looking at the floor. “I don’t know anything about running an office, though. I figured I would end up working in a restaurant or running a cash register.”

  “As long as you can answer the phone and take membership payments, you’d be able to do it.”

  She nods, a smile spreading across her lips. “I can do that.”

  “First, we need to get something straight,” I say, looking her straight in the eye. “You need to be sure you’re in this for the long haul. I’m not gonna have you coming to work at the gym for a few weeks, then you decide this isn’t,” he points his finger at me and then at himself, indicating our relationship, “working out and you quit.”

  She blinks her eyes, tears trickling down her cheeks. “What do you mean, the long haul?”

  I reach down, cupping her cheeks with my hands. “I just want to make sure you can see me as part of your future. If not, I can call around to some of the other gyms. I’m sure one of them is looking for somebody. I don’t want you ending up right back where you are now, if you decide this isn’t gonna work between us and you don’t want to be with me anymore.”

  She looks to the ground, sucking back a sob. “I can’t see my future without you in it.”

  “Good.” I let out a relieved breath. “Then, you can come with me to the gym tomorrow. We’ll get your paperwork started, and then you can start.”

  She smiles up at me. “Kane… are you, I mean, do you see a future with me?”

  The hope in her green eyes tells me everything I need to know. She wants this. “Hell yeah.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Emmy

  I take one more quick look in the mirror before rushing down the stairs. I can’t believe I’m late for Kane’s interview. My eyes search the room before finally zeroing in on my purse. Grabbing it, I rush out the door. Quickly shutting it behind me, my hands fumble through my purse looking for my keys. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m late. Finally finding my keys, I pull out my phone and send Kane a quick message telling him I’m on my way. He replies instantly, telling me to hurry up. I round the corner of the house, typing another message.

  Just as I’m about to push send, I’m pushed from behind and pressed flat against the car. A hand clamps down over my mouth before I can even scream. I drop everything in my hands, as I’m crushed against the car door, and do my best to push the person away. I try to use the moves Kane taught me, but nothing is working.

  “Did you really think I would just fucking disappear?” a voice I never thought I’d hear again growls in my ear. Jason.

  A chill works down my spine as I realize I’m alone with this crazy motherfucker. The boys are at the gym with Kane, and none of our neighbors are close enough to see a thing or hear my screams. I have to deal with him on my own. I continue to try to fight him, but his hold is tight as he whispers in my ear. “You thought you were smart, sending those two assholes to beat the shit out of me, but all you did was piss me the fuck off.”

  Beat him? Oh my God. Did Kane and Trey go after him?

  “I told you I would never let you walk away, and I meant it,” he growls, releasing my mouth to fist my hair. “You might kid yourself into thinking that you deserve this life, but when it all comes down to it, we both know you’re just a fucking stripper and that’s all you’ll ever be.”

  “You need to leave me the hell alone.” I try to make my voice sound strong when fear is gripping my soul. His words send a chill down my spine, because they are so much like the thoughts I have filling my head.

  “When he gets tired of you, I’ll be there in the shadows waiting.” He presses me harder against the car, and I groan in pain.

  I try to push back, hoping to break his hold, but it doesn’t work. “Go away, Jason, before someone calls the cops.”

  My heart beats rapidly as my eyes look toward Kane’s mom’s house. As much as I’d like someone to come help me, I hope she doesn’t come out. If something happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

  His free hand grips my ass, pulling it up and rubbing it against the bulge in his pants. “I can’t wait to sink deep in you. I’m gonna make you scream, baby.” Bile rises in my thro
at as his words sink in.

  I try use the car as leverage to push off on as my fear notches up to pure hysteria. “Get off me.”

  Suddenly, he lets go, and I fall to the ground. I try to catch my breath, but it’s coming so fast that I’m light headed. “Leave now, and I won’t tell Kane about this.”

  When he doesn’t respond, I look behind me and he is gone. My heart is pounding out of my chest as I allow my body to rest on the hard pavement. I look at all of my scattered things around me. Noticing a broken bottle of perfume, I realize that it could be me lying there broken and bleeding.

  Taking in a deep breath, I play back what just happened. Kane and Trey kicked Jason’s ass. Why didn’t I know? Why didn’t they tell me? Then, it hits me. They were protecting me, and now, it’s my turn to protect them. There’s only one way to do that, and it’s by keeping my mouth shut.

  I quickly pick everything up, trying to force myself to calm down. Then, I climb into the car and lock the doors. Only when I hear the click of the locks engaging do I allow myself to completely break down. I can’t help but cry as I think of how easily he could have kidnapped me, killed me, or… Chills run through me as I think of all the what ifs.

  My phone dings, another message from Kane telling me to hurry up. Pulling down the visor, I do my best to erase all traces of my tears, then start the car. It’s time to go see my man.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kane

  Walking into the locker room, I toss my bag on the floor and turn to Emmy. “What’s wrong?”

  She’s been acting weird ever since she walked into the gym. She’s skittish and keeps looking over her shoulder. Even Ozzy noticed it, which is saying a lot, but she brushed him off like it was nothing.

  “It’s nothing. I’m just keyed up about your interview,” she says, not looking at me.

  I’m just about to turn away from her, when I notice a rip in her jeans. Looking closer, I see a bit of blood. “What the fuck happened to you?”