Matty opened his mouth as if to argue and then closed it. He nodded slowly. “’Bye, Red,” he said, giving me one last, long look.
Then he walked away.
Chapter Eight
Matty
It was ten AM by the time I stepped through the door of the apartment to find everyone there waiting for me, all pretending they just happened to be sitting in the kitchen still nursing their coffees.
"Well?" Reid asked, pinning me with an expectant gaze.
I tried to work up a smile, but it wasn’t happening. "We got him."
The three of them broke into a chorus of whoops and hollers and Olivia stood, throwing her arms around me.
"Oh, Matty, that's such great news." She pulled back and eyed me. "How is Kayla holding up?"
I glanced around the room at nothing in particular and shrugged. "As well as could be expected. Glad that she was able to get some justice for her mother, but still struggling with the rest of it. It's going to be a while."
"I imagine it is. Luckily, we'll all be there to help her through it. Now that she's severed ties with Mick, you guys can finally be together out in the open."
Those words were like tiny shards of glass being ground in an open wound and I debated whether to correct her mistaken assumption or just let it slide for now.
"What's wrong?" Bash stared at me from his spot at the kitchen table, and I knew that no amount of duck and weave was going to work here. He already knew. Better to just come out with it.
"She's leaving Boston tomorrow."
Reid had been toying with the spoon in his cup and that stopped abruptly, leaving the room eerily silent except for the ticking of the tiny clock on the oven.
"She's leaving, or you guys are leaving?" Bash asked softly, cocking his head to the side as he waited for my answer.
That was a natural assumption, I guessed.
That I would go with her and maybe start over somewhere new. If I was a different guy, that might have even worked. Only two things were stopping me. She hadn't asked me to, and there was no way I could leave my brothers. We'd been separated for a few years when we had become wards of the state after our father died and our mother left, and I swore that would never happen again. And certainly not by my doing.
I wasn't about to share any of that information with them, though. They didn't need to be burdened with that. Better they thought things just hadn't worked out. "Just her."
"Well that's fucking stupid," Reid scoffed, tossing his teaspoon onto the table, where it landed with a clatter.
The tight rein I'd had over my emotions finally slipped, and I snapped at him. "Yeah, well, it's not exactly my decision. She's a grown up and she gets to decide where she lives."
"Right." Bash pursed his lips and nodded. "And so do you."
I held up a hand and started to back out of the room toward the hallway before I said something I was going to regret. "Look, I'm not in the mood to get into this with you guys right now. She's leaving. I'm staying. That's the end of it."
"I think you're kind of being a pussy," Reid said matter of factly. He looked to Bash and then to Olivia for confirmation, which they both supplied all too quickly.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that we think you guys are meant for each other, and you're too chicken to take a chance. Why can't you go with her?"
I could feel all three of their gazes, willing me to say it. Weary and too broken inside and pissed off to care anymore, I did. "I won't leave you."
"That's really sweet, bro, but you have a right to your own life, you know," Reid said softly.
Those words were like a slap and I stared at him. "After all we’ve gone through to stay together? You want us to be separated now?"
Guilt came fast and hard as a part of me wished he’d say yes. That it was okay to leave them and chase the girl of my dreams down until she admitted that she needed me and loved me as much as I did her.
But there was no good option here. No matter what I would always be torn in two. My brothers in Boston and Kayla…wherever she ended up, which I suspected would be far from here.
“Your brothers and I were talking about this exact scenario before you got here, actually. We figure Kayla might want to get out of the area, we had an idea we wanted to talk to you about,” Olivia said, her smile bright enough to top a Christmas tree. As she spoke, a tiny spark of hope flared to life in my heart.
Kayla James might not have seen the last of me after all…
***
Kayla
I looked around the apartment for the last time, wondering if I should've done what I'd told Matty I was going to do and just left it all behind. It had seemed foolhardy in the light of day, though. Now that Mick was in jail-- unless his lawyer had managed to bond him out already-- there was nothing stopping me from doing this the right way. Packing like a normal, grown up individual, and moving once I had a new place-- or even a destination-- secured.
I wasn't doing that either, though.
I'd opted for the middle ground. Going back, packing a bag of necessities like my passport, some old pictures and enough clothes to get me through a week or two and then getting the hell out before the memories dragged me under like a tsunami.
As I rolled up the last of my shirts and stuffed it into the bag, trying not to let the misery drag me under. There were people who had it way worse than me. I was lucky that I had enough money in the bank to even leave Boston at all. Some people were stuck in a cycle of misery or abuse or poverty. At least I could walk away. Nothing was holding me back.
My brain helpfully supplied an image of Matty, curled up next to me on my bed, snoring softly with one hand on his lean stomach.
I swallowed hard and roughly yanked the zipper of my bag closed.
This was it. The DA's office told me I might have to come back to testify if Mick decided to exercise his right to a trial rather than copping a plea. That was fine by me. A trial of this size would take a year or more to prepare for, and by that time, I was going to be a whole different person. A tougher person with a titanium shell who couldn't be hurt by any of this anymore.
I closed my bedroom door and headed into the living room, making a mental note to drop my key off at the front desk. I'd already contacted my landlady and told her that I was leaving, but would pay rent for the remaining three months of my lease. She agreed to clean out the rest of my stuff if she could sell it and keep the profits, which was fine by me. Most of it was bought with dirty money anyway, and looking at it made me ill.
I tossed my bag onto the kitchen counter and did a quick sweep of the fridge, tossing old food so it wouldn't stink up the place. Then, I headed for my laptop.
It was the moment of truth. Time to pick my new hometown. Weird, how in the age of the internet, I kind of wished I had a globe. One of those colorful ones, where the water was done in that vibrant, aquamarine enamel and the world looked like something from a Disney film. I imagined myself spinning it, and then closing my eyes and stopping it with my pointer finger.
Instead, I gathered up some supplies, googled a dismal-looking map of the United States and a virtual Magic 8-Ball in a separate window.
I picked up a tiny sticky note shaped like an arrow and held it between my thumb and forefinger. Closing my eyes, I spun around three times, and felt around until I touched the table in front of me. Then, I stuck out my arm and pressed the sticky note to the screen of my laptop.
Sucking in a deep breath, I opened one eye and then the other.
Oh, fuck no.
Alaska. See-Russia-from-my-backyard, dog-fuckingly cold Alaska. And not even like Juno or Anchorage. This was remote, bears-roaming-in-the-yard country.
Despite the fact that I'd turned off the AC an hour ago, I shivered at the thought. The plan had been to pick a place at random and let the Magic 8-Ball work as my sort of double-check that the universe was on board with my plans, but I eighty-sixed that plan. Magic or not, I wasn't about to move to Alaska.
I had just spun around for the second time when a knock at the door had me freezing in place.
For a second, my heart skittered out of control. What if Mick had been let loose already? Or what if he'd sent over one of his guys that hadn't gotten busted after the raid to rough me up? Although, knocking would be weird if that was the case. And anyway, Sergeant Taylor had insisted on having two cops stationed outside the building exactly for that reason.
“Yes?” I called through the door.
"Kayla? It's me. Can I talk to you for a second?"
Matty.
Which explained why the doorman had let him up without question. I wilted in relief at the sound of his voice, but right on the heels of that, my heart started pounding even harder than before.
Matty was here. And he wanted to talk to me.
No good could come of it. Just more pain for both of us.
That didn't stop me from practically running to the door, though. I swung it open and stared up at him, my eyes drinking him in like he was the last puddle in a desert.
"Hey." His face said so much more than that. Everything I wished I could say back to him.
Instead, I just said, “Hey.”
"We're here too," a female voice called from behind him.
I peered around his shoulder to see Olivia, Bash and Reid in the hallway.
"Hi, guys," I said cautiously. Was this going to be some sort of family bitch-out session? The McDaniels boys coming to tell me to fuck off for hurting their brother or something?
Another thought came to me and I could feel the color draining from my cheeks. What if Matty had enlisted them to help him convince me to stay? God, my heart wanted to. The lure of it was so compelling. To just fall back in with him and pretend like nothing had happened. It might even work for a while, but long term? I would lose my mind here in Boston.
My stomach ached as I looked into his eyes again. Maybe in a year. Or maybe in a few months…"Matty-"
"Hear us out," he pleaded softly, stepping forward.
I could smell the clean scent of his aftershave and it was all I could do not to wind myself around him. "Yeah, sure. Okay." I waved them in with my hand and moved to the side.
"What's that?" Bash asked, jerking his chin toward my laptop screen.
My face went white-hot as the rest of the crew turned to look. "Uh, just fooling around."
Reid bee-lined for it and poked the pink sticky flag with his finger. "Alaska, huh?"
"No. I was just..." God, nothing I could think of to finish that sentence sounded the least bit sane, so I just let it hang out there as they all stared at me.
Olivia pinned me with a perceptive blue gaze and she nodded slowly. "I get it. You just want out. Doesn't matter much where to, right?"
I could tell by her expression that she did, indeed, get it and I wondered if I'd misjudged her. I'd always looked at her like the poor little rich girl, but from what Matty had told me over the past month or so, she'd weathered some pretty tough storms. My embarrassment faded and I shrugged.
"Pretty much. Although, I'm rethinking the whole Alaska pick," I admitted, purposely avoiding looking at Matty again. I was only human, after all, and if I had any hope of getting out of here without throwing myself into his arms and begging him to be with me, keeping my eyes off him was key.
"How about New York?" Bash asked.
I turned and shot him a puzzled look. "New York is okay, I guess."
“New York is super expensive,” Olivia said, slipping her arm around her man’s waist and smiling up at him adoringly. “What about California?”
Reid winced and shook his head. “No way. I can’t stand avocados and I hear they put them on everything. That’s just gross.”
I pursed my lips, staring at each one of them in turn, more confused with every passing second. What the hell were they going on about? Matty, I could see weighing in, but what did they care where I was going?
“Vegas,” Matty said, moving to stand in front of the computer next to Reid. He tapped at the screen with his knuckle. “Not too expensive, not too many avocados, and lots of opportunities to fight.”
I loved the vibe of Vegas, but the thought of taking on a city like that alone was even more daunting than the thought of Alaska. “I’m going to have to work a lot of hours. There won’t be much time for me to get into fighting.” Another dream that Mick had crushed for me.
“I didn’t mean just for you.” Matty took a step toward me, his jaw flexing as he held my gaze. “I mean for me.”
Blood rushed to my head as I tried to make sense of his words. He couldn’t be serious. His whole life was here. His gym, his brothers-
“And me,” Bash added, moving to flank Matty.
Reid joined him a second later. “Me, too.”
“I can go to school anywhere,” Olivia announced, lining up with the rest of them.
Emotions were coming so hard and fast, one on top of the other. Hope and terror and fear and excitement. Could this honestly be what I thought it was? My palms went cold as I waited for someone to come right out and say it before I exploded.
“We want to come with you, Red. Wherever you go.” Matty reached out and cupped my face in his hand. “I love you. I don’t want to be without you. There’s nothing here for any of us anymore. We’re ready to move on.”
“This is insane,” I murmured, wondering if I’d bumped my head somewhere along the line. He was-- they were-- seriously thinking of uprooting their entire lives right now? For me?
“Maybe it is,” Reid said, his handsome face splitting into a grin. “But we McDaniels boys aren’t exactly known for playing it safe.”
He leaned in and slung an arm around Matty’s shoulder and it hit me. They weren’t doing this for me. They were doing this for Matty. Because of all he’d done for them. Quitting school to work so he could save up to make sure they could all be together again and stay that way. This was their version of paying it back.
The revelation actually made me feel better because Matty deserved that kind of loyalty. And apparently, he thought I did too, because although his family might not be offering to move just for me, Matty was.
“What about your gym?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady in spite of the emotions rioting in my chest.
“It’s beat. Barely pays for itself. We’re better off renting out the space or trying to sell it.” He stroked my jaw with his thumb. “Besides, I can start a new gym in Vegas. Or wherever you want to go.”
“Except California,” Reid interjected.
Matty turned his head and glared at him.
“Take it easy, I’m just fucking around.” Reid looked at me, his boyish face growing serious. “Seriously, Kayla. He’s right. Wherever you want to go.”
He patted his brother on the shoulder and headed for the door, gesturing to Bash and Olivia. “Let’s give them a chance to talk. I saw a pizza place across the street.”
A few seconds later, the door closed behind them with a click, but I barely noticed. My whole world was right in front of me. Of all the ways I’d imagined today would go, this had never even been a thought in my head.
“Are you still thinking it over, or are you trying to figure out how to let me down easy?” Matty asked. His lips were curved into a half-smile but his eyes were dead serious.
“No!” I laid a hand on his chest and let my fingers curl into the fabric of his T-shirt just to ground me a little. He was really here. This wasn’t a dream. “No, I’m not going to let you down. I just…can’t believe anyone would do something like this for me.”
“I’m doing it for me, Red. Because every day we’re not together feels like a day wasted. I realized that the night after the Martin fight, when you walked out. I love you so fucking much, it’s like I don’t know what I thought about before I met you.”
The tears started falling then, in a hot rush down my face. “Ugh, I’m about to do that ugly cry thing,” I warned, and then let out a loud sniffle.
He chuckled and swiped the tears from my eyes. “You could never look ugly.” He dropped a kiss to my nose. “But if you don’t put me out of my misery soon, I might have to start crying my damn self. Three times I’ve said it, and I have yet to hear it back. Lay it on me, Red.”
I kissed his chin lightly, and then tipped my head up to brush my lips against his. “I love you, Matty. Your sense of loyalty, and your work ethic. The way you value family and how trustworthy you are. The way you accept people, flaws and all.” I pressed my body against his and closed my eyes to relish the sensation I was certain I would never feel again. “I love everything about you. And I would be honored if you and your family would come away with me.”
He bent low and scooped me into his arms, raining kisses all over my face. “There’s no stopping us now.”
I nestled my head into the crook of his neck and blew out a sigh. “It’s going to be a grind, you know. I don’t exactly have a whole lot of resume-worthy talents, and without Mickey’s connections, it might be harder to land fights for you.”
“I’m on your resume, and we crushed at that Martin fight.” His eyes blazed with hope and excitement. “I believe in us and I know we’re going to make a name for ourselves out in Vegas. Bash and Reid are going to talk to you about managing them too, and in our free time, we are all going to help get you ready for some amateur bouts too. You’re a natural.”
It sounded amazing. But I couldn’t deny the rush of sadness and dread that came over me when my thoughts turned to my father. “This probably isn’t over with Mickey, you know. I might have to come back to testify. Things could get ugly.”
“And we’ll handle it together if it does. But until then, let’s live and be happy.” He touched his forehead to mine, his minty breath washing over my face. “He’s taken enough from us, don’t you think?”
I did.
“Let’s do it.” Suddenly bursting with energy, I shimmied in his arms until he let me slide to the floor. “I’m almost ready to go.”
“You can come stay at the apartment for a couple days until we’re packed up, and we’ll see if your guards can come with us. Is that okay?”
Trust Me: Matty and Kayla, Book 3 of 3 (The McDaniels Brothers 7) Page 7