Dirty Boss_The Maxwell Family

by Alycia Taylor

  “But I could die anytime, Pop.”

  “Yes, but the probability of you killing yourself with this fight is much higher. And we both know it.”

  I nodded. There was nothing much else I could say to that. He was right, and we both knew it. Also, I was used to not listening to anyone when it came to their advice. But my father’s words had always carried more weight than anyone else’s.

  And just like that, I knew what was going to happen. I wasn’t going to fight.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Blaire

  “You sure you can’t stay?” I said to Reed that morning. We were waiting outside for the cab to collect him and Trinity.

  “I wish I could. I have an urgent meeting today that I have to be back for and a whole lot of patients waiting for me.”

  I nodded. “I really appreciate you coming. I know how much it meant to Ryan too. But it was great not being home alone.”

  “Anytime, Blaire. I’m glad he has you here.”

  I looked down and saw Trinity looking down. She looked sad. I kneeled down and saw that she was crying.

  “Oh, Trinity, why are you crying? You’re going to go back and see all your cool friends. I’m sure they miss you.”

  She nodded. “But I want to stay here with you. It’s not fair that we have to go back.”

  “How about we make a deal?” I said.

  She looked up, interested but not entirely too sure whether she should believe me or not.

  “A deal?” she asked. Her voice was small and timid.

  “Yeah, how about we make a deal to at least see each other once a month?”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. And if you can’t come here, then I’ll come and see you.”

  “Yes! That would be so cool.”

  “It can be our monthly sister meeting.”

  She grinned. “That’s twelve times in one year.”

  “Whoa! You’re smart. That’s hundred percent correct.”

  I stood up and looked at Reed. “I’m not just saying that to make her happy, by the way. I would love to come and visit often. I hope you don’t mind me just inviting myself like that.”

  He grinned. “Of course I don’t mind. And I want her to see her uncle too. I appreciate this, Blaire,” he said.

  The cab arrived seconds later, and I waved to both of them until the car was no longer in sight. When they were gone, I looked around and quickly got into my own car. Even though I knew that my stalker was no longer around, I still felt nervous when I was alone.

  The police had called me the other day with news. The stalker was a man named Peter Dorrington. He was forty-eight years old, an accountant for a well-known firm, and a loner. He had no friends or family that any of his work colleagues knew of, and when they found out what he had done, they all said that they weren’t surprised. They all agreed that there was something off about the guy. He had a bit of a thing for celebrities, and his crush on me had started when he had discovered that I lived nearby. Once he knew where to find me, his obsession had grown and grown. Colleagues said that he talked about me all the time, as if he knew me personally. He decided that he wanted to marry me, and when he thought that I had married Ryan, he went completely insane. He figured if he couldn’t have me, nobody should. Thankfully, with all the evidence stacked up against him, he had been put in jail, and when he would eventually get out years later, he would not be allowed near me. The thought comforted me.

  But I didn’t want to think about Peter Dorrington anymore. I wanted to see Ryan.

  When I arrived at the hospital, I found Ryan sitting up in bed and eating. The color had returned to his face, and his eyes were sparkling. He looked much stronger and more comprehensive than he had the last time that I had seen him.

  “Hey, Sunny,” he said the moment he saw me.

  “Hey, Ryan. Man, you’re looking good.”

  “I am?”

  “You are. You look so much stronger. Ooh, what are you eating?”

  “Some ham sandwich. It’s delicious. I can’t stop eating. The nurse said that she had never seen anyone eat as much as I do. I think I’m still trying to make up for the day that I was in the coma. I’m a bit of a guzzler now.”

  I laughed. “Nothing wrong with that. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been stress eating too.”

  “Ah, I see we are finally working toward our plan of not working and just getting fat. Although, you look like you’ve lost weight,” he said and frowned.

  “Yeah, I might eat more when I’m stressed, but I also lose more weight. But I’m feeling less stressed now that I see how healthy you’re looking. Oh, and Trinity said I must tell you to come and visit soon. She and I have planned a monthly meet up. Poor girl, she was so sad to leave.”

  “She loves you,” Ryan said.

  “She’s the sweetest thing. Pity they had to leave so early.”

  “Yeah. Reed is a busy man, though.”

  “So, how are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Blaire, I’ve made a decision about the fight.”

  I gulped. I had been nervous about this moment. If he told me that he was still going to fight, which I knew was highly possible, I wasn’t sure how I was going to react. I’d be angry. I’d be hurt. I’d—

  “I’m not going to do it.”

  “What?” I asked. I had not expected him to say that.

  He sighed. “You’re all right. It’s not just me that I have to think of. It’s all of you. And anyway, what’s the point in fighting someone just to prove a point? If I die or end up in a state much worse than this, then what point have I really proven?”

  I leaned in and kissed him. “Oh, Ryan. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I’ve been so worried that you were just going to go ahead and fight, anyway. I know how stubborn you are. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”

  He laughed. “Why is everyone calling me stubborn these days?”

  “Because you are,” I said. “Who else has said that?”

  “Actually, someone that I want you to meet. He should be here any minute now.”

  Ryan wanted me to meet someone? This was news to me. “Who is it?” I asked.

  “You’ll see,” he said and grinned.

  I was just about to ask him again when I heard a knock at the door. I turned around and immediately knew that I was looking at Ryan’s father. The resemblance was uncanny. The Maxwell family were all unique, but there was an undercurrent of similarities that was impossible to ignore. I felt nervous seeing him there. I hadn’t had the chance to prepare myself for the meeting. Did I look okay? Was he going to approve of me? Was he going to be angry that I was the one that got Ryan in this position? A million thoughts were running through my head when I stood up to greet him.

  “Pop, this is the lovely Blaire that I was telling you about.”

  “Oh, Blaire, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m so sorry to hear about what happened. I hear my son was quite the heroic one,” he said proudly.

  “POP!” Ryan groaned.

  I beamed at him. “He was indeed. I’m honestly not sure what I would’ve done without him. And it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Pity about the circumstances.”

  “You are just as beautiful as Ryan said you would be,” he said.

  I blushed, and Ryan groaned again.

  We sat down, and the two of us immediately started talking. As it turns out, Ryan’s father was very easy to talk to. Ryan told me that he was a closed book, but this was not the person that was in front of me at all. This guy was a happy, talkative man who seemed to only want the best for his children.

  “I hear you run a bike shop,” I said to him.

  “Oh, don’t get him started. He’ll be talking motorcycles all day,” Ryan said.

  “Ignore the invalid,” I said to his father. “I’m interested.”

  “Ooh, I like this one,” his father said and immediately launched into his tales. He told me all about his shop and his oth
er son who worked with him. Then he told me about the motorcycle club and how at one stage the whole family was involved.

  “Now they’re all out there living their own lives. I can’t blame them of course. But it was nice to have them all together at one time.”

  “That’s the place where they all got those nicknames, isn’t it?” I asked when a memory came flooding to the of my mind.

  He grinned. “Oh good, Ryan has been telling you about it then. Yeah, those damn nicknames. You know, some of those kids still call each other that. Ian is the worst. Everyone walks around calling him Gunner. What a stupid name.”

  “Everyone calls you Pop,” Ryan added in.

  “And how many times have I tried to get you boys to call me Dad? Too many times to remember.”

  “Doesn’t Ian call you Dad?” Ryan asked.

  “Strangely enough, he does. He’s always insisted on it.”

  “Well, you’ll always be Pop to me.”

  I grinned. “So, tell me more about Ryan as a child,” I said.

  “Oh no, are you two really going to just sit here and talk about me? You do realize that I’m the patient, don’t you? Which means you should be talking to me, not about me.”

  I looked at his father and laughed. “Do you hear a noise?”

  He chuckled. “I thought I heard something. Must be a fly. So, you want to know about Ryan? He was always a little shit,” he said, and we both burst out laughing.

  “HEY!” Ryan exclaimed.

  I liked Ryan’s father. He was easy to talk to and seemed to care deeply for Ryan in a way that went much further than most father-son relationships. I think it had to do with the fact that his wife had died so many years ago and that he’d looked after those kids alone. I also knew that he had gone through a few years of alcoholism and hadn’t treated the kids as he should’ve. The feeling of guilt that he felt was obvious, which was why he now tried so hard with them. He was a good person, and I was glad I got to meet him.

  “Well, I better get going. It was good to see you both. I just wanted to come and meet the lovely Blaire.”

  “Let me walk you out,” I said to him. Then I leaned over and kissed Ryan on the forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Ryan and his father said their goodbyes and I walked him out to his car. As we got there, I turned to look at him.

  “Did he tell you that he’s not fighting anymore?”

  His father nodded. “He did. Thank goodness. I was so worried when I heard that he wanted to fight that idiot. What does he call himself? The Prowl or something.”

  “Yeah, The Prowl. And I agree with you; he’s an idiot. I honestly don’t know why Ryan cares so much.”

  “Ah, well, you know what Ryan is like. He’s determined to prove a point. But I think this whole thing has finally made him realize how serious it is. I actually don’t think he realized it before. So, in a weird way, you sort of saved his life too.”

  I smiled. “That’s kind of you to say. I’ve been feeling so bad that he put his life on the line for me.”

  “I think that boy has fallen deeply in love with you, Blaire. It’s clearly written all over his face.”

  “You think?” I said. I could feel the sun on my face, but that wasn’t the reason why my face felt so warm.

  “Oh, I know. And you love him too?” he asked.

  “He’s the best man that I’ve ever met.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Ryan

  It was so good to be out of the hospital, especially since I got to spend the night with Blaire. She didn’t have to stay with me anymore, but she said there was no chance that she was going home that night when she could spend the night with me instead. I woke up to her wrapped up against me.

  “I wish I didn’t have to go now,” I said. I turned around and kissed her. “It feels so good to be next to you right now. A little too good, in fact.”

  “Do you have to?” she asked. “Because I could think of a lot of better things that we could be doing.”

  I nodded. “Trust me, I can think of a few things myself. But yeah, I have to go. I need to get this over with.”

  I had a press conference planned for that morning, and I was dreading it. Although, at the same time I just wanted to get it done once and for all. It was like pulling off a band-aid: the quicker I got it done, the better.

  “You’re going to be fine,” Blaire said. “I’m proud of you for doing this you know.”

  I smiled. “I know.”

  “How are you feeling about it all?” she asked.

  I thought about it for a second before answering her. “I’m feeling fine. You know, it’s weird. But now that I’ve decided I want to do this, I’m actually okay with it. I think making the decision was the hardest part. Once I made the decision, everything seemed to fall into place around me. I feel like I’m doing the right thing. And, I know it’s made you happy, and that makes it worth it.”

  “You’re pretty romantic when you want to be.”

  “Oh no! Look what you’ve done to me. Okay, I better go before I start losing my manhood.”

  She giggled. “You could never lose your manhood. Have you even seen yourself in the mirror?”

  I laughed. “I really wish I could stay. You’re way too cute this morning, and wonderfully complimentary. It’s not a bad way to start the morning.”

  I got out of bed, hopped into the shower, and tried not to think about Blaire. I hoped she wouldn’t join me because if she did, I knew I’d be late. Thankfully she seemed to realize that too. I got changed, said my goodbyes, and headed home.

  The moment I got to the training facility, Nick came straight over to me. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, and it was nice to see him again. I hadn’t realized how important it was to have Nick in my life until then. He’d been through all this before. He knew what I was going through.

  “The man lives to walk another day!” he said.

  I laughed. “Oh yeah, you’re not getting rid of me that quickly.”

  “So, how’s it going? I can’t believe you’re holding this press conference so soon. Didn’t you just get out of the hospital?”

  I chuckled. “I got out last night.”

  “You don’t mess around, do you?”

  “I just knew that I needed to get this done. If I don’t, then I might end up saying I want to fight in the heat of the moment again. You know what I’m like.”

  “That’s true. Well, for what it’s worth, I’m so glad that you’ve decided to do this. Man, I freaked out when I heard what had happened to you. I’m sorry I didn’t visit in the hospital. I called a few times, but they told me that you had family with you all the time.”

  “It’s okay. To be honest, I was asleep most of the time. I was so tired. My brother came around with my niece, so that was nice. And my father came to visit me too.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, I was so surprised. I thought I was hallucinating when he walked in. And, obviously, Blaire was there the whole time. I’m glad they didn’t keep me in too long. Apparently they were rather surprised by how quickly I recovered from it all.”

  “You’re a fighter in more ways than one,” Nick said.

  “I’m never going to fight again, though.”

  “Trust me, Ryan, you’ll always be a fighter, even if you aren’t in the ring. Now, are you ready to do this? I saw them setting up inside.”

  I nodded. I’d asked the media to come to the training facility. It wasn’t going to be long, and there wasn’t going to be any back and forth. I had written down what I was going to say, so all I had to do was to read it and then they would broadcast it in their own way. When I entered the room, at least twenty different media personnel were seated. And it wasn’t just the media that had come to hear what I had to say. The room was filled with other fighters. I hadn’t expected so many people. I nodded and made my way to the front. Nick stood in the corner and smiled at me. You’ve got this!

  I cleared my throat and look
ed around the room. The faces all seemed to swim together, and I couldn’t make out who was who. It was pretty overwhelming, and as I’d never been one for public speaking, I was glad that I had written everything down.

  “Hi everyone,” I began. “Thank you so much for coming today on such short notice. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here, especially since the last time you heard from me I was telling you how much I was looking forward to winning my fight with Ron. Unfortunately, I’m here today to tell you that I will not be fighting him. In fact, I will not be fighting anyone again. I am officially retiring from MMA.”

  There was an audible gasp from the room, and as I looked up, I could see how surprised everyone looked. Clearly, word had not yet gotten around, and nobody had expected me to say this. They probably all assumed I was just there to bad mouth Ron in preparing for the upcoming fight.

  “I have been suffering from headaches for the last few years, and as of late they have gotten worse and worse. I recently went to visit my brother in Seattle who, as some of you know, is a sought-after neurosurgeon, for a checkup. I’m stubborn, as most of us fighters are,” I said and everyone chuckled in agreement, “and it took me a long time to admit that something might be wrong. Of course, I still hoped that it was nothing too serious. But after a CAT scan with my brother, he made it clear that I should not fight again. I have head trauma, and a blow to my head could lead to severe damage, or even death. It was the worst news that I had ever received in my life.”

  I stopped to catch my breath. I could feel myself getting emotional, and I quickly cleared my throat again to stop the tears from coming. I looked up and caught Nick’s eye again. He smiled at me and gave me the confidence to move on.

  “Of course, being who I am, the moment I was challenged to a fight, I decided to ignore everything that my brother had said. I said yes to Ron. I wanted to prove to the world that I was a good fighter. At the time, that was more important to me than my health. But, despite these intentions, I will not be fighting. My beautiful girlfriend, Blaire Kaplan, was recently involved in a terrible situation that I will not go into right now. It’s all over the media anyway, so there’s no need for me to go into it. But, to cut a long story short, it involved me getting knocked in the head and getting rushed to the hospital. I slipped into a coma, but somehow, miraculously, I made my way out of it. And just like that, I realized what I was doing to myself. Or more importantly, what I was doing to the people around me. So, to sum things up, I’m here to tell you today that I will not be partaking in any more fights. I’ll still be actively involved, one way or another, because it’s impossible for me to fully leave this world. But my fighting career is over. Thank you to all that have supported me in this journey. And Ron, wherever you are, as much of a pain in the ass as I think you are, I do wish you all the luck in the future.”