The Predator [2]

by Brooke May

  “Her enthusiasm is scaring me,” Chamberlain whispers to me as I stand back up.

  He has no clue how long it took me to get used to seeing my daughter getting excited to see sharks eat. “You get used to it.” I laugh as I watch her get closer. Marissa darts back and forth, watching all the sharks move around the tank while Chamberlain and I find a seat on a bench across from her so we can still keep an eye on her. Chamberlain’s hand rests on top of mine resting on the bench between us. I look at our joined hands and smile up at him.

  It takes the usual half-hour for Marissa to get bored with the sharks, and then she comes over to sit between us. She rests her head on my side and puts her feet up on Chamberlain. “Why you didn’t want Mommy an’ me?” Her expression is completely somber and straight as she blinks up at him.

  I look away, feeling tears come back to my eyes. I close my eyes and shake my head as Chamberlain clears his throat. I look back at him; he looks lost and trying hard to find words.

  “Mommy tell me that she woves you and never stop.” Darn her; I guess this is my lesson learned for telling my three-year-old something private.

  Chamberlain’s eyes move from Marissa and penetrate mine. “I didn’t know about you, Marissa.” His voice cracks. “But now that I do know I have a beautiful daughter, I am never letting her or her equally beautiful mommy go.”

  “You wove my mommy?” She crawls up on her knees and places her little hands on his chest. They are so tiny there.

  “I never stopped.” He looks right at me as my tears are unleashed. “I love both of you.” He brings his free hand up to cup Marissa’s face and squeezes my hand with the other.

  “Don’t weave us,” she pleads with him.

  Tears from Chamberlain soon join mine as he looks down at our little girl. The perfect creation we created out of our love. She was never supposed to happen when she did, but I’m so thankful I have her. Her bottom lip is sticking out, pouting and he starts to tremble. I bite back my own sob. Chamberlain scoops us up and holds us to him. “I’m never letting go again. Where I go, you two are going with me.”

  XOXO

  “I HAVE AN interview tomorrow,” I tell Chamberlain as I cut up Marissa’s pizza.

  What he said earlier about us going where he goes is eating away at me. I have a life established here, but I do want to be with him and be a family.

  “So?”

  I set down the knife, out of Marissa’s reach, and turn to my own pizza. “I finally have my degree; I would like to get a job that I like to do,” I explain to him.

  “You could have Scott’s job,” he mutters around a bite of pizza in his mouth.

  “Chamberlain,” I stretch out his name as I slump in my chair. “I really want to be a teacher.”

  He swallows his bite. “You can be Marissa’s teacher when she is old enough for school. You know, since we will be doing a lot of traveling,” he muses, stroking his chin in thought. “Or we could settle down at home, and she could go to school to be around other kids, and you could get a job then. I could just focus on the summer series instead of the yearlong ones.”

  I narrow my eyes; I’ve been wondering when the alpha was going to come out.

  “Cham—”

  “But when we have more kids, you’ll need to stay home, and I will definitely want to stay close,” he interrupts me. I drop my head. “Of course, we’ll need to get married first and have Marissa’s last name changed as well as yours.”

  “I wike my name.” Marissa wipes her messy face on her equally messy napkin.

  “Don’t you want to have Daddy’s last name like Mommy will?” I sit back stunned.

  Are we really discussing this in front of her?

  Marissa frowns. “I fought Warwrence was your name, Daddy.”

  It’s Chamberlain’s turn to sit back in his chair, stunned. “Wha-” He looks from me to Marissa and back to me. “What’s her last name?”

  “My name is Marissa Fiona Warwrence, Daddy.” I can’t help but bark out a laugh. We’ve already discussed this; doesn’t he remember? Marissa’s arms are crossed, and her eyebrows are drawn together, glaring at her big, tough dad.

  “You’ve met your match, Chamberlain.” I gloat as I go back to enjoying my meal.

  “Yeah, Daddy,” Marissa adds, making me snort and almost choke on my food.

  “You gave her my last name?” Chamberlain asks almost in awe.

  “Yes,” I say, keeping my face down to eat my pizza.

  “Why?”

  “Because she can,” Marissa sings to him.

  “Sass.” Chamberlain shakes his head and decides to close his mouth and focus on his food.

  Wise choice, big guy.

  XOXO

  “CAN YOU PUT me in bed with Mommy, pwease?” Marissa begs with a yawn as Chamberlain carries her from my car up to her room.

  “I sure will.” He kisses her cheek and sets her down once we make it up the stairs.

  “Go get in your jammies, and I’ll get your toothbrush ready.” I gently push her toward her room and turn to walk into the bathroom, but Chamberlain is blocking the way. “Excuse me.” I squeeze past him and hear him growl as I brush up against him.

  “You know …” Chamberlain spins and leans his head against his hand as he braces himself against the doorframe, taking up the whole space. “I really don’t want to leave you two tonight.”

  “Tough.” I smile as I put the paste on Marissa’s toothbrush.

  “You wound me, Katie.” He lays his free hand over his heart and feigns hurt.

  “You’ll live.” I smile up at him. “Today was nice.” I reach up and trace the line of stubble down his jaw. He turns his hand, grabs my hand, and places a gentle yet searing kiss on my wrist.

  “It really was.” His voice is thick as he looks back at me. “I can’t wait to have more of this.”

  I inhale. “Cham –”

  “Ready!” Marissa comes bounding down the hallway, squeezes herself under Chamberlain’s spread legs, and jumps on her stool to wait for me to brush her teeth.

  “Here we go.” I push the button on her toothbrush that starts a princess song and start brushing. My face grows bright red when Chamberlain groans behind me. I realize that I’m bent over in front of him, giving him a perfect view of my bottom.

  “These two minutes are going to kill me,” he hisses.

  I laugh to myself and finish brushing her teeth and then floss. “You’re all done,” I announce. She jumps off and grabs Chamberlain’s big finger.

  “Come on, Daddy.”

  We go to her room, give her a kiss good night, and make sure her panda is tucked in next to her. “Good night, baby. Sleep tight. I love you. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Good night, Mommy. Wove you.” She cuddles up to her bear, and I back up to give Chamberlain a turn. “Daddy, you otay?” She frowns up at him as he stands there stock-still, staring at her.

  “Chamberlain.” I place a hand on his arm. That does the trick.

  He snaps back to us and moves down to kiss Marissa’s forehead. “Night, princess.”

  “Good night, Daddy.” She grabs her panda again and closes her eyes with a content smile spreading across her face.

  “Come on.” I grab Chamberlain and lead him out of the room and down the hallway. With each step, I grow more nervous. I don’t want him to leave, but he doesn’t need to know that yet.

  We get to the front door, and I stop, crossing my arms over my chest. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” He steps up to me, grabbing my hips and pulling me closer until his legs border mine. He dips back to look into my eyes.

  “For being here for her—”

  “Katie, I would have been there from the beginning if I would have known. I’m here for you, too.” He pushes some of my hair over my shoulder.

  “I know.”

  “I don’t want to leave you two here when I leave in a couple of days.” He pulls me even closer and kisses my temple. “Please, think abo
ut coming with me. I make enough to take care of us, Katie.”

  “I will.” I look down at his chest and watch as it rises and falls evenly. He is so strong, and I feel all my stress, tiredness, and everything fall away when he wraps his heavily corded arms around me. I take a deep breath of his unique scent. “Axe.”

  “What?”

  I smile and pick at his shirt. “I finally figured out what scent you wear. Axe.”

  His chest vibrates against me with his laughter. “Took you long enough. Have you been smelling other guys, Katie?”

  My smile falls, and I glare up at him. “No and to think that—” Chamberlain cuts me off by capturing my lips with his. It isn’t one of the all-consuming kisses that we shared in the past, but it’s a gentle, loving one; one that reminds me how I felt—feel—about him as he shows me how much he cares about me.

  He pulls back too soon and cups my face. “Good night, my love.” He quickly kisses me again and leaves. I’m left standing there, rubbing my lips as I watch him drive away.

  Just like old times.

  My heart is racing by his touch, his lips, and the love I feel for him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Katie

  “JUST DO IT already, K.C.,” I prompt myself. I’m sitting in front of the computer with a search engine opened in the privacy of my room. Marissa is down for a nap, Karmin is out back doing yoga, and Aunt Jackie and Beth are at work. “Just look him up.”

  I’ve been dancing my hands back and forth from the top of the keyboard to my lap for the past forty-five minutes.

  What if what I’m really looking for is there?

  What if he moved on but is single right now?

  God, I’m a mess.

  I was too wound up for my interview this morning that I didn’t do this last night. I knew if I did, I wouldn’t have slept the few hours that I did. I thought about searching him once he turned up here in Denver for his fight, but I never got around to it. Last night, after he left, I came up to my room and debated on it before I called it a night.

  The anxiety I felt for my interview this morning settled after Chamberlain called me. I was glad we exchanged numbers during dinner. After his voice had soothed my nerves to a manageable amount, I felt confident and ready for anything.

  The interview was easy; I answered the questions with ease and smiled through the whole thing. The principal was up front with me by telling me a couple of other applicants had more experience than I did, but they would let me know as soon as they could.

  That made my stomach fall. When I told Aunt Jackie and Karmin about it, they started going on about signs. I’ve become accustomed to their ways, and even though I don’t believe in the same things as they do it doesn’t mean I am disrespectful and leave the room when they start talking. I nodded and bear it until they were done. I came up to my room after I got Marissa settled and locked myself away.

  “Do it.” I hold in a breath as I type: Chamberlain ‘The Predator’ Lawrence. The results come up right away along with a feed of pictures I can click on. I open a separate tab for the pictures but focus on some of the pages first.

  The first result is Chamberlain’s official fan page. I open it and find that it is simple, kind of boring, and not very well maintained. All I see is a schedule of his fights for this season, his stats, some pictures from various fights and some of him training, and a very brief biography. It talks about his family, Scott, and even me, but there is no mention of Gwen or any other woman.

  I know Gwen isn’t a part of his life anymore, but I thought she would be mentioned in passing about his past. I’m actually really surprised there is no mention of any other women. No dates, no long-term relationships, nothing.

  Clicking the back button, I return to the search results and go to the link right beneath the first one. It is called RML Children’s Foundation. This page is far more advanced than Chamberlain’s personal one.

  On the main page is a mission statement for the organization and a picture of Chamberlain in a ring with several kids. Different tabs lead to different websites for the organizations Chamberlain donates to, which I find it stating that in the mission statement.

  Again, there is a short biography on him and ways to get others involved with the different groups and organizations. My heart melts when I read Chamberlain’s words:

  I had a rough life after losing my parents. By helping kids who are orphaned like I was, to give them hope is the least I can do to pay it forward. My heart breaks for any child who has lost a parent. I don’t need the mass fortunes that come with my career; those children need it to have a future.

  Wiping my eyes, I go back and find the rest of the results are just interviews and various other things about Chamberlain’s career. I close that tab and move onto the pictures. Much like his sites, I find pictures of him in different fights and training with Scott. I find an early one that shocks me how much he really has changed from his younger self. He is still as handsome as ever, but now, he has a maturity about him that appeals more to me. He still has that cocky grin of his, but it has tamed.

  I look through all the images and don’t find one of him with a woman. Not even the ones where he is wearing a tuxedo for some fight event. I go back to the top and quickly type in: Chamberlain ‘The Predator’ Lawrence Girlfriend.

  I sit back and watch as the results load. There is nothing, absolutely nothing; every single one of the results I find says nothing about a girlfriend or any woman for that matter. I find numerous mentions of Chamberlain’s Ghost Girl. There are copious fight blogs and even magazines asking who this mysterious Katie is and her importance since she is tattooed on him but not by his side. Several others discuss how they suspect that Chamberlain and his manager, Scott, are lovers and are too secretive to come out and admit that.

  That makes me snort a laugh. I mean, it is plausible, especially since there is no evidence of Chamberlain’s love life. But come on, Scott is always out there looking for fun, or least he used to be that way.

  I find one link that draws me in. It was an older article from People magazine from three years ago when Chamberlain was interviewed.

  Chamberlain ‘The Predator’ Lawrence took a few minutes out of his busy schedule of training and traveling to sit down with one of our interviewers while in Chicago. Lawrence came onto the fight scene with fists flying late last spring and has caught the eye of many around the world. He is known as ‘The Predator’ due to his stealthy movements and reputation for hunting down his opponents. He is ruthless on the canvas.

  There is also a softer side to this fighter. He came from obscurity and is living a dream he and his late father both held. Through his vast fortune, Lawrence only spends the minimal on himself. He renovated a warehouse in his hometown of Boston into a personal gym and his home. The rest of his money goes either to a savings account or different charities that he donates to for orphaned or in-need children; along with several children’s hospitals. This big, scary man has quite a big, tender heart as well. Hear that, ladies? Unfortunately, Lawrence has his heart under tight lock and key as he states in our interview.

  Q: You’ve been on the scene for a year now, yet you haven’t been seen with a woman. Isn’t there someone special in your life?

  Chamberlain: There is, but she isn’t really in the picture right now.

  Q: Is it this ‘Katie’ whose name is tattooed on your chest?

  Chamberlain: It’s her spot.

  Q: Why does she hold such a special spot?

  Chamberlain: She’s the one for me, and I was stupid to let her get away.

  Q: You have a great fortune now; why not try to find her?

  Chamberlain: What makes you think I haven’t tried that already?

  Q: What would you say to her if you found her?

  Chamberlain: That I love her. Can we please get back on track with this interview; my life with her is very personal.

  When pressed for more, Lawrence became closed off and asked to end the interview. W
hat could have happened to make him so protective of a woman who apparently isn’t in his life anymore? This reporter hopes that Lawrence finds his happiness; he’s a great guy.

  “Oh. My. God.” I slam the computer shut. I’ve seen enough.

  “Everything okay in here?” I look up and find Aunt Jackie in the doorway.

  I thought I locked myself in?

  “Yeah.” I spin around to face her as she walks in and takes a seat on my bed. “There hasn’t been anyone but me.” I nod at the computer. “At least, that’s what the media says.” I know I don’t need to elaborate; she knows I’m talking about Chamberlain.

  Her eyes wrinkle around the corners with her smile. “I’ve kept tabs on him over the years.” I knit my brows, not understanding her. “For your own good and for Marissa’s. I knew one day it would come up.” She sounds absolute on the matter with no hint of sadness. “And you were the last woman.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “You two have talked, and now, you know the whole story. Why not give it a chance?”

  I look at Marissa’s closed bedroom door and wave my hand in that direction. “Marissa…”

  “Cut the shit, Katherine.” She rumbles at me. “No more excuses. I know you can find happiness with Chamberlain for both your sake and Marissa’s sake.” She stands and comes to me, towering over me with her hands on my shoulders. “Marissa already loves her daddy. Don’t take that away from her now. You aren’t that kind of person.”

  “But my interview—” I know it is a weak excuse, especially when my brain is now on the same track as my heart.

  Go to Chamberlain.

  “There will always be teaching positions, K.C.,” she softly interjects. “You get a chance to choose your life, and as much as I don’t want to force a choice on you, Chamberlain is that choice. Live your life and love the man who loves you.” She sighs. “Some people don’t get that lucky to make those choices.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You knew I was sent here and that you were never told about me until you did something that merited a trip to live in Denver with me.”