by Dover, L. P.
Inside, I smiled. I was going to get my wish, to see Kyle’s face when he saw his sister in my corner. Looking up into the ring, Kyle grinned wide and bounced in place as I made my way up onto the mat. I kept my face blank, psyching him out. His cockiness would be his downfall.
Sliding out of my robe, I handed it to Matt and smiled at him, Cole, and Ryley. They were all in my corner tonight.
“Was your dad too ashamed to come?” Kyle sneered behind my back.
Turning around, I met him in the center of the ring and got into position. I wasn’t going to let him make me lose focus. “No, he’s been a little busy taking out the trash.”
Kyle scoffed, but then I purposely tore my attention away to the empty seats in his section, furrowing my brows. I wanted to make him think I was looking for Kacey.
Smirking, Kyle looked down at his seats then back to me. “Looking for my sister? It’s a shame you’re still hard up for her. Especially now that she’s fucking someone else.”
“You’re lying,” I snapped. “Where is she?”
“Not here with you, that’s for damn sure. She said it made her sick when you touched her.” Kyle leered at me, taunting me. “How does it feel to know we played you?”
You’ll find out.
The announcer stepped in between us pushing us apart. “That’s enough, gentlemen. Save it for the fight.”
“With pleasure,” Kyle sneered, taking a step back.
Ding, ding, ding.
The announcer quickly stepped out of the way and it was time. Just as I expected, Kyle charged first and tried to psych me out with a left hook, but ended up going for my middle. Darting out of the way, I lowered my body and swept my leg across the mat, tripping him. He recovered by rolling and getting right back to his feet.
“I’m impressed, Rushing. You’re quick on your feet today.”
“Yeah, well, a lot’s changed in the past month.”
Ever since I’d met Kacey, she made me better—more focused on my goals. I had what it took to win. I glanced down and noticed Bree and Gabriella walking to their seats, followed by Kacey and Paxton. Kacey pointed to her tank top and smiled up at me.
Kyle hadn’t seen her yet. He did, however, land a hard kick to my shin, which I immediately reciprocated with a right hook to his face. His head snapped to the side and blood spewed over the mat from his broken nose; I felt the bones crunch when I hit him.
“You’re so fucking dead,” he growled, swiping the blood away with his hand. It was then I could see in his eyes that he realized I wasn’t broken like he’d planned. If I hadn’t gotten to Kacey in time, I would’ve been . . . but thankfully, I did.
Beaming, I grinned wide and beckoned him closer. “Bring it on, cocksucker.”
Charging again, Kyle grabbed a hold of my waist and took me down to the mat. He punched me one good time in the jaw and the pain exploded through my skull. Then, I tasted blood. In return, I elbowed him in the side and shoved him away with my foot.
Ding, ding, ding.
We both got to our feet and Kyle spat on the mat, glaring at me. “Round two, it’s all going to be over.”
He went to his corner and I backed up to mine, only to have someone there I wasn’t expecting. “What are you doing here?”
My father smiled and opened up a bottle of water, handing it to me. “Believe me, I didn’t think I’d make it, but the detective knew this was a big night for you, and he didn’t want me to miss it. I just have to go to the station afterward.”
“What about Liam? What’s going to happen to that fucker?”
My father looked down at Kacey then back to me. “He’s going to be charged for attempted rape and kidnapping, among other things. I’m not going to let him get away with what he did to Kacey.” Neither was I.
Ding, ding, ding. It was time for round two . . . the end.
“Go get him, son. You can do this.”
Not wasting any more time, I let my smile fade and went straight on the offensive, jabbing left and right, not stopping. My muscles burned like fire but I kept going, ignoring the pain exploding through every inch of my body as my fists connected with Kyle’s body. All of the hate, all of the anger, I let it pour out of me and didn’t hold anything back. I felt blood splatter on my face and my chest, but I didn’t let it stop me.
The next thing I knew, I was on the mat with Kyle’s arm locked in an arm bar. I wanted to keep pulling, to break it in two before he could tap out . . . but he was too stubborn to do it.
“Tap out,” I growled.
Kyle snarled and continued to fight me off with no effect because I had him locked down. “Fuck you.”
I gripped his arm tighter and he hissed, sweat breaking out over his skin. It was time he knew the truth. “You want me to break your arm? Fine, I honestly don’t give a fuck. However, first, I want you to take a look at my seats. Who do you see over there?”
Loosening up my hold, I gave Kyle the mobility he needed to see. His eyes went wide when he saw Kacey, getting to her feet with the bandages clearly visible on her wrists. “What the fuck?” he hissed, grimacing in pain.
“I went and got her, asshole. You see those bandages on her wrists? Those are from Liam, when he tried to rape her. Now give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip your fucking arms out. Because, believe me, if it wasn’t for her, I’d have already done it.”
“You lie!” he shouted. “You’re just trying to distract me.”
Letting him go, I pushed him away and kicked him in the face. I could’ve broken his arm and ended the fight, but I wasn’t like him. “I don’t have to distract you, Kyle. It’s the truth. You’re headed nowhere fast and you know it.”
His features darkening, Kyle rushed me, anger and desperation consuming him. He moved fast and I reacted, but it was like our bodies moved in slow motion before slamming down on the mat. It all happened so quickly. I heard the crack and the screams that followed right after.
It was over.
WHEN TYLER HAD Kyle’s arm locked down, I knew my brother wouldn’t tap out. Deep down, I wanted Tyler to break his arm and get it over with, but he was too admirable to do that—even if he wanted my brother’s blood. What I didn’t expect was for him to let go.
Afterward, everything moved in slow motion. I heard my brother yell that Tyler was a liar before recklessly charging at him. Tyler’s dad shouted something, but then both my brother and Tyler fell down to the mat hard. When only one of them got up, I froze and everything went silent. The paramedics rushed into the ring and knelt down by the motionless fighter.
The only thing going through my mind at that moment was . . . thank God it wasn’t Tyler. I did, however, breathe a sigh of relief when I could see Kyle’s chest rising and falling with his breaths.
“Kacey,” Bree shouted, clinging onto my arm. “Tyler needs you. Go!”
By the time I rushed into the ring, all of Tyler’s friends were in there, including his father. My brother had already been taken away on the gurney and Tyler’s arm was lifted in the air by the announcer. “And your Heavyweight title champion, by TKO, is none other than Las Vegas’ own, Tyler . . . The Terror . . . Russsshhhhiiiinnnngggg!”
Tyler smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His friends lifted him in the air and paraded him around the ring, while the crowd went wild, chanting his name. When they set him down, he immediately came to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face in my neck. He was covered in spatters of blood, but I didn’t care; I held onto him.
“Kacey,” he pleaded. “I’m so sorry.”
“Tyler, stop. You did amazing. There’s nothing to be sorry about.” I lifted his head from my neck and smiled up at him. “You deserved to win.”
He nodded, his face uncertain. “I know, but I think he’s really hurt. We might need to follow the paramedics to the hospital.”
“No,” I snapped. “If my brother’s hurt that’s what he gets. It’s what I call karma.”
“That may be true, but when I to
ld him what happened to you, I could see the anger in his eyes, Kacey. He didn’t want to believe it, but deep down he knew it was true when he looked at you. You need to talk to him.”
He put his arm around me. “And unfortunately, after that we have to go to the police station. We need to put Liam away.”
Sighing, I walked with Tyler by his side while he waved to his fans and signed autographs in passing. The night wasn’t exactly what we’d anticipated, but at least he won the title and I was safe. Things could have been a lot worse.
Tyler had put everything on the line for me, and for that I would do anything he asked me to. Even if it meant talking to my brother.
After Tyler washed up and changed clothes, we went straight to the hospital and were told to wait in the waiting room while they finished up the tests. What didn’t surprise me was that Tyler and I were the only ones in the waiting room. None of Kyle’s friends were there.
“I never got the chance to say thank you,” I whispered, laying my head on Tyler’s shoulder.
“For what, beautiful?”
“For the check. I had no idea you’d been looking at properties for us.”
A mischievous smile lit up his face when I glanced up at him. “You’re welcome. I know you two are ready. I had a lot of time on my hands in California to think about you. That’s when I started looking for places. When we get back home there’s something I . . .”
“Miss Andrews?”
“Yes,” I turned, getting to my feet. A short woman, probably in her mid-forties with really short brown hair approached, carrying a folder. I looked down at her nametag and it said Dr. Carol Peters.
She held out her hand, her face grim. “Miss Andrews, I’m Dr. Peters. I’m the one looking after your brother.”
I shook her hand and nodded. “Yes, how is he?”
Tyler stood and came to my side and shook her hand as well.
“It’s hard to say right now,” she admitted honestly. “The tests show he has a dislocated vertebra in his neck. We don’t think it’s damaged the spinal cord, but we’re going to go in and see what we can do. He’s experiencing some numbness from the neck down. Now, I need to prepare you. If we can’t fix the problem . . . there is a chance he’ll be paralyzed.”
“Oh my God,” I choked. “Will he ever walk again?”
Tyler’s face paled and he sat back down in the chair, covering his face with his hands. I knew he blamed himself, but I had watched the fight. He didn’t try to deliberately hurt my brother.
Dr. Peters grimaced. “We’ll do our best and hope for a good outcome. Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of faith. If you want, you can go in and see him now, before we take him into surgery. We’ve already contacted your mother and she’s coming in on the next available flight.”
Hopefully, my mother would be able to take care of him because I knew I wasn’t going to do it. Kyle made his bed and now he had to sleep in it.
Dr. Peters walked away, leaving me and Tyler to ourselves.
I knelt down in front of him and took his hands in mine. “This isn’t your fault. Injuries like this happen all of the time in the MMA. You can’t blame yourself. I, for one, don’t blame you.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked softly, staring at me with his stormy gray eyes.
I squeezed his hands and leaned over to kiss his lips gently, since my brother split his bottom lip at some point during the fight. “I’m positive. I’ll only be a minute, okay?”
Taking a deep breath, I left the waiting room and started down the short hallway to Kyle’s room. It was dark and quiet inside, except for the lights and sounds of the machines. Kyle was motionless, his neck held stiff in a brace, but his gaze followed me as I stood beside him.
He started to speak, but I held up my hand. “You don’t get to speak right now,” I snapped, glaring down at him. “You need to listen to me and listen well. I am not going to feel sorry for you because of what happened. All of this,” I said, waving around his immobilized body, “is payback for all of the bad shit you’ve done in your life. Did you think it wouldn’t catch up to you?”
He closed his eyes and squeezed them shut. Tears started to blur my vision, but they were from anger. “Open your eyes, Kyle,” I demanded.
He did as I said and opened them. For the first time in my life I watched him cry. I held up my hands and ripped open my gauze so he could see the marred flesh on my wrists from the cable ties. “This is what you did to me. You left me in the hands of your scumbag friends and if it wasn’t for Tyler, Liam would’ve—” I choked. I couldn’t even finish the sentence. It was too scary to even think about.
“I would’ve killed him,” Kyle rasped. “I never wanted anything to happen to you.”
Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and wiped away my tears. “I’m sorry, Kyle, but I don’t believe you. You’re about to go into surgery and I wish you all the best. Mom is on her way, so hopefully, she’ll be able to take care of you and figure out what to do. Because there sure as hell aren’t any of your friends out there in that waiting room. It’s just me and Tyler.”
He kept his gaze on me, his lips trembling. “I’m sorry, Kacey. Please say you’ll forgive me.”
Swallowing hard, I reached for his hand and touched it briefly, before taking a step away. “You will always be my brother, Kyle, and for that I love you. But right now, I can’t say the words you need to hear. It will take me some time. I don’t like who you’ve become and I hope one day you decide to change.” I backed away to the door, out of his range of sight.
“Kacey, please,” he begged.
“Goodbye, Kyle.” Quickly, I shut the door and leaned against it with my eyes closed.
“Are you okay?” Tyler asked.
“Yes,” I replied as I opened my eyes. “I feel much better now.”
Putting his arm around my shoulders, we started down the hall toward the elevators.
“Do we have to go to the police station now?”
“Actually, no. I called the station and they said we could wait until tomorrow.”
Once we got to the elevators, Tyler pressed the button and the doors opened. “So what are we going to do then? I’m sure there’s some kind of party in your honor for being the Heavyweight champion.”
Tyler put his hand on the small of my back and guided me into the elevator. “I’m sure there is, but they’re just going to have to do without their guest of honor. Tonight there’s only one person I want to be with.”
“Oh yeah? And who might that be?”
The elevator doors closed and he pushed me against the wall with his body firmly pressed into mine. “Surely you know,” he murmured against my lips. “It’s always going to be you.” He pressed his lips against mine, and opened my lips with his tongue, going deeper. When he leaned back, I gasped for air and tried to close the distance again.
“You promise?”
Brushing the hair off my face, he rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs and smiled. “I promise, and one day soon I’m going to prove it to you.”
I couldn’t wait.
One Week Later
MY BROTHER HAD his surgery, but only time would tell what the extent of the damage would entail. The last I heard, he still couldn’t walk because of the numbness. Word traveled fast of his demise and I couldn’t go anywhere with Tyler without someone asking questions. His father told us to take the week off, so we spent it at his house, locked away from everyone. It was hands down the best week of my life.
However, the week had come and gone and now we had to get back to work. I still had a job at the gym to do and so did Tyler, even though he was taking a break from training. In just a few short months, he would be the owner of his family’s gym, acquiring all responsibility. We were both taking the next step in our lives.
In front of me sat the realty magazines and my budget list. I was pretty good at numbers, so handling the books was going to be one of my many jobs once Bree and I got our restaurant started.
I was too engrossed in the pictures in front of me to notice Tyler standing in front of my desk, staring at me.
“I could sit here and watch you all day, but there’s something I need to show you.”
Smiling, I shut the magazine and lifted my head. “Oh yeah? Does it happen to be something in the back room that you grew especially for me?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Not exactly, but I’ll be more than happy to show you that later.”
Getting to my feet, I joined him in front of the desk and he kissed me.
“Have you found any more places you like?”
“No,” I sighed.
He led me out the doors to his truck and opened the door so I could get in. My wrists had healed somewhat, but they were still sore and I had scars. It was always going to be a reminder of that bittersweet night.
“So where are we going?” I asked.
Tyler just smiled and started us down the road, throwing a blindfold in my lap. “You’ll see, but right now I want you to put this on. And don’t ask questions, or peek. If I catch you peeking, I’ll have to reprimand you.”
“Wow, okay, this just got interesting,” I teased, tying the blindfold at the back of my head. I figured I would humor him. With Tyler, there was no telling what he was up to.
About ten minutes later, he put his truck into park. “Keep the blindfold on, beautiful. I’m going to get out and help you. Don’t you dare peek, or I’ll bring the wrath down on you.”
He got out of the truck and came around to my side. Holding both of my hands, he led me slowly up a couple of steps where, I heard the slide of a lock and a door opening. When I giggled, the noise echoed in the room.
“Where are we?”
Slowly, Tyler untied the blindfold and lowered it. When I opened my eyes, I gasped. It was the place I had wanted to buy for my restaurant, but was told someone had bought it. The place wasn’t built to be a restaurant, so there was still a lot of work to be done, but it was in a prime location and we had a ton of space to work with. It would be the ideal place to own a restaurant.