by Lux Miller
That kind of attack, where the aggressor tries to land the ball of the hand or elbow into the base of the skull is strictly prohibited. Even in a sport as barbaric as MMA, it’s considered too dangerous because if he’d landed it successfully, it can cause all kinds of brain damage, including detaching the brain stem from the brain itself. It’s one of the few strikes that can cause instantaneous death for even an otherwise healthy opponent.
The match was called immediately, but it sent Poppy into panic mode. I reassured her that I was fine, but she still wanted to check me over and she insisted we go to the doctor’s practice first thing in the morning to get the old noggin scanned yet again. We won’t hear the results for a few days, but I think it made her feel better that I didn’t fight her on the scan. Pete and Joe were pretty thrilled too when I showed up without some insane request for take out. As we were leaving the office, I overheard Pete tell Joe, “I don’t know what Storm is doing with this girl, but I like her.”
Of course, I had to let them know I heard them, so I retorted, “Yeah, me too.” It was enough to shut both of them up and make Poppy turns sixteen shades of red. I ribbed her for the first hour of the drive to upstate about how red her cheeks went when I mentioned I liked her and it made her turn red all over again. Of course, when I told her I wasn’t joking, she went silent on me for awhile. She finally started talking to me again, only to clam up again when we crossed the state line. I have no idea what’s going on in that pretty, little head of hers right now, but I wish I did.
“Storm, what am I going to do when this trip is over?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I imagine find a new job, because you and I both know that working at the casino is never going to cut it for you.”
She nods thoughtfully as I turn the car down a gravel road that winds underneath a weathered sign that reads, ‘Bianchi Ranch.’ She sighs as she looks up at the sign, then twists her face up with a grunt. “I’m more worried about where I’m going to live, Storm. You’ve been so generous letting me crash with you, but I literally have nowhere to go. I tried to go by the house the other day while Brad was at work and he’s changed the locks.”
I growl as I grip the steering wheel and glance over at her, “I’m not comfortable with you going near that prick, but I know that I have no say in what you do with your life. Just please be careful around him. I think he’s just waiting for you to find the trigger to explode.”
She nods slowly, swallowing as she stares out the window. Several buildings come into view, jutting up from an expanse of green that must cover acres. Poppy smiles and rests her hand against the window of the passenger seat, staring through the glass at various animals that are grazing on the grass that’s so green, it looks fake. “Wow, Eli did a number on this place. I’ve never seen the grass so green. Or so many flowers. I bet Ms. Bianchi is just tickled.”
“Who’s Eli?”
Poppy turns on her seat to look at me as the car rolls to a stop. “Oh, he’s Ms. Bianchi’s daughter’s fiance. That’s a long story for another time, but he’s a gardener and ever since he and Ashley became engaged, he’s moved out here to the ranch to take care of the plants. My brother, Hunter, takes care of the animals along with his girlfriend, Raven. Raven took my job when the horse threw me.”
I nod, chuckling slightly. “So which horse threw you? I wanna make sure I steer clear of it, because I don’t have the gumption to get my head knocked around anymore than it’s already been.”
Poppy narrows her eyes at me like I’m trying to crack a bad joke, so I hold up both hands, “I’m serious. You wouldn’t catch me dead on the back of a horse, but they can still be dangerous from the ground. Joe told me about a jockey he used to work with that took a hoof to the thigh. It was gross to see, all black and green and purple, but Joe said the jockey got lucky it was only a hairline fracture. He said that horse could’ve shattered it… kinda like…”
Poppy shudders as I trace my finger tip along her exposed collarbone. She reaches up and grabs my wrist, shaking her head. “Storm, what are we doing?”
I point out the window at the ranch all around us. “I thought we were coming to visit your brother? And to get Raven hooked up with all the details of the clinical trial they’re starting with the drug. I should be a shoo-in because of my documented CTE. But you said she’s got a pretty significant brain trauma herself, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t take her into the full trial.”
Poppy nods slowly, twisting her hand so that she can interlace her fingers with mine. She looks up at me pointedly and shakes her head, “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
I pull my hand back from hers as electricity shoots through my veins. “I know, and I don’t know what to tell you right now. You’re married, Poppy. As much as I care about you and as curious as I am about a future with you in it, I can’t continue to mess around with a married woman. No matter how much I want to.”
Poppy frowns. “What about what I want?”
I nod slowly. “What do you want? You haven’t really told me. I mean, it’s been great waking up next to you, and sharing my days and nights with you. Cat seems to really like you and she doesn’t like many people. Certainly not girls that come in with me. You may have had a haunting past with the jerk, Poppy, but I want your future. I want to make you happy, but you haven’t told me what you want and I can’t proceed until I know.”
Poppy’s mouth hangs open momentarily as she struggles to give me an answer. She sits there staring so long, that both of us are startled by a loud knock on her window. I roll down her window halfway and the pitch black face of a horse pokes its head in through the opening. Poppy squeaks in surprise and flattens herself back against the seat, a hint of panic on her face. “Uh, Liberty… hi…”
I chuckle, “Oh, so this is the famous Liberty I’ve heard so much about? If she’s feral and unbroken, why is someone riding her?”
Poppy’s face turns to stare at mine so fast, I’m worried she’s got whiplash, “What? Nobody can ride her!”
I motion through her window as the horse backs up, trotting around in a circle playfully. “I know my brain’s been jostled around a bit, but unless I’m hallucinating, and if I am we better call Joe, there’s definitely someone on her back.”
Poppy shakes her head, “That’s impossible. Hunter wouldn’t go near her!”
A soft, tinkling, almost child-like voice responds to Poppy with a laugh, “Hunter didn’t break her… I did.” There’s a flurry of motion outside the car door, then a young woman with pitch black hair and fair skin is leaning in the window. I put the window down the rest of the way so she can rest her elbows on the window frame as she peers in at Poppy. “Hey, Pop. Good to see you.”
Poppy’s mouth falls open, “Raven! You broke Liberty? What did she break first?”
Raven shrugs as she tugs one of her ruby red lips between her teeth, then releases it, “Well, besides your collarbone, Hunter’s pride, and almost Eli’s face… nothing… oh, did you know she loves apples?”
The girl named Raven reaches into a crossbody bag slung over her diminutive frame and produces an apple, which she offers to the horse. The horse makes a sound that sounds pretty close to a donkey, then bites into the offering in Raven’s hand. She smiles and pats the horse on the nose, then stands up out of the window and chitters, “Come on inside, Poppy! Hunter can’t wait to see you! Oh, and wait until you see the Anatolians! They’re enormous! Oh, oh… and two of the hembras gave birth! Both live young!”
Poppy smiles, but I can tell it’s forced. Something is bothering her and I’m going to get to the bottom of it. I make a motion to Raven and smile, “We’ll be up in just a minute, okay? How are those pills working out for you?”
Raven shrugs, “Sure wish they’d stop the buggers from happening, but I don’t think I’d be doing much of anything without them… at least not things I’d want to write home to my sister about. She was over my shenanigans, but the drug has helped a lot. Are you the man with the plan
I have to thank?”
I nod with a smile, “Something like that, yeah. I’ve taken a few knocks to the head and scrambled my brain up a bit. I’m two pieces of bacon short of breakfast in there.”
Raven bursts out laughing and looks at Poppy, “Oh, I like him, Pop. Anyway, I’ll be at the ranch hand house if you need me. Just gotta go put Liberty up.”
With that, the young girl takes off walking toward an enormous barn with the black horse following her, while Poppy sits there in her seat, silent as a mouse with her hands folded in her lap. After what seems like forever, she turns to me with tears in her eyes, “What am I doing, Storm? The whole world has moved on without me, like it never even needed me. The ranch is fine without me. Brad is fine without me. Hunter’s fine without me, happy even, which is weird because he was the one who said he’d never settle down after my catastrophe of a marriage. I know they’re not married, but still… they seem pretty seriously happy. And I’m just floundering here… nobody needs me anymore.”
I reach across the front seat and grab her hands tightly in one of mine. “That’s not true, Poppy. You are needed!”
She shakes her head sadly. “By whom?”
I slap my free hand against my chest. “By me, Poppy. I need you and I don’t even have the right to need you. But I care what happens to you, more than you realize. You have burrowed your way into my very soul and I’m going to be completely lost when I leave Atlantic City and you go on about your life like I never even existed.”
Poppy gasps in surprise as she looks up at me, her eyes a rainbow of colors. “He owns me, Storm. You deserve someone who’s able to reciprocate your feelings. Someone you can be with in public. I’ll ruin your reputation…”
I shrug my shoulders and lean across the front seat of the car so that I’m close enough to her that I feel her staccato breaths as she nervously inhales and exhales. “Fuck my reputation. My career’s damn near over, anyway. Who gives a shit about a reputation? And nobody is going to say a Goddamn thing to me about you when we’re in public. If they do, I am a fighter by nature, Poppy. I’ll just remind them where my reputation came from to begin with…”
“I can’t just ask for a divorce, Storm…”
My heart lurches in my chest. Even though I was thinking it, I hadn’t specifically asked her to divorce Brad. “And why not?”
She sighs. “He’ll bury me with his money. He’s loaded from being a bookie. I can’t even hope to afford half the attorney he’s going to retain.”
I close my eyes and try to count to three in my head, but it’s not working. I growl as I open my eyes again, “Poppy, all you have to do is ask...and I can get you the best lawyer in New Jersey. It’s a no-fault state, so you don’t even have to have a reason. Just tell them you want out and you can probably get half of everything.”
She stammers at me, “But, but… lawyers are expensive and there’s no way he’s going to just settle. He’s going to want to be in charge of it every step of the way. I belong to him and he won’t let me go without a fight.”
“Poppy… are you forgetting who you’re talking to? I’m not some two-bit street fighter hoodlum. Not anymore… If he wants a fight, well now he’s got one… and you have powerful allies on your side. Pete’s brilliant with contracts - do you have a prenup with the asshole?”
Poppy shakes her head slowly. “No, we were young, stupid, and in love.”
I grin. “Good, that just means you demand as much as you can. Any decent lawyer should be able to achieve that. I mean, damn honey, your soon-to-be-ex-husband is pond scum.”
She twists her hair around the fingers of one hand, “But I can’t afford that kind of lawyer.”
I shake my hand at her. “Stop it with that nonsense, Poppy. I’ll pay for the lawyer. Don’t worry about it. You do realize I cleared six figures for that limited engagement, right? With The Rocket’s DQ last night, I’ll probably even get some of his purse by default since he reneged on the contract stipulations to fight clean. If it means getting you out of that rabbit hole and away from Wonderland completely, then Alice… every adventure requires a first step…so take it with me...”
NINETEEN
Poppy
After spending over a week in upstate New York, I’m reluctant to leave the ranch with Storm. He chuckled this morning before we left and said he’s be willing to stay indefinitely. That we could just run away from our problems like a couple of crazy teenagers and I have to admit I was tempted. Despite me being forced to quit, Ms. Bianchi said Storm and I could stay in the ranch hand house with Hunter and Raven for as long as we needed. Well, at least until she hires on the new ranch hand. But I graciously turned down her offer.
I told Storm he could stay behind of course, but he said he’s not going to let me face Brad alone. Truthfully, if I didn’t have a Brad problem right now, I probably would’ve agreed to to Ms. Bianchi’s offer. Despite still having zero desire to try to ride Liberty, I do miss Dallas and Fiona, plus there’s seven miniature horses milling about the ranch now that seem like they’re quite a hoot! I promised I’d come back and visit sometime, but we came out here for me to visit Hunter and for Storm to give Raven paperwork for the headache drug trial they’ll be doing together. Leaving this morning sucked, but the ranch is in good hands between Ashley, Eli, Hunter, and Raven.
My heart is pounding in my chest as Storm and I walk into the Wonderland casino hand in hand.. It’s not that the attention from Storm makes me nervous, but the attention from everyone else who whispers about us as we walk by isn’t doing anything to help settle my nerves. Brad was once charming like this too, and if the daggers he’s shooting in my direction are any indication, he isn’t thrilled to see me with anyone but himself. Right now, my soon-to-be jealous ex-husband is staring at the back of his head with such rage, that if looks could kill, Storm would’ve keeled over right there on the casino floor.
Thankfully, Brad can’t leave the cage while bets are being placed, so he won’t be able to give me the third degree for a while. If I’m lucky, I can slip the divorce papers into his employee locker, turn in Amber’s uniform (I have no clue what ever happened to my own), and get the hell out of dodge before he can cause a scene. I know that Brad is going to go berserk when he finds the divorce papers, but that’s one of a dozen reasons that I filed in the first place.
It doesn’t help matters that the man garnering my attention is Braxton Storm. He’s a belt-winning mixed martial arts fighter and hot doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s tall, dark, and handsome alright… charming too. Just the kind of man Brad loves to hate. Men like Storm should come with a warning label. At six foot, two and muscled like a brick wall, he redefines being ripped. With bedroom eyes and a honey complexion, he could charm the panties off any woman. I should know… he’s done it me more than once. But there’s stories about him out there that Brad made sure I knew about. I don’t know how much I trust anything coming out of Brad’s mouth, but it’s something I felt the need to discuss with Storm anyway. Storm didn’t deny anything and while he’s no Saint, Brad would give the devil a run for his money.
“Oooo girl, Storm was definitely picking up what you were putting down out there.”
Though I’m jumpy as hell, I turn around slowly to face Margot, the only other cocktail waitress here who’s over the age of twenty-one. In Jersey, you can serve alcohol at eighteen, but as soon as a cocktail waitress hits twenty-one, most of them transfer to the blackjack room where they can double as a dealer. Or down into special events like Amber did. Twice as many hours, twice as much pay… and a front row seat to having Brad as your supervisor in either case.
I’ve been there, done that… I have the emotional scars to prove it. Brad has every other woman here charmed, but Margot says she sees through his bullshit and she refuses to transfer to the blackjack room. She says it has nothing to do with our friendship either. That she’s just been here long enough to know that Brad is full of it.
She waggles her eyebrows at me suggesti
vely and I can’t help but laugh nervously. “Margot! Storm wasn’t flirting with me! Sheesh! He’s just being a gentleman. I’m a married woman, remember?” I hold up the envelope and wave it around before pushing it between the slats of Brad’s locker. “For now, anyway.”
Margot shrugs her shoulders and looks at me seriously, her blue eyes piercing. “That’s not going to stop Brad. You’re just giving him permission now. The whole time you were gone to New York and then laid up in bed with broken bones, he was fucking his way through the new girls who had no idea about you… or just didn’t care.”
I shudder at the thought of Brad getting between every pair of legs he can spread. Just thinking about the number of STDs that man could have exposed me to reminds me that I need to bump up my appointment with my gyno. I laugh and slap Margot’s arm playfully, “Honestly, I don’t care what he does with his dick anymore. But I’d better call the girly doc. There’s no time like the present to make sure that bastard didn’t share anything icky with me. Nobody wants a side of chlamydia with their dinner… or his DNA…the last thing this world needs is a miniature version of Brad.”