Theirs to Keep

by Maya Banks

  She climbed into the vehicle and turned the key in the ignition. It was another beautiful day with a crispness to the air that was welcome. She punched the button to open the sunroof and then contemplated her options.

  Cade was in a meeting with clients, and Charlie was meeting with the insurance adjuster to get the check for the damage to the office building. She could either go sit in the newly appropriated, cramped office space, or she could go home to an empty house.

  Either place she’d be alone, so she figured it was more welcome to just head home. She’d make lunch and wait for Merrick to finish and get home. And hopefully Dakota would just drop Merrick off and not stay.

  Dakota had become testier and testier as it drew closer to the fight. Catherine had confided in Elle that Dakota was intense and that he didn’t mean anything by it but he took his role very seriously, and she admitted that he became unbearable even to her when it got down to the last weeks before a major fight.

  Catherine, at least, had remained as sweet and supportive as she always had. But lately, Elle had felt like an intruder when she went to Merrick’s sessions with him. Even the other fighters looked at her like she didn’t belong.

  Maybe she was being overly sensitive, but she hated the way she’d been made to feel today. She was embarrassed to have been kicked out of the gym like an unwanted nuisance.

  She pulled into the drive of the house and sat there a moment before turning off the engine. She left the path into the garage open because the Hummer didn’t fit and it was where Cade parked his slightly smaller SUV.

  She got out, fiddling with the keys to find the right one for the door and walked through the open garage toward the kitchen door.

  Just as she started to insert the key into the lock, an arm slid around her neck and yanked her back against a hard chest. The grip on her neck was so firm she couldn’t breathe, and before she could scream, a hand clamped down hard over her mouth.

  She began to kick wildly as she was dragged backward against the wall. Pain shocked her into silence when her attacker punched her in the side.

  “Shut the fuck up and listen to me,” the man hissed in her ear. “I have a message for your boys, and I want you to deliver it word for word. You got me?”

  She nodded, her head spinning from lack of oxygen and the pain in her side. His hand slid intimately up her body, lingering over her belly and then moving underneath her breast.

  She began to struggle again, refusing to allow this son of a bitch to molest her in her own garage.

  Her head flew back when he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked. Tears sprang to her eyes as her neck craned at an impossible angle. With his free hand, he punched her again, and she nearly blacked out.

  Dragging her limp body back up his, he forced his mouth close to her ear.

  “You tell your boys that they fucked with the wrong person. If they don’t drop the charges, I’ll be back, and I’ll fuck you up so they can’t even recognize you. You understand?”

  “Y-yes,” she gasped out.

  He jerked her around and then backhanded her, snapping her head back. She tasted blood, and this time when she staggered, he let her go down.

  She fell in a heap on the garage floor, trying desperately to squeeze air into her lungs. Her side was hurting so badly that she worried he’d broken her ribs.

  The one word that echoed over and over in her mind was no. No! This couldn’t happen to her again.

  Images flashed in her mind. The memory of being pushed roughly to the ground. Her face pressed into the dirt. The shock and…betrayal.

  Betrayal.

  She’d known her attacker.

  It was someone she’d trusted.

  She curled into a tight ball, hoping to protect the most vulnerable parts of her body. Pain lanced through her ribs once more as he kicked her.

  Oh God, what could she do? She was helpless.

  Rage exploded inside her. She was not going to be some helpless victim who couldn’t even fight back.

  She rolled quickly, hoping to catch her attacker off guard. And apparently she did. Ignoring the pain in her ribcage, she righted herself and lunged for the crowbar mere feet away on the floor.

  She grabbed it and came up swinging.

  He howled in pain when she connected with his face. His head snapped back, and blood spattered onto the concrete below them.

  Not giving him a chance to break away, she nailed him again, this time in the ribs.

  He doubled over, holding his midsection as blood dripped from his mouth.

  “How’s it feel, you son of a bitch?” she raged.

  She hit him again, and he dropped like a stone onto the garage floor. For a long moment, she stared down at him, still holding the crowbar over her head.

  Then it slid from her grasp and clattered loudly at her feet. Her knees buckled, and she went down. The material of her pants ripped where her knees scraped the concrete, and then she pitched to the side, every breath she took excruciating.

  For a long moment, she simply lay there, trying to gain control over the pain that wracked her body. Then she became aware of the fact that she had a body lying in her garage. She may have killed a man.

  She reached out, groping blindly for the purse that had gone flying when the man had grabbed her. Her fingers scraped across it, and she fumbled for it, dragging it close enough that she could dig her cell phone out of it.

  Every breath was agony, and her hands shook so violently that it took her three attempts just to punch in 911.

  Finally she put the phone to her ear, and when the dispatcher came over the line, she simply croaked, “Help me, please. I think I just killed a man.”

  C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - O N E

  CADE TURNED ON THEIR STREET and accelerated before slowing for the one stop sign before the house. He frowned when he saw a myriad of cop cars with flashing lights and two ambulances parked in what looked like his yard.

  What the fuck?

  He automatically checked his phone, wondering if he’d missed anything, but there were no missed calls or texts. He floored the accelerator and raced down the street, his pulse pounding in his ears.

  He’d assumed when he’d gotten to the office and no one was there that Merrick and Elle had just gone home after his training session. He’d driven straight to the house thinking they could have a late lunch together.

  As he pulled up, he saw Merrick’s Hummer parked to the side, and to further his what-the-fuck reaction, two paramedics were loading a strange guy into the back of the ambulance. Even from a distance, Cade could see the blood on the man’s face.

  He slammed on the brakes and slid out, engine still running. As soon as he got to the edge of the driveway, he was held up by two cops.

  “I live here,” Cade bit out. “What the fuck is going on?”

  One of them looked relieved. “Thank God. Maybe you can help us with her.”

  Cade froze at the mention of her.

  “We can’t get near her. She’s out of it. She called 911 saying she’d killed a guy.”

  The cop jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the ambulance the stranger had been loaded onto.

  “That guy over there. When we got here, she was barely conscious and lying next to the guy on the floor of the garage. She took a crowbar to him. But as soon as we tried to touch her, she went ballistic. No one can get near her. Right now, someone’s trying to get close enough to sedate her so we can take her to the hospital. She’s pretty banged up. Looks like the guy worked her over before she got ahold of him with the crowbar.”

  “Where the fuck is Merrick?” Cade exploded.

  The policeman’s brow wrinkled. “There’s no one here but her and the dude she beat the shit out of.”

  Not waiting to hear anything more, Cade broke and ran for the garage. What he saw made his stomach bottom out.

  Elle was hunched in a protective posture, her legs drawn up as close to her body as she could get them. Her arms were wrapped tightly
around her legs, and her head was buried between her knees.

  A female police officer and one of the paramedics were a short distance away trying to talk her down. The police officer reached out to touch her arm, and Elle reacted violently, jerking away and sliding back in panic.

  Cade pushed his way through and dropped to his knees beside her. He gathered her tightly in his arms, ignoring the way she went tense from head to toe.

  “Elle, it’s me, Cade. It’s me, honey. I’ve got you.”

  For a long moment, he thought he hadn’t been able to penetrate her consciousness, but then she went utterly limp and wrapped herself around his much bigger body so there wasn’t a breath between them.

  He kissed her head, his mind a whirl of confusion. What the hell had happened?

  “Make them go away,” she whispered. “Please, Cade, just make them all go away.”

  Cade stared at the sea of police officers and medical personnel. His heart sank. He knew how terrified she was of policemen, but he couldn’t make them go away. Not even for her. “I can’t do that, honey, I’m sorry.”

  She buried her face in his neck and clung like a burr to him. He shifted his weight so he could push up from the hard concrete. It couldn’t be comfortable for her to be on the ground, and he needed to see the extent of her injuries.

  “Talk to me, Elle,” he gently coaxed. “How bad is it? Can you stand? Where are you hurt? Hold onto me, honey. I won’t let you fall.”

  He rose, taking her with him before he allowed her to put her feet down. His arm stayed firmly around her because she was wobbly as a newborn colt, and he worried if he let go, she’d face plant right in front of him.

  He was about to motion to the paramedic to bring the damn stretcher because she wasn’t going to make it, when Merrick and Dakota shoved their way into the garage, their brows drawn in confusion and concern.

  Dakota paled and rubbed his hands uneasily down his pants when he got a look at Elle.

  Merrick promptly lost his mind. “What the fuck happened here? What the hell happened to Elle?” There was rage and fear in the big man’s eyes. His hands were curled into tight fists at his sides, but Cade knew that look. Merrick was about to kick some serious ass, and if Cade didn’t get a handle on this quickly, they’d all end up in jail.

  Cade held up his free hand to stop the flow of Merrick’s tirade.

  “I don’t know yet, man. I just got here. I don’t know what the hell is going on. I’m hoping the police will fill me in, but first I need to make sure Elle is taken care of.”

  “Why the hell did you leave the gym?” Merrick demanded. “You should have never left on your own. We’ve been over this, Elle!”

  Cade could hear the worry in Merrick’s voice and knew he was reacting to the same gut-wrenching fear that had gripped Cade when he’d first arrived. But Elle went stiff next to him and then pushed away from his body. Her eyes filled with tears as she stared at Merrick and Dakota with so much hurt in her gaze that it took Cade’s breath away. What the ever-loving fuck was going on here? Then she simply turned and slowly and painfully walked away, pushing into the house and slamming the door behind her.

  He turned on Merrick. “Have you lost your goddamn mind? What the hell were you yelling at her for?”

  Merrick was pale, and his fists still curled tight at his sides. “I didn’t mean to yell at her, for God’s sake. She scared the piss out of me. I just don’t understand why she left the gym and came here alone. She’s never supposed to go anywhere alone!”

  Dakota looked like he was going to puke, but Cade didn’t have time to figure out what the hell his problem was.

  Two of the police officers stepped forward, and one spoke up. “We’re going to need a statement from her, and she really needs to be looked at. When we arrived on scene, there was a lot of blood on her, and she was having a hard time breathing.”

  “Just give me a minute,” Cade said holding out his hand. “I’ll go in after her.”

  The officer put his hand out over Cade’s. “With all due respect, sir, this is a crime scene. I’ll be coming with you inside.”

  Cade looked at him like he was crazy. “You don’t think she’s committed a crime. Are you insane? Did you see her?”

  The officer sighed. “I have to take her statement, and I’d like to do it as soon as possible. If she’s well enough not to be transported to the hospital, then we can do it here. Otherwise we’ll swing by the ER and talk to her there.”

  Cade blew out his breath, called back the torrent of curses and then stalked toward the door, determined to get to Elle and sort out this nightmare.

  Merrick was on his heels, and the two burst through the kitchen and into the living room. Finding it empty, Cade headed to the bedroom they shared only to find it empty as well. He walked down the hall to the room Elle had first stayed in, and when he opened the door, he couldn’t control his reaction to the sight before him.

  Elle was sitting on the bed, her shirt pulled up to bare her ribcage which was already purple with bruising. One hand was pressed to her side and it was obvious she was struggling for breaths. Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, mixing with the blood from her nose and mouth.

  “Dear God,” Merrick said in a horrified voice.

  Her gaze yanked upward, hurt crowding her eyes once more as she looked at the two men. She pulled her shirt down and immediately covered herself protectively as he and Merrick surged forward.

  Cade dropped to his knees in front of her, his hands immediately going to her shirt so he could pull it back up.

  “What the hell happened, Elle?”

  “He punched me,” she said in a choked voice. “Twice. And then he kicked me. It hurts to breathe.”

  “She needs to get to the hospital,” the police officer said in a terse voice. He’d followed Cade and Merrick inside, and his expression was grim as he took in the bruising on Elle’s side and abdomen.

  “Fuck yeah,” Merrick growled.

  Merrick strode forward, his intention clear as he reached for Elle. To Cade’s surprise, she turned into him, huddling into his arms. She turned her face away from Merrick, and hot tears slid onto Cade’s collarbone.

  Merrick took a step back, shock and confusion etched in his expression. For now, Cade had to ignore whatever the hell was going on because Elle needed immediate care, and this time Dallas’s clinic wasn’t going to cover it.

  With infinite care, he stood, cradling Elle in his arms, and then he walked out of the bedroom, leaving the cop and Merrick to follow.

  When he got outside, he saw that a stretcher had been pulled into the garage, and he carefully lowered Elle onto it. Dakota pushed off the wall of the garage, his face ashen.

  “Is she okay?” Dakota asked.

  “We don’t know yet,” Cade said grimly.

  Elle slid her hand into his, her grip so tight that his fingers were bloodless.

  “Don’t leave me,” she whispered. “I don’t want to go alone.”

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead as the paramedic began to push her toward the waiting ambulance.

  “I’m not going anywhere, honey. I’ll be right by your side the entire time.”

  C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - T W O

  MERRICK PACED THE WAITING ROOM of the ER about to go insane waiting for someone to come out and let them know how Elle was.

  They’d given her name as Elle Walker and listed their address. When prompted for other identifying information, they’d simply said in the confusion and the rush to get her to the hospital that they hadn’t gotten her wallet.

  Until Dallas came through with her Social Security number and birth certificate, she was still…nobody.

  God, he just wanted to hurry up and be able to see her so he could apologize for being such an asshole. He had no excuse. He’d seen her there, bloody and clothing torn, and he’d reacted emotionally in his terror.

  Cade was in no better shape. He stood across the room staring out the window, his hands shoved
into his pockets. But his foot tapped anxiously against the floor, and tension rolled off him in waves.

  What surprised Merrick was how strung out Dakota looked. The man looked ill. His face was ashen and he sat in a chair away from Cade and Merrick with his head down, hands clasped over his nape.

  “Son of a bitch, what’s taking so long?” Cade burst out.

  “I wish to hell I knew,” Merrick said tightly. “I was a complete dick to her. She was attacked and injured, and I yelled at her for leaving the gym. God, I’m an asshole.”

  Dakota lurched to his feet and looked like he’d vomit.

  “Merrick,” he began in an uneasy voice. “I have to tell you what I did. I can’t let you think… Jesus…” He broke off and ran his hand wearily through his hair. “God, I’m sorry, man.”

  Merrick’s stomach coiled into a knot as he stared at his longtime friend and trainer. At the guilt brimming in his eyes. “What the fuck did you do?” he asked in a low, menacing voice.

  “Dakota?” Catherine asked in a worried tone from the doorway to the waiting room.

  Dakota glanced in his wife’s direction, shame dulling his features.

  Merrick advanced. “What. Did. You. Do?”

  “I told her to leave,” Dakota choked out. “I was pissed because the sparring session wasn’t going well and your concentration was shot to shit and you kept looking over at her and I knew you were distracted. So when you went to the locker room, I tossed her the keys and told her to split.”

  “You did what?” Cade yelled.

  Merrick couldn’t even respond. He was too dumfounded. Too rattled by the fact that someone he trusted so implicitly had placed Elle in a dangerous situation. She could have been killed. As it was, some asshole had beaten the hell out of her, and she’d had to defend herself with a crowbar. And now she was carrying the weight of nearly killing another man. And hell, he may die yet. He was in critical condition with a brain bleed. They were taking him to surgery right now.

  “I never imagined something like this would happen,” Dakota said, closing his eyes. His entire posture was defeated, his shoulders sagging. “I just thought it would be a good idea if she went home so you could get your head back into the game. We have four weeks until this fight, and I want you at the top of your game.”