by Terra Kelly
My body felt light, like I was lying on a floating cloud.
I slowly lifted my lids and was excited to find my eyes listened this time. “Brooks,” I croaked out.
“Charlie.” He ran to the bed and leaned over me. “Oh, baby, there you are.”
“Where did I go?”
His eyebrows crinkled up. “Let me get the doctor. Hold on, sunshine.” I tried to beg him not to leave, but he was already out the door.
I attempted to move my body, but it felt like I was trying to lift three hundred pounds. As I scanned the room, I noticed on the dry erase board a note: severe head injury. Below the bold letters were bullet points, but the letters were too small to read. Did my father really advise his men to hurt me like this? If it was true that Dad was hoping to harm me in any way, I needed to find out more. A sharp pain ran between my eyes, and I closed them quickly. Trying to keep my thoughts while still in pain, I realized maybe I was missing something. What if my dad had another motive?
“Charlie,” Lily’s voice rang through the room. “Oh, sweetie, I was so damn worried about you.”
I cleared my throat. “You and me both.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Lils, I think I heard you. Did you say you found my journal?”
Lily looked over her shoulder and then back at me. “Um, yeah.”
A man with gray hair and matching beard stepped up beside my bed. “Ms. Hill, it’s nice to see you awake.”
“It’s nice to be awake.” My eyes darted to the door, hoping Brooks would be back soon. When he stepped into the space, my body relaxed. “Sir, is it possible to hear you all even when unconscious?”
The doctor nodded. “It is, Charlie. Did you hear conversations or just a few words?”
“I can remember Lily talking to me and how she found my journal.” I let out a deep sigh; talking was tiresome. “It was conversations, but I did still fall asleep frequently.”
“And you will for a few more days,” he said and grabbed my arm to place the blood pressure cuff above my elbow. “Charlie, your head injury was more severe than we initially thought. Your recovery will be a little longer.”
“What do you mean?”
He placed his hand on my arm. “I need you to stay here just until I feel you are stable enough to head back home.”
“And then?”
“I will talk to the doctor at your hospital in Las Vegas.” He paused which worried me.
Would I be able to fight again? The thought shook me to my core. Mixed martial arts was all I ever wanted in my life. Did my father rip that away from me? “Sir, sorry to interrupt. Will I be able to fight again?”
“Yes, but you need to wait for six months to a year.”
My breath hitched in my throat. “A year? But—”
“Charlie, it’s okay.” Lily sat down beside me and rested her head on my own. “We need to make you all better. You need to be at the top of your game to win that flyweight championship belt.”
“But a year?”
The doctor placed my chart back in the box on the wall. “It could be less. I know it seems like a long time now, but I promise the time will fly by.”
“So you say.” I threw my arm over my eyes and held in my tears. My fucking father would pay for what he did to me.
The room was silent. Brooks had even shut off the TV. I had nothing to say. Well, except my father was a fucking prick. I was facing the window for the last several hours. I didn’t have the desire to talk to anyone at the moment.
Lily stepped in front of my view. “Okay, you plan to mope for the rest of the day?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, stop it.”
I looked up. “What?”
“Stop sulking and use your fighting skills to make your father pay for what he did.”
“Um, make him pay?”
Lily sat on the bed and reached for my hand. “You think we are going to leave this shit alone?”
“I don’t plan to leave it be.”
“And I’m not either.”
Brooks stepped closer to me. “I plan to fuck him up.”
Lily patted his arm. “Calm down there, Hollywood.”
Julian placed his hands on Lily’s shoulders. “Actually, I’m with Brooks on this one. That fucker needs to pay for what he’s done and did all those years to his family.”
“Julian.” Lily sounded shocked. Personally, I liked his tone and one hundred percent agreed with them.
“They’re right, Lily.” I carefully moved my body a few inches up on the bed. “Dad continues to threaten me. Now he’s almost killed me. What next?” I brushed my hands through my hair. “Speaking of that, I really need to call Jackson.”
“Already done.” Brooks bent and kissed my forehead.
“You did?” I touched the side of his face. “Thank you.”
“He will meet us in Las Vegas and stay at my place until you’re better.”
“Wait.” I knew I had confusion written all over my face. “Stay with us until I’m better means six months to a year.”
“That’s what the doc said.” He smiled and pulled a chair over to sit down.
“He’s staying longer for another reason?”
“Maybe.”
“Brooks.”
“Charlie, he’s pissed and plans to get to the bottom of this mess.”
“With me, right?”
“Well, he did say something about his twin would not let him do anything alone.”
Jackson had that right. There was no way I would miss out on taking down my father and his business. That thought took me by surprise. His enterprise was deep and probably involved some shady fucked-up people. Was it even possible to make my father pay? Or was he too protected?
Twenty-Three
One month later…
“Charlie, wait.” Jackson grabbed my arm.
“Why?” I pulled away. “I’m fine.”
When we’d arrived home from the U.K., I was immediately admitted into the local hospital. Thankfully the doctors had only kept me there for two more days, but I was put on strict bedrest for two weeks. I was so tired of watching reruns of Criminal Minds, and I had exhausted all the AFC specials.
Jackson made me promise to wait and see Dad when the time was right. I’m not sure what he meant by that, but I waited for a few more weeks anyway.
Before Jackson could argue some more, my phone rang. I looked down at the screen and gave a side glance in my brother’s direction before hitting accept. “Hi, Mom.” She had not heard from me in a few weeks, so I wasn’t surprised she was calling me.
“Hi, sweetie. I missed your voice.”
“Sorry I haven’t called in a while. I’ve been busy since arriving back home.” She knew about my trip to the U.K. I was hesitant to share about my head injury because I didn’t want to worry her.
“Are you already training for another fight? You need to rest, honey.”
“You know me, I’ll rest when I’m dead.” The words fell from my lips, and I wanted to take them back immediately.
“Charlie, your dad mentioned you were not feeling well. Everything okay?”
Dad was telling her I was ill. That fucker. “Yeah, I think I may have had some bad food the last night we were in Europe. It took a few days to kick it out of my system, but I’m fine now.”
“Oh goodness, food poisoning. Sweetie, do you need me to come over?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you, though. That’s really kind of you to offer.” Mom probably was looking for an excuse to get out of the house. “I’m helping with a few self-defense classes. When the classes are complete, maybe we can plan a trip.”
“I would love that.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, baby.”
My mind was struggling to focus as I hit end. I turned to my brother. “Dad told her I was sick. He knew I was in the hospital.”
“Which means he knows you’re out of the hospital.”
“How? Did you tell him?”
“Well, how then?”
“You know how. Dad has sent people to do his dirty work for everything. I bet one of them reported back to him.”
I let my body fall onto the couch. “Okay, fine. I’ll wait. Tell me something, though.”
“Anything,” he said and sat down beside me.
“Has anyone heard from Mason?”
I planned to take down my older brother, but first, my father needed to be taught a lesson or two. During the thirty days I was home, I had enough time to devise a plan. It felt weird thinking this way. Almost as if I was some criminal. Which definitely proved I had watched one too many episodes of Criminal Minds for sure.
“Ethan sent me a text when I arrived in Las Vegas asking if you were okay.”
“But—”
“Silence regarding Mason.”
I felt worried for some reason. Maybe because I was too damn nice. How was it possible I felt worried about the safety of my brother, the man who did my father’s bidding and tried to have me killed?
“What’s your plan of attack?”
Jackson reached forward and grabbed a small journal on the coffee table. “Are you sure Dad made the orders to have you killed?”
“Mason basically told me he does what Dad tells him to do.”
“Could Mason have worked alone?”
The thought took me by surprise. “I guess it’s possible.” Leaning forward, I grabbed a piece of paper. “Mason has never worked alone before, though.” On the paper was a list of companies Mason helped my dad takeover. Several of the companies were liquidated. Well, all except one specific business: a bar. I pointed to the address on the paper. “Why protect this place?”
“What are you thinking, C?”
“What if it’s used as a drop-off location for buyers and sellers—”
“You seriously think Dad has a place where possible money laundering and criminal activities occur?”
“It sounds out there I know, but so does capturing your daughter and holding her in a cell for several days.”
“What if Mason is in charge of the bar?”
“Which is why we need to find out.”
“Fair enough.”
“So we’re going?”
“Go where?” Brooks stepped into the room. “By the looks on your faces, I may not love this answer.”
I proceeded to fill him in on all the details.
“Charlie.”
“You don’t believe me just like Jackson.”
“Who said I didn’t believe you?” my brother said and stood up from the couch.
There was that damn soft hum in my head. They were causing my headache to resurface. “Jackson, it’s written all over your face.”
“Hold up for a moment, C.” Brooks knelt down in front of me and grabbed my hands. “We need to approach this logically. We’re not cops and we sure as shit don’t have the gun power to protect ourselves.”
“We don’t need ammo.” I meant that, too. Our skills in the octagon could outplay any weapon if approached properly. We needed to be quick, prepared, and most importantly, we had to make sure we worked as a team.
“Hey hey,” Lily said from the other room as she let herself into the house.
“We can discuss this more after you tell your bestie everything,” Brooks whispered and stood up. He was right. Lily was not going to be left in the dark anymore. I’m not sure why I didn’t tell her immediately, but it was time to fix that.
“Did your father call?” Lily asked from the doorway.
“What? No. Why would you ask that crazy question?” I stood and walked over to wrap my arms around my best friend’s waist.
“Because the room feels off. You have this look I can’t quite decipher.”
I kissed her cheek. “Sit. We need to chat.”
Twenty minutes later…
“Absolutely not.” Lily stepped away from me. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
I was wrong; she didn’t take the plan well. “Lily, listen.”
“Nope.” She placed her fingers in her ears.
I stepped up beside her and screamed. “Did I question you when your mom became crazy? Or when we discovered she was involved with a mob ring?” I placed my body in front of her and shoved her back. While still screaming, I continued to say, “How dare you judge me or my actions?” When I stopped yelling, the room went silent. All you could hear was the tick tock of the annoying clock on the wall. Then I noticed a single tear fall down Lily’s cheek. I threw my arms around her body. “Fuck, Lily. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “Charlie, do you realize what it feels like to know your best friend has the same messed up family as her own?” Lily lifted her head to face me. “I mean, I knew your dad was an asshole, but I never in my wildest dreams would have expected him to capture and attempt to kill you.”
“He didn’t, though.”
“That’s not the point,” she said and stepped out of my embrace. “So now you want to try to take down your father, but Charlie, he’s probably been doing this kind of shit for decades.”
“So you don’t think it’s possible for us to try to stop this shit from ever happening again?”
“I want to believe it is.”
Brooks and Jackson were sitting on the couch, silent through this whole scene. “What do you boys believe?” Jackson dropped his head at the same time as Brooks. “Fine, so basically we just let him continue working his magic on more innocent individuals?”
“No.” Lily was doing her classic pacing when stressed move. “We just need to think about a better take-down plan. I also think we need to involve Julian.”
“If we involve Julian, then others will want in, and we can’t have the whole gym in on the plan.”
“Julian has worked as an anonymous source and even an informant. Do you really think he will try to involve others?” Lily stopped pacing and faced me. “We need his strength.”
My bestie did have a point there. “Fine, call him.”
“Let me get this straight.” Julian sat down in an overstuffed chair. “We all go to a bar that is allegedly used to cover up possible crimes played out by your dad’s business?” He leaned back. “How is it possible to go in guns blazing but without a single gun?”
“Or just Mason,” Jackson said from the corner of the room.
Julian gave my brother his scowl. “What?”
“It’s possible, but not likely, my brother acted alone,” I interjected. “I find that thought way out in left field, though. Mason has always been the type to serve others.”
“That’s true,” Jackson said and laced his hands behind his head.
It was one a.m., and we all had been talking about this subject for far too long. I needed to sleep on everything. Maybe in the morning, I would see what a cockamamie plan it really was. Who was I to think I could go to a bar and kick ass? A bar allegedly owned by several very dangerous people.
I turned to face everyone. “Let’s talk about this in the morning. For now, why don’t we sleep on this and reconvene tomorrow at the gym?”
As everyone piled out of the house, I stood there thinking, this is my family. I didn’t need to have blood to tie me to a person. I needed them. My fighter family who were willing to care for me come hell or high water.
Brooks walked over and wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me close. “Let’s get you up to bed.” The way he said the words sent a chill up my spine.
With all the hospital visits, I couldn’t think about my boyfriend in a sexual way. Well, to be fair, having a headache from hell really killed any mood. Until today apparently. I reached for his hands and tugged him toward the stairway. “I’m only sorta kinda tired.”
“Oh yeah, what else do you have in mind?”
Twenty-Four
As I walked out of the bathroom after taking the longest shower known to man, I could hea
r Brooks snoring. My initial plan as we’d made our way up the stairs to the bedroom had been to devour him. Then for some reason I’d changed gears and told him I would be back. I disappeared into the bathroom because my head sometimes made me feel foggy and out of place. I enjoyed a hot shower or bubble bath to ease the discomfort most days.
I leaned against the door frame and watched Brooks’s chest rise up and down. Just a few short months ago we couldn’t keep our hands off one another. Now my head dictated what I did day in and day out.
There was a quiet ring. I glanced over to the nightstand and noticed my phone buzzing. Before it woke up Brooks, I ran over and hit accept. I didn’t even take the time to see who was calling. That was a mistake.
“Charlotte.” I looked down to see my father’s phone number on the screen.
“Why are you calling me?”
“Now, is that really how you want to greet your father?”
I noticed Brooks roll over and move lower under the covers. “Greet you?” Was he joking?
“Well, I did call to make sure you were okay.”
“What is wrong with me?” I decided to play the dumb act. My body was shaking just at the sound of his voice. I walked out into the hallway and leaned against the wall for support.
“I heard you suffered a head injury. Was it from one of those fights you like to play in?”
It took everything in me to not scream. “You know why I was in the hospital. Don’t you dare try to play dumb with me.” Brooks peeked around the door frame and grabbed the phone. I tried to protest, but he didn’t listen. He held the phone up to his ear and then hit end. “You hung up on him.”
“Yup, he called to fuck with your emotions.” He reached out his hand and guided me back into the room. “Your Dad will pay for what he’s done to you.”
When we reached the bed, he had me lie down, and then he covered me up with the duvet. I felt him slide in beside me, and that’s when I finally let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
How did I get so lucky?
I knew I came to Las Vegas for a reason.
