Undaunted (No Rival Book 2)

by Charity Parkerson

  Keeping a level voice, he did his best to soothe Dane. “I’m here now.”

  “But you weren’t fucking here when I needed you!”

  Mandy flinched and Drew struck, easily plucking Dane from his spot on the floor while somehow managing to keep him subdued as he carried him outside.

  On wooden legs, Mandy walked into the kitchen and came back carrying the broom. No matter how hard Rhys tried, she refused to look at him, and he bit back the urge to force her. The red splotches on her arms told him too much. He didn’t want to know, but he needed to.

  “Talk to me, please?” She swiped at the mess. “Damn it, Mandy. What the hell happened here?”

  She went from zoned out to an explosion of fury in an instant. Flinging the broom away from her, she turned on him. “I’m tired, Rhys. I’m so fucking sick of cleaning up after you. You parade women into my work, and your brother—” She bit off her words as if the rage was becoming too much. With a helpless shrug, she tried again. “I’m fed up with always being there for you while I’m obviously easily forgotten.” As if saying the words hardened something inside her, Mandy stood straighter and she brushed past him. Even as his heart twisted in his chest, Rhys tried to reach for her but she swatted his hands away. He wanted to fix it. The thought of Dane harming her in any way left him half-crazed. His skin itched, feeling almost too tight for his body, making him want to crawl out of it.

  Nausea ate at his gut as he followed her to the door. She’d never been angry with him before, and he was at a loss as to how to make things right. Dane appeared in the open doorway, but Mandy’s step did not falter. He focused on her with shame etched in his every feature. Drew hovered over his shoulder, poising to strike if Dane flipped out again, but Rhys knew from experience the outbursts were usually short-lived.

  Dane stammered an apology, but in a flash and taking everyone by surprise, Mandy landed a solid blow to the center of his face. A stunned silence hung in the air as Mandy shook out her knuckles. Dane bent at the waist, clutching his face with both hands, hissing in pain. The crazed look in Mandy’s eye scared the hell out of Rhys. He’d never seen her like this.

  “If you ever come near me again, I will cut off your balls. Do you understand me?” The spite in her voice added truth to her promise. Holding each of their gazes long enough to prove how serious she was, Mandy added, “I want you gone. All of you need to leave.”

  Dane tried to speak through his fingers, but his excuses fell on deaf ears as Mandy snarled, “Now!”

  Drew shoved Dane toward the SUV, pausing only long enough for the man to spit blood on the sidewalk. When Rhys was sure Drew had things under control, he moved toward Mandy, but she pointed at the vehicle.

  “I’m not playing. You need to fucking leave.”

  Desperation boiled in his skin. He could not lose the only good thing he had. “Please talk to me?”

  Mandy threw her arms wide and turned in a circle. “Look at my apartment, Rhys. Look at me,” she added, pointing out the bruises rapidly rising on her arms. “Do you know how much I struggle for everything I have? Between going to school all day and working all night, I have nothing.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “All I’ve ever done is love you, and all you do is wreck me.”

  He clenched his back teeth against the pain on her face and the hurt slashing across his heart. When his jaw cracked under the strain, he forced it to relax. She deserved the truth. “You’ve always owned my heart. I can’t lose you. I love you too much.”

  She met his stare and Rhys saw something in her eyes he never expected. It looked a lot like hate. “You only love me when it’s convenient to do so, and I don’t want it.”

  *

  Mandy wrapped her anger around her heart as she swept the glass into the dustpan. In truth, she’d been more scared than pissed off when Dane burst through her door, but once she began the argument with Rhys, she couldn’t stop. All the hurt and growing bitterness she’d nursed since his father’s death erupted at one time. It was almost as if a dam opened up inside her. As much as she’d known her heart was silently breaking, she’d not realized how much it was poisoning her soul until she was tossing Rhys’ love back in his face.

  Her thoughts were firmly locked on their confrontation and adrenaline still raced through her veins, making her heart jumped into her throat when the solid knock landed on her front door. Her hands shook as she threw it open, prepared to go another round with Rhys, only to find Knox standing there instead. At six foot five, Knox was the largest of the Collier brothers. His shaggy brown hair, green eyes, hard body, and tattoos caused women to stop and stare everywhere he went. The dark scowl and menacing vibe rolling off him kept any of those women from doing anything other than fantasizing.

  Mandy’s surprise over his appearance had her stepping back, allowing him entrance before she realized what she’d done. Deciding it was too late to back down, she chose instead to brazen it out.

  “As you can see, your brothers have been here,” she said, waving toward the mess surrounding her.

  Knox nodded. “I heard. Drew’s brother called me.”

  The statement wiped away her anxiety over his presence, replacing it with curiosity and giving her something to focus on. “You know Drew’s brother?”

  He shrugged at her question. “I know a lot of people I shouldn’t.”

  Mandy wasn’t surprised. Knox was the type of person who kept his mouth shut, his ears open, and his business to himself. As long as she’d known him, she still wasn’t sure what he did for a living. He entered the occasional fight but not enough to support himself financially. She went back to cleaning, expecting he would say his bit while she worked. Instead, he silently began helping her.

  “I suppose I’ll get a different call any day now,” he said absently as he picked up several pictures from the floor and hung them back on the wall. “Each time I answer the phone, I brace myself for the news of Dane’s death. It was the same with my dad. I must’ve had a thousand conversations with strangers, police and hospital staff before I got the final call informing me there was nothing they could do to save him.”

  Without realizing it, Mandy stopped working and sat down, giving Knox her full attention. “I’ve cleaned up a hundred messes exactly like this one,” he added as he shook the glass out of one of the frames into a trash bag. “I’ll get you a new one of these,” he said as he hung the frame back on the wall.

  “Don’t worry over it. I got it at the dollar store.”

  Setting the bag aside, Knox picked up the broom she’d abandoned and swept away the remnants of damage. Mandy automatically lifted her feet and set them on the edge of the coffee table as he swiped at the hardwood in front of her chair. She knew she should feel guilty over watching as he cleaned her house, but she was fascinated. As far as Mandy knew, Knox had never spoken openly about his life.

  “I guess it will only cost me a dollar to replace it, then,” he said after a few minutes, making Mandy wonder if he’d become so lost in his own thoughts, he was just now catching up in their conversation.

  “I have a stack of them in the closet.” She wasn’t sure why she continued to argue over something as trivial as a dollar picture frame, but she did.

  Knox avoided her gaze. “All you have to do is say ‘don’t buy me anything’, and I won’t.”

  Even though his tone never changed, Mandy got the impression he was angry with her for not being straightforward. “Fine,” she said, giving in. “Don’t buy me anything.”

  She could tell he was smiling by the way his profile shifted, but he still wouldn’t look at her. “You know, I’m not surprised you and Rhys can’t get your shit together,” he said, surprising her with the change in topic. “Both of you are so damn stubborn.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He ignored her lie. “You want him to be simple and speak up about his feelings. He wants to be that person too, but he’s not. Proving he’s a true product of our upbringing, Rhys isn’
t sure which move he should make. He only knows it will be the wrong one.”

  With nothing left to sweep, Knox sat down on the couch. When he finally looked directly at her, Mandy fought the urge to glance away. In spite of his present openness, his eyes were hard. Although she didn’t believe it was any reflection of his feelings toward her, Mandy was unaccustomed to dealing with someone as emotionally disconnected as Knox.

  Fortunately, he didn’t wait for her to deny it. “Our grandmother used to tell us, every single day, people only want what they can’t have, and they’re never happy with what they’ve got. I thought at the time she was trying to get us ready to deal with real life. Turns out she was preparing us to handle the reality of our father because we were what he had.” Knox scoffed at his own words. “People think Rhys turned out to be the least damaged out of our household, but I know the truth. He’s every bit as fucked up as the rest of us. How could he not be?” Without waiting for her to answer, he added, “If you’ve never been good enough to hang on to anyone, including your own parents, it does something to your mind. Then he meets you. The desperation to keep you in any capacity must be almost crippling.”

  Mandy dropped her gaze to her lap. Her chest hurt as she rubbed absently at the bruises on her arms. In the end, she knew there was no way she would be able to avoid the truth forever, but she never expected how much it would break her heart to say the words aloud. “Six weeks ago, I had a miscarriage, and last night I served dinner to Rhys’ date. Today, I dished out her lunch while she regaled me with the story of how Rhys rocked her world before coming over to sleep on my couch.”

  As the confession left her lips, she couldn’t stop the bitterness and pain from leaking out as well. In an attempt to harden her heart against it, she locked her teeth together and lifted her chin. She caught a flash of shock passing over Knox’s face before his usual mask fell back in place. It was Mandy’s undoing because along with his surprise, she’d also caught a glimpse of what Knox kept hidden behind his hardened veneer. She swallowed against the tears trying to escape.

  Knox cleared his throat twice, as if searching for the right words. Finally, he said, “I’m assuming my brother doesn’t know.”

  Mandy snorted. “He doesn’t even remember.” She lifted her hands helplessly before dropping them back in her lap. “I’m just…I’m so fucking angry, Knox. I have all this inside me, and I don’t…” she began, but without warning, the will to fight left her, and she lost the battle against her emotions. Her teeth chattered and she couldn’t stop shaking.

  Every wall around Knox fell. He was unrecognizable as he moved to sweep her from her chair. When they were completely unguarded, the resemblance between the brothers was shocking. It only made her cry harder as he wrapped her in his arms.

  Mandy cried until there were no more tears and then she cried some more. When she was completely exhausted, she was surprised to find her head in Knox’s lap. He ran his fingers through her hair, as if comforting a child. She knew she should move away, but she couldn’t.

  “Why do you hide?”

  She didn’t expound on her question, and Knox didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “You don’t want to know me, and you shouldn’t trust me.”

  “Why?” His fingers froze in her hair at the question, and she didn’t think he’d answer. She was amazed when he did.

  “I don’t even want to know me, and I sure as hell don’t trust myself.”

  “I’ll trust you until you give me a reason not to,” she told him, causing him to release a low chuckle.

  “You won’t have long to wait.”

  * * * * *

  Eyes are the window to the soul. It was an overly used sentiment, but Knox and his brothers had been force-fed adages by their grandmother every day until she died. Eye contact was intimate. A meeting of two spirits. It was something he didn’t do unless he was squaring off against someone. With Mandy, he never wanted to look away. He took great care to avoid most people, except her. Her gaze was addictive and it belonged to his brother. It was a fact he reminded himself of daily.

  Each time he caught sight of the bruises forming on her arms, a murderous rage rolled through him. No one touched her, not even his brother. Dragging a deep breath through his nose, he counted slowly to ten. She trusted him. Why? He turned the question over in his mind in hopes of cooling his temper. Rhys would never forgive him if he killed Dane. Damn, he really wanted to kill Dane.

  Silky locks continued slipping through his fingers. Her breathing deepened. His stomach tightened. The idea of her being alone, angry, hurting or struggling in any way seemed wrong on so many levels. Light flowed from her and brightened the lives of the people around her. She deserved better. What the fuck was wrong with Rhys? In spite of all the things he’d said to her, Knox couldn’t understand why his brother would fail her in every aspect the way he had. He had the world right there at his fingertips. Only a fool would ignore such a possibility.

  Rolling over, Mandy made a snuffling sound in her sleep. She snuggled closer and he tried hard to ignore the way her hand fell across his midsection. Rhys was more than a fool. He was a freaking idiot. Unable to stop himself from doing so, Knox ran his finger down the line of her cheek.

  He would do what he could. Maybe he couldn’t take away the pain of her loss or force Rhys to grow a brain, but he would do whatever it took. As long as she was happy, nothing else mattered. He waited until he could no longer feel his legs and he was sure she wouldn’t wake up before slipping out from beneath her. After a quick search, Knox found a thick blanket to cover her. Another exploration of the room turned up a pen and a spiral notebook. Scratching out a quick note, he left his cell number with her in case she needed anything else before letting himself out.

  Knox held out until he was behind the wheel of his truck before digging out his phone and pulling up the number he needed. After two rings, a chipper female answered his call. “Thanks for calling Grid Iron. How may I help you?”

  “Hey Kerry. It’s Knox.”

  “Hey darling. What can I do for you?”

  “Are you still friends with the woman who works in the billing department at the hospital? The one who helped you ruin some girl’s credit back when she cheated on your brother?” he clarified, in case she knew more than one girl who worked there. “Hell yeah! Those are the kind of go-to-jail-with-you friends you keep for life.”

  Even though she couldn’t see him, Knox still nodded his approval. “Good. I’m calling in a favor.”

  Chapter Three

  Knox dumped his gym bag on the floor and twisted the lid off his bottle of water as he claimed the treadmill beside Rhys. As the oldest of the three brothers, Knox had been the first to shut down when their home life fell apart. Rhys didn’t believe for a moment his brother had intentionally closed them out, but the damage had been the same. With their mother gone and their father drowning his sorrows, Rhys and Dane were left without a place to turn. An older sibling was better than nothing, but Knox became a stranger and they all drifted apart.

  “Wow. Miracles never cease. What brings you in today?”

  “Sparring with Drew,” Knox answered without looking at him. “Did you get Dane straightened out?”

  Rhys didn’t bother asking how Knox had heard about Dane. Knox always knew everything. “Yeah. He agreed to give rehab another shot, so I got him settled in last night. Luckily, no real harm was done.” Knox grunted but didn’t say anything in response. As much as Rhys should have been accustomed to his brother’s silence, he wasn’t.

  After two deep pulls on his water and several uncomfortable glances his way, Rhys was ready to crawl out of his skin. “Damn, say what you have to say already,” he growled without breaking stride.

  Turning the bottle up, Knox finished off the contents. He spent a moment staring off into space and tapping the empty bottle against his thigh. Since Knox was wearing jeans, he assumed his brother didn’t have any intention of using the machine he was on, but he also didn’t seem t
o be moving toward any type of conversation either. Rhys was trying to decide if he was gathering his thoughts or intentionally annoying him when Knox finally spoke. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

  “Never mind, I’ve decided I don’t want to hear what you have to say after all,” Rhys said dryly, and Knox let out a snort of laughter. His green eyes shone with mirth, but the wry smile twisting his lips told a different story.

  “If only I was joking. Unfortunately, I’m very serious. Out of the three of us, you’re the biggest ass, and that is saying something.”

  “Awesome. Thanks for the love. See you next year around this time.”

  Knox shook his head at Rhys’ sarcastic tone, but he didn’t leave. “Can I ask you a question? You have to be brutally honest in your answer, not for me, but for yourself.”

  Giving in, Rhys shut down his machine and gave Knox his complete attention. “Sure. Why not?”

  “Let me start by saying I know you care about Mandy, and for real, she cares about you too. The world would be blown away if the two of you didn’t end up together, but lately I have been wondering about something. Are you her friend or is she yours?”

  “What kind of shit question is that? We are friends, or were, if Dane didn’t totally fuck it up for life,” Rhys added bitterly.

  Knox nodded slowly. “Then I suppose you know she’s dropped out of college to take up more hours at Black River?” Rhys could only stare at Knox in disbelief. Knox glanced away. “Yeah, I thought as much.”

  “There’s no way. She would have said something,” he said as soon as his voice returned. “She did say she had a business opportunity for me, but everything blew up before I had a chance to find out what it was.”

  Jumping off the treadmill, Knox threw his water bottle into a nearby trashcan before returning to Rhys’ side. “Look, I know you feel as if I abandoned you, and maybe I did.” He ran his hand through his hair before starting again. “I had eight years with Mom. You were too young to remember her, but I do. For eight years, I had a loving parent, a safe home. I’m not angry she left. Dad beat her down until it was her or us. That doesn’t make it right or okay, but I understand. As far as you knew, our home was normal, but I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. By the time I was old enough to leave, something inside me—” He broke off, leaving Rhys wondering what he’d planned to say. Knox glanced down at his feet and cleared his throat before meeting Rhys’ stare once more. “I don’t know how to bridge this gap between us, and I don’t have the energy for another addict. I know I suck as a brother, so think of this as tough love.” Reaching behind him, he pulled a folded stack of papers from his back pocket. “I can’t lecture you on the error of walking away from someone when they need you, but I can force you to open your eyes to the grief you were too self-absorbed to see. After all, this,” he said as he stuffed the papers into the cup holder of Rhys’ treadmill, “was your loss too.”