Laney and I sit on one side of the table while Curtis takes the head seat and starts dishing salad onto his plate passing it to me next.
Meredith comes back in with the main dish placing it on a trivet then hustles back to the kitchen.
“Mom, come eat,” Laney calls.
“I’m getting the noodles and baguettes!” her mom answers before returning with a pot of noodles and a basket of rolls.
Laney’s mom can definitely cook. I’m enjoying everything as the conversation gets started.
“So where are you from originally, Heath?” Meredith asks.
“El Segundo.”
She looks at Curtis. “We drove through there from Redondo Beach taking the girls up to the Santa Monica Pier years ago. Remember?”
He nods. “Your folks still live there?”
“Yes. My dad works for Chevron and Mom works at the library,” I state.
“And what do you do?” Laney’s mom asks.
“I’m a project manager in construction.”
“Oh! Well, I’m really glad you’re not an escort,” she declares.
“Mom!” Laney scolds.
I can’t help but laugh and I see Curtis chuckling a little.
Meredith explains, “She called me about a month ago and told me you’d led her and Dani to believe you were a gigolo.” She looks at Laney who has a hand over her face, embarrassed. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re not! Everything works out the way it’s supposed to, I guess.”
The conversation gets back on track and afterward Curtis and I go back to the den where he pours us both another scotch and shows me his gun collection. An hour later, Laney and I are headed back to the apartment building.
“They really liked you,” she shares.
“I really liked them. They seem like good people.”
“You must’ve impressed Dad because he doesn’t show his guns to just anybody,” she says with a chuckle.
“I’m just glad he didn’t do it right away or I think I would’ve been a little concerned.”
She now laughs. “He did that once to a boyfriend I brought home when I was in college. I could tell Dad didn’t care a lot for him from the beginning because Sean was kind of arrogant. Anyway, the poor guy was scared the rest of the night hardly talking at all after Dad was finished with him. We broke up soon after.”
“You didn’t tell your mom he was an escort too, did you?”
“Oh, God. That’s so embarrassing. But it’s your fault!”
I laugh and reach over taking her hand. “Just so you know, I totally would’ve given you a discount for my services.”
Back at The Estates, we stop at Laney’s apartment and I tell her I’ll be back in a moment. I go to my apartment and see that Jake’s still there watching TV and munching on popcorn.
“Did you get in?” I ask hopefully.
“I got in but dude’s got like ten firewalls set up. I’m gonna have to bring my other laptop that has all my hacking shit on it. I got through a couple of them thinking it wouldn’t be that big of a problem but he’s paranoid as hell.”
“Shit,” I mumble. “Okay. Thanks. Can you come by in the morning?” I ask hoping he can so I don’t have to fight tomorrow night.
“No, sorry. I’ve got a routing job in an office building downtown. I can come by Sunday, though.”
Damn. I’ll have to lie to Laney once again about fighting but hopefully it’ll be the last time. For weeks now, I’ve had to make up shit to keep her from catching on. And since realizing her dad doesn’t know anything about Edward, I definitely don’t want them finding out through me that he’s an asshole. Eventually, I’ll have to tell her everything. She’ll be upset but by then maybe she’ll see that I had no choice.
At least that’s what I’m hoping for.
Nineteen
Saturday afternoon Heath tells me he has to go in at five tonight for another shutdown at the site. When I ask if I can go, he barks out a no which somewhat startles me. This must be important since he seems a little stressed.
He kisses me goodbye before leaving just as my phone rings.
“Hey, Uncle Edward! How are you?” I answer.
“I’m good, Laney. But I need to ask a favor of you.”
“Anything.”
“I’ve got fights going tonight and Elton can’t be there to take money. You think you can cover for him, honey?” he asks.
“Of course. What time do I need to be down there?”
“Just as soon as you can get here.”
“All right. Let me change and I’ll be down in a bit. See you soon!” I say and hang up, going to change into jeans and a blouse.
I’ve collected money for him before but I try to keep from watching the guys fight because it’s so brutal. But I think it’s really sweet that those men volunteer to fight to raise money for cancer victims. I’ve thought about telling Heath about it because I think his brother Aaron has cancer. A couple weeks ago, I overheard Heath talking on the phone to him about his white blood cell count being up, and he’s told me he wants me to meet Aaron soon but that he’s sick and he wants to wait until he feels up to it.
After changing I take the elevator down to the first floor then go down the stairs to the basement, texting Heath on the way to let him know where I’ll be in case he gets off work early. He doesn’t answer so I know he must be driving.
“There she is!” Uncle Edward says, giving me a big hug when I make it to the basement.
I haven’t been down here in months and I’m shocked to see so many people here.
“Hi, Uncle Edward,” I say, hugging him right back. “Wow! I can’t believe how many people are here! You must be raising a lot of money now!”
He chuckles. “That I am. Okay, honey, same as last time. You take the money and Craig will write everything down.”
Oh, yay. I get to work alongside Craig. Gross.
I walk over to the table where he’s doing double-duty, taking money and writing out tickets, and I’m less than thrilled to be here now.
“Hey, Laney,” he says with his smarmy grin when I get there.
“Hey. Uncle Edward wants me to take care of the money while you do the other thing,” I inform him.
“Got it covered,” he says with a wink.
Ugh.
I’m still shocked at how many people are here. I recognize some of the men betting from seeing their faces on billboards or television ads. A couple of them are lawyers, ambulance chasers Dad calls them, and I know one man is a bail bondsman. Well, at least they’re giving to a good cause even though some of them will win their money back plus some but it’s still a good thing.
When it slows down a bit, the second fight is going and Craig looks at me for a moment.
“What?” I ask.
“You here for support?”
I frown then shrug. “I guess so. He needed me so I came to help.”
“You’re not here to cheer him on?”
Why would Uncle Edward need me to cheer him on? “Uh, I guess taking the money is kinda cheering him on, don’t you think?”
He then gets a villainous look on his face. “You don’t know.”
Just then the crowd lets out a huge cheer and I turn to see that the fight is over and one of the guys in the cage is a bloody mess. Ack! I turn back to Craig.
“What don’t I know?”
He gives me his shitty grin. “You’ll see.”
I shake my head, annoyed with him. “Whatever. Weirdo,” I mumble under my breath.
More men come up to the table to bet on the next fight and I take their money. A few of them have already bet and are now upping their antes. Must be a lopsided fight. Once things calm down, Craig turns back to me.
“Look,” he says, jerking his head toward the cage.
I glance over and freeze.
“Wh-what’s going on?” I whisper keeping my eyes glued to Heath who’s in the middle of the ring staring down his opponent, who’s huge by the way, while the referee states the
rules.
Craig snickers. “He’s here every Saturday. I can’t believe he hasn’t told you.”
I look at Craig who’s now sneering, enjoying my shock. Asshole.
The bell dings and I watch as the fight starts, my heart beating a million miles an hour when it hits me that Heath’s lied to me every Saturday since we started seeing each other.
I turn to Craig. “Why would he lie if he’s fighting for charity?”
Craig barks out a laugh. “You really don’t know anything, do you?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What do you mean?”
He shakes his head, still giving me his oily smile and still getting a kick out of my ignorance. Prick. “Nothing,” he says with a snort.
I turn back to the ring and watch as Heath takes a kick to his back before he retaliates with an elbow that gets the other guy’s forehead opening a gash in it and blood starts running down his face. Holy shit. The crowd’s going nuts, all bloodthirsty and I want to puke.
More men come in and place bets and I distractedly take their money while Craig takes care of the other part. I start looking around the room seeing that although many of these men appear to be somewhat wealthy they also don’t look like the savoriest of characters.
When I asked Craig why Heath would lie if he’s fighting for charity, he laughed at me saying I knew nothing.
I look at Craig. “So what the hell is this then?”
“You were right. It is for charity,” he recants. “It’s just that some of the fighters who are good make money. Edward pays them under the table and that’s why it’s secret. Your boyfriend is one of them.” He shrugs.
The bell rings for the second round to start. I look at Heath seeing he’s got a bump coming up on his cheekbone. God.
I take money from several more men who’ve come in. When the bell rings to end the second round, I look back to see Heath’s now bleeding from a cut on his cheekbone which his opponent must have hit again. God!
The bettors keep coming and I think I must’ve taken in at least ten grand in the thirty minutes I’ve been down here. But now I know not all the money’s going to charity. Some of the fighters are being paid illegally and my boyfriend is one of them!
The crowd roars again and I see that Heath’s got the other guy down and is wailing on him and it disgusts me.
“Is there anything else I don’t know about my boyfriend?” I ask Craig.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “You sure you wanna know?”
I set my jaw and nod. Oh, God. I know this is going to break me.
“You know that little blonde that was at your party?”
Oh, God.
I nod.
“Back in March I invited Heath over to watch some basketball one Sunday night. My girl Ronni came over and she brought Glenda with her for Heath.”
I swallow the bile down that’s threatening to come up because this is making me sick. I narrow my eyes at him. “What was the date?”
He scrunches up his face. “It was March Madness, so it had to be around the twentieth?”
Oh, my God. That was the night Heath and I first had sex. I swallow before telling Craig to go on.
He shrugs. “Ronni and I were making out in the living room while Heath and Glenda talked watching the game.”
Thank you, Jesus.
Two younger guys come to the table to place bets and I take their money while Craig hands them tickets.
“Is that it?” I question.
“I know they went into my bedroom and had to have fucked because they left a nasty-ass wet spot on my bed. The covers were messed up too.”
I think my heart goes into afib because it’s doing something crazy in my chest, probably breaking, and I know I black out for a moment but I’m still standing. Everything is fuzzy and when I finally come to, Craig’s frowning at me asking if I’m okay.
I nod just as the bell rings and I turn to see another fight has started.
Where’s Heath? I need to see him because I have to kill him now.
Another group comes to the table and I take their money, all the while looking around for the cheating bastard who’s played me from the fucking start. And then we make eye contact. I’m just going to assume he’s seeing as much anger in my eyes as I now see in his and when he starts making his way toward me, I welcome it because the son of a bitch is going to get an earful.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” is the first thing he says to me.
“That’s my question too,” I fire back wanting to ask if he’s okay because he’s got a nasty cut on his cheekbone but tossing that notion aside when I remember he’s a lying, cheating asshole.
He looks at Craig. “Hold down the fucking fort.” Then he grabs me by my upper arm and leads me to the stairwell. I jerk my arm out of his grip once we get there, glaring up at him. “Again, what the fuck are you doing here?” he snarls.
“If it’s any of your business, Elton couldn’t make it, so Uncle Edward asked me to take over.”
“So you’ve known about this all along?”
“I told you I did. Tonight when I saw you, of course, I was shocked because you lied to me, but I thought you were probably doing this for your brother.”
His mouth drops open and he looks as if I’ve slapped him (which I so would love to do right about now). “You fucking liar,” he states.
Now my mouth falls open and I find that I’d really love to slap him. “What did you just call me?” I ask in disbelief, even more confused that he’s calling me out on whatever the hell he’s calling me out on.
“I knew it.” He lets out a humorless huff. “I knew it from the beginning. But you’re good. You’re fucking good.”
“Me? If anyone’s been lying, it’s you! You’ve been fighting all along, haven’t you? Making shit up telling me you had shutdowns at work!” He’s shaking his head at me as if I’m pathetic. “Don’t you dare look at me that way, you son of a bitch! And I know all about Glenda!”
He pulls his head back and frowns.
“Yeah. I know all about it, you fucking prick,” I spit. “You fucked me first then went to Craig’s and fucked her!” I smack my hand against my forehead. “I’m so stupid! And at the party you tried acting like she was annoying you! Oh! And in the weight room too! And all this time we’ve been together, you were fucking her too, weren’t you?”
I’ve never hit anyone out of anger. Until now. I don’t even think I could’ve controlled it if I’d tried, but somehow my right hand bunches up in a fist and I just swing, hitting him smack dab in the chin. It’s like slow motion as I first see the surprise on his face and then watch as his head jerks back from the force of my hit.
I’m just as shocked as he is but I’ve got to own it now. “You played me from the start. I called it but for some reason I didn’t listen to my gut.” I start crying and that just pisses me off even more. “So for all I care, you can go fuck yourself, you lowlife fucking asshole.”
I turn and run up the stairs, having to hang on to the railing to keep from falling because my eyes are blurry from crying. In the lobby, I run to the elevator pushing the up button and thankfully it opens immediately. After hitting seventeen, I step back against the wall and slide down to the floor, my sobs overtaking me.
How could I have been so stupid? I knew I’d only end up getting hurt.
I get off the elevator at my floor, standing and walking aimlessly toward my door, unlocking it and going inside. Dani’s not home because she’s gone to the Bahamas for a photo shoot with Chastity but I call her anyway.
“Hey! What’s up, Lane?” she answers cheerfully.
And let the real crying begin.
When I compose myself a little, I tell her what happened and she’s pissed.
“Do you need me to come home? I can be there by morning.”
“No, don’t do that. I’ll be okay. I think I’m going to take some time off, though.” I start crying harder when I remember that Heath and I were supposed to go to his cabi
n next weekend.
“I think that’s a good idea. Maybe you could go see your sister. You haven’t seen her in a while,” she suggests.
“Maybe.” A shuddering sob runs through me. “Why’s it have to hurt so bad?”
“I know, honey. I’m so sorry. I’m truly sorry. I’ll come home if you want me to, just say the word.”
I think about it for a second but I need to be alone right now and I tell her so.
“All right. But I’m here for you, okay? I should be home on Wednesday unless Chastity decides she wants to stay longer.”
Hearing Chastity’s name makes me think of Heath agreeing with the guys about wanting to sleep with her and now I know he was lying about that too.
“I’ll be okay,” I sniff. “You have fun. Don’t worry about me. I might go stay with Mom and Dad for a while too. I love you.”
“I love you too. Call if you need me, any time.”
We hang up and I stand in the middle of the living room staring at nothing. I don’t know how long it goes on (five minutes? An hour?) before I finally go to my bedroom, change into my pjs and crawl into my bed.
Twenty
I’m in shock.
I can’t believe she pulled this shit off but she did. Had my dumb ass fooled from the get go.
I leave the stairwell going back into the basement to the back to get my bag that I left with Matt.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
“No.”
His brow comes down. “Anything I can do?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow when Jake breaks into Kyle’s files, take the printout I give you and turn the motherfucker in.”
Back in my apartment, I start packing shit up. After tomorrow there’s no need for me to stay here any longer. The furniture and TV aren’t mine, so all I’ve got to get is my clothes and a few personal items then I’m gone.
I call Jake making sure he’ll be here first thing in the morning. Then I call Aaron and tell him it’s all going down tomorrow and he should be free. I hang up when there’s a knock at my door and I swear to fuck if it’s Laney, I’ll go ballistic.
At the door, I look through the peephole to see it’s none other than Edward Kyle himself. I almost tear the door off its hinges when I rip it open.
The Fighter (The High Rise, Book 1) Page 16
