I was shaken by the whole thing and rushed to the back to talk to Zach but was turned away by his manager, Patton. I was out of my realm. Worse, Zach was out of my reach. After several minutes, Rick came and asked me to follow him, weaving through the back of the stage and through back hallways until we got through the backdoor to a waiting limo.
“Zach,” was all I could say as soon as I saw him inside but he barely shot me a glance. He had his head down and he punched his palm continuously until we arrived at his training center.
Rick pulled me aside while I waited for Zach by his truck. “Just give him a few minutes. He’ll be fine. That boy is the toughest of the lot.”
I nodded, not really understanding what had happened. What did Lucas tell him that got him so riled up? I might never know, and even if someone told me, I’d most likely have a hard time comprehending.
When Zach came out of the center, bee-lining for the truck, he kissed me on the cheek and to my surprise, didn’t say goodbye to Rick.
“Where are you guys headed?” his friend asked.
“Gonna see his Ma,” I replied.
“You driving?”
Before I could answer, we both watched Zach walk to the passenger side and slam the door behind him.
“I guess so.”
“Good. Take care.”
It was a quiet drive for the most part until Zach opened up. It turned out Zach and Lucas had been long time enemies, and I was too afraid to askany more details since I couldn’t get past how much bigger, seemingly more brutal-looking and intimidating this Lucas guy was than Zach. When I voiced my concern again, Zach chuckled and told me he could bring a man twice his size flat on the ground in a matter of seconds.
“Have faith, babe,” he said to me. And that was all I could hold on to. “As long as you’re there, I know I’ll beat the shit out of him.”
I nodded, recalling the night I’d promised him I’d attend the match but was honest enough to say I didn’t think I would be able to stomach watching the whole thing. I’d seen photos of men with their faces bashed in after these fights. I’d be fine to take care of Zach afterwards but to witness how he’d put his whole life on the line was another matter.
It was a bad day, and it was evident even before we stepped in Lisa’s bedroom. She was kicking and shouting hateful words at a couple of wards and her nurse. Zach hesitated at the door and I could see the war in his eyes. Should he help the staff or his mother? He’d been his mother’s protector for so long that I doubted he’d opt for the former, despite knowing his mother’s condition. When I placed a hand on his shoulder, they were harder than boulders in the canyon. His nostrils flared and his hands fisted at his sides. He was ready to hurt the people trying to help his Ma.
“Zach, wait outside. I’ll help here. You don’t need to see this,” I urged him. He didn’t move. He didn’t even look at me. His eyes filled with obsidian darkness. “Please. We’ll take care of her. I’ll take care of her.”
That he believed. He gripped my arm and when my gaze met his darkened one, it frightened me at first. This was the same rage I’d seen in him the night I’d woken up to his hand on my throat.
“I’m here,” I said again, trying to get through the nightmare he must be feeling.
He loosened his grip on my arm, and nodded before ducking out of the room. I went straight to Nurse Debbie’s side and helped as much as I could, which wasn’t much.
They’d eventually sedated her. Nurse Debbie informed me that it was a sudden change of mood, unexplainable, but she’d be out for the rest of the night and there was no point of us staying.
“You’re good with her. If you hadn’t showed up it would have been more difficult sedating her. You’r a natural caretaker, Maggie. Ever thought of nursing?” Nurse Debbie asked. I smiled at her and shook my head. “You should. You’re emphatic. You’re caring and you have patience.” She patted me on the shoulder before I left the room.
I had to explain to Zach that his Ma would be asleep the entire night, and he didn’t say anything. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and stomped out of the building.
To think of how he’d have to go through this for years, to feel helpless, to feel like he couldn’t do anything for his mother, hurt me more than I ever thought. Only now did I trulyunderstood his determination to win. He saw this as his one and only opportunity. Lucas St. Honore better watch out. There wasn’t anyone more dangerous than a man with a purpose, with a lot on the line.
When we got to his apartment, it was more evident how hard he’d taken the entire day, heading straight to the shower without a word to me. We’d ordered pizza, which he barely touched. And soon after, he went to bed.
After cleaning up after our meal, I readied for bed and brushed my teeth. While I patted my face with a towel to dry it off after washing it, Zach came into view in the mirror. He’d gotten a haircut the other day in preparation for the press conference, but he still brushed a hand over his forehead. I watched him approach me with his head ducked low. From behind, he wrapped strong arms around my waist and he pressed his lips on my shoulder.
“I love you,” he whipered against my skin. I closed my eyes, letting myself get lost in his words, and reached up to cup his cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Maggie.” I felt a wetness touch my thumb on his cheek and it rolled down to my shoulder. “I’m lost without you.”
I brought my hand down and pivoted, opening my eyes and cupping his cheeks with my palms. He’d cried a single tear but it was enough to tell me how afraid he was. It was enough for me to believe that he was a lost boy, and he looked to me for guidance. What did I know? I was young, naïve, inexperienced. But I understood pain. I understood heartbreak. I took his hand and pressed my lips on his.
“You need sleep,” I said in a hushed tone, inhaling his breath as we touched the tips of our noses together. He nodded and let me lead him to bed.
“I don’t want to get out of bed,” Zach said, snuggling closer to me. The sun was just starting to brighten the sky.
The whole night, Zach held onto me. His long legs tangled with mine, his arms circled me and I curved my body against him, in his warm cocoon. He’d had a restless sleep and I worried the entire night that he’d attack again while I was asleep. But I remembered the way he looked in the bathroom and whatever protective wall I built would tumble.
When dusk came, we made love. It was tender, but full of fervor. We breathed each other in, our lips tasting one another, bodies touching. Throughout it all, our hands were intertwined. I opened my eyes after my climax and all I could see was the earnest in his eyes when he whispered how much he loved me.
“You have training,” I reminded him.
He groaned and buried his nose in my hair. “They’ll have to come and pry me out of bed if they want me to do anything today.”
I laughed, imagining how Travis or Rick wouldn’t think twice of doing that if Zach insisted on staying in bed. “We’ll take it slow. We’ll have a hearty breakfast, have a shower together then you can go training.”
“I’d rather have you for breakfast,” he teased and his hands roamed between my thighs.
I swallowed my moan. “You need to get up. You know the guys won’t let you skip today. And now that I’ve seen Lucas, I don’t think I can let you skip training either.”
“Why? You don’t think I can beat him?” I’d be worried with his question if his voice didn’t have a teasing tone. “I can beat him with one hand behind my back and my eyes closed.”
“You’re so cocky.”
“Hmmm. You know it, but you still love me.”
“That I do.” I caressed his cheek , the tear had long died, and smiled at him when my stomach grumbled. “See. I’m starving. I’ll make us breakfast.” I kissed him again, longer, deeper, before slipping out of bed, despite his protest.
I was glad I had the mind to dress in one of his shirts and put on underwear before leaving the bedroom. I released a little yelp as soon as
I spotted the girl with a dog on the couch.
“Oh good. I thought you’d never be done,” she said as she stood, flicking a curly blonde hair over her shoulder.
I squinted, trying to place her familiar face. But I recognized the dog first. It was the same dog in the only photograph in Zach’s apartment, which acoording to him was a dog he used to have. My eyes flew to it, then to her.
She’d put the dog down on the floor. “Go find daddy. and it immediately ran to the bedroom.”
“Who are you?” I asked as soon as I found my voice. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, ignoring my question as she headed to follow after her dog. On its own volition, my hand grabbed her arm and turned her to face me. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in Zach’s apartment?”
“You mean our apartment?” the blonde said. She sneered at me and yanked free of my grip.
“What?”
Zach appeared soon after, with the dog at his heel. Anger washed over his face, but it was mixed with something else when his gaze flitted to me. “What are you doing here?” he shouted at the blonde who neared him.
“I missed you,” the girl said in a sweet, sultry voice. All I could do was watch her fondle Zach’s naked chest. He’d had the mind to put on a pair of pants, but I was already shaking and my mind brought me back to the night of my birthday. At the club. Amongst the sea of people, she stood out. The blonde girl who’d watched me.
Zach grabbed her hand. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Before she could reply, I said her name out loud, “Kenzie. She’s…” I looked at Zach. Fear intensified in his eyes. “This is her apartment? That’s your dog?” I pointed at the furry animal by their feet. “Oh my god.”
I ran to the bedroom before I lost it. I couldn’t believe it was happening again. The betrayal gripped my throat. With shaky fingers, I pulled a pair of shorts, a bra and a shirt on. I grabbed my phone and my purse. Almost tripping at the yapping dog, I didn’t bother looking at Zach or Kenzie, his ex-girlfriend, or girlfriend, I wasn’t sure, before letting the door slam behind me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Zach
I was a first-class idiot. By the time I got to the lobby, there wasn’t any sign of Maggie. I should’ve ran after her, instead I stayed like a moron in the apartment, arguing with Kenzie. I ran out the building, screaming her name. Not bothered by the looks I was getting. All I had on was a pair of pants.
“Fuck!” I screamed, yanking at the ends of my hair, when I rounded one corner and couldn’t find her.
I ran back to the building. “Did you see where she went?” I asked the doorman who was too shocked to reply quickly at my outburst. He jumped when I slammed both hands on his desk. “Did you see Maggie? Which way did she go?”
He shook his head, but he replied, “She jumped in a taxi. Someone had just dropped of somebody and she took it. I…I didn’t hear where she was going.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face, punched his desk and ran back to the elevator. I found Kenzie unaffected by the whole thing, texting on her phone, seated like a queen on my couch.
“Oh you’re back. Couldn’t find her, huh?” she said and laughed.
I stopped short at the bedroom door and strutted back to her. I trapped her with my hands on the back of the sofa. My face was inches away from her. My body was shaking from anger. I grabbed hold of the couch cushions tightly before I made a mistake of taking this horrible energy and doing something I’d regret. Kenzie was a spoiled brat, and she used everything and everyone she could to get her way. She was a Harckwick, which meant she’d grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She never cared for anything or anyone. A couple years ago, I’d been a fool to believe she had a heart, that she was more than a brat who had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. What a waste that had been.
“Why are you here?”
“I told you…I—“
I slammed a hand on the back of the sofa, right by her ear, and to my surprise, she blinked and gasped. “Don’t shit around with me, Kenzie. You just chased away the best thing that’s ever happened to my life. I want to know why you’re here.” She pressed her lips together and looked away. “Kenzie!” I slammed another fist on the sofa.
She jumped. “I left Lucas! Okay? Are you happy? He’s been cheating on me. I…I shouldn’t have left you.”
“Well that’s hilarious considering you’d cheated on me with him. Are have you forgotten that?” I straightened and paced the floor. “I warned you, Kenzie, I told you I wasn’t going to play your games anymore. Did you think I’d let you come back in my life after you’ve shit all over it?”
She didn’t answer. She was right not to, knowing Kenzie, she’d just say something that would make me angrier, to get a rise out of me.
“I’m wasting my time with you. Stay here. Live here. I don’t care. I’m out.” Before I could walk back to the bedroom, she tugged at my hand.
“Lucas hit me.”
My whole body turned cold. Numb. Her voice was quiet and if I wasn’t mistaken, it was followed by a sob. I looked over my shoulder. Her shoulders slumped forward. Her head lowered. Her words brought memories flooding in from my past. I knelt in front of her, brushed her unusually lack-luster hair aside, and tilted her head up. Tears soaked her face. Mascara stain lined her cheeks. I narrowed my eyes, and turned her head to one side. There it was—hidden behind makeup. But experience had taught me enough to look for them. The bruises. The pain. Below Kenzie’s left eye was swollen flesh. I touched it slightly and Kenzie flinched.
“When did this happen?”
“Last night. I caught him with someone…and he got mad and hit me.”
There were plenty of reasons to hate Lucas St. Honore. Even before he hooked up with Kenzie, while we were still together, I’d hated his guts. There had been rumors about him beating up women. When I’d been tagged to fight him, I almost felt a surge of relief. Not only would I be able to make him suffer, I could show him what the women he’d hurt had felt. He loved to humiliate people.
I’d wanted to kill him at the stage during yesterday’s press conference. He’d seen Maggie despite her trying to hide in a corner. When he’d turned back to me, I could wipe th smirk off his face. He’d leaned in and said, “You new piece is hot. Bet she’d leave you too when I fuck her.” All I saw was madness and I’d lost control. It had taken Rick, Patton and the rest of the guys to convince me not to beat him to a pulp before our big event.
“Who else knows?”
Kenzie wiped tears off her face and with trembling lips, she said, “I called Bailey earlier to see where you’re at. I didn’t think you were going to be here with her.”
She said ‘her’ with so much disgust.
“Her name’s Maggie and she’s my girlfriend. And I love her.”
Kenzie’s eyes widened. “I thought she was just…”
“No. She’s special to me. You better get your face checked. Did Lucas hit you anywhere else?”
“No. Not this time.”
“Not this time? It happened more than once?”
“When he gets mad, he’d take it on me. I saw you at th club with…Maggie. I got jealous and threatened to leave Lucas if he didn’t get his shit together. That’s when he started sleeping around again. He kicked me that night and…I had a miscarriage.”
My jaw dropped. Kenzie might be spoiled and oftentimes selfish, but she didn’t deserve this. “Shit, Kenzie. Does your dad know?”
She shook her head. “What’s he gonna do? All he cares about it is his stupid company.” She dropped her head to her hands and cried some more.
I rubbed her back. “You’ll have to report Lucas. You need to get checked for concussion and other stuff.” I kissed the top of her head. Kenzie put me through hell when we were together, but there were days when it showed she genuinely cared for me. She never loved me. I wasn’t a fool to believe that. But she cared.
I stood and walked to the room, grabbing my phone and sent a text m
essage to Maggie:
Please come back. Or tell me where you are. I can explain everything. I love you.
As I picked clothes to wear I dialed the number of the only person I knew Maggie would trust in town. “Bailey? Is she with you?” I asked as soon as my friend picked up her phone.
“No, Zach. What the hell did you do this time?”
“Kenzie’s here.”
“Shit.”
“I need to know if Maggie contacted you at all. Did she tell you where she’s going?”
“Sorry, Zach. I haven’t heard from her. Kenzie called me earlier but I told her to leave you alone.” Her voice started to shake. “I didn’t mean to screw things up.”
“You didn’t. It wasn’t your fault. But do me a favor and call me as soon as Maggie texts or calls you.”
“Okay.”
“You know what? You better meet me at the hospital. Lucas hit Kenzie and she needs to get checked. I can bring her but I have to find Maggie.”
“What? Yeah of course. Okay. I’ll tell Travis.”
We agreed to meet at a certain time. I checked my phone again for a message from Maggie. When I saw nothing, I called her, again and again, leaving a message the last time about explaining everything to her in person. I wanted her to see the truth in my eyes. I wanted her to believe she was the only woman for me, that I loved her with everything I had, that I was lost without her.
My search for her didn’t turn up anything and I came to a conclusion that she’d returned to San Francisco. She’d left the few clothes she had behind. And I found myself reaching for her shirt, her sweater, and holding it, taking in her scent. None of my messages received any replies. I’d called and called and nothing. Until one night when a message told me her phone number was no longer in service.
I visited Ma and as though she could tell Maggie wasn’t in my life anymore, her condition had gotten worse. She’d barely look at me most days and if she did, there was hate and fear in her eyes. Because of my contract, I had to stay in Las Vegas, training all hours on end until I was bone sore.
When He Falls Page 24
