Adeline
Four hours later, dinner is cooked and everyone is starting to arrive. I invited Gavin, but didn’t tell Adrionna so this should go over really well. I hear the doorbell go off and I go to get up to answer it. “Addy let Jonesy get it. That’s why he’s here.” Oh my God he and I are so going to have words if he tries to stop me from doing one more thing. I glare at him as I see Adrionna turn the corner. “Why is my best friend scowling?” “Apparently I am incompetent.” I hear Preston sigh as I stand up to give Adrionna a hug. I hear the doorbell ring again and I flounce off to go see who it is. Jonesy beats me to it, but I think he realizes his best bet is just to let me answer the door. Good call old man. Good call. “Ryleigh! Grant! Come in! Dinner is ready whenever everyone is here!” They come in and give hugs as I wait at the door because Gavin just pulled up. Crap. “Hey Gavin! Come in, come in.” “Does she know I’m here?” I give him a scary “eh” look and he shakes his head. He walks in after he gives me a hug and we all meet in the kitchen. I see Adrionna standing there with a betrayed look on her face. “You’re back in town?” “Yea, just got in literally thirty minutes ago.” Gavin gives her a nod and I say “Who wants a drink?” “I’ll get drinks, why don’t you ladies go sit on the patio.” I ignore Preston because he just doesn’t want me standing up apparently. I walk over to get the glasses out and start pouring some wine. Once poured I pull the tops off of three beers and hand them out to a scowling Preston, and a smirking Grant and Gavin. I stick my tongue out at Preston as I walk to the patio to sit down. I decide that I want to stick my feet in the pool so I head over there and sit right on the edge. The girls come over and sit on either side of me and Adrionna pulls me in for a half hug. “So I leave and everything goes to shit?” “You could say that. So please don’t leave again.” She shoots me a weird look and I don’t have time to process it before I hear “Adrionna, can I speak to you please?” I look up to see Gavin standing there so unsure of himself. What is going on with my family? Adrionna nods and stands up from the pool. They walk off together and I give Ryleigh a look. “I know; I don’t understand how you could say no to a guy like Gavin.” “Uh oh. Does that mean you won’t say no to a guy like Grant?” “Shit, you know what I mean. Besides, Grant is just being nice. I’m not the type of girl for him. I’m just staying with him to stay safe. He isn’t interested in me like that. He just thinks that this makes me interesting and his protective instincts are coming out. He is a cop ya know. It’s just his civic duty.” “My civic duty would be to put you in protective services at the precinct until this blew over. This has absolutely nothing to do with my civic duty Ryleigh. After today how can you even say that shit?” Oh crap. “I think we need to have another chat Ryleigh. How about you come with me for a minute.” Then with that Ryleigh was gone muttering under her breath. Now I was all alone and I felt Preston’s presence rather than seeing him. “Preston what do you want?” “Addy stand up for me.” Geeze oh man. I stand up with his help and he pulls me into him. “We need to talk, but we aren’t doing it right now. I’ve had a rough day and I know you haven’t had the greatest day either. I am not handling certain situations well and I need you to roll with me here the rest of the night.” I give him a short nod and he must not appreciate it because I hear “The words Adeline, give me the words.” I roll my eyes and flatly say “I’ll roll with you for the rest of the night.” He pulls me in and kisses me quickly. Once he lets me go I go and start to get dinner set out. Adrionna is the first to appear and she looks like she was just balling. “Addy, I need to talk to you.” I close my eyes and nod. Shit. I walk to the office and she follows closely and shuts the door behind herself. “Addy, I am so sorry to drop this on you, but I’m moving to New York. They want me to launch an office there. They want it to be my headquarters. My board thinks it’s the best location since I spend so much time there to begin with.” Tears instantly hit my face and there is nothing I can do to stop them. My best friend can’t leave. “No, I can’t do this without you. No, I won’t do this without you. You’re my only immediate family Adrionna. You can’t leave me.” “You have family now Addy. They all love you and protect you.” “They love you too. Adrionna, did you tell Gavin?” She gives a short nod telling me that this was the reason she was balling. “And he just took that as an answer?” “No, he didn’t take it at all. He told me that my moving was unacceptable and there is no reason that my headquarters can’t be here.” “I’m with Gavin. Adrionna have you really thought this through or are you running?” Now she’s crying again. We are such a mess. “Maybe a little of both.” “Please don’t make an impulsive decision here. You love it here! Remember our road trip? You said this was your forever home.” “I won’t make any decisions today. I just don’t know if I can.” “Why Adrionna?” “I think I’m in love with him. How can I stay away from him if I am based here?” “If you’re in love with him why do you need to stay away?” She sighs. “It’s impossible Addy. He would never love me like I would love him. I just know that we are doomed from the start and with the way Justin has been I can’t find a way to stay here and feel safe.” I give her a big hug and say “We will keep you safe. You never have to be scared again. Justin will be sorted out and we will be all good.” She gives a slight nod and says “Dinner is going to get cold let’s get these babies fed.” I give her a nod and we walk out of the office. Obviously you can tell I was balling because I hear Preston say “What the fuck? Why is my wife crying?” I shake my head telling him not to start when I hear Gavin say “Because my woman is being a pain in the ass.” His woman? “Your woman?” “Gavin, please don’t do this here.” This was Preston, I know he just doesn’t want me stressed, but I can’t even help it I start to cry again. Preston pulls me into his arms while Ryleigh and Grant look on with confused looks. “I’m moving to New York.” Yes, she said it. This cannot be happening. I hiccup a sob into Preston’s shirt. “Like hell you are.” “You can’t stop me Gavin. This is my life, my business, and I say what goes. My board has already voted.” No. No. No. More tears fall and Preston holds me closer. I hear Ryleigh say “Maybe we should eat.” Grant starts to move and everyone is moving toward the food on the table. Preston pulls me at arms-length and wipes my tears away. “We’ll figure this out baby. I promise.” I give him an unbelieving nod as we walk to the table. I eat maybe two bites of my dinner which Preston hates, but there is no way I can stomach anymore. I stand up and start clearing dishes after sitting silently for most of dinner. This is not how I had planned my evening. I’m in the kitchen doing dishes when I feel arms around me that aren’t Preston’s. I turn and see that Gavin is standing there with an unsure look on his face. Shit, I don’t want to cry again. “She’s not leaving babe. I’m gonna make sure of it.” “I don’t know if you can stop her Gavin. She seems pretty determined to open up shop in New York. I don’t understand. She said this would always be home.” “It always will be. I just need to spread my wings a little Addy. I’m not dying, just moving. I will always come visit.” “Visiting and being right down the road are not the same thing and you know it Adrionna. How will my babies learn the things I can’t teach them? Auntie Adrionna is supposed to do that.” “I still will, please you’re making this extremely hard for me.” “I don’t know what else to say.” “It’s done Addy, you’ll get used to it and you have a big family to surround yourself with now. Please I need to go. We will talk soon.” And with that, without even a hug she is running out the door. Gavin drops his arms from me and runs after her, but comes back two seconds later saying she’s already gone. This can’t be happening. “Addy, this is all my fault I am so sorry.” “She’s in love with you.” “What?” “She is, and she’s terrified that you will never love her the way she loves you. She could fall hard for you Gavin, and she is scared shitless.” “Did she say that?” “She said that she thinks she’s in love with you. I filled in the rest. I know her better than anyone Gavin. She’s running from something and something tells me it’s more than just you.” “W
ell, I’m going to get to the bottom of this and she will be starting up her company here. Not in New York.” I let out a sigh. We have so much to worry about, but first we have to get through Preston’s fight on Friday. I know that everything else will play itself out. I just hope that Ryleigh and Adrionna are ok after it plays out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Adeline
Fight night. Preston is just getting taped up and we are about to make our way to our seats. Adrionna came with me and so did Ryleigh, but only because they had to. Adrionna leaves for her test run of the company headquarters in New York tomorrow. Yes, I say test run because that was the way she convinced me that everything would be ok. She has a way to back out if she absolutely hates it, which I intend to make sure she does. Ryleigh didn’t have a choice because she is under the protective watch of Grant. Who, if I may say so is doing a great job of making her feel really safe and freaked out all at the same time. I can’t wait to hear more about her time that she has spent with him so far this week. Every afternoon she came into the gym for a lesson though so I have gotten to see some of the interaction and to say it is funny would be an understatement. I have made one decision this week and that is I will be offering Ryleigh a partner position with me at the firm. She has worked so hard at what she has been doing and I know there isn’t anyone better for the job. Plus, that will alleviate me a little for when the twins get here. We make it to our seats just in time to hear Preston’s song come on. It plays through as I see him make his way through the crowd. Same story different day. Women throwing themselves at him and I can’t help but laugh. He stops in front of us and pulls me into him, but this time he bends down on one knee and kisses my belly. I shake my head and laugh as he stands back up and pulls me in for a big kiss. He pulls away and I know everyone is staring at us. He says “Addy, wish me luck.” “Good luck, and be safe.” “Always.” I pull away and he makes his way to the cage. Good God I hear Donovan’s music come on and go figure he stops right in front of us. Holy shit it looks like he is bending to kiss my stomach. I jump back and Gavin, Grant, and Asher jump into action. “I’ll let him know tonight that the babies are mine. Then we can finally be together.” “You’re disgusting. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.” I hear everyone around us laughing and I see Donovan’s face go cold. He doesn’t say anything more he just walks to the cage. Great job Adeline, way to piss off the big scary dude right before he gets into a cage with your husband. “I really need to watch my mouth. Preston tells me all the time about my sass and this time I think he is probably right. Don’t tell him I said that though.” They all shake their heads and smile at me. For the sake of everyone’s dinner including my own I am going to fast forward to the last round. Seriously, I think I will hardly recognize Preston after this fight. The first round went to him for sure, but the second round was really anyone’s game. This third round has been brutal for both of them. I honestly don’t know how they are doing it. With every hit I grow sicker and sicker. “Gavin I don’t think I can watch anymore I seriously just want to cry. He has to be hurting.” “He has trained all year for this. To be the best you have to beat the best. Right now, Donovan is the best aside from himself. He’s got this Addy.” I give him a short nod, but I do sit down in my seat. I try to control my breathing so my blood pressure doesn’t rise. At first it doesn’t work, but then I see that Preston is looking like he is coming back on top. Every hit it looks like Donovan “pay the” Price is huddling back in his corner. A few one two punches and it looks like Preston gets him right in the temple. Twice. He goes straight down to his knees as we all watch his eyes roll back into his head. Holy crap. A KO. You have got to be kidding me. I stand back up screaming as the ref pulls Preston’s arm in the air. We all get to go up to congratulate him, but Preston tells Gavin to take me back to the room right after. He has interviews and does those while we make our way back to his room. We get in there and Preston finally makes it into the room. He looks a little beaten, but other than that he is glowing with happiness. I mean, he is grinning from ear to ear. This has been one of the best days and Coach calls Ryleigh over to look at the cut above his brow. While he is getting patched up I notice that Ryleigh has a look of absolute fear on her face. That’s when I hear the worst words I’ve heard in a really long time. “He’s here Grant. I just saw him. I need to get out of here. He’s found me.”
Stay tuned for Grant and Ryleigh’s Story “Justice”
Caged Page 21
