“He wouldn’t — would he?” I stutter.
“Why else would she come here today?” Tobias asks Charlie.
I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense. If Thomas is still in love with Lillian, so focused on destroying the Alphas,” I say, “then why bother marrying my mother? What does he want with her?”
“Lily asked herself that same question, Claire,” Charlie says. “And the only answer that makes sense is that he’s not that focused anymore.”
I blink. “I don’t understand.”
“He may have started the Kings,” he says, “but he’s not running them now.”
“Then who is?”
“Claire…” Tobias squeezes my hand a little tighter.
I open my mouth to speak, but the answer strikes me before I can say another word.
“Oh, my god…” I whisper, tears finally spilling over. “This is all my fault.”
Chapter 13
Take Him Down
Rick.
“This isn’t your fault, Claire,” Tobias says.
I close my eyes and hope that I’m still asleep. Soon, I’ll wake up. I’ll be exhausted from nightmares, but I’ll roll over and Tobias will there to hold me. This will all just be a sick dream. “I should have just gone back to him when I had the chance,” I mutter, reality overwhelming my fantasy.
Tobias turns in his chair to face me head on. “Claire, look at me.”
“He tried to warn me about this…” I whisper. “He told that I should get out while I still could, but I didn’t listen.”
“Look at me—” He grips my chin to pull me to him.
“He never changed at all…” I continue, unable to stop the words from spilling off my tongue. “He’s been manipulating me from the start — gaining my trust again—”
“Claire—”
“How did I not see this coming?!”
“This isn’t on you.”
“He’s right, Claire,” Charlie says from across the table. “It’s on me.” We look at him and he shakes his head. “I let this relationship between the two of you happen because I thought it would keep you out of trouble.”
“It did keep me out of trouble,” I argue.
“No, it just led you towards a different kind,” he says, his eyes falling back to Tobias. “Why did you get mixed up with them in the first place, Tobias? What were you thinking?”
“I did it to pay Mary’s hospital bills,” he answers without hesitation.
Charlie points a stern finger against the hard table. “I told you I had that handled.”
“No, you didn’t,” Tobias argues. “You gave up on her, Dad. I had to do something.”
“You’re wrong, son,” Charlie says. “Mary was my daughter — my blood. I never gave up on her for a moment. The day she disappeared…” His voice falls and he pauses for a moment of silent regret.
“You should have done more,” Tobias interrupts. “I went out there, I asked questions. I found out who she was with that night, but you ignored that evidence in favor of moving on.”
“It wouldn’t have made a difference, Tobias,” he replies.
“That sounds a lot like giving up to me, Dad.”
“The moment I saw her laying in that hospital bed, my daughter was gone. It wasn’t until—” He stops and he briefly looks at me. My heart breaks even more. I can barely even feel it beating in my chest. There’s nothing but the slow tap you hear from a marching drummer as he fades off into the distance. Charlie forces his attentions back to Tobias. “And now, the last of my family is in too deep and it’s too late for me to do anything about it, because you’re right — Rick has taken over the Kings, he’s infiltrated the Alphas, and he’s starting a war. Lillian figured it out and came to me because she can’t trust anyone else — including the two of you.”
“We’re on the same side,” Tobias says.
“Try telling her that. All she knows is that her ex-boyfriend’s son and stepdaughter both showed up around the same time with a bunch of Kings following close behind them.”
“Why let Rick compete in the tournament then?” I ask.
“To keep an eye on him,” he answers. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Same reason she let you into the Dames.”
Tobias pushes himself out of his chair and starts pacing around the kitchen. “We’re the ones that told her Rick was a problem,” he bites.
“I guess that backfired on her, didn’t it?” I say.
“Not yet, but it’s going to.” Charlie shakes his head. “Like I said, there’s nothing I can do without alerting the authorities, but if I do that, the both of you go down with her.”
“So, we settle this the way she wanted,” Tobias mutters. “The old-fashioned way.”
“What do you mean, Tobias?” I ask.
He scratches his jaw, his forehead creased from thought. “We stay and finish the tournament,” he answers.
“You can’t fight him now—”
“It’s just one more fight, Claire,” he says, looking at me.
“A fight that was rigged from the start!” I argue. “He knows you, Tobias. He’s studied you and now, we know why. He knew you’d interfere. That’s why he went to Pike for training so he would know how to take you out.”
“Then I’ll have to show him something new,” he says before bolting out of the room.
“Tobias!” I shout after him, but I’m too broken up to get out of my chair. The front door opens and closes quickly. I look at Charlie. “What else did Lillian say?” I ask him.
“She said…” He pauses. “She said that she was sorry it got this far.”
I can’t help it, but a laugh teases my throat. “Yeah… me, too.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised though,” he says. “Things in life tend to go full circle sometimes. Lily was a face I hoped I’d never have to see again.”
I nod. No wonder Lillian thought I was interesting. It had nothing to do with my relationship to Tobias, or Rick for that matter. She kept me close because of my connection with Thomas, the man that built an empire with the sole purpose of crushing hers. I’m his stepdaughter. I could easily have been sent here to get close to her, to become a Dame, and recruit Kings into the Alphas without her ever knowing. It’d be a perfect plan if it actually happened that way.
Thomas moved on. He remarried a different woman, one that had nothing to do with the Kings or the Alphas. He abandoned his old pet project to settle down and passed the torch onto his son. He found himself a new Lillian, one to control and rule over like the Kings he once created. My mother may have changed his life, but he certainly hasn’t changed his ways.
I blink with new clarity, the realization rattling my bones. “Charlie, where is my mother?”
He pauses with a sigh on his breath. “Claire…”
“You know where she is,” I accuse. “Don’t you?”
His eyes hold mine, each one a comforting, green light. “I contacted her after I overheard your phone call—”
“You’ve known this whole time where she is and you didn’t tell me?”
“That wasn’t my secret to tell, Claire,” he says with a calm, soothing voice. “She didn’t want you to know yet.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
My lips tremble. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” he nods. “I got in touch with some friends and found her a new place to stay. Somewhere safe.”
Tears sting my eyes. A crushing weight falls from my mind, shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. My mother is safe and — more importantly — alive. “Thank you,” I tell him.
“It wasn’t easy to convince her. She’s just as stubborn as you are.”
I laugh and wipe a tear from my cheek. “Yeah, she is…”
“I feel like I may have made this whole situation worse,” he says. “Thomas is not going to be happy that I helped another one of his girls escape him.”
“It’s better than leaving her the
re,” I say.
“I agree.”
“Does he know where she is?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Is there any way he can find her?”
“No,” he says again. “Not unless she slips up or wants to be found — and judging by the state I found her in, I really don’t think she does.”
“How bad was it?” I ask slowly, scared of the answer.
He takes a breath. “Looked a bit like you, first night we met…”
Bruised and broken.
“Thank you, Charlie,” I tell him again.
“She misses you,” he says.
“I miss her, too.” I wipe a tear off my eye before it falls. “I want to see her.”
“I can arrange that,” he nods. “Maybe not right now, but… soon.”
“Okay,” I breathe, nodding my head with him.
He sighs and the ends of his lips twitch. “So, Tobias made Alpha?” he asks.
I smile. “Yeah, he did.”
“Well…” His eyes go soft, filled with distant memories. “She would have been proud of him,” he says.
***
I step into the barn and slowly slide the door closed behind me. The air is silent, but I know he’s here.
“Tobias.” I say his name, hoping that he’ll turn around and look at me, but he just stands there, eyes forward, staring at the old punching bag in the corner with his thick, inked arms crossed over his chest.
The sun barely sits above the horizon, just moments away from casting the world into darkness. I leave the lights off and step closer to him. I know this place so well now, my feet carry my across the barn without bumping into any equipment.
“So,” I begin, clearing my throat, “is that offer to get out of here still on the table? Because it doesn’t sound all that bad right now.”
He pivots a little on his feet, but slides back into his original position with his eyes on the bag. “You know…” he whispers, “I think about her every time I stand in front of this thing.”
“You do?” I ask.
“I don’t even mean to,” he says. “It’s just… a habit. Just a flash of memory and then she’s gone.”
I move in a little closer to him. I land within arm’s reach, but I keep my hands to myself. “I’m sorry,” I say.
“My mother, she…” he pauses and reaches up to scratch his nose. “She used to tell me that a man never starts a fight, but he always wins one.” His lips curl. “Makes a little more sense now.”
“She sounds like fun.”
“She was,” he replies. “From what I remember of her, anyway.” He finally turns to look at me with a grave expression, made worse by the dark shadows of his features. “I can’t leave now, Claire.”
I sigh. “I figured.”
“My mother built this,” he says. “I can’t walk away from it knowing that. Not anymore.”
I shuffle my feet against the ground below me, the urge to run still tingling in my toes. “You didn’t start this fight,” I say with a slow nod, “but you’ll finish it.”
“And I’ll win,” he says. “Then I’ll go wherever you want to go.”
“Let’s hope it’ll be that easy.”
He lays both hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look at him. “I need you to trust me, Claire.”
“I always have.”
Tobias nods, his green eyes reflecting fresh moonlight back at me. His hands slide down my neck and come to rest softly on my shoulders. “We need to contact Lillian,” he says.
“Tomorrow,” I say. I turn my head and lay it against his chest. He instantly embraces me, holding me close with his strong arms. “I don’t want to think about this tonight.”
I feel him nod. His lips graze my forehead. His nose smells my hair. He holds me like I’m precious, valuable. Like this is the last time he’ll ever hold me so close. “I’m sorry we never got around to that date,” he says.
I laugh. “Seems so unimportant now.”
“It’s not. It’s more important now than ever.”
I raise my head to look at him. “Then let’s go.”
“Go where?” he asks.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say, breaking free of his embrace. I walk over to the motorbike and grab my small, black helmet off the seat. “Let’s go for a ride.”
Tobias follows me to the bike. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.” I flash him a warm smile and push myself up onto my toes to kiss him.
He grabs me as I pull away and kisses me back with a firm kiss. His hands slowly rise to my face and he caresses my skin with the tips of his thumbs. “I love you so much,” he whispers.
My pulse beats with a steady rhythm, sending a rush of blood to my cheeks.
***
The arena is already full of people by the time we reach St. Louis.
The air is thick with anticipation, sweat, and fear. It’s the final fight of the year, the one that will determine the Alpha. This usually brings the largest crowd of any fight, but I can tell by Amy’s intense eyes that she’s never seen anything like this before.
We can hear them screaming from inside Lillian’s office. The walls pound from the noise, each member of the crowd hungry for violence and chaos.
The Untouchable vs. The Unbreakable.
Two Alphas in combat to reclaim the title. It’s like a dream come true for them. A match made in MMA heaven. It doesn’t matter that they’re cousins. It doesn’t matter that it’s my life in the middle of it all. Although, if they knew all of that, I’m sure it would just make them scream louder.
Lillian Tombs stands before us with her arms crossed, leaning back against her desk. The dark rings around her eyes prove she’s hardly slept in days, no doubt lying awake all hours of the night, scared of what the darkness might bring her. She looks around the room at each of us as she speaks, glancing in the eyes of the last members of her inner circle she feels she can trust. There’s Tobias and myself, along with the other Dames minus Kimi and Lisa, who have been tasked with working the doors.
“I’ve brought in some extra security,” Lillian says. “You’ve no doubt noticed the crowd out there…”
“You should have just canceled this whole damn thing…” Veronica speaks with a shaking voice.
“I can’t do that,” Lillian says.
“Why not?” Veronica looks around the room, her eyes wild with fear. “They’ve already taken over half the state. It’s only a matter of time until they take St. Louis as well. This was great while it lasted, Lillian, but we’re done. It’s over.”
“I will not bow down to these animals and neither will any of you,” Lillian says, her voice firm and steady. “This is our sport. This is our state. These are our fighters and they’re loyal to us.”
“Are you sure about that?” Heather asks.
Lillian’s eyes fall on Tobias. “Show them a bit of strength and they’ll follow. Yes, I’m sure.”
Veronica scoffs. “A bit of strength?” She takes a quick step towards him, her heel clicking loudly against the floor. “He’s already lost once to this guy. What makes you think he can beat him now?”
Tobias stays silent, but I see his jaw flexing beneath his skin. There’s hesitation on Lillian’s lips before she pushes herself off her desk and walks over to Tobias. “Can you do this?” she asks him.
I watch his eyes, so sure and confident. “Yes,” he answers.
Lillian takes a deep breath. “Take him down,” she says, her eyes locked on his. “We’ll take care of the rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I quiver as a wave of nausea strikes my gut.
Lillian pulls the office door open and gestures for everyone to follow her outside. I linger behind Tobias’ shoulder, waiting for them to travel out of earshot. “What if he sees this coming?” I ask him.
He looks at me with steady eyes. “He probably has,” he answers.
“That doesn’t seem to bother you as much as it bothers me…” I note.
&n
bsp; Lillian pauses in the doorway and glances back at the two of us. “No matter how many of them are out there right now…” she says to me, “we have more.”
“What makes you so sure?” I ask.
Her lips curl with a knowing smile. “I just am,” she says. She turns to leave, but Tobias reaches out and grabs her wrist.
“Just so you know—” He looks into her surprised eyes. “After tonight, we’re done.”
Lillian’s eyes bounce between us as a subtle look of understanding fills them. “Your mother probably would have been pissed I let you into the Alphas in the first place,” she shrugs, gently pulling her hand free of his grasp. “Help me reclaim my territory and I’ll never bother you again.”
“My father, too.”
“Of course.” She blinks softly and she looks at me. “I suppose this includes you as well?”
“Yes.” Tobias answers for me, giving Lillian’s face a glint of amusement as she gages my silent reaction.
“I’ll let you two work that one out,” she says. “Whatever you decide, I’ll abide.” She clears her throat and glides off without another word, leaving the two of us alone in her office.
I look to the floor and close my eyes. I fill my mind with all sorts of fantasies, anything that will pull me out of this moment. My mother and I sit at a coffee shop in downtown Chicago. I lie awake in the loft with a book in my hands and headphones in my ears. I dig my nails in Tobias’ back as he thrusts me just a little bit harder.
“Claire, look at me.”
I curse the sound of his voice as the images melt from my mind. His face fills my vision, even more perfect and flawless than its ever been. “I’m so sorry, Tobias,” I whisper.
“For what?” he asks.
“Everything,” I shrug. “If it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t be happening.”
“You give yourself too much credit,” he says. “This feud goes back fifteen years. The Kings would have tried to overthrow the Alphas whether you were involved or not.”
“But Rick—”
“Rick is a pawn, Claire,” he says. “Sent in to do a coward’s dirty work.”
“He probably wouldn’t have been so willing to do it if I—”
“Claire, stop,” he interrupts me. “He made his choice.”
UNBROKEN: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 2) Page 15
