by Brooke May
“One side of the closet is just for you. When the movers get here tomorrow, you can set it up however you want.” He has yet to let go of my hand. “Same as in the bathroom.” He opens the door and shows me the room. Against one wall, when you first walk in, is a counter with a huge mirror over it and two sinks; next to it is the toilet, and in the back corner is a huge garden tub. “It has jets,” he whispers when I focus on the tub.
Score!
Then there is a large glass walk-in shower and a closet. “If there is anything you want to change, just let me know, and it is yours,” Chamberlain rumbles.
We walk back out into the bedroom. I have to sit on the bed, it is calling to me. I sit on the edge and instantly fall back, groaning with happiness.
I’m home.
“It’s been waiting for you like I have.” Chamberlain drops to his knees in front of me.
I sit back up and cradle his face in my hands. “Thank you. It’s … amazing, Chamberlain. Absolutely beautiful.”
“You like it?” He perks up.
“I love it.” I look around and find a picture of me on his bedside table. It’s one of me overlooking the bay. The wind had blown my hair back, showering my whole face. I look so relaxed and happy. My heart leaks for all that we have missed. No more. From now on, we make new memories, happy ones.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chamberlain
THIS IS INCREDIBLE.
I woke up twenty minutes ago and have yet to move. Katie’s sound asleep; one hand under her pillow and the other balled into a fist on my chest. Her mouth is slightly open, lightly snoring. Her blond hair spread across both pillows makes it look like the sun rising outside our windows. I want so badly to touch her, but I know if I do, I’ll wake her, and she needs the sleep. We had a hard time getting Marissa to calm down long enough to fall asleep in her new room; the excitement of everything finally wore her down.
I lie back down and stare up at the ceiling, feeling more satisfied than I have since the last time I held her in Boston. It was right before I left for my first fight. She was sick, and I felt useless because I had no clue what to do for her. I never once thought that her being sick would lead to a baby; our baby, my daughter.
When I bought this place and started putting the money and work into it, a small part of me never thought I would get Katie back. I’m glad I didn’t listen to that part; my heart always told me we would find a way back to each other. No matter what, I am never letting her go.
Scott and I made sure we had up-to-date security everywhere in the building. Her family won’t be getting near either Katie or Marissa. I know that scares Katie. As long as everyone remembers to shut the doors, we will be fine.
I glance over at my alarm clock.
6:45 a.m.
The movers will be here in a couple of hours. My mind is going in so many directions; I don’t think I can go back to sleep. I don’t know how many times I got up last night to check on Marissa. Each time, she was snug and sound asleep clinging to her stuffed panda.
When I close my eyes again to try to go back to sleep, Katie startles, and I sit up quickly. She fidgets and then rolls away from me. With my arm finally free, I hunch forward and run my hands over my head, one hand coming to cup over my mouth as I look back at Katie.
I’m going to leave her here.
I get up and throw on some workout clothes before heading down to the gym. I grab four bananas and a bottle of water on my way out. I’m halfway through my second banana when the elevator doors open and the sound of Sheryl Crowe’s “Calling Me When I’m Lonely” floats in along with the distinct sound of fists hitting a punching bag.
I check the time on my phone, knowing full well it is too early for Scott’s lazy ass to be up. Fiona never comes down here, so when I step out and see Beth at one of the lighter heavy bags, I’m not that surprised.
“Morning!” I shout at her while putting my bottle and phone down before peeling another banana.
“Morning.” Her breath is stressed. She’s been down here for a while.
“Been here long?”
She stops and steadies the bag before answering me. “What time is it?” She wipes her forehead.
“Almost seven.”
She walks over to me and grabs her own water bottle next to mine. “Then yeah, I’ve been down here since five thirty.” She takes a long drink.
“I can see that you are serious about joining?” Katie told me on the flight home how Beth was keen on getting information about women’s boxing from Helena.
“She tells you everything, doesn’t she?” Beth doesn’t sound offended, but happy? That confuses me.
“Yeah?” I bite off more banana.
“Oh, no.” She shakes her head. “Don’t take it the wrong way. I’m glad she does.” She offers me a smile. “Before you came back, it was just me and her aunts. It’s nice that she and Marissa have you in their lives again.”
“I’m the lucky one.” I finish my banana. “She changed my world when we first met. I was destroyed when I lost her.”
“I know what you mean.” She sighs. “Before I met K.C., I didn’t have anyone. Becoming friends with her healed me.”
“Yep.” I don’t add to it. Normally, I mind my own business, but if Beth wants a career in fighting, she is going to need my help, and I only help those who I can trust. So I need her story.
“I ran away from home when I was seventeen. My dad was a gambler and was always getting into trouble. The guys he ran with scared me and threatened my life on more than one occasion. So one day when he was recovering from a beating he received the night before, I ran.”
“Sounds like your old man and Katie’s would have been buddies. Two leeches who could stick together.”
“Yeah, well, too bad mine is dead.” There is no emotion in her statement. “I drifted around for a long time till I came to Denver. It felt peaceful there, I guess.” She shrugs. “I was nineteen, and it was just a few months before I met K.C. that I got news my dad had been killed. He owed someone a lot of money, and they collected on his life.” She shivers.
“No one has tried coming after you?” I’ve known some choice people who would do anything and go to any length to get their money. Death didn’t stop their pursuit.
“When I turned eighteen, I changed my last name to my late mom’s. No one will ever find Alena Gabehart. My dad probably figured I was kidnapped and sold off. So as Beth Martin, I can be who I want.”
“Damn.”
“Tell me about it. I met K.C. at a grocery store three months after I got the news. Well, heard it on the news. She was getting groceries and walking funny. I’ve always had a soft spot to help people, and she was acting like she was in pain. So I followed her, and as we walked down one aisle, her water broke. I rushed to her and got her to the hospital.” Beth’s voice goes deep with emotion to almost mystical. “I didn’t leave her side even when Jackie and Karmin got there. Hearing Marissa’s wailing welcome to the world changed everything.”
“And you two have been inseparable since?” I rub my chest, feeling a burn from hearing about my daughter’s birth.
I should have been there.
“Yep, come hell or high water, K.C. and I will never be separated for long periods of time.”
We sit in silence for a while. I don’t really know what to say. Until I remember what the league rep was talking to me about before Denver.
“You would draw in more sponsors if you would add to your team.”
“Why do so many people care about that?”
I’ve been fine on my own.
“Expand Chamberlain, add someone. Hell, we don’t care if it’s Franks. Your endorsements would go up and so would your number of sponsors.”
“And so would your ratings?” I sneer.
“As a matter of fact, yes, it would help out all around if you would bring someone on.”
“Like Noah did?” Once again, I’m fucking compared to Stone. Sure, he’s a great guy, but w
e are different. “How many times do I have to tell you that they are married and she wanted to be a fighter well before they met?”
“So find a woman?”
“You’re a pig and an asshole. I’m done with this meeting.”
I didn’t really think about it at the time, but adding someone would mean more money, and more money means more charities I can branch off to with donations. I look at Beth, deep in thought.
“I will help you get endorsed and get you sponsors.” My voice is riddled with emotion. She is the person who my beautiful Katie deserves as a sister, someone who had her back and was there for her when I couldn’t be. Zoey would have never done anything for Katie, but Beth gave up everything to travel with us and live in Boston when she was starting a life in Denver.
Beth’s wide gray eyes look up at me, astonished. “W-wh-what?”
“You heard me.” I nod. “You come on board Team Predator, get your own fight name, your own sponsors, some you’ll share with me, and get yourself into the ring.”
A laugh of disbelief emanates from her throat. “You’re serious?”
“Completely. You’ll travel to the same places as me with your own fights. You can work your way up through the rankings. When you fight, I’ll be in your corner along with Scott and Katie, and you will have my back in my fights.”
She throws her arms around me as a sob bubbles out of her. “Thank you so much, Chamberlain,” she cries. “This ...” She releases me after I pat her back. “This is everything I’ve wanted.” Her watery smile strangely makes me feel good inside. She may be an adult, but she is still a broken kid inside. Like I was, only in a different way.
“It’s the least I can do.” I clear my throat to contain my own emotions.
XOXO
BANG. BANG. BANG.
“Open up, sleeping beauty! The movers just called, and they will be here in fifteen!”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I slam my fist into Scott’s door. It is a little after eight, and the asshole should be getting up. His habits of sleeping in when we are home are ridiculous. “Fine; have it your way!” I shout and storm off to the elevator.
I know just where his room is from my floor. All the women are sitting around the kitchen table when I get upstairs. “Marissa, do you want to have some fun and make a lot of noise?”
She sets her cinnamon roll down and tilts her head. “Otay.” She hops down and skips over to me. “What we doing?”
“We are going to wake up Uncle Scott,” I say with purpose as I lead her down the hallway to one of the empty rooms.
“Can I help?” Beth bounces out of her chair and follows us. She is far too excited for this.
“Sure.” I turn to her with an evil grin and start jumping up and down. “KATIE!” I shout, knowing it will make more noise. “Turn the stereo on and turn it up till the windows start vibrating!”
“ON IT!” I’m glad she is on board with this. It’s childish, but so is he right now. Just because Beth won’t admit her feelings for him doesn’t mean he gets to sulk. “Feel This Moment” by Pitbull comes on, and Katie appears in the doorway with a smiling Fiona. “This good?” she shouts.
I shake my head and continue to jump. “NO!” Marissa is dancing around, and with every few steps, she slams both her feet together onto the floor. Beth is pretty much doing the same. “Go to my iPod and find Scott’s wake-up playlist and turn it to Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust,’” I shout over the noise the girls and I are making.
“OKAY!” Katie charges down the hallway, stomping loudly.
“FUCKING CHAMBERLAIN!” I stop moving when I hear Scott’s war cry coming from below us.
Marissa and Beth have stopped and are looking at me for instructions. “Don’t stop!” The music picks up, and Katie returns. This time, I pull her to me, and we loudly dance together. Marissa’s giggles can barely be heard, and Beth looks like she is having a blast. We are acting like a bunch of crazy people while Fiona records it all.
This is my normal family.
I’m barely aware of the doors slamming below us and the sound of Scott roaring in anger. Soon, Fiona is backing away from the door, and a red-faced, raging Scott Franks is standing before us. His breathing is fast, and his eyes are wild.
I stop jumping and grin at him. “Morning, buddy.”
“What the f-” Scott notices the girls around the room, all watching him. “Frigging horses are you doing?”
“Horses?”
“Yeah, you sound like a bunch of them up here.” The vein on the side of his head is pulsating, throbbing as he tries to rein in his anger. Once he blows, it takes forever to get him to come back down.
“It was time to wake up.”
“Movers are here!” Fiona’s voice rings down the hallway after she turned the stereo down.
“Perfect timing.” I clap my hands together and turn to my three dancers. “Thank you, ladies.” I bow to them. “Your work here is done.”
“Welcome,” they reply as one.
I turn back to Scott. “Good, you have a shirt on. Let’s get everything unloaded.”
“You’re an asshole,” he grumbles, following me out.
“Pay the pig!” Marissa shouts.
“Your daughter is going to break me.”
“No, your mouth is going to break you,” Katie replies to him. “Clean it up.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Beth laughs. “Don’t break any of my things when you bring them up, Franks.” Beth pokes him in the chest before we get into the elevator to head down and meet the movers.
“Jackasses … a bunch of jackasses,” he mumbles.
“We aren’t standing in a circle,” I quip, pushing the button to take us down.
“Ha-ha-ha, I forgot to laugh,” Scott adds sarcastically at my movie reference.
“I found it funny.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chamberlain
IT TAKES SCOTT and me a good hour to move everything up to either my apartment or Fiona’s. We had a method worked out that I would go up and drop stuff off for Katie and Marissa to unload and then Scott would follow with boxes for Beth. Every time we came back up, an empty box was waiting for us. The girls didn’t have much stuff; it was mainly clothes and Marissa’s toys. Lots of toys.
I’m in the garage tearing down boxes when the elevator chimes and my girls step out. wearing sundresses. Marissa’s blond hair is in pigtails, and it looks like Katie got her to hold still long enough to curl them and tie them with ribbons to match her pale pink dress.
And then there is her mom, my wife, my panda, my Katie. She’s in a baby blue sundress that has super thin straps over her tanned shoulders and ends just above her knees. The flash of the ring on her hand interrupts my view, beckoning it back up. “Eyes up here, stud.” My blood pumps faster when she calls me that.
I drag my eyes up her body, taking in her dress that has random white dots all over the place. I lick my lips as I go. “What are you two up to?” My voice is thick.
Katie’s look is a knowing one, but Marissa breaks the moment. “Wide, Daddy!”
I drop down to her level. “A ride?” I ask with as much enthusiasm as she has. “In what?” I point over at the powder white SUV that I bought for Katie. Safety is top of the line; the gas mileage is not too good, but she will be using it around town and maybe for trips to the cottage. The interior is black leather, and like all my vehicles, it has a panda decal on the back.
“Nope!” she sings. “That one.” She points over at the corner by the elevator at my Challenger.
“That one?” I’m actually surprised she wants to ride in that one. “Are you sure?”
“Yes!” She jumps. “Mommy said it not junk, and she wants to see it now.”
“She did?” I look, amused up at Katie. “Well, did she tell you that it belonged to Grandpa?”
“Yes, can we go? Please?” Her blue eyes that are just like mine pout up at me.
“Fine.” Smiling warmly, I go to
the safe that houses all the keys and grab the ones I want. “I don’t have your car seat in there yet.” It’s the only one besides my bike that doesn’t have one installed. It was too much of a pain in the ass to try to get it in since the car has only two doors.
“Then put it in,” Katie teases. “We want a ride, Daddy.”
I glower over my shoulder at her and go over to the box by my tool chest to get the car seat out. “You win.” I fuss with the damn seat for ten minutes, but finally get it secure and ready for our ride. “Climb back here, princess.”
“But the seats—”
“She’s just fine; the seats can be cleaned or replaced. She can’t.” I throw a wink over at Katie as she gets in the passenger seat while I buckle Marissa in. “Good to go?” Steadying my eyes on Marissa’s, she gives me a confident nod, and I turn around to get my seat belt on and start the car. I rev the engine and get excited at the roar of it. I won’t go fast with Marissa in the car, but Katie and I will definitely be taking this out and opening up the throttle when we get a chance. “Purr, baby, purr.”
“Later.” My eyes shoot to Katie’s with her quiet, seductive promise. I swallow and stare at her.
“Daddy! Go!” Marissa’s little legs flare up between the seats.
“Oh, all right.” I turn my attention back to the task at hand, taking my girls for a ride. We cruise around until we end up at the bay, perfect timing for dinner. “Will she eat seafood?” I rub my thumb on Katie’s bare knee leisurely.
“Yes, she loves shrimp. So as long as she can get some, she won’t complain.” Her warm hand comes down and threads her fingers through mine, holding me tightly.
“Good, because I know just the place.” We drive for a while longer and pull into a nearly packed parking lot. An audible gasp comes from Katie when she sees where we are. I smile, knowing what is running through her head. It’s one of the last places we had eaten at together before everything happened.
