Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
DALTON
Ibarely registered the unhappy roars and curses coming from the crowd as my opponent fell to the ground, unconscious.
I hadn’t been in the frame of mind to give them a show tonight when I stepped into the makeshift ring. All I’d been able to focus on was trying to work this shit out from under my skin.
The guy I’d been fighting only got in one hit, and not even a good one, before I knocked him out cold.
Fucking waste of my time, I thought as I shoved through the crowd and headed out of the warehouse, collecting my winnings on the way toward the exit. That beast was still fighting to get free, still clawing and scratching at my insides.
“Wasn’t a very entertaining fight back there, brother.”
At Trent’s voice, I lifted my head and spotted him leaning casually against the hood of my truck.
“Not my fault the asshole had a glass jaw.” I beeped the locks and yanked open the driver-side door, pulling the envelope of cash out of my back pocket and tossing it into the center console. “What’re you doing here?”
“Your dad called, told me what went down at the hospital. I figured I’d find you here. You manage to work that rage out with that guy?” He jerked his chin toward the warehouse just as the people who came to watch the fights started to spill out.
“What do you think?”
He pushed off the truck, standing to his full height. “Think you still need a good fight. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To AO. I’ll give you the fight you’re needing, but not without gear. My face is prettier than yours.”
Alpha Omega took up a large part of an historic building downtown. The first floor housed the main operation, and the second level had been converted into a gym with everything the guys working for Lincoln could possibly need, including a boxing ring.
Trent was standing in the middle of the ring, shaking his arms loose as I climbed through the ropes. “Don’t worry,” he started with a wink, “I’ll go easy on you.”
“Just try to stay conscious, shithead.”
We bumped gloves, and I didn’t hesitate to throw a right hook. His head twisted to the side, spit flying from his mouth and hitting the mat.
I usually would have started slower, sparring for a few minutes before building up to a full-blown fight, but with my shit mood, I needed to beat the hell out of someone, and my boy had offered himself up on a silver platter.
He looked back at me, a smirk pulling at his bloody lip. “There it is. Thought you’d pussy out.”
He dodged my next punch, nailing me in the ribs hard enough to knock the wind out of me. We went at each other like that for a good ten minutes. I’d land a kidney shot, and he’d retaliate with a jab that bloodied my nose.
I fought underground because there were no real rules, but even with the gloves, this was the closest I’d had to a fair fight in a long fucking time.
Trent had the same training, the same power, the same brute strength behind every punch, so by the time we broke apart, we were both covered in sweat and blood, breathing hard.
We were both going to be riddled with bruises tomorrow, but that beast inside of me was finally quiet for the first time in hours.
“Had enough?” I asked, spitting blood onto the mat as I wiped the sweat from my brow with my forearm.
“You tell me?” he returned, grabbing a bottle of water and squirting a steady stream into his mouth. “You feel like you got that shit worked out, or you need me to scramble your brain a bit more?”
I ripped the gloves off my hands and leaned against the ropes, pulling in a much-needed breath. “I think I’m good for now. Thanks.”
“Any time, brother. You know that.” He smacked me on the back, and we headed out of the ring. He snatched up a couple towels, tossing one to me before moving to sit on the bench press a couple yards away. “So you finally ready to talk about what went down at the hospital?”
I took a seat on another one of the machines, mopping my face with the towel before chugging from my own water bottle. My gut twisted into knots as I thought back to that look on Charlotte’s tear-stained face as I walked out of her hospital room.
“I lost my mind,” I admitted. “I saw her like that and—” I had to stop.
Closing my eyes, I gave my head a shake and swallowed the bile that was trying to climb up my throat, leaving a nasty burn in its wake.
“She said she felt like someone’s been watching her recently and I just fuckin’ lost it, man.
I didn’t know how to deal with seeing her like that a second goddamn time, and I took it out on her.
I knew the shit I was saying to her was fucked up as it was coming out of my mouth, but I couldn’t make myself stop. ”
“I can see how that’d happen. I guess the question now is, what’re you going to do to fix it?”
My head suddenly felt too heavy to hold up. I dropped it, my shoulders slumping in defeat as I looked down at the floor and gave it a shake. “I don’t know. Fucking kills me to say it, but I’m not sure there’s anything to fix.”
His brows pulled together in consternation. “What are you talking about? I thought things were good?”
“I thought they were too. Or at least that was what I was trying to convince myself of. I kept telling myself I was fine with what she was giving me, that she’d eventually trust me enough to give me the secrets she’s holding in a goddamn death grip, but after today, I’m not sure that’s the case.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get in any deeper than I am now, and I don’t think I can keep lyin’ to myself that it’s enough. ”
I felt all the anxiety I’d managed to work out only minutes ago resurface, ugly and black, sticking to my insides like tar.
“Then don’t think about it.”
I gave him a quizzical look as I drained the last of the water in my bottle and wiped my mouth dry with the back of my hand. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means exactly that. Don’t think about it.
Right now, you need to focus on finding the fucker who beat the hell out of your girl and making him pay.
Right now, you have to concentrate on keeping her safe.
Until that’s done, there’s really no point in making any life-changing decisions in regard to your relationship, is there? ”
He had a point, and when I thought of it like that, I felt a bit of relief.
Throwing the empty bottle into the recycle bin a few feet away, I pushed to my feet and tucked the towel into the waistband of my athletic shorts. “Thanks, man. Appreciate you lookin’ out for me tonight.”
“Not a problem.” He rose from the weight bench and moved his jaw side to side, working it out from where I’d punched him earlier. “What do you say we go another round before heading out? You know, just in case you need your ass kicked a bit more.”
Charlotte
By the time the sun came up the following morning, I felt like I’d been awake for days.
If I wasn’t having bad dreams, it was the nurses waking me up to check on me.
If it wasn’t the nurses, it was my guilt at how I’d left things with Dalton.
Then there was also the constant worrying that maybe Micah was right.
What if that man attacking me was because of my sister?
What if she was in trouble?
On top of stress and exhaustion, I also felt like I’d been run over by a freaking eighteen-wheeler, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle, and as sad and pathetic as it was to admit, it also wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced before.
After my big fight with Dalton, Jolie and his parents had stuck around, doing their best to lighten the mood and make sure I was okay, but there was no shaking the awkwardness from the blow-up, no matter how sweet they were.
I’d been given a slight reprieve from the constant hovering when visiting hours ended the night before, but today was a new day and, once again, my hospital room was full of people, including Dalton, who was once again, playing the strong silent type, standing off to the side.
I could have sworn I saw the faint shadows of a couple bruises on his face, but he hadn’t come close enough for me to get a better look, and I wasn’t about to ask.
But what I couldn’t understand, and what was slightly worrying, was that he hadn’t come alone. He’d come with some of his Alpha Omega buddies in tow, and I had a feeling there was another shoe that was going to drop this morning.
I did my best to hold back my wince when the doctor shined that stupid little penlight in my eyes and swallowed down the curse that wanted to bubble up from my throat when he prodded at my nose.
The doctor clicked the light off and stuffed it in the breast pocket of his white lab coat. “Well, you’re going to be hurting for a good bit, but the good news is, I think it’s safe to let you go home today.”
The rush of relief I felt was quickly replaced with a near-crushing panic at the thought of going back to my apartment. A place that had been all mine, my safe space, was now tarnished, tainted by the memory of that man. My privacy had been violated in the worst way, and I had nowhere else to go.
He looked around at the gathered crowd. “I’m assuming one of your many friends here will be able to drive you?”
“We’ve got her, Doc.”
My heart gave a little jump, flipping and flopping in my chest at the sound of Dalton’s voice.
It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since things went sour, but I’d still somehow missed him like crazy.
However, there was another part of me that was unsettled at the thought of what his claim meant.
How exactly did he have me, and who were we?
“Good,” the doctor decreed with a nod, oblivious to the tempest suddenly swirling in my head. “Then I’ll get your discharge paperwork started. I want you to call my office next week to schedule a follow-up appointment.”
I agreed, and he said his goodbyes, quickly hustling out of the room, probably to escape the testosterone overload clogging the air.
“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as the door snicked shut, my gaze darting around the room. “Why does it look like I have my own personal entourage to go home?”
Surprisingly, it was Dalton who answered that. “You know most of the guys I work with, but I wanted to reintroduce you to the ones who’ll be in charge of your security.”
I blinked slowly, trying to comprehend what he’d just said. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You remember Trent, West, and Hunter. They’re part of your security team. One of them will be watching over you whenever I’m not around.”
My head felt like it was about to explode, and it had nothing to do with the lingering headache that had been pulsing behind my eyeballs all night. “I’m sorry . . . what?” I repeated on a screech.
He crossed his arms over his chest, bracing his feet shoulder-width apart like he was gearing up for a fight and had no intention of backing down.
“Until the fucker who did this to you is caught, you aren’t to be left alone.
Hayden’s packed everything you’ll need to move into my place for however long this lasts, and during that time, you aren’t to be left alone. ”
My head jerked around, pinning my supposed best friend to the spot. She at least had the decency to look contrite. “Sorry, babe, but if this is what has to happen to keep you safe, then . . .” She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders like that said it all.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I gritted at Dalton before turning beseeching eyes to Micah. “Come on. I mean, don’t you think this is a little much?”
I’d made a huge mistake thinking he’d be on my side . . . the traitor.
His expression was granite as he asked, “You look in a mirror lately, Charlie?”
I hadn’t, mainly because I was scared to.
The few times I’d gotten up in the night and waddled to the bathroom, I’d made a conscious effort not to look.
I didn’t need to see the damage to know it was bad.
My nose throbbed like it had its very own heartbeat, and my skin felt tight everywhere, but as long as I didn’t actually see the damage, there was a part of my brain I could trick into thinking it wasn’t all that bad.
“This is happening, so you might as well get on board,” he finished in that hard detective voice he rarely ever used with me. That stupid voice made me want to punch him in the face.
My pride wanted to keep arguing, but the truth was, I didn’t feel safe, not anymore. I might be the kind of person who treasured her privacy to an almost unhealthy level, but there was no denying I felt the teeniest bit better knowing I wasn’t going to be alone in this.
From the expression on the men’s faces, each and every one of them was taking this very seriously. Hell, even Walt looked like he wanted to take someone’s head off.
However, the stubborn streak in me was never-ending and miles wide, so instead of relenting with grace and dignity, I folded my arms over my chest and flopped back against the paper-thin pillows with an insolent pout on my face.
“Fine. Whatever. But can I at least have some privacy to get dressed?”
I could have sworn I saw the corner of Dalton’s mouth tremble like he was fighting back a grin. “You’ve got five minutes.”
“Ten,” I argued back, knowing there was no way in hell, with how stiff and sore my body was, that I’d be able to get dressed in five minutes.
“Five. Then I’m comin’ back through that door whether you’re dressed or not.”
And I knew by the wicked smirk he wasn’t bothering to hide, he was dead serious.