Chapter Nine On Fire
Liberty
Damn, this had just accelerated like a motherfucker, but I didn”t care. When I came in and saw him twisting Belle’s arm, I lost it.
“What in all that’s holy is going on here?”
We all looked over at my dad.
I let out a frustrated breath and shook my head.
“Seems the cousins have a disagreement, Dad,” Redemption explained. “They are gonna settle it in the ring.”
Belle stepped closer and said, “I’m glad you”re here Mr. Walker. These two are planning to fight. And I mean a REAL fight, like hitting each other with their fists.”
Our dad glanced over at her then back at his son and his nephew. “Make sure you are both gloved up. And no low blows.”
Belle gasped as she stared at him in surprise. “You mean you aren’t going to stop them?”
He slowly shook his head at her. “They need to settle it. We can’t have all this tension when we are all residing at the same location, girl. It’s bad for everyone. I won’t have them fighting in front of the family either.” He looked around at the guys. “Now let’s have dinner.” He turned and grabbed a large stack of plates then left the kitchen.
Belle looked gobsmacked by his attitude as she kept staring after him. “Is he serious?” she asked.
Redemption nodded at her. “Yep. This wouldn’t be the first time one of us fought in a ring over some difference or another.”
“Same for our side,” Talon said. “Our dad raised us the same way.” He refused to look at me or Belle as he added, “Eight pm tonight in the back garage. If you change your mind, let Redemption know.”
“Like I fucking would!” I sneered at him. “I’ll be there.”
He shrugged and walked away.
“Liberty, you cannot be serious about this!” Belle exclaimed.
“Afraid so, Belle,” I replied. “Let’s help set the table ok?”
She looked stunned as she went over and grabbed a stack of table napkins then wandered away.
“Man, you are gonna fight for her,” Redemption said with a chuckle. “You sure you don”t wanna fess up now?”
I scoffed. “I don’t like bullies Red and you damn well know it.”
“Yeah, yeah and you having the hots for Ms. Belle has nothing to do with it, right?” He snorted.
“Ok kids, let’s get all the food platters and pans moving.” Ma’s voice rang through the kitchen. “The table ain’t gonna set itself.”
“That would be a neat trick to see,” Fate stated as he gave Ma a smile then stepped over to where we were. “I heard all that, Lib,” he whispered as he got right up close to me, then his smile dropped from his face as he exclaimed, “Are you fucking insane?”
I stared at him and shrugged my shoulders.
“Did you forget who Talon is or something?” Fate went on. “He is gonna kick your ass and grind your bones to make his bread.”
“Man, what the hell does that even mean?” Redemption spoke up as he stared at Fate. “I really wish you would lay off the kid’s movies, baby brother.”
I narrowed my eyes at Fate. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Fate.”
“Just cause I’m looking out for you,” he retorted. “Did you miss the memo on Talon? The Claw? Remember that name? And do you remember he has it cuz he tears men apart? As in tears them in half. You do it for a living, man. This guy does it just for the fun of it. I know you are a badass fighter, brother. You got a shitload of trophies and a dozen hundred thousand dollar cashier checks to prove it. But this guy is downright deadly in a ring. Or a parking lot, or well, just about anywhere. I mean I know this is over your girl, but it is not smart. I really thought you liked your face the way it is.”
“Is that true?”
We all looked over to see that Belle had returned.
Fate shook his head and asked her, “Which part? That he likes his face the way it is? Or that this is over his girl? Which is you?” He nodded. “You should wake up to that fact now. Cause that ship has already sailed Miss Belle. Liberty is a fighter but he doesn’t toss his hat into the ring over just any ole bullshit. Being who he is, he has to pick and choose the occasion. If not, he would be constantly in a ring, in a damned fight upon receiving so many challenges.”
Belle slowly shook her head as she stared at Fate in confusion. “I have to say that you are highly entertaining and nothing like your brother. But no…I wasn’t referring to any of that. I meant Talon. Is he that dangerous?”
I scoffed about this part of it. “Don’t worry about that, Belle. Talon has to apologize for the shit he said about you.”
She braced her hands onto her hips. “Why? You said the same thing about me a couple of days ago. That I was spoiled and always had to have my own way.”
I opened my mouth to reply and then halted to look over at my brothers.
They both looked really invested in hearing my reply. Of course they did, the nosy fuckers.
Glaring at them, I took Belle’s hand in mine and led her to the pantry room. They were not going to be privy to this particular conversation, no way. Stepping in, I closed the door behind us. Looking over at her, I slowly shook my head as I attempted to explain my change of heart, “Look, I realized I was wrong about that. I saw that you missed your life and your career. I was wrong about you. I mean you are a strong woman with all that you have faced in your life. I could see how much being trapped here was costing you. That is why I volunteered to go with you. They were not going to let you leave and you know it. But as to Talon, he is wrong about this. You have the right to your life. You worked hard for it, pulled yourself up from real hardship and made something of yourself.”
Belle simply stared at me in total surprise and then she whispered, “You’re serious, aren”t you?”
“I am.” I nodded. “I told you I was sorry and now you know why I was sorry. Then this is the second time Talon has insulted you. And when I saw him twisting your wrist?” I looked upward and let out an angry breath. “I nearly lost my damned mind.”
Belle stared at me as silence fell between us, then she grabbed my shirt with both hands and tugged me close, her mouth latching onto mine.
To say I was stunned wouldn’t cut it. I stood like an iceberg, frozen solid from shock. The woman was kissing me? It took her tongue meeting mine to wake me up to the fact that she tasted like pure heaven. Wrapping my arms around her, I kissed her back.
We kissed wildly, breathlessly. Our hands were all over each other as we slammed into the shelves. Turning in a full circle as our mouths and bodies melded, we slammed into them again.
This was insane… we both broke apart suddenly. Breathing heavily, we stared at each other.
Then at that very moment, the pantry door opened.
We looked over to see Ma coming in.
Taking in our shocked expressions and our breathless silence, her brows rose then she smiled at us. “Dinner is on, but I can see you two finally answered a different bell. It’s ‘bout time… yessiree, it’s ‘bout time.” She grabbed a box of extra forks from the shelf and left.
We slowly turned and looked at each other.
Then with a gasp, Belle rushed out of the pantry like her panties were on fire.
I slowly smiled because I knew they really were on fire…for me. God damnit! I wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Except I was hard as nails and I needed to face the fact that I wanted this girl in the worst way. Swiping my hand downward from my forehead to my chin, I let out a long breath.
The fuck was that?
I paced for a minute or two in the pantry then took a deep breath and left, heading to the dining room.
When I got there, I spotted Belle sitting next to her sister. The seat on the other side of her was empty, so I headed right over. Then I pulled up as Fate sat in that very seat.
Looking up at me, he grinned.
I found myself wondering why I hadn”t kicked his ass lately. I sat next to him on the other side as I knew Justice would want the seat next to Scarlet. I noticed Belle did not look up when I came by, nor had she spoken a word. Well, that was fine by me. I needed time to process that kiss first, before I even said a word to her, or anyone else for that matter.
Of course, no one told Fate about this. “So, where were you?” he asked in a sly tone.
“In the pantry,” I replied honestly.
He opened his mouth to speak.
Raising my napkin, I flapped it out, cutting him off. “Not a word, Fate.”
He shook his head.
I set the napkin on my lap. Then I filled my plate. I poured myself some sweet tea and I proceeded to enjoy my dinner.
Fate had tried to speak to me a few times, but every time he opened his mouth, I would jab a fork at him or raise my glass to his face.
Finally, I was done eating and I turned to him. “Ok, so what is it that you have to say now?”
He turned his head and glared at me, then he drank from his tea glass.
I chuckled. “Come on Fate, don’t pout. It’s not masculine, ya know?” I teased.
He scoffed. “You are about to get a serious ass kicking and you don’t even care.”
“Is that true?” Belle asked Fate. “I mean isn’t Liberty BBA or something?”
“It is MMA,” I corrected her as I laughed.
“All I know is that it is always abbreviated,” Belle said with a shrug. “UF this or WW that. But I don”t care right now.” She leaned forward so she could see me better. “I don’t want you to get hurt over me Liberty.”
I shook my head at her. “I need him to apologize to you, Belle. He had no right to accuse you of being selfish or any of that other shit he said.”
“It isn’t worth it, Liberty,” she replied.
“It is to me,” I grumbled.
“Besides, he can”t back down now, Belle,” Fate informed her. “He would break the man-code and look like a chicken shit.”
“Gee Fate, make up your damn mind, will ya?” I said in disgust. “You have been trying to talk me out of it for an hour. Then now you are telling me I can”t back out?”
“Timing, brother. You just had to shut me up during the time we coulda backed outta this. Now, you’ve let it sit in. No going back.”
I laughed. “I’m kidding anyway. I don”t plan on backing out.”
Fate nodded at me. “Well good, cuz like if it was a public event, tickets are already sold out and your name is on the marque.”
“Wow, have you been paying attention to my career all these years or what, Fate?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get all full of yourself there, Lib. I watch a lot of TV sports.” He grinned at me.
“You cannot do this, Liberty,” Belle said as she had quit ignoring me finally.
“It’s already a done deal, Belle,” I told her. “It’s just a fight. I do it almost weekly or I used to. It will be okay.”
Fate kept shaking his head.
“And ignore him.” I tilted my head toward Fate. “He’s our over-dramatic brother.” I chuckled.
“Ha-ha,” Fate said. “Just don’t come crying to me when The Claw is done rearranging your face.”
“Is it gonna be that bad?” Scarlet finally spoke up as she looked worried.
Belle looked over at Redemption and nodded. “Is it? I mean the part about Talon really hurting Liberty?”
Redemption set his glass down. “I’ve seen Talon fight just recently in fact. Him and Prophet had a helluva bout. It was badass in fact. Now Prophet is not a professional fighter, but he rides bulls and wrestles steers down for branding, so he did really well. He still got knocked out though in the end.” He paused and looked over at me. “Yeah, Talon can hurt a man, but Liberty is an experienced fighter. He’ll be okay. I mean I’m sure Talon isn’t out to kill him.”
“You were standing right there, Redemption. You didn’t notice how angry Talon looked?” Belle asked him.
“Yeah, I did.” Redemption shook his head in disgust. “And as we all know, Liberty has a knack for pissing people off on the regular. So, Talon was a bit pissed, I admit. But really Belle, they are used to fighting. Liberty will get pretty banged up and he might even get knocked out, but he’ll survive it.”
I scoffed and raised my ice tea glass at him. “Wow, it’s good to know you’ve got faith in me, Red.” I felt a bit betrayed by both of my brothers and if anything…they just made me more determined to kick Talon’s teeth right the fuck up into his throat.