Chapter Ten Flights And Fights
Belle
At first, all I wanted to do was hide. I didn’t want to face Liberty after what just happened in the pantry. I kept trying to forget about that kiss…the one I initiated. What the fuck had I been thinking? I just felt overwhelmed by his insistence to protect me and get an apology for me. I guess that was it? I still wasn’t sure.
I had to find some way to stop this fight from happening though. Trouble was…Liberty wasn’t listening to me. Well, there was nothing new about that, was there? Talk about stubborn. I tried to get Redemption and Fate to help, but they practically refused to try and stop it. And Jarret? Their dad…wow, he wasn’t bothered by it either. Fucking men and their fights.
Scarlet, who had been sitting next me, patted my hand. “You okay, Belle?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not. Have you been listening to all this bull shit?”
Nodding, she replied, “I have. But as you should know already, if someone is bound and determined to do something, you can’t really stop them.”
I slowly nodded my head. “So what am I supposed to do?”
Scarlet shrugged her shoulders then said, “Be there to take care of him.”
I paused to stare at her. “What?”
“Look Belle, I know that you and him claim to not get along, but I think you know better. Be there for him when he needs help healing up after the fight.”
I patted her hand now and decided she was right. They weren’t going to listen to me about this fight, so all I could do was be there. I pushed my chair back and picked up my plate. Heading to the kitchen, I was totally distracted by all the crap going on in my head, then I heard bits and pieces of the conversations along the large dining table.
“That’s what I heard. Talon and Liberty are going to fight tonight.”
“Oh wow, really?”
As I kept moving, I heard other voices, “Supposedly, Talon called her a bunch of names and…”
I bumped into someone. After I stepped back a bit, I said, “I am so sorry.”
Jewel smiled at me. “No, it’s my fault. I was headed your way because I wanted to talk to you.”
I cocked my head at her. I knew Jewel through my sister even before I was brought here. “What can I do for you, Jewel?” I gave her a genuine smile. She had always been a good friend to Scarlet and from what I knew, she was a good person.
“Well, it’s about this fight.”
I blinked at her. Everyone was gossiping about this I suppose. “What about it?”
“Well, Talon and my man Prophet had one of these fights too.”
I stared at her. “Oh, ok.”
She looked around then nodded at me. “Can we talk privately?” she whispered.
I nodded. “Sure, um let’s move over to the refreshment table.”
We both walked over there and I set my plate down.
“When it happened,” Jewel launched right in. “I never knew they were gonna do that. Fight, I mean. I walked into that barn and could not believe what I was seeing. I was really mad at Prophet for doing it, but apparently he needed to work out his anger at the time. Deacon was holding his dad hostage and I was supposed to trade myself in to free him. It was a really tense time and I mean for everyone, but especially for poor Prophet.”
I stared at her as I had heard a little bit about this but I didn’t know the whole story. “Is Deacon really that evil?”
Biting her lip, she said, “He is Belle. He actually kidnapped Prophet’s father, so they would trade me for him.”
“But why?” I asked her.
“He wanted me to bear his children.”
Stunned, my mouth popped open.
Nodding, she went on, “I know it sounds insane. See, I knew he had been stalking me while he ran the Cotton Candy club, but I never knew he would take it that far. I mean what he did to one of his own men while I was captive there? It was an atrocity. So believe it.” Jewel visibly shivered. “He truly is pure, dark evil and don’t you ever believe he isn’t.”
I still couldn’t fathom it. The Deacon I met was nothing like that.
“So anyway,” Jewel continued. “I don’t know the details about why Liberty and Talon are fighting, but you need to watch Talon in that ring. At the last part of their fight, Talon gave Prophet this stun thing to the neck with his hand and that knocked him out. The man is dangerous.”
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that he is,” I replied. “I tried to talk the men out of this but none of them will listen to me.”
“Well, I urge you to at least be there. Then when you see Talon attempting to use that move if he does…You need to jump into that ring and stop him. I read about it online later on and if it isn”t done right, Liberty could be really hurt. It said that any blunt force to the neck can damage blood vessels, and if you restrict blood flow to the brain it can lead to serious neurological injuries.”
With a small gasp, I stared at her.
Grabbing my hand, Jewel went on, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you but I felt compelled to warn you.”
“But how can I stop Talon? He’s huge.”
“You get up in his face,” she said with a growl. “That’s what I did. He’s dangerous to men but he won’t hit a woman.” She shook her head. “And I know it’s none of my business, but I just had to tell you or it would have bothered me to no end.” Reaching out, she patted my shoulder. “You are Scar’s little sis.”
“Thank you, Jewel.” I leaned in to kiss her cheek.
With a nod and a smile, she moved away to head across the room to join Prophet.
I stared at him as he kissed her on the cheek then wrapped his huge arm around her shoulder. Wow, he was a big man, built like a tank. Talon beat this man up until he passed out?
“You okay?”
I jumped at Liberty’s voice. Turning around, I snapped, “No, I’m not okay.” I motioned to the couple I had been staring at. “That is Prophet, correct?”
Looking over at them, Liberty nodded. “Yeah, that’s our cousin.”
“And Talon made him pass out?”
“From what I heard, yeah.”
I shook my head in disgust. “You need to back out of this fight.”
“Belle, we already went over this,” he said. “Even if I wanted to and I don’t…A real man never backs down from a fight.”
“A real…” I rolled my eyes. “Why do men care about this alpha shit so much? Look, Jewel just warned me about your fight with Talon. She said at the very end, Talon gave Prophet this stun thing to his neck and it made Prophet pass out.”
“Yeah, that’s the Cartoid Slap. Talon must have been desperate.” Liberty chuckled. “Damn, I would have loved to have seen that fight! I knew Prophet is as strong as a fucking bull, but wow.” He shook his head and added, “That slap isn”t allowed in regulation fights but in a street fight, anything goes.”
“No, anything should not go, Liberty. Can’t you see this is all sort of dumb?”
He stared at me. “Defending you is not dumb, Belle.”
I opened my mouth to reply then shut it when I realized what he just said. “Defending me?”
“Yes, haven’t you been paying attention?”
I honestly didn’t know what to say. I now saw Liberty in a different light and I felt sort of lost. “I just don’t like this.”
“Well, I didn”t like coming in and seeing him twisting your wrist like that either.” He reached over and took my hand, raising my arm a bit to study my wrist. “Yeah, see it’s gonna bruise.”
I shook my head. “It is not.”
He kept a hold of my arm as our eyes locked. I knew he was thinking about that kiss, cause I sure as hell was. When I first met him, I never in a million years believed we would ever…
Dropping my hand, he took a step back. “I’m gonna go change clothes. I will see you after the fight, ok?”
I nodded. He would see me at the fight, but I wouldn’t be telling him that. I watched him as he walked away. Why didn’t I notice that walk of his before? It seemed like he glided along, not stomping or strutting. It had to be his training as a fighter. I suddenly felt warm all over again, like I did in the pantry when I kissed him. I shook myself. This whole thing was insane.
“When it hits, it is mighty. When you fall, it is deep. There aren’t many events in the world that can compare to when you fall in love.”
Turning, I stared at a woman about my age. I smiled at her. “Are you talking to me?”
Nodding, she smiled at me. “I was.”
“That was beautiful. Is it a song?”
“No, I sort of write poetry in secret.” Placing her fingers to her lips she added, “Shhh.”
I laughed at this. “So are you?”
“Am I what?” She stared at me.
“In love?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, but he won’t see it. Too many obstacles in the way. But I really said it because I saw the look on your face when you were watching my brother.”
I raised my brows as I realized who she was. “Glory?”
Nodding, she smiled. “I see my name precedes me.”
“Well, yeah,” I said. “From what I was told, you are the whole reason that your family is even here.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, in a way. But I’m not the reason they stay.”
I smiled at her. I liked the way she talked.
“So, you are in love with my brother, eh?” she asked.
My eyes widened at this wild accusation. “Um, no. No…”
“Oh, ok.” She stepped closer to me and dropped her voice a bit. “But take this advice from me…Love isn’t waiting on every corner. In fact, it can’t be found by most. But if you do find it and it is the real thing, hang onto it for all you are worth.”
I tucked my head back a bit to stare at her. “You act like you missed out on it or something?”
“Oh, I have and I am. But some people let walls stand in between them. Not just normal house walls but huge gigantic things like the Wall of China or the Walls of Jericho. Then there is a love that you have but someone else claims it and you wait many years to maybe get it back. Like my dad for instance. Ask him how it feels to have loved and lost.”
I now felt confused by this seemingly astute but odd girl. “Your dad, Jarret?”
Nodding, she looked around then back at me. “He fell in love with a girl way back when, but she loved his twin instead.”
I paused at this as it dawned on me what she was saying. It was like a huge epiphany. Bea had been married to Jarret’s twin brother. “Oh, wow.”
Nodding, Glory went on, “Now after they were both widowed, they are together finally. So, that gave me hope. Hope that love wins out in the end. Ya know?”
“I never thought much about it. My parents weren’t really a good example of love that’s for sure…” I shook my head. “Until Scarlet found your brother, I truly didn’t believe in love. Hell, I don’t think I even believe it now. Cause they are still new. They could still end up in heartbreak. I mean that is all I ever saw stem from this love you talk about. Heartbreak.” I shrugged.
Shaking her head, she said, “You are my age, why so stoic? So disheartened?”
“Well, for one, I…” I halted as I shook my head. “My childhood was terrible. That is all I am gonna say. Love was nowhere to be found in my world, all the time I was growing up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but all the more reason for you to accept love when it comes along.” She beamed at me. “Besides, Liberty needs someone like you.”
I stared at her. “Someone like…”
“Sure, you would keep him real. Humble him a bit. I can see that already.”
I laughed. “We have had our moments.”
“Oh, I bet.” She reached out to take my hand. “Give it a chance, Belle. Love heals. It can warm your soul. Like I said, if it comes your way, grab it up quick.” Dropping my hand, she turned and walked away.
Easy for her to say. Yet, she had her own broken heart if the guy she loves cannot love her back. It would figure. Yeah, I suppose I was jaded. I just couldn’t trust love or maybe false love would be more correct. Who knew the difference anyway. My eyes narrowed as I watched Glory heading across the main room and noticed a man sitting at one of the tables there.
He had his gaze locked onto her… An intense gaze. He also seemed to duck down a bit behind his laptop when she went by.
Pausing, I wondered. Maybe this was the guy she was in love with?
“Yep, you’ll need him alright,” Fate said.
I turned to see him standing next to me. “What?”
“Legend.” He nodded his head at the man at the table with the laptop. “He’s Requiem’s doctor. So Liberty might just need him later tonight.”