Chapter 14
Fourteen
ELLIS
Jamie had the right idea about sneaking over to see Violet alone. I always sleep pretty heavily, except for last night. Jamie should thank me for keeping Nate from following after him, honestly.
I figure if one of us is in her good graces, then we may all benefit from her bringing her walls down. When I think about it like that, it sounds fucked up.
Kicking a particularly solid batch of ice, I grunt.
"Fucking motherfucker!" Rage bubbles and warbles beneath the surface, but it's all aimed at myself.
All I can think about is how screwed up I am.
I've hurt two of the people who mean the most to me, yet here I am planning to use Jamie's love for Violet as my way back into her heart.
"Get in the fucking car, you asshole."
"AH!" I bellow, whirling around with my hands raised to fight off my attacker. "Shit, Levi?"
With a scowl etched into his sharp features, Blue's best friend glares at me out of his car window. I recognize him from Violet's old videos and know she thinks of him as her uncle. I also know him as the guy who punched Jamie in the fucking face a few days ago.
He looks pissed.
"Get. In. The. Fucking. Car."
I don't think I want to.
As if he heard my thoughts, Levi shifts and shoves his door open. He's out of the car and in my face faster than I can take a step back. He's only like ten years my senior, yet I've never felt more like a child than in his presence.
"I see the anger in your eyes, kid. You can't control it. Especially not when real feelings are involved. You want near my niece? Get in the fucking car. Or get the hell out of Chicago."
Levi is a replica of a slim, blond, beautiful statue. No way could I take him and his stone muscles on.
He hasn't laid a finger on me, yet I feel as if he's already beaten me to a pulp. "Where are we going?" I croak, stepping back and around him to get to the other side of the car.
"Shut up and put your fucking seatbelt on."
We slam the doors closed at the same time. At least he wants me alive.
Something about his rage calms mine. He's mad, obviously, but not once has his jaw ticked or his hands clenched into fists.
Levi is in full control of his shit, and he may have said the F word way too many times to count, but I aspire to be him.
If I were in his shoes and Violet were replaced with one of my sisters, the guy might have lost a few fingers.
Maybe broke a few ribs on my fist. For sure, busted a nose.
Yet, I'm still intact even after facing Levi's wrath. He recognizes the fire I struggle to control. I see the same in him. Even so, he's not even speeding down the road. I may have been kidnapped, but I don't think he'll kill me. A kidnapper wouldn't tell me to buckle my seatbelt. Right?
Just in case, I send a message to Nate, letting him know I'm heading who knows where with Violet's irate uncle.
"Let's get one thing straight," Levi snaps as he throws the car into park. Glancing out the windshield, I note that we're at a gym. A nice one, judging by the modern building. "I don't give a shit what problems you have."
Damn.
"I care what kind of energy you bring to Violet. I'll help you get your shit under control, or I'll demand you find another way if it's not working. You refuse help, you walk away."
With wide eyes, I turn in my seat to look at Levi. "Why do you even want to help me?"
This time, when Levi pins me with his stare, I can't breathe. He's letting me see beyond the rage.
"Not to be a fucking cliché, but I see myself in you, man. You're on track to ruin your future if you don't check yourself. And you don't know how to do that, do you?"
"Check myself? No. I mean, I know when I start getting overwhelmed, I ramble, and my body feels really fucking tense. It's like something, anything, needs out."
Levi nods and reaches for the handle. "Great. Let's go."
I'm jolted from my stunned position when his door slams. Scrambling to get out of his car before it explodes or some shit, I rush after him and try to keep myself upright. The last thing I need to do is face plant into his heels.
Without a backward glance at me, Levi greets the receptionist and lets him know I'm with him. The sounds of machines clanking together, matched with grunts, are the soundtrack to my impending doom. I don't know why we're here, but I know for a fact Levi is going to kick my ass.
Please let it just be running.
Following Levi into a dark room, I huff out a pained groan when something slams into my chest. I ditched my coat in his car; now I'm suddenly wishing I had the extra padding.
"Put those on," Levi demands just as the fluorescent lights blind me. He's not looking at me, but I'm not watching him either. My gaze is stuck on the fucking boxing ring in front of me.
"Don't be a pussy!" Levi shouts as he nonchalantly leaps into the ring. I've never, not once in my thirty years, sparred with someone. Definitely not someone who can put these big ass gloves on in under ten seconds. What the fuck...
Bending over the ropes, Levi pins me with a glare. "Put the fucking gloves on. Take your shoes, socks, and shirt off. And get in the fucking ring."
Unable to help myself, I grin as I fling my T-shirt toward the wall of mirrors. "If you wanted to undress me, all you had to do was ask."
"Really, Ellis?"
Shit. Nate steps into the room behind me and looks ready to wallop me, too. I'm fucked.
"You want help or not?" Levi deadpans with his serious gaze on mine. He completely ignores my partner lingering in the room.
Sobering, I swallow thickly and focus on Levi. "I do."
"Then get in here and get your fucking anger out, kid. No way in hell am I letting you near Violet until then."
Buzzing with adrenaline, I somehow get myself ready and climb into the ring. I vaguely hear Nate mention something about keeping me pretty and Levi threatening that he's next. Not because he needs to learn how to control his emotions, but because he deserves an ass-whooping for hurting V.
I'm too lost on how to stand properly while Levi just stands there casually. He doesn't allow me to mimic his movements. When he beckons me forward, I follow like a fucking idiot and get punched in the damn shoulder.
"Fuck!" I spit out and raise my hands higher. As if I can actually defend myself from Levi.
Levi rolls his eyes and stands nonchalantly once again. "Calm down. That was barely a love tap. I'll let you get your energy out now. Come on then," he coos like a fucking sadist while motioning me forward.
I once thought he was so damn handsome; now I think he might be the devil in an angel's skin. Still shocked by this turn of events, I stand frozen, but at least I'm protecting my face with the gloves and bouncing on the balls of my feet.
"You hurt Violet," Levi taunts, eyes turning to steel as he repeats my sins. "The woman you claim to love is curled up in her mother's arms after falling off a fucking cliff. You hurt her heart while she was already suffering."
What?!
"WHAT?!" Nate roars somewhere on the sidelines.
"Violet has a sprained ankle. Bruised ribs. Too many scrapes and bruises to count. Why else would she have taken so long to reply to you, huh?"
"You're lying," I grit out, my body vibrating with growing rage and self-hatred.
Levi squints and tilts his head like a fucking predator. Like he wants to hurt me. "Violet fell off a fucking cliff while you were acting like a selfish prick. Who wants to kick someone while they're already down? Hell, she was hurting before you even came into the fucking picture again."
"Stop!" My hands are sweating inside the boxing gloves. The trembling in my limbs screams that something needs to be unleashed.
"You hurt a woman who was already hurting herself," Levi continues, voice strong yet devoid of the emotion he should be swamped with.
"Face it. Both of you failed your fucking duty as her protectors.
From where I'm standing, all I see is you spitting on the woman you love while she's lying at the bottom of a fucking hill, bleeding, crying out for you to help her, and saving herself. "
With a battle cry aimed at my failures, I launch myself at the faceless monster who knows all of my sins. Me. I need to beat myself down and rebuild myself back up into a man that Violet deserves.
Levi's ready for me, deflecting my flailing, weak attempts at pummeling him into the ground. Instead, I come out with a throbbing face, a gut that wants to throw up, and the wind knocked out of me.
"I expect you to be in this room every other morning at nine A.M. You'll learn to wield the negativity into a fucking hobby. Clean up. Get out. See you at Blue's if your priorities are straight."
Oh, I'll be there. Seeing Violet is the only reason I peel myself off the fucking mat. That, and Nate's worried gaze swimming above me.