Chapter 46
Amelia
Ahuge weight came off my chest after leaving that cursed house. I could breathe again. I tucked my scan photo in my back pocket, cleaned up my bag, and found my cut hanging in my room.
Melody smirked. “It looks like it was made for you.”
And metaphorically and in reality, it was. It felt right. I was made for it, just like I was made for Shooter.
Time was ticking by, and I knew that I was missing a good portion of the fight.
I knew Shooter wouldn’t be furious with me, granted I could take on any punishment from him with pleasure.
But it was when he would find out what happened, and I knew that he would kill Chris, and leave no trace behind, relieving the world of an evil.
When we left, Stray barely said how he was doing or any kind of update. I don’t know if I should have been worried or thankful.
As Melody drove through the neighborhood streets, headed toward the warehouse district, she grabbed my hand, pulling me away from my anxious thoughts. “Are you really okay, Mia?”
Ever the caretaker, I just nodded without a word.
Was I really okay? How can you be okay when your worst nightmare becomes your reality?
How can you be okay when you had to keep fighting to just breathe?
But the real question was, how are you not crying happy tears that the demons of your reality were vanquished?
“I’m here if you want to talk.” She gripped my hand before placing it back on the steering wheel.
“You were right,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“I don’t want to be right.”
I shook my head. “You saw all those fucking months ago, everything that he left me with. You kept telling me to accept the help, and I didn’t, until it was almost too late.”
“It’s not your fault. None of this was your fault.
Amelia,” she sighed. “You survived all this time on your own. You fought for so long. You will never have to fight alone again. Being a part of this club, of this family, you’ll never walk alone.
” She glanced over at me. “We just have to be careful, you never know what’s going to happen.
” A shiver of guilt appeared. “I’m not trying to scare you. ”
“I know. I just can’t help but think, if I had reached out sooner, or actually took the first step and walked away from Chris,” I started to say, but Melody gripped my hand tightly.
“Again, I wasn’t trying to be right. I wanted you to know that you didn’t have to fight alone.”
“Well, we both know, I wasn’t really alone.” I softly smiled.
She let out a harmonious giggle, offering a sweet smile in return.
I hung my head for a moment. “Thanks for coming to find me.”
“That’s what family is for, sweet girl.”
“I’m surprised that Hound Dog let you come.”
She chuckled. “He didn’t have a choice. Granted I may have something waiting for me when we get back home. But he knows he can’t stop me when I have something on my mind.”
Stray had trailed along in the back, and with a roar of his bike, we were quickly approaching the warehouse. The parking lot was busy, and it seemed like it was a bigger fight than what Shooter had let on.
As soon as she could park in the back, I bolted out of the truck, pushing through doors until the roar of the audience grew with roars and even louder.
Fear shattered through me, seeing Shooter stumble a couple of times before getting back on his feet. They were only at nine rounds, but looking at the points, Shooter wasn’t doing too well.
His mind was somewhere else. He still had two minutes in that round to do something, if anything just to keep protecting himself.
“Last call, place your bets, last call,” a nasally voice rang out.
I looked to see a shorter man and another taller man collecting money.
I hated gambling, but a somewhat stupid idea popped into my head.
I rummaged through my purse, grabbing my wallet.
I took a deep breath before thinking about what I would do next.
A hand slipped on my shoulder, and Melody tried to say, “You might want to hurry, they only get a minute of rest before the next round.”
“I know, but I got to do something,” I urged her. She quickly disappeared toward the ring as I turned back to the booming voice.
“Last call,” the voice said again.
I rushed to him, without thinking and blurted, “I got five hundred on Shooter.”
The man chuckled. “Little lady, I’ll happily take your money, but to be honest, no one has placed anything on him. Maybe a couple, but the majority has gone to his opponent.”
I grinned. “Then take my money. Because this fucking fight ain’t over.”
“Whatever you say, lady.” He chuckled, making note to his friend about my friendly bet. The thing was, I wasn’t a gambling woman, but people didn’t know what I knew. That the man just needed an extra shot of encouragement.
“Now, I’m ready,” I whispered to myself, rushing over to ringside, pushing past everyone that stood in my way. I stood by our group, anticipating what I should say or do, nervously counting down the seconds.
“Good, because the bell is about to go off,” Dillon rushed over, taking my hand and leading to the corner where Hound Dog, Hank, and Otis stood.
Their eyes widened as I stepped further into the corner. Otis stepped forward looking over me, seeing a light red grazing along my neck. He shook his head, his own flash of anger showing on his face.
“I’m okay.” I smiled at him, because it wasn’t a lie. I was surrounded by family that cared about me, and I was about to be face to face with my man.
The bell chimed, telling the fighters to go into their corners.
He hadn’t seen me yet, and as the dinging of the bell sounded off, he didn’t look back at the corner, but staggered back to the seat, waiting for his brothers to help him.
I grabbed the water bottle and towel from Hank and was assisted up to the ring.
Shooter hung his head, a few drops of blood trailing along his lips, and nose. He was in worse shape than I hoped. Shooter’s face showed defeat, and a lot of heartache. His face painted with the marks of a hard-working fighter.
“You’re not looking too hot there, champ,” I said, approaching him with a little sway in my hips.
He whipped his head up, and from defeat to disbelief to a small smirk on his face. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in, breathing me in. His little shaky breath heated my skin.
“You’re here. You’re actually here.”
“Um, yeah you told me you wanted me here.”
“I was fucking worried. The cameras went out and I didn’t know what was going on and De Santos’ bastard got in my head.”
I wiggled out of his hold and dropped to my knees and sat at his level. “Nothing would ever keep me away from you. I took care of my obstacles. And I came back for you, sugar.”
“I love you so damn much.”
I leaned in and softly kissed his lips, trying to do my best to not let time tick by. But this was my Shooter, the strong loving man. His lips craved strength, craved the healing essence to soothe his heartache and yearning. The world around us didn’t matter, the kiss was for us.
I pulled away, cupping his bloodied cheek. “So what happened to winning?”
His charming smile reappeared. “I’m trying, I was missing a certain piece of my heart and drive. My mind was somewhere else.”
I couldn’t hold back a smile, because it wasn’t a part of the plan. But I had my own secret way of getting him back on top.
“Well, what if I told you had another reason to win?”
His eyes grew large. “Tell me.”
I glanced at the clock, only a few seconds left. Edge him. “Make it another round and I’ll tell you.”
I zipped away from him, scrambling out of the ring and back to our people, he stood up, taller than before and pointed at me. “You are a very cruel woman.”
“Win me a round, sugar.” I blew a kiss to him. Melody wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her chin on my shoulder. The bell dinged, and all I saw was Shooter having a new found strength. I wasn’t going to leave his side.
A wave of cheers sounded as Shooter took the chance to lead into offensive strategy, trying to corner his opponent, finding the weak spots. He was a machine. I couldn’t help but be in awe of him. Months ago he was in my ER for a small leg fracture and in that fight, he was a man of steel.
He threw out hit after hit, and in turn defended himself. That adrenaline started pumping in his veins. The bloodthirsty look in his eyes, throwing everything he had into his fighting.
I would be lying, but I didn’t know if it was the hormones or a turn on, but watching him sort of made me horny. I really had been around him for too long and I was okay with that. Hell, I wanted that in my life.
Screams and yells from his brothers giving him directions like they were so proud of him and knew that he could do this.
Even Dillon found his spark watching his mentor fight a raging titan.
I tilted my head, looking at his opponent.
So many dots were being connected. Chris being at the house, the bookie saying the odds were low for Shooter, and then looking at his opponent. This was never a fucking fair fight.
It was dirty looking at how this fight was rigged. It all made sense, even remembering the story that Dillon had told Shooter. This mafia family had to go.
Seconds later the bell rang. And fighters were back in their corners. Hound handed me the towel and water again, helping back into the ring.
Before I could even speak, Shooter said, “Okay, I was a good boy and survived, give me my reward.”
“Well, I could drag this out a little bit longer.”
“Amelia,” he growled out. “We can spend our little vacation either in rewards or punishment.”
“Oh, you’re no fun. But here, I think this might give you a little more motivation.” I reached into my back pocket and unfolded the photo. I held it out, showing the little blip. His face softened and darted back to me.
“Amelia, are you… this is?” he started to ask.
“Your third reason to win this fight? Of course it is, daddy.” I bit my lower lip.
He stared at the photo, seconds ticked by, I knew there was more to say but time was not on our side.
“Fight like hell. End this fight once and for all.” With one thrust of a bruising kiss and a bell soon to be rung, I knew one thing. I had given his beast enough firepower to end this all.