Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
RICH
“H ey, you’re up.” Anton, King’s right-hand man, tells me, but I ignore him. My attention is focused on my phone. As it has been for the last few minutes.
Why the hell is this shit not working? I can't access the security cameras at home. I had it pulled up, and it was working before I left home and have checked it a few times since I got to the warehouse, and now it’s not working.
Anxiety creeps in that someone has come for Fallon. I push it aside, knowing there is no way in hell that my uncle West would allow anyone to get near the estate. He has the highest level of security on that place.
“Where is King?”
“I’ll find him for you.” Anton motions for me to go, but I don’t move. “After the fight.”
“No, now.” West hasn’t responded to my texts.
"The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can leave." Normally I get pumped for a fight. I’m not feeling it tonight. My head isn’t in it. I never should have left the house to begin with.
What if the girls say something that upsets Fallon? I know she won’t tell them. They could put on a scary movie and freak her out. I run my hand down my face because I know my thoughts are insane, but I can’t stop them.
"I could leave right now." I'm already itching to do that.
"Fucking hell," Anton mutters, pulling out his phone. I shouldn't be a dick to Anton. He’s a good one and even helps me train. "King said he'll meet you at the curtain." The curtain is where you come in from when you're announced.
"Fine," I agree, pulling off my shirt and tossing it away before I head that way. I still can't shake the thought that something is off.
Why is no one fucking responding to my messages? The girls could be hanging out and not paying attention to their phones. But King is seeing his messages because he responded to Anton.
My anger and irritation start to grow. I often welcome it. It is my natural state most of the time. Until recently. All that anger I hold inside of me, the rage I have toward my father is not simmering so close to the surface anymore. Fallon has become my sole focus.
King is standing by the curtain when I make it to him. "Tell me what the fuck is going on. You wouldn't be standing here if you couldn't log into the cameras back at the house." I know that for a fucking fact.
"I can't log into them." He pulls out his phone to show me.
"I'm leaving." I shake my head. "I can't believe you're here without eyes on my sister." Not because I think he needs them but that’s how protective he is over her, and I get it now. So I’m not buying this bullshit.
"I have eyes on my wife. As I do with your girl." He smirks. I fist my hand at my side, wanting to knock it off his face. Now, that would be a fight worth paying to see and bet on. I thought we were on a new path, but King is pissing me off now.
"That's always so cool to hear." I spin around at the sound of Teddy's voice. West has an arm around her shoulder, keeping her close. The fuck is she doing here? It’s girls’ night, I was told. "Them chanting your name." Teddy shrugs. “What? It’s awesome.” She glances around at all of us. “Why do you have your murder face on?”
Murder face? I don’t bother to ask. It’s not the time.
“Where is Fallon, and why aren’t the cameras working?”
“They’re not?” West pulls his phone out.
“Ah, she’s here.” Teddy’s words hit me hard enough to take a step back. “Willa texted King and told him we were coming.”
“King,” West snaps before I can. “How the fuck?”
“Zero.” He shrugs but seems slightly apologetic. But why the fuck would he turn them off?
“The fuck is going on!” I roar.
Now it’s everyone else who steps back from me. “She’s with Willa. I’m watching them, and so are my men.” King flips his phone around for me to see once again.
While I’m happy that Fallon is safe, I’m pissed that she’s here not only because of the safety concerns but also because I know that every motherfucker in this place that has eyes will be looking at her. With the exception of King and West but they're both on my shitlist anyway, so my anger is also going to be directed at them.
The sight of Fallon and what she’s wearing on King’s screen not only has my anger rising but my dick as well. There is a live feed but also multiple still shots of both her and Willa in the crowd. My eyes quickly scan over every detail. But one stands out the most: my name stitched into the back of the shirt she’s wearing, letting everyone know she’s mine.
“I thought you knew we were coming.” West glares at King. “Willa said she texted King.”
Why the hell didn’t she text me? I’m her damn brother. Though we haven’t been close over the last year, which I know is on me.
“Willa let me know. I figured you’d see her when she got here.”
“You’re a fucking liar.” I take a step toward King. “Part of that might be true, but there’s more.”
“The girl wanted to come.”
“ My girl. Mine ,” I remind him. “I’m Willa’s twin brother, and you’d be pissed if I did this when it came to her.”
“Your sister is always my number one priority.” Why do I get the sense we’re playing with words here? Then it hits me.
“You motherfucker.” I growl as I swing my fist and make contact with King’s face. He stumbles back a few steps.
“Rich!” Teddy hisses. West doesn’t move to grab me; in fact, he makes sure Teddy doesn't try to get between us. Anton does, though. King holds out his hand to stop him.
“I’ll give you that one.” He wipes the blood that formed in the corner of his mouth. “But I’ll do what I need to keep my wife safe. Even going against her and all of you.”
Yes, King does always do what he needs to. Or what he thinks he needs to do. I get it. I understand his reasoning. He’d burn down the world for my sister. I have those same urges. It’s insane, but I know I’d pick Fallon over everyone. I’d walk away from everything I know to have only her.
But this could have been handled differently. Aren't we supposed to be a family now? That's what everyone keeps telling me.
“We’re not done,” I tell him when I hear the announcer call my name to come to the ring.
“What the hell, King?” I hear Teddy say before pushing through the curtains. I ignore the crowd as they chant, my eyes searching for Fallon. It doesn't take me long to find her. As soon as I set eyes on her, my entire being becomes hypervigilant.
All the color has drained from her face, her attention on someone else in the crowd. It reminds me of that first night I met her. I head straight for her, jumping over the metal rail that helps keep the crowd back.
"Move!" my voice booms, causing everyone in front of me to part and make a path for me.
I hear the announcer still going, but I'm not listening to him. A roaring sound fills my ears. It's one I often get when the bell rings to start a fight, all my focus and attention turning to my willing victim.
It doesn’t take me long to cut through the crowd, but it feels as though an eternity has passed.
“Dollface!” I shout out to her. I don’t want to say her name for all to hear. She turns her head more in my direction, indicating that my voice has reached her. Her lips part, and I can see relief cross her face, but the fear is still there. Something here has spooked her, and I’m guessing she saw someone she knows.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a man in a gray suit heading toward her. He’s been here before, and he’s too young to be her father, by my guess.
“Hey!” I roar over the crowd to get the fucker's attention. He freezes when he spots me, his eyes filled with surprise and confusion. An almost bewildering expression. It’s the same man the blonde that tried to touch me earlier was with. “Willa, get her back,” I order my sister but already see some of King’s men closing in around the girls.
“Man, I think you’re mistaken.” He holds his hands up. “I don’t want Cassie. You can have her.”
“No one cares about Cassie. Am I mistaken that you know her?” I nod toward Fallon. He turns to look, but I pop him in the cheek with a slap. “Eyes on me, bitch boy. We both know who I’m talking about.” His mouth hangs open, still in shock. Going off the fancy-ass suit he’s wearing and the men standing behind him, I’m guessing he’s never been slapped before. I didn’t punch him for a reason. I knew a slap would embarrass him more. I want him to feel like the lowest of the low.
He’s a short little fuck that I’m guessing can run his mouth. That’s why he’s got the two guys behind him that aren’t about to get in this fight. Everyone appears to be backing away.
“Answer me.” I pop him in the mouth again. This time, he quickly retreats a few steps, but I swiftly clear the distance between us again. I grab a fistful of his hair and yank backward, treating him like the little bitch that he is.
“Ahh! Let go!” He struggles against my hold. It’s almost comical, but I’m too pissed to find anything funny.
“Answer my fucking question.”
“She’s my fiancée.” I feel a sense of anger that I’ve never felt before. That’s saying a lot since I hated my father with the deepest part of me. That roaring sound fills my head again. Fallon told me that her father was going to marry her off. There hadn't been names, but that was why she'd run that very day. That a fate with the man she was supposed to marry would be worse than death.
I'm going to make him wish he was dead.
“Wrong answer, motherfucker,” I whisper against his ear. "She's mine," I let him know before unleashing on him.