CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SEEING RISSY’S SHOCK, Armie told Cannon, “Hold him,” and he reached her in two strides.
“It was Steve?” She clutched at his arm, her gaze baffled. “All of it?”
Armie led Rissy a short distance away to the front of his truck. “It appears so. I’m sorry.”
In the faintest of whispers, she murmured, “Incredible,” and she buckled to sit against the fender. “I never thought...never even considered...” Her gaze locked with his. “He probably knew the passcode to my house. I mean...” She flushed and glared at Steve again. “He was in my house, standing there when I reset it after we came in.”
Armie bent to her ear. “Let me deal with this, okay? All I want is the truth and now might be my best shot.”
Briefly, she leaned into him. “Do what you have to do.”
So much faith in him. Armie smoothed her hair, then returned to Steve.
Rissy’s ex was starting to look a little green.
“Let’s hear it,” Armie said. “You have to have a reason.”
Steve gave a frantic shake of his head. “I didn’t do this.”
“Describe this.”
He seemed to have trouble finding the words, but finally he gestured at Merissa. “I never wanted her hurt.”
So the ramifications were starting to sink in on him? That suited Armie just fine. The bastard deserved to suffer the consequences of what he’d started—but Rissy didn’t deserve any of it. “So tell me, Steve. What did you want?”
“Nothing! I...” Again he tried to maneuver away.
Armie, Leese and Cannon made that impossible.
“All this time,” Armie said, his words bitter. “I thought the threats were about me.”
That seemed to push Steve over the edge. “They are about you. You’re nothing. Your own father admits you’re a filthy rapist!”
“Shut up!” Rissy started to rise.
She stopped when Armie landed a body shot on Steve, making him double over in pain. Hitting him seemed the expedient way to end that particular accusation, and appease Rissy so she wouldn’t get herself too riled.
“Thank you,” Rissy said.
“Welcome.” Whether Rissy or the putz realized it, Armie had pulled the punch. If he hadn’t, Steve would be curled on the ground with broken ribs.
Disgusted, Lea said, “I already explained to him that I made it all up. I was a jealous brat and I told lies. End of story.”
“I guess old Steve doesn’t like to listen.”
Arms folded around his guts, Steve wheezed. “How dare you step in behind me?”
Again Rissy rose to her feet. “He was before you, after you and during you, you ass!”
Leese chuckled. “Yeah, as her confidant, I can confirm that you,” he said to Steve, “were just her way of passing time until Armie wised up.”
Steve tried to lunge away.
Catching him by the front of his shirt, Armie slammed him to the post again.
And Steve’s cell phone rang.
Looking extra panicked, Steve started fighting. Armie put him in a headlock and nodded at Cannon.
Cannon took the phone from Steve’s pants pocket, glanced at the ID and put it on speaker.
Steve tried, but he couldn’t speak; he barely got out a gargling noise.
Voice bland, Cannon said, “Yeah?”
“You see her yet?” Without waiting for an answer, a man laughed. “We’ve played it your way with the robbery and the scare tactics. Now it’s going to be our way. Pay up, or next time it’ll be worse for her.” The call died.
His heartbeat exploding, Armie stared at Cannon.
Cannon looked just as shell-shocked as Armie felt.
With a shove, Armie released Steve—and at that moment, having his suspicions confirmed—Armie wasn’t sure what he would do.
Choosing that inauspicious moment to pull in, Logan spotted them and gave a two-second flash of his lights.
Clear warning, Armie supposed, that he was not to kill Steve.
God, he wanted to. But as Cannon had said, Steve had more questions to answer, and he had to be alive to do it.
“Everyone take a breath,” Logan ordered as he stepped from his car. Taking in the scene, he approached cautiously. His attention paused on Cannon. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“They’re assaulting me,” Steve complained while rubbing at his throat. “That’s what.”
Logan lifted a brow.
Armie ignored it and gave Steve a level look that shut him up.
There was a minute of Cannon and Leese both talking, and Steve rattling off excuses, before Logan got caught up.
He cuffed Steve, sat him in the back of his car, then returned. Hands in his pockets, his gaze repeatedly going to Merissa, Logan said, “Well, this is interesting.”
“If by interesting you mean totally fucked, yeah,” Armie agreed. “It’s interesting.”
“I found your dad.”
Armie did a double take.
“That’s where I had to go. Cannon told us about the threats and extortion, so we picked him up for questioning, but we won’t be able to hold him. Not unless we get proof that he, too, was involved. But I have an idea, a way to wrap it all up and get all our answers.”
“Okay.”
Cannon frowned. “You don’t know what the idea is, yet.”
It didn’t matter. If it settled things and made Merissa safe, Armie was all for it.
Logan took a minute to explain. “What do you think?”
Seeing Merissa, her face bruised but her shoulders straight with pride, he nodded. “I’m in. On one condition.”
Logan huffed a breath. “Let’s hear it.”
* * *
IN BED TOGETHER, Merissa’s sweet tush tucked against him as he spooned her, Armie asked again, “You’re comfortable?”
Sounding sleepy, she murmured, “Very,” and wiggled her ass against him. She had her injured arm over a pillow. After icing it and taking her prescribed pain meds, she was already able to use it more.
Kissing her temple, Armie thought of the lengths Steve had gone to just to hurt her—all out of some ridiculous power trip because of an inflated ego, and it enraged him all over again.
“Your fight is in a few days.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.” Then he thought about that and added, “You’re going with me.”
“Okay.”
Her easy agreement took the wind from his sails. How he’d ever again let her out of his sight, he didn’t yet know.
“Armie?”
He kissed her temple again. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
Going still, he asked, “For what?”
She carefully turned to face him. “All this time you thought it was your past causing problems, when really it was just my stupid ex.”
“That’s not your doing.”
“Just like ugly rumors aren’t your doing?”
The quiet of the room made the conversation feel more intimate. Now that he’d admitted what he felt, he felt it in spades. There were a few moments here and there when it choked him up, others when it made him smile. “I never wanted those rumors to hurt you.”
“They haven’t. Steve was the only one trying to hurt me. Steve and whoever he hired.”
“We’ll get them,” Armie promised her. With any luck, that’d happen tomorrow, early. He wanted her free from the threats.
“I know. I just want you to understand. I don’t ever again want you to use it as an excuse to put space between us.”
He opened a hand over her rear and snuggled her in closer. “My heart can’t take it when there’s space, so no worries.”
She stared into his eyes. “Will you marry me?”
The smile crept up on him until he laughed. “Yeah. I’ll marry you, Stretch.” He stole a quick kiss. “It’d be my honor.”
Finally she closed her eyes and got comfortable again. “We’ll figure out details after your fight.”
Armie had never really anticipated competing with the SBC. After he’d resigned himself to it, he’d ended up looking forward to it.
But now, with Rissy’s proposal and the promise of a future together, he couldn’t wait to get it over with.
* * *
AT THE PARK, in the shadows of predawn, he and Cannon held back. The air was cold, the ground damp and his mood heavy. He’d left Leese, Denver and Cherry at Rissy’s house with her, but he wanted to be with her.
Armie watched the surrounding area.
Cannon watched him. “You sure you want to do this to your dad?”
“For your sister?” Expression hard, he nodded. “Damn right.” He’d do anything for her, so setting up his old man wasn’t a hardship.
They hunkered together behind a row of scrubby bushes at the perimeter of the park, both of them dressed in dark clothes to help conceal them. Armie wondered if this was where Bray had hidden. It seemed likely.
Last night, while Rissy had soaked in the tub, he’d called his dad at the motel where Logan had initially found him. Sure enough, he’d returned to the same place after he’d been released from questioning.
It had been easy to convince Mac that he was now willing to pay for information. Disgruntled that the cops had been “hassling” him, Mac was more than ready to take a payday and get out of town.
Armie had haggled with him, offering five hundred instead of the grand his father had requested. To Mac, that only made the deal more legit. If Armie had just agreed, Mac would have gotten suspicious.
He was to meet Armie at the park. Mac had complained about the ungodly hour, but he knew Armie jogged so that added to the plausibility.
Unfortunately for Mac, Steve had also been coerced to call Keno and Boyd back. They, too, would be meeting at the park, thinking Steve would pay up.
Steve hadn’t acted out of any concern for Rissy’s well-being. He was already caught and his options were to lend a hand, or go down for attempted murder.
Logan was none too happy that Armie had insisted on being present, and that Cannon had backed him up. If they didn’t know him so well, he probably would have refused them. Luckily for Armie, Cannon was a hard man to deny—especially when he’d previously been helpful to the cops.
When Mac pulled up in his battered sedan, Armie tensed with disgust and other more anomalous feelings that he didn’t want to dissect. This was the man who’d fathered him, then despised him. It wasn’t natural, but he’d learned to live with it.
Cannon nudged his shoulder, his way of reminding Armie that he wasn’t alone.
Mac sat in his car for the longest time before finally getting out, hands on his hips, and looking around the area. Failing to see Armie, he checked his cell phone.
He was heading back to his car when, as if on cue, Keno and Boyd arrived. Irate, they got out of their own rusted junker and approached Mac with animosity.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mac demanded.
“I was going to ask you that,” Boyd said.
Keno laughed. “If you’re thinking of cutting in on our deal, the opportunity has passed.”
Mac backed up a step. Voice lowered, brows bunched together, he snarled, “You miserable fucks. Did you hurt that girl?”
Armie went alert. Huh. So his dad hadn’t been in on that?
“She’s alive,” Keno said. “The little bitch had another fighter trailing her. Guess your boy isn’t the only one tappin’ that.”
Mac went shifty-eyed. “You made a grab for her?”
“That’s how we’re getting paid,” Boyd bragged. “Steve wanted her hassled, but he doesn’t actually want her dead.”
“Guess he has a heart after all,” Keno added.
Mac watched them both with disgust. “I understand losing your temper, that shit happens. But only a coward would attack a woman.”
“Like your son?”
“Told you that was a bunch of lies. Armie wouldn’t do that.”
“Maybe he learned from his old man.”
“I got drunk and out of control.” Mac shrugged. “Totally different. The women were nothing, easy lays, but even then, Armie tried to defend them.”
“And you were willing to use him to get your payday anyway?”
Mac shrugged. “He can afford it.” And then, with what almost sounded like pride, he said, “He’s done all right for himself.”
“If you say so.” Keno sneered. “I figure I’ll like him better dead.”
Eyes narrowing, Mac sucked a tooth, then hitched his chin. “That’s what you’re planning?”
“Smug bastard has it coming. I owe it to him for the way he botched our robbery.”
Mac chuckled. “Kicked your ass good, didn’t he?”
Keno wasn’t amused.
“He disarmed you, right? Then whipped your ass?” Mac whistled. “Bet you wore those bruises for a while, didn’t you?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“So if you can’t take him head-on,” Mac pressed, “what’s the plan?”
Keno flashed an evil smile. “Let’s just say he won’t feel any pain.”
“Ah. Gonna ambush him then?”
“Something like that.”
Nodding, Mac seemed to consider it—then he withdrew a small black revolver from his jacket pocket. “Sorry, but I don’t think I can let you do that.”
“Jesus.” Boyd scrambled back.
Keno stood his ground. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Takin’ out the trash.” Mac’s arm remained steady, his finger on the trigger, his gaze unflinching. “I figure Armie was willing to pay to keep his girl safe. He’ll probably double it once he knows I’ve gotten rid of you for good.”
“I’ll cut you in,” Keno offered.
“That would work.” Mac slowly nodded, then grinned. “Except he’s my son. I might threaten and bully him every now and then, but doesn’t mean I’ll let you do the same.”
Damn it, Armie felt Cannon grinning. Low, he said, “Not funny.”
“Course not,” Cannon agreed, still looking amused.
“Where the hell is Logan?”
Little by little, Boyd and Keno were spreading out. If Mac didn’t get control quick, he’d lose the advantage.
“Patience,” Cannon said.
“He’s going to shoot that idiot.”
“That’s on him,” Cannon argued. “Stick with the plan.”
As he rose, Armie murmured, “Sorry, I can’t.” With as much sarcasm as he could muster, he said louder, “Hell, Dad, I didn’t know you cared.”
After his initial surprise and a flash of anger, Mac shrugged. “What kind of dad would I be if I didn’t put him down for threatening you?”
“Thing is,” Armie said, “I don’t need you to. It’ll be my pleasure to crush him, believe me.”
“There are two of them,” Mac said.
“Doesn’t matter.” He kept his gaze on Keno, but said to his dad, “Put the gun away.”
“Think I’ll wait on that.” Mac shifted the gun to Boyd. “Get to it already.”
Trying to get the advantage of surprise, Keno attacked.
Armie waited, then double underhooked him, catching both of his arms under Keno’s. He let Keno’s momentum take him off balance, and easily threw him to the ground.
He didn’t wait for Keno to get up.
Instead he dropped a big hit to Keno’s jaw, then started landing knees to his ribs, mixed with more punches to his face and body. He thought of Rissy and rage kept him going, each strike harder than the one before it.
A second later, with a flash of lights and sirens, Logan’s men closed in. Cannon was already there beside Armie, pulling him back.
“I want to kill him,” Armie growled.
Close to him, Cannon said, “I know. Me, too. But we have to let Logan do his thing.”
It gave Armie great satisfaction when Boyd tried to run and subsequently got hit with a Taser. Seeing him twitching on the ground was a pleasure.
Mac, not being an idiot, put his gun on the ground with alacrity and interlocked his hands behind his head.
Deadpan, Cannon asked, “Been arrested before?”
Watching Armie, Mac just shrugged. “You set me up, son.”
“Yeah,” Armie said while fishing out his wallet. “I did.”
As his arms were wrenched down and his wrists put in cuffs, Mac grinned. “You’re fast.”
“That’s what they tell me.” Armie took out the five hundred he’d promised his dad and stuffed it into the breast pocket of his shirt.
Because that wasn’t part of the plan, Cannon scowled over it, but he didn’t say anything.
Without a word, Armie walked away.
As he was being led to a cruiser, Mac yelled to him, “Did that include a bonus for saving your ass, too?”
Armie didn’t look back. Here on out, he was only looking forward.
* * *
CANNON SAW ARMIE LEAVING, knew he wouldn’t go far, but figured he’d want a few moments alone. Hurting for his friend, he walked over to Mr. Jacobson. There were five cops on the scene, including Logan, who had just approached.
“Where’s Armie?”
Cannon tipped his head in the direction Armie had gone.
Grim, Logan looked after him. “We got plenty, I’m sure. But I don’t want him to take off yet.”
“He won’t.” Cannon indicated Mac. “Mind if I have a word with him?”
“One minute.” Logan squeezed Cannon’s shoulder and went back to Keno and Boyd.
“What do you want now?” Mac asked, obnoxious to the bitter end.
Cannon stared at him, and more than anything he just felt pity. “You threw away everything.”
Mac narrowed his eyes. “Pretty sure he didn’t miss me.”
“You never gave him anything to miss.” Bracing a hand on the roof of the squad car, Cannon stared down at Mac. “Who misses abuse? Neglect?”
“I kept a roof over his head.”
“Barely.” If Cannon thought it would work, he’d offer Mac ten times what Armie paid him—for him to stay away. But he’d always come sniffing around if he thought there was a buck to be made.
“Feeling sorry for him?” Mac sneered.
“Armie? No.” He straightened. “You’re the one who’s missed out on everything. I feel sorry for you.”
As he walked away, Cannon heard Mac say, “I don’t need your pity, damn you! Tell him I don’t need his, either. Tell him—”
Cannon stopped listening. He couldn’t tell Armie anything he didn’t already know.
* * *
THERE IN THE AUDIENCE, front row, sitting with their group, Merissa stared toward him. Beside her, Bray squirreled around in his seat as he cheered.
“Not the time,” Simon snarled.
Right. He bounced on the balls of his feet, his muscles warm and loose. Music blared, bright lights burned down on him and already sweat beaded out of every pore.
Again he looked at Merissa.
“Jesus,” Simon said. “Now you’re smiling? At least the camera loves you.”
Armie glanced at the Jumbotron and sure enough, his face filled the massive screen. Hamming it up and making Simon happy, Armie put a fist in the air.
The audience roared.
Carter Fletcher walked in to a hard rock song. Some of those cheers were for him. Well deserved, Armie knew.
Cannon, Simon and Havoc were all telling him different things, doing different things.
Armie just wanted out there.
This was how he felt when fighting. Anticipation. Joy. He’d never thought to feel this at the SBC level, but other than how he felt for Rissy now, it was all the same.
This was his zone. A part of who he was.
Cannon said something to him and he nodded, his gaze glued to Carter.
They called a start to the fight. Rules were read and agreed to. He and Carter were both ready.
Armie touched fists with Chaos and they both began the dance.
They exchanged blows and a few kicks, but Armie was timing himself, waiting for an opening. When Carter threw a kick, Armie caught his leg, tucked his ankle into his armpit, and put pressure on the inside of his knee so that Carter went down.
They both scrambled, but Armie hit him once, twice, throwing all his strength behind the punches. Methodical. Fast.
When Chaos shifted, going for a submission, Armie’s instinct was to stand back and let him up. But in the back of his mind he remembered what Dakota had told him. Yeah, that was probably the move Chaos expected.
Instead, Armie shifted with him. They rolled, and Armie came up in the dominant position again. He threw an elbow that caught Carter just beneath the brow bone.
A few more blows and Armie had the full mount, free to rain down heavy hits. A cut on Carter’s eyelid made a slippery mess that looked a hell of a lot worse than it was. The ref hovered over them, ready to call a halt.
Carter said, “I’m okay,” and rather than cover up, he threw his own punches, leaving his face open to more punishment.
Armie landed yet another elbow, one more—
Suddenly the ref tackled him, saying, “It’s over, it’s over.”
The arena went nuts.
Fists in the air, Armie grinned—for about two seconds before Cannon had him half lifted in the air. Havoc and Simon were there, laughing, clapping him on the back.
The audience stayed on their feet, the cheers nearly deafening.
Bloodied but far from done, Carter sat up cursing, but only for a second. Like any professional he pushed to his feet and allowed the doctors to clear away the blood.
Lights went off in a strobe effect but Armie still found Rissy in the audience. She had her uninjured arm in the air as she shouted her happiness. Bray jumped up and down like a wild monkey.
All in all, it was pretty damned great.
When things finally settled down he went over to talk to Carter, who embraced him. “We need to do this again.”
Armie nodded. “Anytime.” He lifted Carter’s arm and the audience went crazy all over again.
Cannon dragged a shirt over his head and Armie remembered he was supposed to be touting Jude’s sports gear. Showing off the shirt, he mugged for the cameras until the commentator pulled him front and center.
At first they talked about the fight—and Armie gave Dakota her due, which made Carter pretend to collapse on the mat. Everyone cracked up over that.
“Seriously,” Armie said. “She knows what she’s talking about.”
Simon put his head in his hands, but he was laughing, too.
“Mostly, I’ve got great coaches and a best friend who kept me in line and got me ready. A man is only as good as his team.”
There were more cheers for that sentiment.
Lastly the commentator asked, “So what’s next?”
Armie grinned. “Well, I’m hoping to marry Saint’s little sis.”
The commentator blinked at him. “What’s this? Marriage?”
“She asked and I said yes.”
The camera switched to Rissy. Eyes damp and one hand over her mouth, she nodded.
Going with it, the commentator asked, “What does Saint have to say about this?”
As Cannon bounded into the cage, the audience loved it—because they loved him.
When Cannon reached Armie, he put his fists up. Laughing, Armie pretended to duck—then Cannon pulled him into a bear hug.
“So you approve?” the commentator asked him.
“Hell, yeah.” His arm draped over Armie’s shoulders, Cannon grinned. “I want my sister to have the best. That’s Armie.”
Armie smiled toward Rissy.
“He’s always been my brother,” Cannon said. “Now it’ll finally be legit.”
* * *
CURLED IN BED, which happened to be Armie’s favorite location with Rissy, they talked about the exclusive he’d be giving tomorrow, which Jude had arranged. What really surprised Armie was finding out that the reporter had received testimonials from the guys at the rec center, from Bray and his parents, from Kizzie and some of the other women.
And even from Lea herself.
Half the neighborhood had wanted it known that he was a good guy. He hadn’t realized his heart could hold so much love and appreciation, but damn, he liked it.
Finally, once and for all, the rumors would be destroyed.
After that, they’d segued into wedding plans. Armie couldn’t wait to have her tied to him, but he wanted her to have whatever type of wedding she wanted—be it simple or elaborate, large or small.
While she went over her preferences, she seemed to inspect every inch of him, finding marks from his fight that he hadn’t been aware of. He didn’t complain. Rissy’s attention was always a turn-on. He just wasn’t sure how much more he could take before tucking her under him and making them both nuts with release.
“So you don’t mind if we keep it just our family and friends?”
He didn’t have family—except that the guys at the gym were all that and more, better than any blood tie could ever be. “Whatever you want is okay by me.”
“So agreeable.” She kissed a bruise on his cheekbone. “You looked so handsome in your tux at Cannon’s wedding. Would you mind wearing one for ours?” She wrinkled her nose. “I sort of want the fancy white dress.”
“You will be killer-hot in a fancy white dress and I can rock a tux again, no problem.” He’d do anything for her, except let her go.
Next she kissed his ribs. “I don’t want to assume, but Cannon will be your best man?”
“He’s been that since we were in high school, so yeah.”
That made her happy and she smiled as she teased her lips over a spot on his abdomen. “Shouldn’t we put something on this?”
Grinning, he said, “I can make a suggestion.”
“Ice?”
“I was thinking of something warmer. Maybe even hot.” Holding her gaze, he trailed a hand down her side to her hip, then in to her still-flat belly and down until he curled his hand over the hottest part of her.
With a sigh, she said, “You are so bad.”
“Yeah, but apparently you like me that way.”
“I love you—any way you want to be.”
Armie carefully turned her under him. Now that a week had passed, her arm was much better and the bruising on her face had faded enough that she could cover it with makeup.
Since they were fresh from the shower, he could make out each faint mark. Her hair fell back, showing the stitches that would come out tomorrow.
Steve, Keno and Boyd were being held without bail. They wouldn’t be a problem for Rissy or anyone else for a very long time. Far as Armie was concerned, they could all three rot.
Rather than dwell on that and how it made him feel, he’d rather concentrate on his future with Rissy.
She’d taken the pregnancy test and was, indeed, carrying his baby. His and Cannon’s kids would be very close in age.
And they both loved it.
“I need to set an appointment with the tattoo parlor.”
She smiled up at him. “For what now?”
“Gotta get the one on my back altered.”
Her lips parted and her eyes went wide. “Altered how?”
He’d never explained the significance of that particular tat, but it felt like a good time for spilling the truth. “You hold my heart now, so the thorns have to go.”
She blinked. “That was about me?”
“My whole life has been about you, Rissy. For so long, it seemed I could never have what I wanted most.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Hell, I love you so much, you are my life.”
Her eyes went liquid.
He’d never get used to this weepier side of her, but she claimed it was the pregnancy and he believed her.
“I had a heart,” he told her, after kissing away her tears. “But it wasn’t free until you forced your way into my apartment and ignored my idiotic objections.”
“And I took off my pants.”
He smiled. “Yeah, that helped.” His hand covered her belly. “You started talking about sex—and spanking—and you destroyed my determination to leave you be.”
She softened. “I’m so glad I did.”
He cupped her face. “I never knew life could be this good.”
“I knew,” she bragged. “Why do you think I didn’t give up?”
Thank God she hadn’t. Ready to tease her, he said, “So since we’ll be living here in your house, can I bring over my big mirror? It’d look nice on the wall at the end of your bed.”
Rissy pushed him to his back and climbed over him. “No.” She took his mouth in a lusty kiss. “But the Velcro handcuffs are welcome.”
* * * * *
Leese, Justice, Brand and Miles
from the Ultimate crew
will return in an all-new BODY ARMOR series,
coming soon.
Meanwhile, read on for
an exclusive excerpt of
DON’T TEMPT ME,
a brand-new novel
from Lori Foster
and HQN Books...