Two Years Later
THE SECURITY DOOR buzzed open and in walked my former agent, Liam Harris, shackled with his hands behind his back wearing an orange jumpsuit. No more high-dollar suits for him. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he growled. He tried to back up, but the guards pushed him toward the table where I sat. “I don’t want to see him. Get me out of here.”
“Sorry, shitdick, but you don’t have a choice,” one of the guards spat.
They slammed him down in the seat across from me, but he was too chicken shit to look me in my face. “So what?” I began. “You too afraid to look at me?” Lifting his chin in the air, he turned his face and ignored me like I wasn’t even there. “All right, I see how you want to play. This could’ve gone a lot smoother.”
His eyes went wide and before the guards could stop me, I punched him so hard I felt the bones in his face crack. He sailed back head first into the floor with blood pouring from his mouth and nose. The guards hauled me up by my arms and I willingly let them pull me to the door. “You better be glad you’re in here, cocksucker, because if you weren’t I’d rip off your dick and shove it down your goddamned throat.”
“Ouch,” one of the guards chuckled. As soon as I was outside the door, they let me go but with warning stares.
“I know I shouldn’t have done that. But he deserved it.”
The tall, burly one with the brown beard nodded his head. “We understand, but there are policies in place. I’m afraid you won’t be able to come back once we put in our reports.”
I glanced back into the room at Liam still lying on the floor. “That’s fine. I think I got my point across.”
“I’d say so,” the younger officer chuckled. He walked me through the guarded door and stopped me before I could leave. “Just so you know, he gets what he deserves in here. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”
“Thanks, I needed to hear that.”
After washing off Liam’s blood from my hands, my knuckles were torn and split open. I didn’t want Kacey to see me with my hands like that, but once I told her what I did, hopefully she’d find some semblance of forgiveness. The gym was packed which was good because I knew Tyler wouldn’t want to kill me with so many people there. I parked my truck and took a deep breath before entering the lion’s den.
The girl working at the front looked up from some paperwork and her eyes did a double take. “Holy shit. What the hell are you doing here?”
“I can see you know who I am.” I let out a humorless laugh.
“Are you kidding me? Everyone around here knows who you are. You look the same from before, but I know your eyes aren’t just green. Wearing contacts to not freak people out?”
Actually, I was. For years I liked my two-tone eyes because they scared people. They made me different. But I didn’t want that anymore. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” She then glanced down at my legs. “Last I heard you couldn’t walk. You’re not here to cause trouble are you? Because if you are you came at the wrong time, buddy.”
Holding my hands in the air, I took a step closer, but then stopped when she backed away. I looked at her name tag. “I’m not looking for trouble, Megan. I just want to find Kacey.”
With narrowed eyes, her jaw clenched. “If she wanted to be found she would’ve called.”
Sighing, I looked around the gym at the octagon sitting off in the corner. I missed fighting. I’d do anything to get back into it. “I just want to talk to her, tell her I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, I think that time is long past. Get out before I call Tyler to come beat your sorry ass.”
“Go ahead, be my guest. My goal is to get his attention.”
She shook her head as she measured my seriousness and then shrugged and turned to call to her boss.
Way at the other end of the gym, Tyler spun around and his eyes went wide in disbelief. Even from this distance, I could sense the anger flowing off him. There was so much tension in the air, I could barely fucking breathe. It was suffocating and it was all directed at me.
Tyler stormed toward me. “What the fuck is going on?” he growled, his arms crossed at the chest.
“All I want is to talk to you and my sister and make things right,” I said to him, hands held in the air.
“Forgive me if I think you’re full of shit, Andrews. You’ve got to be insane to think I’d let you hurt Kacey again.”
Sighing, I dropped my hands. “I don’t want to hurt her. I want to work things out. She’s the only family I have left.”
He studied me for a minute and then glanced down at my legs. “Since when did you start walking again?”
“A few months ago. With Kacey ignoring my calls, I told myself as soon as I got up and walked I was going to come out here and see her.”
This time he looked down at my hands and shook his head. “It looks like that’s not the only thing you came out here to do. Getting into fights again?”
Lifting my hands, I rubbed a finger over my sores and smiled. “It wasn’t exactly the fight I imagined it would be. I was hoping to get a few more hits in. But I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that Liam is worse off now.”
His eyes went wide. “You attacked him in prison? Are you fucking stupid?”
“Apparently. I’m not allowed to go back after what I did. I’ve been dying to get my hands on him after everything happened. I just wasn’t able to until now. I have you to thank for that.”
He stiffened. “So are you looking for an apology? Is that what you want from me? I’m not sorry for what happened to you, but I am sorry for the pain it caused Kacey.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want an apology. All I want is to talk to her, to show her I’m getting better and it’s all because of her. I’ve been in hell for two years. I’m ready to make amends,” I glanced around his gym, “and to get my life back on track. I miss fighting.”
Megan was the one who burst out in laughter. “Oh my God, you’re not seriously wanting to work out here are you? Have you seen the looks those guys are giving you right now?” she asked, flourishing her hand toward a group of men.
Tyler looked at her and then out at the others in his gym. His eyes lit up and he turned a mischievous gaze my way. “Actually, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. As far as Kacey is concerned, she’ll talk to you when she’s ready. But if you want to deal with the guys here, then be my guest.”
Megan threw her hands in the air. “I am so going to need a raise after this. I’ll be cleaning up blood every effing day.”
“And you can blame it on him,” Tyler mentioned smugly, nodding at me. “Oh, and get him the paperwork, Megan. He may be my brother-in-law soon, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to work out for free.”
“You’re getting married?” I asked, knowing very well that one day it would come to that.
“Were you expecting an invitation?” Megan cut in incredulously, handing me the paperwork.
Tyler glared at her and she closed her mouth. “You’re not surprised by that are you?” he asked.
I started filling out the paperwork. “No,” was all I could say. After our parents died, Kacey always told me I would be the one to give her away at her wedding. That wasn’t going to happen now.
Once I finished the paperwork, I handed it to Megan and gave her my credit card. She ran it and entered in my information. “All right, Mr. Andrews, you’re all set. Good luck out there.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking my card. I was going to need it.
As I was putting my card back into my wallet, I couldn’t help but overhear Tyler and Megan’s conversation. “I’m trying to find someone to assist you in the self-defense classes. I have a couple of people interested. Do you mind working with someone else for a while?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t mind doing it myself. The ladies are comfortable with me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“All right, classes will begin again next week.”
Once Tyler walked away, I leaned my elbows on the desk.
Sighing, she kept her eyes on the computer. “Can I help you?”
“I don’t know, but I was thinking I could help you.”
“Dude, I don’t want or need anything from you. You’re a liar and a manipulator. Run along, please.”
The girl definitely had fire.
Accepting defeat, I walked out to my truck and grabbed my gym bag. Looking at the gym, I breathed deep and smiled. Kyle Andrews has returned.