"I love you. Thanks for being the father I never got." She hung up before I could respond, hitting my heart hard with her words.
I have a daughter, Isabella, or as I call her Izzy. She was a spunky nineteen-year-old with a rebellious spirit, and a kind heart. I was proud of her and the woman she had become, even if she barely saw me anymore. Liv, on the other hand, was a broken girl I took in four years ago. She showed up at one of my fights and swore she could beat anyone I put in a ring with her.
I didn't just take her word for it. She showed me what she was made of, and I allowed her into the fold. As I got to know her, she opened up more about her past. The reason she knew how to fight was because her father used her to spar with. A grown, retired MMA fighter used his small teenage daughter to keep from getting rusty.
What a sick son of a bitch.
I felt so much joy when I got to beat his ass after he showed up in town a year and a half ago. I would beat the shit out of anyone who would hurt my girls, because yes, Liv was one of mine. She was a second daughter to me, one I looked after always. Lucas was lucky he was a good guy, or I would have beaten his ass for getting her pregnant so early. Still, their daughter, Abi, was absolute perfection.
My little adoptive granddaughter.
"Carter, we have a few special guests tonight. Twinkle Toes is coming, and she's bringing Lucas and his sister, Lisa. Make sure you let them in," I called out to him from the place I was deeming my office for the night.
Nathaniel found a warehouse that would allow us to do our thing for only 10% of the profit. The place was spacious enough for three rings, which the crew was currently setting up.
"Lisa's the one with the boyfriend we watched Liv beat up, right?" Carter asked, peeking his shiny, bald, ebony head through the door.
"Yeah, that's the one." I nodded, recalling how proud I was of Liv for standing up for the people she cared about.
I found Lisa a few weeks ago with another mark on her flawless skin. She'd looked so scared and panicked when she finally lifted her eyes towards mine. I would never forget that look.
I beat Branden to the brink of death and swore I'd do more if he ever went near her again. I had been tailing him ever since, making sure he learned his lesson. It seemed he had, as he had ventured nowhere near her since. No woman deserved to be hit—ever.
Those blue eyes of hers had stuck with me since that day. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and hold her close until she felt better, but I was so angry. Plus, I was worried I'd frighten her. She didn’t know me the way Liv did. To her, I was probably some big muscled guy with anger problems.
Tonight was my chance to make a better impression. Perhaps she'd grow comfortable with me. I was hoping seeing her tonight would push the memory of how she looked that day out of my head. I hadn’t been able to let it go, and it had been eating away at me. It was unlike me to hold onto these kinds of things, but there was something about her I couldn’t place my finger on.
I showed up at her door a few days later, wanting to see her, but not having the balls to knock. I was afraid of scaring her. There was always that point where friendliness could be perceived as creepiness, and I felt I was dangerously close to crossing that line. She hadn't told me where she lived, but I knew from Liv and Lucas that she had taken Lucas' old apartment in town. I was sure it scared her to know I knew where she lived.
"She's pretty hot. Do you think I have a chance?" Carter asked, grinning widely.
He was always such a flirt. Carter wasn’t one for relationships, always just flings or hooks up. He would say relationships take too much work and effort, and he just wanted to have fun. Which was why I beat the crap out of him when he hit on Izzy the only time she saw me at one of these fights.
"Not in the least." I shook my head at him.
I felt almost mad that he would try. I sighed, realizing that the reason her scared eyes wouldn't leave my mind wasn't because I was concerned about her, but because I wanted her. She was something I desired. I hadn’t felt this way about a woman in quite some time. I hadn't had a pair of eyes stay with me like that since my late wife Grace.
"Harsh, boss, very harsh," Carter complained, leaving the office.
I slumped in the chair with a creak, kicking my feet up on the desk, causing dust to fly up. The scent of old books and perhaps mold enveloped the room.Maybe it was best if I didn’t sit in here too long. I stepped out, deciding to help the crew set up, needing to keep myself distracted.
"I thought you said Lisa was coming?" I asked Liv as she approached with Lucas behind her.
"Geez, nice to see you, too," she teased me with a smirk. "She's coming. She had to drive herself here, since she had other plans before this."
"Understood. Thankfully, Carter knows what she looks like, so she should be good to enter. Are you ready to fight Twinkle Toes? I got you fighting the giant today."
"You know I'm ready." She smiled excitedly at me, jumping from foot to foot already.
"Go get 'em. Ring two. Lucas, there's a spot by the ring door saved just for you. Watch her closer than you normally do."
"What about Lisa?" He asked me, torn between watching his wife, and waiting for his sister.
"I'll show her where you are. Go have fun. Cheer your wife on." I shooed him away with the wave of an arm, seeing him give chase to Liv.
I was happy she found someone that supported her love for fighting. Few could stomach watching their loved one fight for no other reason than they liked to. Lucky for him, Liv wasn’t one to take many punches during a fight. The way she danced around the ring to dodge her opponent's hits was unique to just her, keeping her safe. Liv was about to start, and I worried Lisa would miss the fight if she didn't arrive soon.
"She's here, coming down now," Carter's voice came through the walkie talkie, filling me with an unexpected joy.
