Page 54 of Kade
I don’t spare a glance at Holly. Hannah. I’m not worried about her. Micah’s a born fighter and a big motherfucker. There’s no way this piece of shit is getting anywhere near Holly. Becca though? All he has to do to get to her is hop over the flimsy fucking coffee table in the way, and he’s got her.
I want him away from Becca. I want her behind me.
Safe.
In all the ways I pictured losing her, I never pictured this.
Holly’s chant “no, no, no,” and Micah’s “shhhhh” echo through my head. The lack of expression on Becca’s face scares me. She’s motionless, her body still, her hands relaxed at her side. The only thing moving is her eyes following the man’s erratic movements.
“Becca. Come here.” She glances at me and smiles before shaking her head and looking back at the man. She didn’t even fucking try to come to me. Why the hell wouldn't she get to safety? She shouldn’t be anywhere near this kind of danger. The man is more frantic now, his anger rising, his arms waving.
I can see his white, bloodless fingers wrapped around the knife. Behind him, through the outside door, I get a glimpse of Colton’s head, crouched down. Becca’s head tips slightly, her eyes glancing out the door before locking back on the man’s. She’s still so fucking calm it’s terrifying.
“Holly, tell me what’s happening,” I ask. She’s sobbing, and I have to resist the urge to scream at her. I need fucking answers.
“B…Brent. That’s Brent. My husband,” she finally chokes out. I can barely hear her over Brent’s ranting.
“Brent. Brent!” I yell, stopping his pacing. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, man?” I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m pretty sure my tone is conveying a whole lot of ‘I want to tear your throat out.’ He spits at me, sneering.
“Collecting my property dickhead. Give me my wife.”
Micah’s cold voice fills the room. “No…Chance.”
“You heard my brother, Brent.” I say coldly. “That’s not going to happen. It’s pretty clear Holly doesn’t want to go with you.”
“HANNAH. HER FUCKING NAME IS HANNAH! SHE’S MINE. YOU OWE ME, YOU FUCKING BITCH.”
I see what little control, what little reason he had slipping. My body goes cold, all my muscles twitching. This is not good. I silently beg Becca to look at me, but she’s still locked in on Brent. Why is she so fucking calm?
I try to reason with Brent again, “Man, you’re never going to convince us to give you Holly. There is no scenario in which you walk out of here with her. None. Your only play is to leave. Now.”
The smile that curls his mouth sends a chill up my back and makes my muscles twitch. It’s the same look the dealer trying to move in on our block had before he stabbed me all those years ago. I’d give anything in this moment to be the one to take the knife. It would be easier to live through that than watching another woman I love be taken away.
Suddenly, before I can even take a breath, Brent kicks the coffee table away and lunges at Becca. It feels like I’m watching a movie in slow motion. I see the magazines fly off the table. I hear the crack as the table snaps against the reception desk. I feel my heart stop as his knife arrows toward Becca.
I have a less than a millisecond to register the calm, composed look on her face, then watch in total fucking shock as her right arm sweeps out, knocking the path of the knife sideways as her hand grips his left wrist. Her body shifts sideways, her left knee rising high in front of her chest. Then she stomps it down straight through Brent’s knee, cracking and breaking it until it looks like some backward robot leg from a sci-fi movie.
What the fuck just happened?
Who the fuck is she?
Her other hand joins the one on his wrist, and she steps again, dipping under his arm, her back to his front. His elbow is over her shoulder. His arm and the knife still gripped in his hand are extended in front of her. His screams of pain, already loud, reach a new pitch as she snaps her arms down toward her stomach, breaking his arm at the elbow.
Her left hand slides the knife out of his now limp hand as she turns, flowing easily to drive her right elbow powerfully into his face. Once. Twice. The blood spurts and his screaming stops suddenly, his body falling broken to the floor as Becca steps away from him. I barely register Colt’s gigantic body diving through the doors or the glass spraying through the air. My eyes are locked on Becca.
Colton rolls to a stop, rising to a crouch, taking in the unconscious, bloody man on the floor and the fucking Amazon standing calmly next to him. He whistles low through his teeth before looking up at her. “Badass Becca.” He raises his hand, placing it on his chest like a knight in a fucking movie. “Would you marry me?”
26
BECCA
I’m breathing through the adrenaline crash, letting it wash over me like a wave. I can almost feel the warmth of Dad’s body, the circles he’d rub on my shoulders after a fight, helping me through the shakes.Let it flow Becca, just let it flow.They were only competitions, but the human body doesn’t understand that there are referees and rules. It fires and fights like the danger is real and leaves us all shuddering at the end.
I glance at the doorway again. Kade’s eyes are wide on mine. He’s just staring, his face blank. Behind him, Micah is smiling. I see Holly’s small hand on his arm. His arms are behind him, wrapped around her, keeping her pressed safely to his back.
Colton is still crouched in front of me. My heart stutters for a second at what I see in his eyes. The heat. The fascination. The want. He’s acting like it’s a joke, but I know on a gut level that if I said yes, this man would have me in front of a judge within the hour. I’ve seen that look before. In the eyes of the men I’d teach. The men I’d pin. The men I’d beat at every tournament I went to. The men who are not just drawn to strong women but who crave them. I let myself soak up his warmth, his obvious admiration, before reaching out to ruffle the hair at the top of his head.
“Get up, big guy. I’m taken.” I wink to soften my words.
