Holding Huck's Heart (Marco's MMA Boys #3) (10 page)

CHAPTER 18

HUCK

I can’t believe that little bastard is so much of a pussy that he’s going to sue me for beating his ass. Slamming the door to Marco’s office as I walk in, he looks up.

“What in the hell, son?”

I brace myself on the back of the chair sitting in front of his desk. Breathing deep for a second, I say, “That mother fucker is suing me for beating his ass in Jacksonville.”

“The Russian?” he says, standing up.

“Yeah, some little shit just served me,” I say through clenched teeth.

“What does Chelsea say?”

I shake my head, sitting down in the chair. “I don’t know.” I drop my head in my hands, leaning over with my elbows on my knees. “This is fucking crazy.”

There is a knock at the door. “Come in,” Marco calls out.

The door opens and I look up to see my twin. “Dude, Chelsea just lit out of here.”

I lean back in the chair, letting my head flop back and rubbing my hands over my eyes in frustration. “What did she say?”

“Something about fixing it and then bolted out the door,” he says, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms over his chest.

I jump upright in my chair, slamming my fist down on Marco’s desk as I stand. “Damn it! She’s going to call him.”

I start for the door but Sly puts his hands out to stop me. “Dude, what the fuck is going on? What’s the deal with her and that guy?”

I think back to the night I fought him.
“I get what I want, Webb, and I will have her again.”

Crap, she’s doing exactly what he wants.

“I gotta go.” I try to shove Sly out of the way.

Sly won’t budge. “Tell me what’s going on. Now.”

“Fine, ride with me, I’ll tell you on the way.” He follows me out to the truck and I start explaining her story. As much as I never planned to share her business, I’m afraid if I don’t I’ll fuck something up. I’ll end up killing that son of a bitch and go to prison.

Sly shakes his head as I finish telling him. “Damn, you’ve got a little minx on your hands, bro.”

“Don’t call her that. You remember her in school, she was quiet. What happened between us was over a period of time. This guy saw how quiet she was, how naïve she was and took advantage. You know Chels is no home wrecker. She was just lonely enough to believe the lines that asshole fed her,” I argue defensively.

Sly throws his hands up. “Whoa, I don’t mean it bad. But you have to admit, that many years she should’ve figured something out. You know, that he really wasn’t leaving his wife or something.”

“Hey, it’s not your place to say what she should or shouldn’t have done. We are the last people who should be laying judgement on anyone.”

Still trying to pacify me, he turns more in the seat. “Bro, calm down, we are almost there. I’m not saying she’s a bad person, I know she’s not. Just get your head on straight about this. I’ve been the stupid, emotional-driven jackass before. Sitting in a jail cell isn’t fun and the idea of going to prison isn’t fun either.”

Giving a releasing breath I didn’t realize I was holding in, I say, “I know…I just...I can’t let…I don’t know.” I slam my hand on the steering wheel.

Sly shakes his head. “Damn.”

I look at him annoyed. “What?”

Still shaking his head, he grins. “Nothing, you’ll figure it out soon enough.”

I don’t say anything back because I’m pulling up in front of Chelsea’s house. Jumping out of the truck, I jog up to her front door and knock.

After what feels like forever, she opens the door and automatically starts crying. “Huck, I’m sorry, all of this is my fault.” I hate seeing her cry. It’s always killed me.

I pull her into my arms. “Baby, stop crying, I’m not mad with you.”

She looks up at me sniffling. “Why not? I would be. I brought this shit on you.”

“Hey, I’d kick his ass again tomorrow if he said that same shit about you,” I say, wiping the tears from her face.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m going to fix this,” she says with a certainness.

“That’s what I don’t want you to do. You’d be playing right into his hand. He wants you to try and work it out. I mean really, what man is going to sue another man for kicking his ass? It’s a ploy, he’s using you. It’s his way of getting you to contact him. He knows if he can just get you to talk to him, he’ll talk you right back into his arms.”

She nods, biting her lower lip. “Oh, he’s using me. I guess I’m just too dumb to figure that out on my own,” she says raising her voice, backing away and waving her hands around.

“That’s not what I meant, Chels. I know you aren’t dumb.” I stop because she puts her hand up in my face.

“Just save it. I’m not your damsel in distress. I’m your part-time fuck buddy, get it right. So I can handle this on my own. I don’t need you going all nostalgic to defend me. What we had was years ago. Now, we are just convenient.” She tries to slam the door but I block her.

Now I’m pissed. “Look, you don’t need to fucking handle it. I’m the one who handed him his ass, I’ll deal with it. I was just trying to get you not to fall into bed with him again. But you do whatever gets you off.” Throwing my hands up, I turn around and walk away.

By the time I reach the truck, Sly is now in the driver’s seat. “Not letting you drive, man. I have a kid and a woman at home waiting for me.”

He chuckles, shaking his head as I get in the passenger side. “What? Just fucking say what you’ve got to say,” I bark out.

“I’m not saying anything. You just fucking said way too much for every man in America,” he says, shaking his head as he pulls away.

An hour later, I’m at home lying across my bed in the dark. There is a tap on my door and it opens. Kara is standing there. “Hey, bro, can I come in?”

“Sure, I guess,” I mumble.

She comes in and lies down next to me. “So, your brother says you broke your foot off in your mouth earlier.”

I growl. I really don’t want to talk about this.

“Don’t get pissy. I’m being a good sister here.” Before she can say anything else, there is a louder knock on the door. It swings open showing Liz and Sloan.

They don’t ask to come in, they just do, turning on the light and taking up residence on my bed.

Kara glances over at me, “I brought in reinforcements.”

Sloan is sitting Indian style on the bed. “Okay, so let’s go over what you said and figure out how to fix it.”

“Maybe I don’t want to fix it. I’m not meant to have a relationship like you guys. I never wanted one, so this is nothing but an inconvenience.”

They all three start laughing. Liz punches me in the arm. “I believe that like you believe I’ve suddenly started liking dick.”

“Look, I don’t need all of you in here trying to help me sort my feelings out. I don’t need a carton of ice cream and a Grey’s marathon. I just need to be left alone,” I say to no avail because I’m still stuck in my room with three women.

Ugh! What the fuck did I do to deserve this? Oh yeah, now I remember.

CHAPTER 19

CHELSEA

I’ve had enough of the men in my life. They are all assholes. I made the mistake of calling Pavel the other day from my new number to pretty much tell him those very words and now he won’t leave me alone. Yet again. Maybe Huck was right, maybe I’m just an idiot when it comes to Pavel. So I had to go to the phone store today and change my number
again
.

Thank God for Liz. She’s helped me keep a little bit of sanity. Like tonight she’s here with me eating popcorn, drinking wine and watching a Vin Diesel marathon. He’s the only man I can count on.

Liz shifts on the couch beside me. “You know,” she says and points to the T.V., “he would possibly be the only man I’d go straight for.”

I almost choke on my popcorn laughing. “Really, so you’d go straight for my man?”

She shrugs. “Yeah, maybe.” She takes another sip from her wine glass, “So have you talked to your mom recently?”

“Yeah, she’ll be back at the end of next week. She starts the next round of treatment then.”

“Great! I know you miss her,” she says, trying to smile. I’m sure she’s thinking about her own mom.

“So how did the meeting between your two dads go?” With everything that’s gone on, I haven’t even thought to ask.

“Well, Marco took his attorney with him. Thank God. He met with the base commander and ‘Dad’. Needless to say, the base commander was not happy with the Colonel. The General said that it was conduct unbecoming, which is a very big deal. He has to reimburse me for the money I’ve already paid out and pay off the rest. The General had the MP’s take him to the house and collect the things my mother left for me,” she says absently.

I’m really confused. “Can they make him do that? How is that legal?”

She sighs. “The military life is a little different. A commanding officer can make or break your career. So when they make a
suggestion
, you should treat it as gospel. For the Colonel, his career has always been the most important thing to him. So when they started throwing words around like ‘conduct unbecoming’ and ‘investigation’, he snapped to and done what was asked of him.”

“Wow. So are you going to quit the club now?” I ask, eating a handful of popcorn.

She takes a sip from her glass. “I’m going to waitress until the classes pick up at the gym. Once they do, then I’ll play it by ear. The money I make there waitressing is still pretty good.” She shrugs. “So why not?”

I nod. “I’m hoping that Mom goes into remission soon. Once she does, I’ll be waitressing, too, or possibly just working at the hospital. I’m really over taking off my clothes for people,” I say, finishing my glass of wine.

Liz stands up. “I’ve got to get going. I have to help Huck at the gym in the morning. We are getting our classroom set up to start classes next week and I have to take my trainer test.”

She’s refrained from bringing up Huck tonight until just then, and I haven’t asked. “Okay, well good luck tomorrow. I really hope all of this works out for you guys.”

She stops at the doorway. “You can ask how he is, you know?”

I sigh. “How is he?”

“He’s being a miserable dickhead. I’m hoping I get to spar with him tomorrow, just so I can kick his ass. The only people he’s being nice to are Slick and Krista,” she says, opening the door and leaning against the frame.

I take the glasses off the coffee table. “I’m sorry he’s lashing out at y’all. I wish things could’ve worked, I just, I need some time to myself. I need to deal with all of this. Pavel is supposed to be dropping the lawsuit.”

She nods. “Yeah, he said someone contacted him the other day.”

I smile. “Great, I really didn’t want him to have to deal with all of that.”

She bids me goodnight as she closes the door behind her. I get to work cleaning up our mess. Thinking about Huck and Pavel clouds my thoughts as I finish washing up our dishes. “Jeez, I really know how to pick them,” I mutter to myself

Drawing myself a warm bath, I sink into the tub. It’s back to work tomorrow. I’m pulling a double at the hospital, which actually makes me happy. It means one less day at the club this week and less time to think about how the men in my life are driving me nuts.

Our alarm system jolts me from where I’ve dozed off in the bath tub. Jumping up, I grab my robe and run to the panel that is located at the top of the landing and hit the panic button.
Thank God my dad was paranoid.

I don’t hear anything but just to be safe, I grab my phone and go to my bedroom. Locking myself inside, I call the alarm company. They tell me the alarm was from a window on the south end of the house and then stay on the phone with me until the police arrive.

The officer that arrives was friends with my dad. Mack has known me since I was born. “Chelsea, I looked around and didn’t see anything messed up. I did find a set of footprints by the window. It could be someone who thought about breaking in and was spooked by the alarm or it could be a peeping tom. Just keep your eyes open, okay?”

I nod. “Yes, sir.”

“Do you have someone you can call to come stay with you until your mom gets back? Maybe somewhere you can go stay?”

I shake my head. “No, sir. I’ll just make sure everything is locked up tight and set the alarms. I still remember how to use a gun if I need to.”

He laughs a little. “Well, even with that being the case, I’ll have the guys on patrol keep an eye on things. You have my cell number, you call me if you need anything. I mean it now.”

“Yes, sir.”

We speak for a few more minutes, he asks about my mother and we reminisce about Dad.

Before he leaves, I check every door and window. Once he walks out, I lock the door behind him and set the alarm, then walk into my dad’s study. I haven’t been in this room much since he’s been gone. Mom keeps the door shut. It still smells like his aftershave and it makes me feel safe. No matter how much he irritated me, he made me feel safe. Unlocking the gun safe, I take out the compact Glock 9MM he always had me practice with. Checking the magazine, I make sure it’s loaded and place it back in the holster. Taking it with me, I close the gun safe back and sink down on the small sofa Mom put in here. I’m glad one of the few times Dad and I talked over the years since I moved from home, he told me to go get my concealed weapons permit.

I have made a mess of my life. I wish my dad were here to yell at me. This is one time I’d truly deserve every bit of it. Pavel is turning into a damn stalker and Huck doesn’t trust me, or thinks I’m stupid. Maybe I am stupid. Maybe this is the karma bus running my ass over for seeing a married man. It doesn’t matter what he told me, I should’ve never been with him until he was divorced. I know better, I was raised better than this.

I look at a picture of my dad. It was taken when I was about thirteen. He is receiving the Officer of the Year plaque while Mom and I watch from the side. Something about that picture makes me miss him all that much more. I wipe the tears from my eyes. Taking the gun, I walk out, leaving the rest of the room exactly as it is and shutting the door behind me to hold that scent as long as possible.

Damn it, Daddy, I wish you were here to tell me what to do.