In Sly's Eyes: In Sly's Eyes Marco's MMA Boys Book 2 (14 page)

CHAPTER 27

KARA

Watching my best friend get married is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed. I can only hope that I get this one day. Sly and I have never talked about marriage really. I know he loves me and I know he’ll love this baby, but that’s just something we haven’t brought up. Huck’s fight is just about to start. Hearing “Simple Man” makes me smile, that is so Huck. Living in the house with Huck, he’s become one of my best friends and I’m sure he’s going to be the best uncle in the world. Damn it, I already have to go pee AGAIN. I turn to Sly. “Babe, I gotta go pee again.”

He nods, “Do you want me to come with?”

I laugh and shake my head. “No, because then you’ll have other things on your mind and Doc told me to rest.”

“Okay, well go to our locker room. It’s private and you won’t have to wait in line. Gibbs should be in there getting ready for his fight. If he has some skank in there, feel free to throw her out.” He winks, looking back to his brother.

I shake my head and make my way to the bathroom. As I’m going in, my phone pings that I have a voicemail. I see Gibbs as I go in. “Hey, Kara, you okay?”

“Yeah, just gotta pee and there isn’t a line here. Oh the joys of pregnancy.” I make a whirling motion with my finger in the air.

He nods, “Okay, well I’ll give you some privacy, I wanna go to the other room and watch Huck on the monitor.”

“Sure thing. You gotta fight tonight?”

He replies, “Yes, after Huck.”

“I’ll be watching,” I say as I go down the hall to the bathrooms. Once I sit down, I check my voice mails.

Ms. Chambers, it’s Detective Harmon. There was an incident tonight at the prison and Drake Willis was injured. He was taken to a local hospital for care and he escaped. Please be on the lookout for him. As soon as you call me back, I’ll have officers dispatched your way to keep you safe until we locate him.

As soon as I finish up, I call him. “Harmon.”

“Detective Harmon, this is Kara Chambers, I’m at the arena right now. I’ll let Sly know what’s going on. Have you found him?”

I start walking back out to the main dressing room. “No, ma’am, not yet, but we will. You just stay there until I can get an officer over there, I’m actually close by so I’ll swing by, too.”

As soon as I enter the main dressing room, I know this is going to end badly. “O-okay,” is all I manage to choke out before I hang up. I’m looking Drake right in the eyes. My heart starts to pound in my chest and I feel the crazy breathing coming on. I have to get control.

Remember what Robin says.
“You’re in control, Kara. He’s trying to get inside your head. Block him out, be strong, think smarter, not harder. Keep calm, he thrives on your fear.”

He snatches me by the arm. “So, looks like you’re moving right along. No worries about your poor boyfriend sitting in jail.”

I let out a deep breath and try to sound strong. “You’re not my boyfriend.”

I glance across the room and see Paige standing by the door. She looks scared to death. I’m startled by someone trying to come in the locker room. “Ms. Kara, please let me in, I have to pee!” Oh God, it’s Sage.

Drake grabs me by the throat and whispers in my face. “Should we let him in?”

I shake my head violently. “No,” I whisper. “Please don’t.” If this is my fate, so be it, but I will not bring Sage into this.

“Because I could let him see what I have planned for you.” He runs a hand across my stomach and I keep shaking my head violently. “So, you’ve either gotten a hell of a lot fatter or you’re having my baby. Something you’ve neglected to mention.” He slams his mouth onto mine, trying to force his tongue into my mouth.

I shake my head, snatching my mouth away from his. “It’s Sly’s,” I spit on the floor, trying to get his taste off of me.

Red hot searing pain goes across my face. “DON’T LIE TO ME!”

Paige makes a small step forward. He spins to her and she steps back. “What, you little dumb shit? What are you going to do? I asked you to do one thing while I was in, make her life hell, and you didn’t do it.” He gives a violent laugh. “You think just because you started a small fire, sent a couple of nasty texts, tried to run her and meat head off the road and broke into his truck that you tried? That’s middle school bullshit. You’re fucking worthless. I should’ve left you in that alley. Do you think I really love you? That I ever could? You’re trash.”

He starts tugging on me. “Come on. You’re coming with me.”

I stand my ground, trying to protect my child. “No.” I know if I leave this arena with him, I’ll die. I have no doubts about that.
Get control of your breathing and fight with everything you have in you. For your child.

“No? Do you think this is a fucking option for you?” He looks over at Paige, who looks pale and scared to death. “Paige, grab me something to tie her up with.”

Paige just stands there as tears start rolling down her face and she starts to tremble.

“Fuck, Paige, do what I’m telling you!” He loosens his grip on my arm slightly because he’s concentrating on her, but it’s enough for me to try and fight back.

I slam my fist down into his groin and try to stomp his foot, he screams out and I break free. Running for the emergency exit in the back of the room, I know if I get to it the alarm will sound and bring help. Before I get there, I’m pulled backward by my hair. I lose my balance quickly and begin to fall, but I’m held up by my hair.

“Let me go, Drake!”

He snatches me up, gripping both of my shoulders tight and slamming me into the wall. “You. Are. Not. Going. Anywhere.” He starts violently shaking his head back and forth. “No, you’re mine. Don’t you understand that, you ungrateful fat bitch?” He keeps slamming me into the wall as he yells. “I tried to give you everything. Hell, dumbass Paige follows me around like a damn puppy and I don’t give her near the attention that I gave you.” He uses his forearm against my throat to hold me against the wall as he uses his free hand to grope my breast roughly.

I glance over to see Paige looking overwhelmed and terrified.

I need to keep him talking and keep myself in this room.
If I leave this room, I will die,
I keep repeating that in my head. If I stay in here, the boys will find me soon.

“Why do you talk about her that way? If you don’t like her, why don’t you set her free?”

His hand moves around my throat, “Because she’s mine, too. I saved her dumbass, she owes me. She owes me her life, because I saved it.”

“Huck helped save her, too, and he would never treat her this way,” I croak out.

Suddenly my nose is throbbing because he’s punched me.

I look over at Paige again. “Paige, you can go get help, you can help me. If you don’t, he’s going to kill me.” Slap. “You don’t have to put up with him.” Slap. “He’s weak and using you to feel superior.” That’s when he starts shaking me and punching my face.

I hear a whaling scream in the room and suddenly we’re both slammed into by Paige. He grabs her frail body and throws her against the wall. I watch her slink down to the floor.

I quickly hook one of my legs around his and kick his foot loose, causing him to lose his balance. On the way down he grabs me, causing me to fall and slam into a bench on the way down.

All I can do is scream. I feel a warm wetness growing between my thighs just as I hear a pounding in the distance. Darkness takes over.

I feel like I’m being tussled around. Someone is pointing a light directly in my eyes. They keep saying my name but I can’t bring myself to answer.

CHAPTER 28

SLY

Slick comes walking back out to the seats. “Mom, can you take me to the other one? Ms. Kara wouldn’t open the door.”

Sloan shakes her head. “What?”

“I knocked on the door because it was locked but she wouldn’t answer.”

Holy shit, the baby, but why would she have locked the door to start with? Sloan looks at me with the same concern. Sloan’s mom, Meredith, sees our concerns. “I’ll take him, you guys go check on Kara.”

I jump up from my seat and run right into Detective Harmon.

“Mr. Webb. I’m looking for Ms. Chambers, I just spoke with her moments ago. Willis escaped from the hospital tonight. She’s supposed to be waiting here for me,” he rushes out.

My panic goes into full blown overdrive. I blow past him with him and Lox hot on my tail. As we enter the hallway, I hear someone screaming and I see Gibbs trying to break down the locker room door.

He sees us and relief hits his young face. “I left Kara in there a few minutes ago but I just heard a woman screaming at the top of her lungs. Why is this damn door locked?” He rams into the door again but the reinforced steel door isn’t budging.

Lox fumbles around in his pants and pulls out his keys. He unlocks the door and the four of us barrel inside. We hear the emergency door burst open and a female scream.

Lox and Harmon take off out the back door, chasing whom I’m assuming is Drake. I see Kara lying on the floor. I run over to pick her up and notice all of the wetness. “Gibbs! Call 911! Her water broke or something!”

Our family rushes in the locker room. I guess the alarm stopped the fight because my brother is standing over me, sweating and panting. Elaine rushes in and starts looking her over. “Sly, baby, I need you to lie her back so I can check her.”

Marco rushes in about that time with a first aid kit and then turns to tell everyone to step out in the hall except her mom, Eve and Doc. Doc grabs my hands to help me up off the floor, “She’s gonna be okay, Sly.”

Elaine puts gloves on and starts to check her over and a few moments later, EMTs rush in. They recognize Elaine from the hospital. “Her water has broken, but we aren’t sure what else has happened. Her pulse is rapid and she hasn’t been conscious since we’ve found her.”

They start loading her up on the stretcher and I rush over. Elaine stops me. “Baby, give them a minute, you’re riding in the ambulance with her. I’ll take Eve with me.”

I nod. Gibbs steps in front of me. “I’m going to pick up Jade. I’ll call her on my way. I can make it there in five hours. That way I can drive her back down, I don’t want her driving upset like this.”

I pull him into an arm hug and Eve wraps him in both arms. Sloan hands him the keys to her SUV. “Here, take my car, the tank is full. Thank you so much.”

He nods and bolts out the door.

I follow the EMTs to the ambulance. Looking at her strapped down is frightening. She looks so grey and frail.

When we arrive at the hospital, Dr. Coleman meets us in the ER. “Sly, Elaine called me. What happened?”

I start shaking my head. “I don’t know. We are assuming she was attacked by her ex that escaped from prison or something tonight. But whoever it was, he was gone by the time we got in the room. I found all of the fluid around her. Elaine checked her and said it was amniotic fluid. She hasn’t woken up, Doc.” I feel myself crying.

A few moments later, sirens are blaring outside. Before I can see what’s going on we are being rushed to the maternity floor. Elaine pulls us along, speaking quickly. “Okay. We’re rushing her into surgery. I’m going in but you guys can’t. There was a placenta abruption during whatever happened in there. We have to get the baby out right away. Sly, you and Eve come stand out here. You can’t go in the OR but this is the waiting area and you’ll be first to meet the princess.”

As Eve and I sit down, she grabs my hand and starts to pray. “Lord, please be with us right now. We need your strength, please take care of my baby and my grandbaby. Protect them and help the doctors to help them. Amen.”

I swallow deeply. “Amen.”

Thirty-seven minutes later (yes, I was watching the clock) Elaine comes out. “Here is our little princess. I’m taking her to the nursery to be cleaned up and checked out.”

I look up at Elaine. “What about Kara?”

She nods slowly. “It’s touch and go right now. She’s lost a lot of blood and we still have to worry about clotting. But smile and think positive. This princess scored a six on her Apgar and considering the day she’s had and how early she is, that’s wonderful. Kara is a fighter, too.” She grabs my hand. “Do you wanna help with her bath while they finish Kara up?”

I’m torn. Eve grabs my other hand. “Go stay with the baby. I’ll be here with our girl.”

I nod and follow Elaine down the hall to the nursery. It’s overwhelming. My daughter is here. She’s 5lbs. 2oz. of beautiful.

Now, my life would be perfect if her momma would come around.

CHAPTER 29

KARA

God, I’m thirsty. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I can’t breathe out of my nose. I moan, trying to rollover, but it hurts.

“Baby.” I hear fear and relief in Sly’s voice. I feel his hand rubbing my forehead.

My hand slides across my stomach. My stomach! It all comes flying back to me, Drake, Paige, the locker room. My eyes jolt open.

Sly is right there. “Baby, it’s okay. Everything is okay.” I see a huge smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

I try to speak but my throat is dry. Sly hands me a cup of water. “Here, sip this, then I’ll answer your questions.”

I take a small sip. “The baby?” My eyes well up with tears.

He smiles, “She’s perfect.” He rolls a bassinet over to the bed and picks her up. “Although we’ve been waiting on her momma to wake up for several hours.”

I look at her and start to sob. “I didn’t think-. Oh God-. I thought that she-. I didn’t know if I’d ever-.”

Sly wraps one arm around me with the other arm cradling our baby. He kisses the top of my head. “Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh. It’s fine, baby. He’ll never hurt you again. You’re safe. I finally talked your mom into going down stairs to eat with Elaine. I knew with all of the stress, her sugar levels were probably all over the place. Everyone else is in the waiting room and your sister should be here in a couple of hours.” He lets out a little chuckle. “Gibbs went to get her.” Then he winks.

I’m overwhelmed. I’m exhausted and still scared. “Drake? Paige?” I stutter out.

“Harmon and Lox ran after them, Drake drug Paige into a black Eclipse.” He swallows hard. “Harmon and his guys went after them and there was a high speed chase. Drake died on impact. Paige is in ICU upstairs. Detective Harmon is going to come by later and talk to you about what happened before we got the door open.”

I nod. “Just not right now, okay?” Right now, I just need to hold my baby.

He shakes his head. “Nope. Not tonight. Right now, the doctor has to come in and check you out. Then, you and the princess are going to have some time together.”

A few hours later, Sly has let everyone in briefly, to visit me. Sloan steps back in the room to tell me she’s heading home. “I’m so sorry I’ve ruined your honeymoon.”

She looks at me like I’ve lost it. “Are you crazy? I would’ve died if I’d been somewhere else and this happened. Lox and I are going to leave late tomorrow afternoon, we just pushed everything back a couple of days. Slick went home with my parents after he made sure you and the baby were okay.” She shrugs. “It all has worked out.”

I smile through tears. “You called him Slick, I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say that.”

She laughs, “Yeah, it’s growing on me.”

“Sloan, when he knocked on that door, I did everything I could to keep them from opening the door. I couldn’t let him come in there and if it meant that I died alone, then I just would. Drake wanted to open the door. I told Paige not to.” I wipe my face.

Sloan hugs me. “It’s okay. Had he not come back out and told us the door was locked, who knows what would’ve happened. Now, you get some sleep, little momma. I’ll check on you before we leave out tomorrow.” She stops at the door. “You got yourself a prince this time instead of a frog. You know that, right?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

A few minutes later, a red-headed ball of fire comes through my door. “Kara!”

I can tell she’s been crying for a while. “Jade, it’s okay. I’m a little beat up but the princess is fine.”

She sits on the edge of my bed and hugs me. “Oh God, when Clay called me, I lost it. I was ready to leave on my own but he told me if I left before he got there, he’d spank my ass.” She looks up at me with bugged out eyes. “I’m pretty sure he meant it, too.”

I have to chuckle and it hurts. “I’m sorry and I’m glad you care so much about me, but I’m glad Gibbs came to pick you up. I wouldn’t have wanted you driving so upset.” I kiss her cheek. “But everything is fine. I’m fine, the baby is fine and Drake is dead.”

She looks at me in shock. “Dead?”

I nod. “Yeah, I guess there was a high speed chase, he wrecked and died on impact.”

“Wow.” She’s about to say something else when Sly pokes his head in.

“Hey, ladies. They’re asking me to get all of the visitors out. I’m sorry, Firecracker, I know you just got here but I’m calling that couch in the corner.”

She laughs, “Firecracker, huh, you’ve been hanging around Clay.”

Sly drops his voice to a girly octave. “
Clay.”

She punches him in the stomach as she walks by. “Shut it, Sylvia.”

He laughs, looking back at me. “She’s kinda mean.”

I look at him as seriously as I can. “She’s a redhead. That means she’s a ginger. Ginger’s don’t have a soul.”

He starts laughing and comes over to give me a kiss. “I love you, sexy. I’ve never been so afraid in my life as I was when we found you on that floor. I thought I was going to lose you both.”

“I love you, too. I was afraid I’d never see you again.” My eyes start growing heavy.

He kisses me again. “Go to sleep, sexy.”

~*~*~

I feel so much better today. I’m still sore, still have a catheter shoved in my hoo hoo and my face feels like I was in the cage last night instead of the boys, but I woke up this morning to the most gorgeous man on the planet and the most beautiful little girl. I have so much to be thankful for.

I see a nurse wheeling the baby’s bassinet out. Sly turns to me, “Good morning, beautiful.” He smiles at me.

“Good morning. When are they bringing the baby back in?”

“They just had to do some little tests this morning. She’ll be back soon. We should really name her, that was one of the things that worried me the most. I knew we’d talked about several names but we hadn’t picked one yet. I wanted it to be something you wanted.”

“Well, let’s see. We decided on Jade as a middle name. The first names we’d picked were Olivia, Lillian, Brooklyn, Krista and Isabella.”

“I like Krista Jade.” He smiles.

“You like Krista because it’s an old school punk rock female MMA fighter.” I laugh back at him.

“So, then she has a little of my family and a little of yours.” He grins.

“Okay, but just because I happen to like the name Krista. It’s not something you hear very often. Plus I can hear myself yelling it in the back yard. KRISTA JADE WEBB! You get your butt in here!” I roll my shoulders. “See, it works.”

He shakes his head. “Yeah, it does.”

We are interrupted by a knock at the door. Detective Harmon sticks his head in. “Hello, young lady.”

I smile. “Hi.”

He laughs, walking in with a bundle of pink balloons. “My daughter works here, she told me the baby was fine and that I should get you guys something. I hope these are okay.” I smile, nodding. He looks back and forth between Sly and me. “I think it’s safe to say you took, oh, I’d say about ten years off of all of our lives yesterday.”

Sly laughs, “She likes to keep me on my toes.”

He laughs. “I see that.” He turns to me, sitting in a chair. “So I need you to tell me about last night.”

I nod. “Okay. Well, I’d went to the locker room to pee, because that’s what pregnant people do.” I continue the story until I blacked out.

Harmon nods. “Okay, I got a statement from Clay Gibbs and everyone else last night.”

My eyes water. “Detective Harmon, how is Paige? She looked so scared last night. I know she did all of those things for him, but she’s lost. He had control over her. I saw it first hand and I’ve even felt some of it.”

“She’s going to pull through, but it’s going to be a long road for her. She’s going to face some charges for all of the harassment and last night, however, I’m suggesting she undergo some psychological testing and counseling. I know she’s had a rough life, the boys filled me in on what they could. I promise we’ll do what we can for her.”

“Thank you, that’s all I’m asking,” I say softly.

He stands up. “Okay, well y’all enjoy parenthood.”

I smile. “So your daughter works here?”

“Yes, she’s just recently moved back. I’m hoping she and I can work on our relationship. Seeing all you’ve been through makes me want to fix things with her.” He looks so solemn.

I smile. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

He touches my hand. “You guys take care. Maybe I’ll make it to one of the fights soon and actually get to watch.”

Sly shakes his hand, “That would be good. Me or one of the guys will drop some tickets off to the department sometime.”

Detective Harmon smiles. “That would be great, I’m sure several more of the guys would like to come.”

I smile. “Thank you again. I hope things get better for you and your daughter. Maybe she can come with you.”

He nods. “Maybe.” He steps out, shutting the door behind him.