Let Go (4 page)

He looks over
and asks, “Is that all?”

She shakes her
head and looks forward. Her hands move to rest on the steering
wheel. Her voice leaves her lips in a whisper, “We’re engaged.”

Greylan’s
breath escapes him.
Engaged, what the hell?

His words are
fierce, “Trinity, you are only twenty-five. You are just starting
your life. You can’t be engaged to anyone.”

Trinity turns
to look at him. Her gaze changes to a glare, “You’re my big brother
and you have done a good job taking care of me. It’s not your place
anymore.”

Before he can
respond she opens the door and slips out. He scurries through his
door and squints into the sun basking the roof of the car, his tone
is louder than he had anticipated, “Is he here? Do I get to meet
the lucky guy?” Sarcasm fills his words.

She shakes her
head but holds her ground. Greylan has always been there to make
decisions and shelter her. One of the best things that could have
happened was for him to be away from her life for a while. She
would have never wished for him to go to prison but the distance
has been good for her. She’s been able to find herself and figure
out what she wants. Now she just has to convince her overbearing
brother.

The major feat
is going to be convincing him that she’s not the same person she
was five years ago when he left. She can tell though, that he’s
different as well. Small things are noticeable already. The way he
hangs onto her every word and his urge to control things. She can
only imagine how the shift in control back to him has had an
effect.

She squares
her shoulders and states firmly, “You’ll meet him later. I asked
him not to come home until you’re able to get settled.”

His voice is
filled with exasperation, “Home, you mean, you live with him?
Trinity, what in the hell have you done?”

She moves
around the car and places her hand on his arm, “Greylan, trust me,
my life is different now, I’m different.”

She turns and
walks to the front door. As she pushes it open she calls over her
shoulder to his still figure, “You are just going to have to accept
that. Are you coming or not?”

He roughly
grabs his bag from the back seat and strides to the door. He
wonders in that moment, what else has changed in the world since
he’s been gone?

Parker pulls
in next to Trinity’s Jeep. He looks up to the brownstone aware that
the next thirty or so minutes are going to have a huge impact on
his life in the near future. He climbs out of his silver BMW M3,
grabs his gym bag from the backseat and walks briskly to the front
door. He takes a deep breath and fits the key into the lock. As the
door swings open he pauses to gauge where Trinity and her brother
are in the house but it’s silent.

He makes his
way upstairs, his bag in hand bracing for the worst. Trinity
explained that her brother wouldn’t hurt a fly but that’s not what
five years in prison says to him. Who knows how hard being there
has made Greylan, not to mention his background as a fighter.
Parker knows what he’s up against. He would be a fool to think this
is going to be easy.

He angles into
the master bedroom to find Trinity lying down with a book in her
hands. She looks up with the usual sparkle in her eyes when she
sees him. He will never tire of this girl. His hand releases the
bag and he maneuvers onto the bed beside her. He nuzzles her neck
as she sets the book down on the bed beside her and asks, “How bad
is it?”

She chuckles
and turns her face toward his lips. Her nose wrinkles as she
states, “Ew, Parker, you smell.”

This
encourages him further as he moves over her body pinning her arms
to her sides so his mouth can have its way with her lips. In
between tiny kisses she tells him, “It’s not bad. You just need to
be on your best behavior.”

“I do,
huh?”

Parker lets go
of her arms and guides his hands down her body, just barely grazing
with his fingertips. They trail along to her hips where he lifts
her shirt and softly ever so gently moves them up the sensitive
skin of her sides. With no warning at all, he moves his fingers in
an assault of tickling. She squeals with laughter yelling out as he
pins her beneath him.

Suddenly the
door swings open in such a rush that Parker is surprised it didn’t
fall off its hinges. Greylan Pace storms in and demands, “Get off
of my sister, right now!” His fists are clenched at his sides and
the only thought Parker has is that this is definitely not the way
he wanted this to go down.

Parker climbs
down off the bed and puts his hands up into the air as if someone
is holding a gun to his head. He might as well be. Trinity wants so
badly to show Greylan how she has changed and how she can take care
of herself. Parker realizes that his actions are atoning to the
exact opposite.

He states in a
friendly tone thrusting his hand out in a handshake offer, “Hey,
you must be Greylan. I’m Parker Harris.”

Greylan stands
there staring past Parker as if he’s not there, concern for Trinity
etched into his features. She sits up and pulls down her shirt
uncomfortably. Her face is flushed as she stands and grabs Parkers
hand in a tight squeeze. Greylan looks to their hands and up to
Parker’s face as if just acknowledging his presence.

Trinity speaks
before anyone else has a chance, “Greylan, this is my fiancé’,
Parker Harris. Parker, this is my brother, Greylan Pace.”

They stand
awkwardly staring each other down. A few minutes pass without a
word from either of them. Trinity glances from one to the other, a
huff escaping her lips as she wrestles with her words, “Look boys,
you both have tons of testosterone, we all know that. Reel it in
because the three of us are stuck together, like it or not. I’m not
budging about either one of you so get this over with and move on.”
She moves her hands emphatically between them for effect but they
both remain unmoving as if in a draw.

“Holy shit you
two, just go at it already then. I’m out of here. You both know how
much I hate watching both of you fight.”

Greylan averts
his gaze first. A question leaves his lips, “Fight, both of us? Is
he?” He moves his hand through his hair in exasperation as
realization hits him.

He pleads,
“Trinity, is he a fighter? Oh shit Trin, you didn’t.”

She steps up
to her brother, places her hand on his chest and pushes gently
while smiling, “Oh yes Greylan, I did. You can’t expect me to grow
up around fighting and not have anything to do with it just because
you left.”

She turns on
her heel and strides out of the room. Parker looks on as she
leaves. A small part of him wants to cower away and follow her like
a little puppy dog. Hitting fists with her brother is not something
he has any desire for. He heard about how fierce Greylan is in the
cage. He was on his way to Vegas when everything happened. There is
no doubt in Parker’s mind that he is still able to throw down.

Instead of
following though, Parker breaks the silence, “So I heard that you
are a force to be reckoned with in the cage.” Get on his good side,
maybe this will help.

Greylan frowns
as he looks more closely at Parker. His buzzed blonde hair, grey
blue eyes and bulky frame verify who he’s staring at. He
straightens up pushing his shoulders back and states, “You’re
the
Parker Harris.” It comes out as a statement but Parker
answers anyway, “Yep, that’s me.”

The air seems
to escape Greylan as he realizes who is standing in front of him
and engaged to his sister. He suddenly needs to sit down. His feet
move toward the bed and he sinks into the mattress. He looks back
up to Parker and shakes his head. More to himself he mutters, “She
couldn’t just stay away or date an amateur. She had to go to the
top.”

Parker smirks
at his words and answers Greylan’s unspoken question, “This is
Trinity we are talking about, right? Stubborn Trinity, who beats to
her own drum?”

Greylan nods
and looks to the floor. Parker gestures as if to question sitting
in the spot beside him and Greylan nods. Greylan realizes in that
moment that Trinity is so much like him and any protests he has
toward her relationship with Parker, she’ll do the exact
opposite.

He looks over
to Parker and asks, “What are your stats?”

Parker smirks,
“Twenty-five and one.”

“Huh, who was
the one?”

Parker brushes
his one loss off, “Jesus Reyes, a mean dude, damn near strangled me
to death.”

He adds, “I
followed your career, you did some real damage. It’s a shame what
happened.”

Greylan nods.
He was able to see fights occasionally in prison. Not as much as he
would have liked but some of the guards who had followed his short
career kept him updated with the stats. Parker Harris is the up and
coming hero of MMA and his sister is engaged to the guy.
Things
just keep getting better
.

Parker stands
and offers, “You hungry?”

A moment
passes before Greylan realizes how hungry he really is. He hit the
sack as soon as they got here earlier. Some real food would be
nice. He nods and follows Parker down the long stairs leading to
the first floor. Parker leads him past a room overcrowded with
plush chocolate furniture situated around a big screen T.V. hung
over a stone fireplace. They walk into a wide kitchen, bright in
light neutral colors but covered with dark oak cabinets. Trinity is
standing by the marbled counter mixing something in a bowl. She
glances up and remarks, “That was fast, I thought it’d take a lot
longer. Did we kiss and make up or is there a fight scheduled in
the near future?”

Parker steps
up behind her, kisses her on the cheek and warns lovingly,
“Trinity, give Greylan a break. He’s just making sure you’re in
good hands.”

He looks back
as Greylan states, “The jury is still out. Don’t think just because
you’re a fighter, I’m okay with this. In fact that’s a strike
against you.”

He lifts a
banana from the basket of fruit on the table and peels the skin
back before taking a bite. Trinity pleads, “Come on Grey, I told
you, this is
my
life now. I hate to say this but if you
don’t like it, you know where the door is.”

She turns
before Greylan can respond. He huffs and sinks into a chair at the
wooden table situated in the center of the room. Parker sets a beer
down in front of Greylan and takes the chair across from him. He
states, “I heard you were Carlo’s big fighter before you left.”

Greylan’s ears
perk up at the mention of his old trainer. He asks, “You know
Carlo? Is he still in the business?”

Parker leans
back resting his long arm across the chair beside him, “Yeah, you
could say that.”

He looks over
at Trinity before quietly confiding, “How about you come to the gym
with me tomorrow?”

Greylan leans
forward a moment before averting his eyes to Trinity. He nods and
takes a long sip from his bottle. He has a feeling the changes are
going to just keep coming. He can either embrace them or fight
them. At the moment though, not a muscle in his body has any desire
to fight. He leans back in his chair savoring the fact that the
beer tastes way better than it should.

His feet
take him into the dark. Shadows appear everywhere he looks. He
knows he’s in the ally looking for something but he can’t remember
what it is. As he scans the small space, movement in the corner
against the wall, catches his attention. He focuses on the area for
a brief second before a cry rings through the night. His body moves
forward and it comes back to him. Why he’s there. He tries to halt
his legs but he can’t. They take him to the face of the dark-haired
man with a beard and brown eyes glaring at him. He knows what’s
coming but he can’t stop it. His fist moves making contact with the
man’s face. His head slams against the brick with a crack
.
Greylan’s whole body jumps at the sound. His breathing is erratic
as he comes back from the dream.