Tyler's Undoing (12 page)

He chuckled and put his fists up in defense. “Same to you. I promise to go easy.”

Ding, ding, ding.

Usually Bastian waited on his opponent to attack, but tonight he struck first. I dodged it easily. “Switching it up tonight, I see.”

He winked and struck again. “I like to keep you on your toes. Dance monkey, dance.” He swung and I avoided his fist again.

Looking at the clock, thirty seconds had already passed. I had to take him down soon. All it would take is one hit and I’d have him knocked out. “That’s a good strategy, B. However, tonight it’s not going to work.”

He jabbed and I ducked. “Oh yeah, why is that?” he asked humorously.

“Because,” I stated, pretending to go for his stomach, “of this.” As soon as his arms lowered to protect his body, I swung hard and fast to the right side of his head. His legs fell out from under him and he went down . . . completely limp.

The crowd screamed as the announcer lifted my arm in the air victoriously. “And the winner by TKO after one minute and ten seconds. . .
Tyler . . . The Terror . . . Russshhhiiinnnggg!
”

After my arm was let go, I reached down and helped Bastian get up on his feet.

Unstable and shaking his head, he opened and closed his jaw, rubbing it with his gloved hand. “Damn, Rushing, I didn’t expect to get knocked out that fucking fast. Next time give me a little bit more time.”

“Sorry about that, bro. Cole said I couldn’t knock you out in under two minutes. I had to prove him wrong.”

Chuckling, he looked over in my corner and flipped him off, which only made Cole laugh. “Payback’s a bitch, Bennett,” Bastian joked. “You guys going to the party tonight?”

“No, we’re heading back home. Maybe we’ll catch you next time.”

“Sounds good, Rushing. I’m sure I’ll see you around next weekend.”

The crowd was still going wild, so I made my rounds around the ring and climbed the fence, raising my arms in the air. I fucking loved the sound of them hollering my name. I’d waited years to hear it.

Waving at the crowd one last time, I jumped down and followed Cole out of the ring to where Bree stood waiting on us.

“You did amazing, Tyler,” she gushed. “I wish Kacey could’ve been here. I sent her the video of you fighting though. She absolutely loved it.”

“So you’re texting her while she’s on her date? I bet the guy loves that,” I stated with a huge smirk.

Bree bit her lip and looked sheepishly over at Cole before turning back to me. “Actually, she’s having a terrible time.”

Was it bad that I was happy about that?
Fuck no.

“She’s still with him?” I asked. “What the hell have they been doing for the past four hours?”

She looked down at her phone and scrolled through her messages. “They went out to eat and now they’re at one of the bars in the Bellagio. She says she’s ready to leave, but he ran into some people he knew. Apparently, he’s busy talking to them.”

“Tell her to call a cab and go home,” I hissed. “What fucking asshole takes a girl on a date and ignores her?”

“Uh . . . you?” Cole teased.

“Correction, cocksucker. I never took girls out on dates. I just fucked them,
then
ignored them.” When Bree’s mouth dropped open in disgust, I held up my hand to stop the enraged words from flying out of her mouth. “I’m not like that anymore, Bree, so stop looking at me like that.”

“It’s just I never thought you’d be that way,” she admitted. “I mean, I knew you had a lot of women following you around, but I never thought you’d treat them like shit. I must be an awful judge of character because when we met Liam at the bar last night, I thought he was nice and really interested in her.”

When she said the name Liam my hackles rose. Surely, it couldn’t be the same Liam I knew. If so, then Kacey needed to get the hell away from him fast.

“What’s his last name, Bree?” I asked, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Her eyes went wide, especially when she saw Cole looking just as nervous as I was. “Why, what’s wrong?” she shrieked. “I don’t know his last name. He has dark hair and green eyes, and he’s a sharp dresser . . . that’s it.”

“Holy fuck, do you think it’s him?” Cole asked, exasperated. “Out of all the people Kacey could go out with, how the hell did it wind up being him?”

“Guys, tell me what’s going on,” Bree demanded.

It was too loud in the arena, but I had to try to get in touch with her somehow. “I need your phone,” I said to Bree. She quickly handed it to me and I dialed up Kacey’s number. When she answered, I could barely hear her over the noise on both ends.

“Bree?” she answered, screaming into the phone.

“No, it’s Tyler. What’s Liam’s last name?”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“What’s Liam’s last name?” I yelled into the mouth piece.

“Hello? Are you there?”

Fuck!
This wasn’t working.
Reluctantly, I hung up the phone and texted her.

Me:
What’s Liam’s last name?!?!

Kacey:
Tyler?

Me:
YES, it’s me. What’s his last name?

Kacey:
Harris, why? Is everything okay?

When I saw his last name I thought I was going to go in-fucking-sane. I was four hours away, and if anything happened I wouldn’t make it there in time. “Goddammit!” I shouted, taking off for the dressing rooms. Cole knew exactly what was going on, so he grabbed Bree’s hand and pulled her quickly along.

“It’s him?” Cole asked.

“Yes,” I growled. “I need to get to a place where she can hear me. I can’t believe she’s with that fucker.”

“Guys, please,” Bree begged. “I need to know what’s going on.”

When we got to my dressing room, I rushed inside and immediately changed out of my gear, putting on my khaki shorts and black MMA Pride T-shirt. Grabbing all my shit, I hurried out the door with Cole and Bree following closely on my heels.

“Liam Harris has to be one of the dirtiest motherfuckers on the goddamned planet. He’s Kyle Andrews’ agent and just as bad as he is. Do you know who Kyle is?” I asked her. She’d been around enough of the fighters to get an idea on who the cocksucker was.

“Yeah, I’ve heard stories about him. I also saw the video of you two fighting a few weeks ago.”

Getting in the car, I started it up and headed straight for the highway, bolting down the road at least twenty over the limit. “Okay, so you know who Kyle is. Liam, on the other hand, is even more fucked up, if that’s possible. He’s even been accused of rape a couple of times, but the courts have always let him off due to no evidence.

“It’s the same bullshit that happens with Kyle. The slimy motherfucker never gets in trouble for any of the shit he’s done. All I know is, if Liam touches one hair on her head, I’m going to fucking kill him.”

Bree’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh my God, if something happens it’ll all be my fault. I’m the one who pushed her to start dating. Do you know for a fact he’s guilty of the charges?”

“I do,” I growled furiously, gripping the steering wheel so hard my fingers went numb. “One of the girls was someone I worked with at the Labyrinth, and I know she wouldn’t lie. Her name was Sadie.”

Shortly after it happened, she left Vegas to get away from the ridicule of her family and friends, who thought she made up the story just to get revenge on Liam for turning her down. He had told the courts she was angry because he wouldn’t go out with her. In the end, he was made out to be the victim.

Relentlessly, my heart pounded as I dialed Kacey’s number again . . . she didn’t answer. “Goddammit, Kacey, answer the fucking phone,” I shouted. Over and over I dialed her number, only to hear the sound of her voicemail.

Please, God, let her answer the phone.

“WHAT THE HELL is going on?” I said as I typed out the text message to Tyler. Why did he want to know Liam’s last name? I tried to get away from the noise so I could hear what he was saying, but it didn’t help.

It wasn’t until I was walking out of the restroom when a new text message came through. As I was looking down to read it, I was stopped with a set of hands grasping my shoulders.

“There you are,” Liam chuckled. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Funny,” I snapped. “I didn’t think you noticed when I walked away. You were a little preoccupied with your friends.”

Not that I cared, but it was rude the way he left me sitting there, bored out of my mind. During dinner he’d asked me questions about my job, my grandmother, and if I was seeing anyone exclusively. I didn’t tell him about Tyler and I sure as hell didn’t want to tell him about my grandmother. I made it seem like my life was perfect. After that, he spent the rest of the evening texting on his phone and talking about himself.

Putting his arm around my shoulders, he peered down at me with a devilish smirk splayed across his face. “Oh, baby, did I make you upset? We can go to my place, and I’ll make it up to you.”

Disgusted, I pushed his arm away and stormed off. “Actually, I was just leaving.” My phone buzzed again, but I couldn’t take the time to look at it—I needed the first cab out of here.

Catching up to me, Liam grabbed my elbow and pulled me toward the door. “Well, at least let me take you home.”

I tried to jerk out of his hold, but he held on tighter. “Liam, what the hell are you doing? Let me go.”

“Sorry, princess, but I can’t. I was told to make sure you got home safely.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Once out to his car, he opened the door and nudged me inside. “I’m talking about my neck being on the line if something happens to you. That’s all you need to know.”

The guy was fucking insane. Quickly, he marched to his side of the car and got in, squealing the tires as we flew out of the parking lot.

“There’s something truly wrong with you,” I hissed, pulling out my phone.

Chuckling, the corner of his mouth tugged up. “You have no idea, doll. It’s just a shame you won’t get to see that side of me.”

“Whatever. Just get me home.”

The look in his crazed eyes had me trembling in fear. When I was younger, my brother always told me not to show my fear, to look at it head on and conquer it. It was easier said than done.

My phone buzzed yet again. With sweat dripping down my back and clammy hands, I typed in the password to my phone so I could read my messages . . . and to possibly call the police.

Tyler:
Get away from him as fast as you can.

Tyler:
Why aren’t you answering?!?

Tyler:
DO NOT let him go into your house.

Tyler:
Call me!!

Even if Tyler hadn’t warned me about Liam, I was pretty sure I’d have figured out not to trust him. Just as I was about to call him back, his name appeared on my screen with an incoming call.

Heart pounding, I swallowed hard and collected myself, answering the phone as if nothing was wrong. “Hello?”

“Thank fucking God,” Tyler snapped. “I’ve been trying to call you, but it kept going straight to voicemail.”

Liam looked over at me, his eyebrows raised, but I turned my head and looked out the window. I was almost home. If I knew he wasn’t taking me home, I’d have already tried to call the police.

“I must’ve had bad service in the bar,” I replied coolly, hoping Liam couldn’t hear the hesitation in my voice. “What’s up?”

A horn blared in the background along with a few curse words from Tyler before he responded, “You need to get the fuck away from that sleazy son of a bitch, that’s what’s up. Whatever you do, do
not
mention my name. If you do, it’ll only cause more problems. Where are you?”

“I’m only a couple of minutes away from home. Liam is with me. Why don’t . . .”

Before I could finish my question, he interrupted me, “Don’t ask questions, Kacey. Just listen to what I have to say. I don’t know why he targeted you, but I know who that fucker is and what he’s all about. He’s an agent who represents my biggest nemesis.”

I stopped breathing. “And who would that be?”

“Kyle fucking Andrews.”

The moment he said Kyle’s name, I felt bile rise in my throat, burning like acid. It was totally something he would do, and now it all made sense. Kyle had gotten Liam to spy on me, to find out what I’d been up to and how I was doing. That must have been who he was texting during dinner; giving him the play-by-play.