Tyler's Undoing (19 page)

When I got inside, I set my purse down and pulled out my phone, turning it on. It immediately beeped from missed messages. Most likely from Bree. Sadly, only one message was from her, while the others were my brother. Why couldn’t he just leave me the hell alone? The one from Bree was basically her demanding that I was going to Phoenix with them, whether I liked it or not.

While booting up my laptop, I listened to the few messages. The first two were nothing, only the sound of Kyle hanging up the phone. The third one, however, was him.

“
I’m assuming since you’re not answering your phone, you’re still pissed at me. You know, you could avoid all of this if you’d just talk to me. I don’t know why you’re making things so difficult. So listen, I’m going to be in Vegas this weekend for my fight. I want to come by and see you and Nana, maybe grab something to eat. As much as you hate me right now, you’re still my sister, my family. I’ll be there tomorrow around lunch time.
”

Groaning, I shut my laptop. There was no need to see where he was fighting anymore. Sitting on my bed, I ran my hands through my hair and stared at my phone. If I ignore him, he’ll do something stupid to get my attention. If I call him and tell him about our grandmother, he’ll get pissed because I kept it from him. Situations like this shouldn’t be difficult. At least, they’re not supposed to be.

I should be able to call my mom and go shopping, like normal mothers and daughters do, but instead all she wants to do is talk about herself. Never once in the last eight months has she called me to see how I’d been doing. Knowing there were real mothers out there like Tyler’s, made me realize how lonely and sad my life really was—especially now that Nana was gone.

Basically, I only had one option. Taking a deep breath, I sat on my bed and dialed his number, secretly hoping he wouldn’t answer.

“Well
hello
, Kacey. I’m glad you called me back,” he answered.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, it was either that, or wait on you to do something stupid. I’d rather deal with you, than put up with your dirt bag friends.”

“Damn, Kacey,” he chuckled. “My friends aren’t going to mess with you. I only had Liam get close to you to get information on your well-being. I’m just worried about you out there by yourself, taking care of grandma. Especially since you don’t cash any of the checks I send.”

“It’s because I don’t need it, Kyle. I’d rather work for it myself instead of taking your blood money.”

“Kacey, you’re being ridiculous, but I guess we both get our stubbornness from dad. So anyway, I’m going to be in town. Let me take you out to lunch tomorrow. We can go anywhere you want.”

Here we go.

“I’m sorry, Kyle, but I’m not going to be in town. Bree and I are going away for the weekend. We leave tonight.”

“Tonight? What about Nana? I thought you were taking care of her?” he replied.

I closed my eyes and hung my head. The pain of my grandmother’s loss was always going to hang heavy on my soul. I don’t think there will ever come a time when I don’t feel that pain.

“Kyle, I think you should know. . .” I started, but then stopped to take in a calming breath. “Nana passed away last week.”

The phone went silent, at least until Kyle’s angry outburst tore through the phone. “Are you fucking serious? Why didn’t you tell me?”

To avoid a screaming match, I calmly responded back, “Can you honestly tell me you give a fuck? You never once called her or talked to her—neither had mom. I didn’t see the need in telling you. Everything is taken care of and she’s put to rest. It’s all over.”

“Yeah, it appears that’s not all you hadn’t told me,” he grumbled.

Immediately, I stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about your job at the bar, Kacey. I found out that you stopped working there. Liam went to check on you and was told you quit. What are you doing for money?”

“I find that working the corners in Sin City is very lucrative,” I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. He didn’t seem to find that funny by the growl in my ear. “Don’t worry, I have plenty of money saved up. I’ll be fine until I open up my restaurant.”

I wasn’t about to tell him I worked for Tyler. He’d show up in a heartbeat to drag me out. “How much more do you need?” he asked curiously. “I can loan it to you if you want.”

“I don’t think so,” I scoffed. “I don’t need your help. In fact, I really need to go.” Looking at the clock, I had already wasted ten minutes on the phone with him.

Kyle huffed. “All right, I get it. Just so you know, I’m going to be back in Vegas in two weeks for the title match. We’re going to have to celebrate when I win.”

Instantly, I felt sick to my stomach. I had known the title match was coming up, but I didn’t realize it was in two weeks. “Who are you fighting?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Tyler fucking Rushing,” he sneered.

“What is your problem with these other fighters? Are you jealous of them?” I snapped. “What did they ever do to you? I hate hearing stories of the things you’ve done to screw with people.”

“It’s just part of the business, sis. Besides, the guys I have a problem with always think they’re better than me. You should see the way they look down their noses at me, like I’m no better than a pile of shit. Tyler’s the same way. He’s going down. I have a plan and it’s going to tear him apart.”

Holding in my gasp, I swallowed hard and closed a hand over my mouth. “What are you going to do, Kyle? You need to stop doing this.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about it. I just hope I get to see it all take place.”

Before I could even form a coherent thought, Kyle chuckled and hung up the phone.

Oh my God!
What would he do?
Quickly, I threw off my clothes and hopped in the shower, holding back my tears. I had to make sure Tyler was ready for anything, but I had a feeling he already knew to be on guard.

My choice for the weekend was made . . . I was going to Phoenix.

I THOUGHT VEGAS was hot, but Phoenix was hotter. Even in my strapless, pink sundress I was burning up. Hopefully, I wasn’t getting sick. I could usually handle the heat, but today it was proving to be quite difficult. Tyler, in his dark blue tank top and khaki shorts, appeared to be comfortable and not overheated at all.

As soon as he’d finished training with his father, I’d followed him to his house so he could pack his bags. Mine were already packed and ready to go. In fact, I’d made sure to put extra clothes in there so I’d have them in case I stayed at Tyler’s when we got back. Mostly, I didn’t want to go home for fear that my brother would be there waiting on me.

When we pulled up at the hotel, my mouth flew open at the sight. I loved playing golf and the hotel was right smack dab in the middle of a course—an amazing one at that. “Oh my God,” I breathed. “This place is gorgeous. It’s a shame I don’t have my clubs.”

I used to play with my father every weekend, and even played in tournaments with him. We were the best team. Tyler had won trophies for fighting and karate as a kid, but I had ones for golfing.

He smirked and parked the truck; probably thinking I was kidding.

“I’m being serious, Tyler. I used to golf all of the time. I was actually pretty good.”

“Oh, I know,” he stated, turning to me. “Bree told me you played. I have a tee time scheduled for us in an hour.”

“Are you shitting me?” I gasped wholeheartedly. “This is amazing. I can’t believe you’d do that. Do you even know how to play?”

Opening his door, he guffawed and shook his head. “Not exactly, but I figured I could give it a try. That’s why I wanted to stay here, so you could play.”

We were staying at the Camelback Inn, which was only about twenty minutes away from the arena. It worked for me because I knew it was a place where we could have some privacy and not be around the other fighters. Bree and Cole would be joining us later, since Bree had to work the day shift to make up for being gone.

“And then, after you kick my ass in golf, I figured we could go skinny dipping,” Tyler announced, waggling his eyebrows. We unloaded our bags from the truck, and again, only I was drenched in sweat.

Wiping my brow, I smacked him on the arm, giggling. “And how are we going to do that? I don’t think I want to get naked around the other guests at this hotel.” Although, right now, I would probably jump in a frozen lake if I could.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about the details, beautiful.”

“And why is that?”

He winked and kissed me on the lips. “You’ll see.”

Knowing him, he wanted us to sneak into the pool area after hours. I could be adventurous, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to do that. When we got inside, Tyler checked us in and we started off toward our room. He smirked the entire time and I had no idea why until we got to our floor and he opened the door. Our room wasn’t just ordinary. It was a gigantic suite, with a living room that had a couch and two chairs, a separate bedroom with a king-size bed, and a door that led onto our own patio.

And on that patio . . . was our own
private
pool.

“So that’s why you mentioned skinny dipping, huh?”

We both set our bags down and waltzed onto the patio. I was in awe because I didn’t live the upscale life like my brother and mother, or Tyler for that matter. I just wasn’t used to all of this. It sure was nice though. Sliding off my sandals, I brushed across the top of the water, sighing when it felt cold to the touch.

“If you want the water warmer, we can turn on the heat,” Tyler said, sticking his hand in.

“No, it’s perfect, we don’t need it. As soon as we get done playing golf, we’ll want to cool down. I’ve never been skinny dipping before.”

Taking his hand out of the water, Tyler dried it on his shorts before putting his arms around my waist, his mischievous gray eyes sparkling. “It’ll definitely be something to remember. Now let’s go before we’re late.”

Once we were done golfing and back at the clubhouse, I sat down to untie my shoes. I briefly thought I was going to pass out from heat exhaustion, but thankfully it passed. The adrenaline of playing golf again—and thoroughly kicking Tyler’s ass—helped me feel better. Not to mention the amazing gift he gave me.

“I can’t believe you did this, Tyler. I don’t know how to thank you.”

He took off his shoes and put his tennis shoes back on. “I think you already did about twenty times in the last three hours.” He flashed a smile.

“Yes, but it’s not enough,” I countered. “I need to repay you somehow.”

When we left to check in for our tee time I had no clue what we were going to do as far as golf clubs and shoes. I never brought them with me to Vegas because I didn’t think I’d have time to play. Anyway, there waiting for me with a giant ribbon around them, were a pair of brand new golf shoes and a golf bag full of clubs. They were mine. Tyler had bought them for me and they weren’t cheap either. They were top of the line. I couldn’t begin to imagine how much he spent on me.

“I’ll tell you what,” Tyler began, getting to his feet. Now that my shoes were off and tucked under my arm, I was waiting on him. He stalked closer, biting his lip. “Why don’t we go to the room and you can show me your appreciation in there. I think we both would enjoy that, don’t you think?”