Unsurpassed (9 page)

“I have to get you cleaned up so you can get dressed.”

“Why am I getting dressed?”

“Because you’re marrying me tonight,” he answered simply
before adding, “and then you’re going to give me a list of toys Trina is
allowed to have in her room because we have shopping to do.”

Her heart squeezed in her chest and the oxygen in the room
seemed too thin. “We’re getting married tonight?”

“It’s Vegas. I can marry you any time I’d like.” He held her
stare. “We could wait, but I don’t want to. I’m going to feel the same way about
you whether it’s today or ten years from now so let me have this, okay?”

“I love you,” Aubree whispered, unable to think of a single
thing to say powerful enough to express how happy he always made her.

Drew settled his mouth on hers, lingering for a moment
before deepening their kiss. It was slow, sweet and powerful. When he pulled
away, the playful Drew was back in place. “I’m hard work, but I’m worth it,” he
promised.

* * * * *

Ryan leaned against the pillar in front of Aubree’s door,
hoping the bite of brick into his skin would take away the picture of a broken
and battered Max that was branded in his brain. When questioned by the police,
he refused to release a name or description of his attacker. Instead, in spite
of all the evidence to the contrary, Max claimed he’d fallen down the stairs
outside the gym where they worked. With no witnesses, video footage or
cooperation, there was nothing anyone could do. It didn’t matter what Max said
to anyone else because Ryan knew the truth.

They’d been
wrong
. The guilt eating at him each day
sat as a heavy reminder in his gut. Aubree had deserved so much better than
what they’d done to her. Ryan missed her with something he couldn’t name.
Perhaps it was a step beyond desperation. However, he’d never expected Max’s
reaction to the loss of Aubree from their lives. His slow spiral out of control
coupled with daily visits to see Aubree at work—which he gathered didn’t go
well by Max’s mood when he returned—seemed to take a toll on him. No matter how
wrong they’d been or how desperate Max was to reclaim her, his punishment hadn’t
fit his crime.

To his aggravation, when he began searching for Drew, he ran
up against brick walls at every turn. Switching tactics, Ryan decided Aubree
was the best way to locate the missing fighter. Unfortunately, once again,
there was nothing. His search ended when, after a visit to her work, he’d
learned from one of the other nurses Aubree had taken a vacation. She was due
back today and the two hours Ryan had spent waiting for Aubree to get home did
nothing to cool his seething rage. When Drew’s silver ultra-expensive sports
car pulled up at the curb, a pulse began beating at his brain. Life had denied
Drew nothing, including the woman sitting in the passenger seat. The
frustration from months of waiting to have Aubree to only be given a few short
hours enjoying her body pooled together with Ryan’s vehemence over Max’s
injuries until a red haze covered his vision.

The simmering anger, guilt and hurt he nursed brought him to
his feet. The world seemed to slow around him as he moved toward the car. Drew
lifted Aubree’s hand to his mouth, holding her gaze as he pressed his lips to
it before opening his door. Aubree didn’t move and she kept her face averted as
if she could no longer bear to look at him. It was one thing too many.

Springing forward, Ryan struck, aiming for Drew’s jaw. At
the last second, Drew pivoted to the left and Ryan’s fist swiped at empty air.
Aubree leapt from the car as Drew snagged Ryan’s arm. His vise-like grip sent a
sharp pain all the way through Ryan’s body as Drew twisted until Ryan hit his
knees.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Ignoring Aubree’s screeched question, Ryan gasped against
the pain as he fought Drew’s hold, but the man didn’t let up. Aubree attempted
to push her way between them and Drew shoved him away. Shooting back to his
feet, Ryan curled his fingers into a fist, preparing to strike again. Aubree
stepped into his path. The giant fighter—who’d been seconds away from breaking
Ryan’s arm—was rendered helpless by the tiny blonde woman as she refused to
budge.

Under any other circumstances, Ryan might’ve found Drew’s
reaction funny. His inner debate was written all over his face. Drew was big
enough to physically move her out of the way, but obviously too intelligent to
try. With her palm flattened against his chest, Aubree pushed until Drew’s back
was against the car. Ryan didn’t kid himself. He knew the man could plow right
through her. He’d allowed Aubree to intervene. His eyes, however, told Ryan a different
story. Ryan held onto his life by Aubree’s mercy alone. Apparently satisfied
Drew would behave, Aubree turned her rage on him.

“I cannot believe your fucking nerve. After everything
you’ve done, you come to my house and pull this shit.”

“Ask him what he did to Max,” Ryan said, interrupting her
tirade. “Or do you already know?” he added, as another horrible thought hit
him. He’d never considered her involvement, but then again, it had been her
they’d hurt.

When Aubree’s brow furrowed in confusion, a spike of triumph
ran through him. He released a bitter laugh. “So, he hasn’t told you, after
all.”

She glanced over her shoulder at Drew. “What about Max?” His
eyes went flat and any doubts Ryan had over the identity of Max’s attacker
fled.

Ryan could feel his jaw ticking as he bit down on his anger.
“He’s been in the hospital for the past week. He was found unconscious behind
the gym. He has a concussion, six broken ribs and a hairline fracture in his
collarbone. His spleen ruptured and there was some other internal bruising.
He’s refusing to cooperate with the police and there is no evidence to point at
anyone, but I know who he was supposed to meet there,” Ryan said tilting his
chin in Drew’s direction. Aubree opened her mouth as if to defend him, but her
teeth snapped together and she turned on Drew.

“Your knuckles.”

The two words brought about a world of change in Drew’s
expression. Ryan was rendered speechless at the powerful emotion written on the
man’s face as he stared at Aubree. “He put his hands on you,” Drew said between
clenched teeth. His nostrils flared, and Ryan braced to intervene as Drew took
a step in Aubree’s direction, but he merely brushed Aubree’s hair away from her
face before gently taking it between his hands. “Nobody puts their hands on my
wife. The thought of anyone hurting you…” He trailed off as if choking on his
words and shook his head.

“Wait. What?” Ryan asked, grasping to absorb what he was
hearing.

Aubree clutched Drew’s shirt appearing almost desperate to
hang onto him. “How did you—”

Drew cut his eyes in Ryan’s direction. “There were tiny eyes
watching.”

“I didn’t want you to know.”

“You should have told me,” Drew said, and even Ryan could
hear the pain behind the statement. “I’m your husband. You should have trusted
me to keep you safe.”

“Hold on. Hold on,” Ryan said, unable to stand any more.
“Max hit you and you married this guy?” He shook his head in disbelief as the
pair continued to ignore him, and Aubree’s voice turned almost pleading.

“I trust you always with everything. It was never about
that.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything? The moment Max got
physical, you should have come straight to me. Scratch that. The first time he
showed up at your job, you should have said something.”

Aubree reached up, touching his hands, before drawing them
away from her face, and linking their fingers. At the move, Ryan caught a flash
of her wedding rings and the air left his lungs. “You’re everything to me,”
Aubree said. “Do you know what I would do if the roles were reversed?” She dropped
her chin to her chest and took a deep breath before meeting Drew’s eyes once
more. Ryan almost took a step back at the fierce look on her face. “I would
kill someone if they touched you. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I knew you
would hurt him, but in the end, it would be you who would lose everything. I
couldn’t watch Max limp away while you lost your career and reputation. You’re
worth a hundred of him. How could I let such a thing happen?”

When Drew responded, his voice came out sounding as if he were
chewing on gravel. “I love you more than any of those things. Don’t ever keep
something like this from me again.”

After a moment, Aubree nodded and Drew’s eyes fell closed
showing his relief over her acquiescence. Shock sat heavily on Ryan. As much as
he didn’t want to believe what he was hearing, the truth was in the powerful
emotions hanging in the air. Max had physically hurt Aubree in some way. Even
though Ryan’s mind rejected the notion, as her husband, Drew had done what he
knew how to do to protect her.

Without a thought to his own safety, Ryan moved in and
wrapped his arms around Aubree’s shoulders before anyone could protest. “I
didn’t know. I swear,” he told her quietly. He didn’t wait for a response.
Their once beautiful friendship was dead and nothing anyone said would change
things. The single option he possessed was to walk away and hope, one day,
Aubree would no longer hate him.

The muscles in Drew’s chest flinched as he physically held
himself back from ripping Ryan’s arms away from Aubree’s shoulders. The blank
expression on her face kept him in check. She endured Ryan’s touch but she didn’t
welcome it. Without another word, Ryan walked away and climbed inside the red
Chevy Tahoe across the street. He didn’t drive away. Drew had wasted no time
marrying Aubree and after making good on his promise to give Trina an awesome
Christmas, he’d stolen Aubree away for a full week of solitude. All the while,
he’d hoped this problem would disappear before they returned, but if didn’t,
then he’d spent a week of bliss with his new wife before serving whatever
sentence he landed. In spite of everything, Drew was willing to meet Ryan
halfway. If Aubree wanted to keep him as a friend, she could have him as a
friend and nothing more, or Drew would kill him.

“Should I tell him there is no reason for him to leave?”

Aubree shook her head at Drew’s question. “I don’t want him
here.” Before he had time to enjoy his relief over her answer, tears filled her
eyes, and Drew couldn’t breathe any longer. With everything she’d been through,
he’d never seen her cry, and Drew made a terrible discovery. He couldn’t handle
it.

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped out. Drew wrapped his arms around
Aubree, clutching her tightly to his chest in part for comfort but also because
her tears scared the hell out of him. A shudder ran through her. “I can’t
believe Trina saw everything. I feel like such an awful person. I didn’t know
what to do. She must’ve been so scared.”

Drew snorted. “You’re not an awful person and you shouldn’t
worry so much about Trina. The fact she was the one who witnessed everything is
the best thing that could have possibly happened to you. That little girl was
planning Max’s downfall like a pro. She’s going to give some man hell one of
these days.”

Aubree let out a watery laugh before sobering once more.
“You really almost killed him.” Drew’s grip tightened even more until she
gasped, reminding him of his strength, and he was forced to loosen his hold.

Rubbing his hands over her back, he did his best to make
amends. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget how easily I could hurt you, but it’s as
if I think if I hold onto you tight enough, then it will keep you with me once
you figure out I’m too much of everything. It scares the hell of me to think I
might wake up from this dream and find you gone.”

“Not going to happen,” she said sounding fierce. He kissed
the top of her head to let her know how much her words meant to him.

“I need you to know, I did try to do things differently. If
I’d gone straight to Max after leaving the hospital, I would’ve killed him. Of
that, I have no doubts. Instead, I tried to calm down, and I went to see my
dad.”

Aubree pulled back and met his gaze appearing shocked. “You
did?”

Drew slowly nodded. “At first, I thought I’d let Max have
his way, and then maybe I wouldn’t be as angry when I went to see him.” Drew
scrubbed his hand across the back of his head. “I know it doesn’t make sense,
but I guess I thought it would take the fear out of my anger. I didn’t want him
to ever come to you with anything again, but it did nothing but give me more
time to stew over it. I kept picturing him—” Drew broke off, unable to give a
voice to the things he saw inside his mind. Aubree attempted to soothe him with
her touch. She smoothed her hands over his chest before moving to his shoulders
and down his arms then repeating the motion. The sun glimmered off the diamond
on her finger. He’d bought her the ring while they’d been in Monterey. He
covered her hand with his, holding it in place against his chest. Her eyes were
red-rimmed but dry and the blue of her irises stood out even brighter than
usual. A thousand worries over how she might feel about him now rushed to the
surface. However, after a moment of simply watching her, a tiny smile touched
her lips. He knew they’d be okay.

“Just so you know, being married to me is a huge
responsibility. I have expectations.”

Aubree pressed her lips together, but in spite of her best
efforts, a dimple appeared in the corner of her mouth. After a moment, she
managed to rearrange her features into a serious expression. “Is that so? Well,
this I have to hear.”

He bit back a laugh at her tone and barely managed a solemn
nod. “I fully expect you to let me have my way in all things. In exchange for
your cooperation, I promise to be the biggest freak in bed you’ve ever heard
of.”

A chuckle escaped Aubree before her eyes turned calculating.
She closed the space between them, pressing her body against his. “Don’t think
I won’t call you on your boast. I totally have a few ideas.”