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

CHAPTER 3

KARA

Panic fills me as I wake up in a strange room. As soon as the soreness and pain hits me, I get all the reminder I need from the events of last night. I quietly make my way down the hallway of Sloan’s house. I don’t know why but I feel like I’m sneaking around. I can hear Sloan and Lox in the kitchen talking in hushed tones.

I slowly step in. “Hey, guys. Those pain meds must’ve really done a number on me.”

Sloan tries to smile. “Yeah, come on over here and sit. Let me make you a sandwich.”

I see the grim look between them. “Um, Sloan, do you think you can take me to grab some stuff from my place?”

Lox looks at me. “Some of your stuff is in a duffle bag on the couch. We went and grabbed it.”

Oh shit. “We?”

He shrugs, “Yeah, the twins and me.”

I can see some silent communication going on between him and Sloan.
They probably think I’m stupid. That I’m stupid and I deserved for this to happen to me. I’m ruining their time together.
“Guys, what aren’t you telling me? Did you bury Drake or drop him in a swamp with ham tied to his legs for the gators? What?” Part of me is screaming,
please say yes, please say yes.

Sloan looks at Lox and he’s still not talking. Finally, she rolls her eyes. “Sly beat the shit out of him. They threw him out of your place. The cops showed up at the gym a little bit ago and arrested Sly.”

I shake my head. “What?”

Lox puts his hands up. “Don’t worry, our attorney is on top of it. Sly didn’t want you to worry about it right now. You need your rest.”

“How bad?”
Oh my God. This is all my fault. I trusted Drake, I brought him around my friends. Drake was right, I’m such a fucking idiot. Now a very sweet guy is going to jail for my dumbass. 

Lox sits the Gatorade down he’s drinking. “How bad what?”

I sigh. “Drake. How bad did Sly kick his ass?”

Lox shrugs. “We kept him from killing him.” He takes another sip and sets it down. “You have to understand, he and Huck have serious problems with someone using a woman as a punching bag. They saw it too much growing up. I have some serious problems with it, too, but for them it’s different.”

I nod and the front door swings open. In walks my sister, Jade, looking like she’s ready to take on the world. She watches Sage all the time and has her own key to the place so I guess she’s comfortable enough now to just walk in.
Shit. I didn’t want her to see me.

When she sees my face, her inner ginger comes out. “If Sly hadn’t already beat the s-h-i-t out of him, I would go do it now.” She rubs her face. “With the help of a shotgun.”

Lox chuckles at my sister and walks out of the room. He’s giving us girl time, I guess.

Sloan pats the seat next to her for Jade to sit down. “Sage isn’t here, you don’t have to spell out the words.”

Jade shrugs, “Sorry, force of habit here.” We all share a small laugh. Jade grabs Sloan’s hand. “I didn’t get to see it up close last night. It’s gorgeous.”

I gasp and cover my mouth. “Oh my God! I meant to ask how last night went for you.”

She eyes me. “You knew he was going to ask, didn’t you?”

I try to smile. “Yes.”

She sighs. “It was wonderful.”

It all hits me again. “I’m sorry I kinda screwed it all up for you.”
Yes, you did, Kara. You made a mountain out of a mole hill.

She puts her hands on top of mine. “Don’t ever apologize for last night. Not one minute of that was your fault.” I try to shake all thoughts of Drake from my brain, but he is still creeping in there.

Lox walks back in the room speaking to someone on his phone. “Yeah, we’ll be there soon.”

He hangs up and slides his phone in his pocket. “That was Marco. Kara, our attorney needs to meet with you. He just has some questions. He just got Sly out, they want us to meet them at the gym.”

“Okay, can I get a shower first?” I need a few minutes to myself, but I’m so sore I don’t even know if I can lift my arms to wash my hair. I can feel the caked blood and the creams the hospital had to use.

He nods. “Yeah, no rush. Take your time.”

Sloan and Jade jump up. As if they know what I’m thinking, they help me up and with my shower. An hour later, we’re all loaded up and headed to the gym.

On the way there, I think about all of the warning signs that things were going bad. It all started with the gym. He didn’t like me taking the self-defense classes from the guys. He said he could teach me all the self-defense I needed. Stupid me, I thought he was being sexy and flirty. Turns out I really needed to learn those self-defense techniques.

I make my way into the gym behind everyone. The closer we get to the conference room, the more nervous I get. I know I’m about to see everyone and my face looks like hell. I have stitches on my cheek, my eyes are both swollen, along with a broken nose and my lips are fat and busted.
Yeah, I look like a fat fucking beauty queen. This is my fault. They are all going to be pissed with me. Sly is really going to hate me.

We pass Huck and Elizabeth having a heated discussion. I hear her telling him it’s none of his fucking business and him telling her that if she doesn’t come clean, he’ll rat her ass out. I wish those two would just fucking sleep together and get it over with. Well, or maybe they did sleep together and-.

My mind stops when I step in the room and see Sly.

He walks over to me full blast and I cower when he wraps me up in a hug. I can’t help but groan because I’m still in so much pain. “Shit, I’m sorry, sexy. I’m just so glad to see you.”

“It’s okay, Sly. Thank you for everything. I just wish you hadn’t risked everything for me.” I tip my head down. “I shouldn’t have called Sloan last night, this is too much.”

He lightly brushes the hair back from my face. “Hey, nobody messes with family and you are family.” He shrugs, “Plus, Loxie boy is getting married and if he goes to prison, Sloan will kick my ass. She’s got some massively powerful hands. All those damn massages, she’s got like Hulk hands on Tinkerbell’s body or some shit.”

I laugh and even though it hurts my face, it feels great. About that time, the attorney walks in and asks us all to have a seat.

“Ms. Chambers, I’m Sly’s attorney, Mr. Roberts. We just need to go over a few things about last night.” He gets a glare from Sly, then clears his throat. “If you’re comfortable, that is?”

I nod. “Yes.”

After explaining in detail most of what happened last night, Mr. Roberts looks at me and I can see he’s worrying about what he’s going to tell me next. “Ms. Chambers, I’m just going to let you know that the State intends to press charges against Mr. Willis. After they questioned Sly about him attacking Drake, they put the pieces together and even though you didn’t want to press charges at the hospital, the state has the right to do so all on their own.  It’s an election year so they’re playing hardball. I know you’re only wishing this could be over with,” shaking his head, “but I’m afraid it’s only beginning.”

Great! I’m such a fuck up.

I look around the room. “I’m sorry I got y’all involved in this. I’ll cooperate with them and get this as far away from Sly and the gym as possible.” I stand up from the table. I see some of them wanting to say something but I don’t give them time. “I know you guys have your new deal with Bellator and you don’t need this shit. It’s not your fault I have bad taste in men.” I make my way out the door, down the hall and to the bathroom. Looking at myself once again, I brace myself on the counter, breathing hard. I can't get over what my face looks like. It's almost scary to look at.

The bathroom door swings open and in walks Sloan, "You've got to stop blaming yourself for this." She sighs. "You didn't ask for any of this."

I look back down at my hands. "I know I didn't but I still brought it right to your door."

She places her hands gently on my upper arms, "The guys are happy to help you. They're your friends."

I let out a big breath, “Can we just go home? Please?”

She nods, “Sure.”

I make my way out of the gym without having to speak with anyone else. Lox decided to stay and work. I’m guessing he wanted to give me some time with Sloan and my sister.

Once we get back to Sloan’s, I look over at her and Jade and they are looking at me like I may crumble at any moment.  “Stop, you two. I just- can we just watch a damn movie or something?” I shake my head. “Something funny. I have enough
Lifetime
drama all on my own.”

Once we watch
Hangover,
I’ve laughed until my face actually hurts. I look over at them. “Thanks, you guys. I needed to laugh for a while and forget about everything else.”

Sloan smiles and turns to my sister. “So, Jade, what did you end up deciding about school? Or have you not decided?”

Jade starts to ring her hands together. “Well, I’ve been accepted to UF and UAB. Both are great schools and both have offered me plenty of incentives to go there, but I think I want to go to UAB.”

That stuns me. “What?”

“There are some things that I need to work out in my own head and away from home.”

I grab her hand. “Like what? What do you need to figure out away from us?”

“Just some stuff. Some personal stuff,” she groans out, reminding me that she’s still a teenager.

“Are you okay? You’re scaring me here.” I know I have tears in my eyes.

“I’m fine, I promise. I just have some shit to work out.”

“Has someone done something to you? Has someone hurt you?”

She grabs my hands. “Kara, I know you have a lot going on right now, but it’s nothing like that. I promise.”

I just nod, trying to keep my tears held back.

Sloan puts a hand up as she shoves some popcorn in her mouth. “Wait, wait, wait. What about you and Gibbs?”

Jade shrugs. “We’re just friends. Everyone just assumes shit. You see a guy and a girl hanging out together, they’re hooking up. We tried it once but ya know, it just didn’t, well, work for me.”

Sloan snorts loudly and I laugh. “Really, Jade, so much thought went into that.”

“Well, it just didn’t ring my bell, what can I say?” She shrugs like it’s no big deal.

Sloan snorts again really loud.

Before I can say anything else, my phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Chambers, this is Mrs. Douglas, your landlord.”

“Yes, ma’am. How are you?”

“I wish I was calling under different circumstances but there has been a fire at your house. I’m the contact name so emergency services called me once they figured out no one was home.”

“Oh God. How bad?”

I hear her sigh, “It’s probably going to be a total loss. I’m sorry, honey. The Fire Marshall said he would meet you there tomorrow morning to look around and see if you can salvage anything.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thanks for calling.”

I look at my sister and my best friend. “That was my landlord. My house just burnt down.”

They both move to hug me but my phone pings. I check the message from a number I don’t recognize.

9049175348: Not so nice when someone fucks with your life is it Bitch?

WTF? My heart starts pounding and that’s the last thing I remember before the world goes black.

CHAPTER 4

SLY

“Why did you have to tell her that?” I say to Mr. Roberts as Sloan leaves the room, letting us know she’s taking Kara home.

Marco puts up his hand. “She had to know. They will be contacting her.” He looks around to all of us. “I know you guys don’t like this. I know it hits close to home for you twins, but you have to let the law handle it. She was right, Bellator won’t have you guys coming across as a bunch of vigilante fighters.” He turns and faces Lox. “She okay to stay with you guys for a few days? I’m afraid that asshole is going to blow a gasket when the police arrest him, if they haven’t already.”

Lox nods. “Yeah, I doubt Sloan is going to let her leave anyway.”

“Good. Now, you guys go get a workout in, blow off some of that damn adrenaline.”

After a few hours of beating the shit out of the bag at the gym, I’m sitting in the living room watching
Grey’s
. It’s weird without Lox here. He’s pretty much already been living with Sloan but after the proposal last night, we knew it was a sure thing.

We’ve all been together since we were just kids. I knew that as much as my twin, Huck, had my back, Lox has my back, too. Huck drops down on the couch beside me. “What’s wrong, little brother?”

“I’m just in a mood. Everything is changing. Lox is getting fucking married and moving out.” I sink back further into the couch.

He shakes his head. “Did you expect Sloan and Slick to move in here with us? Our house isn’t very PG,” he tries to joke.

“I know, I know. First, you change weight classes on me and now, Lox is leaving us.”

“Sylvia, Lox isn’t leaving us. You’re getting emotional. Is it that time of the month? Do you need some chocolate and Midol? Did prison upset you that much?”

I punch him in the shoulder. “Shut up. I was in a holding cell by myself the entire time.”

He sighs. “Look, man, I know. I also know the shit from last night has you so fucking tightly strung, you’re looking like you may cry or kill something at any moment. Lox is always going to be our brother, Elaine will always be the only mom who ever matters to us. For all intents and purposes, Marco is our dad. It’s all going to be okay. It is just part of growing up, something we should be doing a better job at. We are business owners now. We need to start acting like it.”

“I know, okay? It just sucks.” My twin, it’s like he can operate the other half of my brain. He knows me, knows my emotions. I’ve always been the sensitive one and Huck, he’s always been the hard ass. Wow, this is like one big ass
Hallmark
moment. I need to break the seriousness. “So, if Marco is like our dad, does that mean you wanna fuck our sister, Elizabeth? That’s some sick shit, bro.”

He nails me in the stomach and I let out an “oof”. “That bitch is crazy and she has a ton of secrets. It’s like an entire Pandora’s fucking box of secrets and drama. No way do I want to stick my dick in that, even if it’s just for fun.”

I cock my head to the side. “Wait, how do you know so much about her?”

“Shit just seems to fall in my lap. Look, I’m not talking about it anymore.”

Before I can ask any more questions, Lox’s ringtone, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”, blares from my phone.

“What’s up, Papa Bear? We were just talking about you kinda.”

“You got me on speaker?” He sounds frustrated.

“Yeah,” we both answer.

“Can you guys bring your trucks and meet us at Kara’s tomorrow?”

“Why, what’s going on now?” Huck inserts.

“Well, her house
mysteriously
caught fire today. We are going to meet the Fire Marshall and see if maybe she can salvage anything. Her landlord called her this afternoon after it happened.”

I clear my throat. “Do we think it’s Drake?”

“Not sure. She got a text from a number she doesn’t know asking her if it felt good for someone to fuck with her life. She had a panic attack and blacked out for a few minutes. The police are coming over to see if they can track it.”

Huck interrupts, “Yeah, man, we’ll be there, just call in the morning. While we’re moving shit around, do you wanna plan to go ahead and get yours from here tomorrow rather than sometime this week? Since we have meetings all this coming week.”

“Yeah, that works.”

“Okay, man, we’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“Out.” He hangs up.

Huck sighs. “Okay, then I guess we are playing moving men tomorrow. Just remember, we can’t touch that guy again. We cannot afford to lose that contract with Bellator.”

I stand up. “I know, man. I’m gonna go shower and hit the sack. It’s been a long fucking 24 hours.”

Huck just nods and turns the TV back on.

I will not think about Drake. I will not think about Kara’s beautiful face. I will not think about my mother. I will not think about the numerous bastards she brought into our house.
I keep repeating this to myself, trying to calm down.

~*~*~

Walking through Kara’s ruined house, I shake my head. What’s not burned is smoke damaged. What’s not smoke damaged is water damaged. The girls have been able to pull out a few mementos of hers, but not much.

Elizabeth steps in front of us. “Hey, she has a chifforobe that was her grandmother’s over there. It’ll need some work but she may be able to salvage it. I have a friend who can do it. Will you guys load it up? Sloan said she could store it at her house.”

Huck mumbles something about her friends. I just shake my head.

“Why don’t we put it in our garage? We are moving Lox’s stuff out later today so we’ll have more room.”

She shrugs. “I’m sure she won’t care.”

I look over at Lox. “So is she staying with you guys until she finds a new place?”

“Yeah, I mean I think her mom wants her to go home, but she doesn’t want to. She’ll get her renter’s insurance money next week. The cops don’t think she needs to be alone, but I don’t really think she’s overly excited about staying at Sloan’s with us. I honestly think she’s more worried about causing Sloan trouble. The number she got the text from was a burner phone so they can’t trace it.”

I shake my head. “Damn.” That bastard is going to keep fucking with her until there isn’t anything left of the real Kara.

Huck nods. “Yeah, that’s fucked up.”

I have to protect her. I need to care for her.

An idea hits me. “Kara, come here.”

She makes her way through the rubble over to us. “Yeah?” she says timidly.

Seeing her face still breaks my heart. “Look, I know you aren’t too keen on staying with those sex addicts,” Lox shoves me in the shoulder. “So I was thinking. Huck and I are going to be looking for a roommate since Lox is out. You want his room? I mean, even if it’s just temporary until you find a new place.”
Make it sound like her choice. Help build her back up.
One of my mom’s numerous psychiatrists’ words play out in my head. 

Huck looks at me like I fell out of the dumbass tree and hit my head on every branch. Lox smiles. “Hey, that’s actually a very good idea. I mean once Slick gets back this afternoon, you’d have to give up the Ninja Turtles bed. I know that sucks and all. At least with the twins you’d actually have a room for
some
privacy.” He chuckles. “Probably the same maturity level as Slick, but not so bad.”

She tries to give us a laugh. “Yes, I was so down with the Ninja Turtle bed.”

Lox steps over to her. “You know that you’d be safe with the guys and Sloan wouldn’t worry about you as much. I think your mom and sister would be happier, too.” He shrugs. “Sounds like a good solution until you find a place that is gated and heavily guarded. Or that fuckstick gets sent down river.”

Huck barks out a laugh. “Down river? Have you been watching
Rooster Cogburn
or those old prison movies again?”

“Shut up,” Lox barks back.

I gently put my hand on Kara’s shoulder and feel her tremble. “So what do you think?”

“Um.” She thinks for a minute. “Yeah, I guess that would work until I find a new place.”

Huck shrugs, I can still tell he’s a little pissed with me. “Well at least now we’ll move her stuff to our place and move Lox’s shit out.”

Kara gives us a slight smile. “Thanks.”

As soon as we are outside, Huck punches me in the shoulder. “What in the fuck are you thinking?”

“What?” I shrug.

“A chick moving into our place. That really sounds like a good idea to you?”

I sigh. “Look, Kara isn’t like other girls. She doesn’t care about the dumb shit we do and she needs friends right now. I’m her friend.”

“Fine.” He turns and storms to his truck.

Elizabeth steps up beside me, I didn’t even realize she was close by. “How did one of you end up being such a nice guy and he ended up being such a fucking asshole?”

I shrug. “Easy. Mom got fucked in the ass to get pregnant with him. I was vaginal bliss conception.”

She doubles over laughing. “You’re really sick, you know that, right? Plus there is one problem with your description. Well, there are several problems, but the biggest is you guys are identical twins, which means you were conceived at the same time, same hole, same everything.”

“Okay, well maybe it’s because he was breach and tried to come out ass first.” I laugh. “I really have no explanation for his assholiness.”

She laughs. “Do you just make shit up?”

I start walking to my truck. “Yep, I do. My imagination is better than reality.”