UNDYING: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 3) (21 page)

“Thank you,” Tobias says to him, meaning every syllable of it.

I wrap an arm about his shoulder and look up at Pike. “What will happen to you?”

He takes a quick breath. “Well, it’s like you said, Claire… maybe I deserve to be locked up.” We stare at him for several moments before Tobias finally takes a step towards the stairs. “Take care of her, Tobias.”

Tobias pauses and I feel his grip tighten. “I will.”

Pike nods at me with a small smile. I notice the grime on his jeans and hands; evidence that will soon be destroyed or washed down the drain.

“Bye, Pike.”

He says nothing in return and watches us descend the stairs.

Tobias steps outside with me and I look down the street. Breaking glass and crunching metal echoes in my head, but I push the memory aside. A chemical smell invades my nose and I look down to find the path to the wreckage covered with something strong. I bury my face in Tobias’ shoulder to shield myself from it.

“Ammonia,” he says. “Pike said it’ll keep them from getting your blood out of the snow.”

“That was smart,” I say with a muffled voice. I glance around, thinking I’ll see Rick lying at our feet, but he’s gone. His car remains on the road, but it’s somehow been turned upright again. I’m actually curious to know how Pike managed that one. “Rick grabbed me as soon as I stepped outside,” I recall. “The next thing I remember is waking up in his car.”

Tobias carries me across the street. “I knew something had happened. You wouldn’t have just wandered off.”

“He told me you and Charlie were gone. Thomas, too. He came back here to kill Pike before he took me back to Chicago.”

Tobias shakes his head. “He must have snapped…”

“Obviously…”

“Once the ambulance arrived, I called Amy.” He looks at me and smiles. “You had
an army
of Alphas out looking for you.”

“I did?”

“For a little while,” he chuckles. “Then Pike called to let us know you showed up at his doorstep.”

We reach Charlie’s truck and he opens the passenger side door, taking extra caution not to bump my swollen foot. He lifts me up into the seat and steps up to look at me in the light. “Let me see you…” He cups my cheeks with both hands. His eyes wander my face and I see my reflection in them.
Bruised and broken.

“Is it bad?”

He shakes his head and bends over to grab a first aid kit from under the seat. “No, you were lucky.” He searches my hands and arms and legs. “Doesn’t look like you’re still bleeding anywhere.”

“My foot hurts like a motherfucker…”

“We’ll get it checked out.” His lips curl at my choice of words. I wince as he takes an alcohol-soaked towel and cleans a gash above my eye. He stares back at me for a moment, his smile never leaving his face.

“What?” I ask.

“All the times you nursed my wounds,” he says. “Now I’m nursing yours.”

“First and last time, I hope.”

“Me, too.” He leans in to kiss me, but pauses as our ears tune to the call of sirens in the distance.

“Tobias, let’s go home—” I bite my tongue, quickly realizing that going home isn’t possible anymore.

He takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “You are my home,” he says. “Everything is going to be okay, Claire.”

I smile, believing every word.

***

“Oh, my god!” Amy’s heels clack against the floor as she rushes into my hospital room. She glides to the bed and pushes Tobias to the side, demanding the premium spot next to me. Her eyes lock on my face, stunned and mortified by what they see. “What
the hell
did he do to you?”

I roll my eyes at Tobias. “So much for,
‘Don’t worry, Claire. You look fine.’
”

“I believe my exact words were
I’ve seen worse
,” he recalls. “
In a mirror
, actually.”

Amy rests a hand below my chin and adjusts my face to see me better in the light. “Well, I guess he’s not wrong about that…” She chews on her lip. “Still, you should have warned me or something…”

“Sorry,” I chuckle. “I’m a
little
buzzed out on painkillers right now.” I point down towards my foot and Amy winces once she sees the large, white cast surrounding my right ankle.

“Damn… I was hoping we’d go dancing this week to celebrate.”

Tobias walks around to the other side of the bed to get close to me again and takes my hand. “Little early to do any celebrating, Amy…”

Her lips curl to the side. “I wouldn’t say that…” She glances around. “Where’s Charlie?”

“At the hotel,” Tobias answers. “He should be here soon though.”

“Good. I have some news for you guys and he
needs
to be here for it.”

“What kind of news?” I ask.

Her knees twitch with excitement. “Well… the big one can wait, but…” she reaches into her purse, “I suppose I can tell you both about
this
.” She withdraws her hand and lays a pair of identical silver keys onto my open palm.

“What’s this?” I ask, holding them up so they jingle together.

“The keys to my apartment.”

My eyes flick towards Tobias and he flashes me a confused glance. “Okay…”

“It’s pretty short notice, but Ryan and I talked about it and we are moving to St. Louis.”

“You are?” I gasp.

“We think the Midwest Alphas can still be saved,” she says, glancing at Tobias. “Lillian left behind quite the legacy, plus a lot of great contacts and loyal followers and…” she pauses to shrug, “it feels like someone should step up to lead them and it’s gonna be me.”

“You’re going to do great, Amy,” Tobias says, smiling at her. “If anyone can keep them going, it’s you.”

“Wow…”
I mutter. “I’m not sure I heard that right. Did he just compliment you?”

Amy chuckles while he winks at me. “I always appreciate his opinion, even his criticism. Thank you, Toby.”

“Whatever keeps you out of my hair, Amy.” He snatches the keys from my palm. “I’m assuming these are for us?”

She smiles wide. “Well, I know you two are looking to take the next step—”

“How does she know that?” He stares down at me with narrow eyes.

“Oh,
please
,” she says. “I knew before
you
did. My apartment has plenty of space for you two — it’s perfect.”

Tobias twirls the keys in his fingers. “We’ll think about it—”

“Or—”
I take them from him and squeeze them in my hand. “We say
yes
.”

“Yeah?” he asks me.

I meet his sweet, green eyes. “Yeah.” He leans in close and kisses my forehead with smiling lips. “But we’ll talk about it again when I’m lucid — just to be sure.”

He chuckles. “Sounds reasonable.”

Amy crosses her arms, staring at me. “You know, I have half the mind to recruit you into the Alphas as a new fighter,” she jokes. “
Claire the Unkillable
has a nice ring to it.”

“No, thanks,” I say with a smile. “I think my luck has officially run out.”

“I agree…” Tobias says.

“On second thought,” she laughs, “you’re probably right.”

Charlie walks into the room carrying a small vase of flowers. “Oh, hello, Amy,” he greets.

She quickly looks him up and down, making note of his appearance. When Tobias told me Charlie was a little burned, he was downplaying the reality of it. White bandages hide second-degree burns down his entire right side, traveling up his neck and face. If Tobias hadn’t of gotten him outside and into the snow as fast as he did, it could have been much worse.

“Hi, Charlie,” she says, forcing a pleasant face. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit warm,” he jokes. He sets the flowers down on the table beside me and Amy laughs, breaking the tension in the room. “But I’ll be all right.”

“That’s good.”

“You said something about news?” I ask her, excited to shift the subject back to something less horrific.

“Oh!” she says, smiling wide again. She reaches into her bag again and pulls out a white envelope to hand to Charlie. “My father heard about what happened to the farmhouse and he got in touch with some old friends of yours. Apparently, there’s a lot of people out there that owe you a great kindness, Charlie.”

He slides the envelope open and peeks inside. Tobias and I stare at him in suspense, waiting for him to say something to clue us in. “They don’t owe me anything,” he says. “I can’t accept this.”

“Accept what?” I ask.

“I told him you’d say that, but they refuse to take it back.” She performs an outward gesture with her hands. “They’ve all pitched in to help you rebuild the farm. And that’s just the beginning — Dad says there’s a few more
angels in the wings
, whatever that means.”

I gasp and Tobias squeezes my hand. “Are you serious?”

“Your home was their home once. The world isn’t complete without it.” She grins. “Merry Christmas, Charlie.”

He blinks, his eyes shining with emotion. “I… don’t know what to say.”

Tobias steps towards him with a proud smile. “Dad… you’ve earned this.”

I hold back my own tears, overwhelmed with happiness. Charlie has saved countless lives, my own and my mother’s included, and he’s never asked for anything in return. “Take it, Charlie,” I say, my voice breaking.

He sighs with shaking hands. “All right.”

“The house could use a little upgrade anyway,” I add. “Maybe even a proper feminine touch.”

Charlie laughs. “I suppose so.”

Tobias lets go of my hand and throws his arms around his father. I wipe away the tear falling down my cheek and smile at them.

Charlie told me once that the good Lord hasn’t been kind of them over the years, and that’s never been truer than now. It’s their turn for a fresh start; a chance for their family to have the one thing he’s provided to so many others before.

A new beginning.

Epilogue

I wake up and shield my eyes as the morning sun bleeds in through the curtains. The rays keep my naked skin warm as I roll over and reach out to touch Tobias in the bed next to me. I pause, realizing that his side of the bed feels cold.

“Tobias?” I ask the empty room.

There’s no answer. I sit up, clutching the bed sheet loosely about my body and swing around to plant my bare feet on the floor.

“Tobias?” My voice echoes through our apartment. I glance at the clock. It’s just after ten in the morning.

I breathe a sigh of annoyance. Tobias was supposed to wake me up before he left for the farm, a fact that I made him repeat several times the previous night, but he has obviously chosen not to comply.

I climb out of bed, clean myself up, and sift through the closet for a fresh pair of clothes. While I slide a pair of jeans up my legs, I hear my phone buzzing on my bedside table. I walk over and read a new text message from my mother.

I can’t wait to see you at dinner tonight!

I smile and send a reply back to her before heading for the front door and grabbing my car keys.

Winter has finally broken. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen a single flake of snow and I can honestly say I’m not the least bit bothered by that. Spring came early to Missouri this year which means that Tobias and Charlie have a head start on rebuilding our home.

As I turn off the highway I immediately see the red barn down the long driveway. It brings a smile to my face and even bigger one crawls across my lips as I see the progress that has already been made on the house. Charlie has hired a team of builders to take over the project and their promise of a fast, efficient process is clearly paying off in spades.

I slow the car to stop in front of the barn next to Tobias’ motorbike and climb out to get a better view of the foundation. They’ve began the construction of the outer walls. I fill in the blanks in my head, imagining what it looked like before the fire destroyed it, but I force myself to stop. Looking ahead is far more productive and I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

Charlie’s voice travels to my ears and I turn to see him talking to the foreman near his truck, each one of them hunched over a set of blueprints. He looks up at me and smiles before waving a quick hello and turning his attentions back to the foreman. I step away, not wanting to bother him too much, as I catch sight of Tobias.

A smile creeps to my lips. I watch him move on the platform. He holds a hammer in one hand with several long nails clutched in his other palm, chatting back and forth with two other builders as they work on constructing a wall. I bite my lip, enjoying the sight of his tight jeans and sweat-covered shirt clinging to his body.