“Thank you,” I nod at Hayes.
“What are all of you doing here and why do you look mad?” Briar asks as she enters the kitchen area and stops to stare at us. I know she was getting ready which is why I rushed through all of that.
“We’re here to see his fight, sweetie. And afterwards we’re all going to spend some quality time together,” mom says as Briar gives her a hug.
“I’m thinking of a spa morning tomorrow,” Tana chimes in.
“That sounds nice,” Briar agrees.
“It’s time, Kingston,” Dante says and everyone tenses up.
“Let’s get this over with,” I sigh, taking Briar’s hand. We head to the venue.
Briar
I pick up his bag on the way out, “You’re going to need this.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He holds my hand tight as we walk through the casino. We’re shown to a dressing room and go inside while everyone else waits, giving us a minute.
“Please be safe…well, as safe as you can be,” I pull him down to kiss him.
“Do you want to watch from the dressing room or the arena?”
“I think the dressing room,” I tell him sadly.
“I’ll have Holden stay with you,” he says, cupping my cheek lovingly.
“Thank you,” I whisper, leaning into his touch.
“No need to thank me. I love you and soon we’ll be able to live our lives in peace.”
“Don’t know how there is peace when you are yelling my name as you come,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
“You little vixen. I’ve corrupted you,” he kisses me again.
“Maybe you have, Storm.”
“Just wait until afterwards,” he winks and goes to change. Once he’s in his shorts, I kiss him one more time and head upstairs with the others while he goes with Tristan and Dante.
“Briar?”
“Oh Viktor. I forgot you wanted to talk to me.”
“I found the boy from your childhood.”
“You did? Is he okay? What happened to him?”
“It’s Lane.”
“Oh no.” I need to tell Kingston. I need to tell Lane. He kept saying remember me. He called me by his pet name for me, Rose, but I couldn’t remember it until Vik said it was Lane. It makes sense now. What made Lane so hateful?
“No time. We’ll tell him after the fight,” he says as he stalks off to find his seat as Holden slips in the door.
“You okay?” he asks. He means am I okay after trying to swallow pills. Yeah, I think I’m okay. I don’t know. My head is spinning. Remo said it wasn’t enough to kill me and that’s why I’ve slept so much, but he did advise me to talk to someone again. I only nodded at that, but maybe Remo is right.
Holden pulls me close and I relax a little bit, leaning into him. He walks over to the couch and sets me on it before turning on the TV on the wall to watch. Once he does that he picks me up and sets me on his lap. He’s so gentle and I love that about him. I wonder what it would be like to be held by him all the time. I shouldn’t think that, but I have all these things swirling in my head.
I can’t help but feel something for Holden as he holds me and strokes my back. I do love Kingston, I think, but maybe we did this all too fast. I’m so confused I start to cry.