Theirs to Keep

C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - T H R E E

ELLE LAY BACK AGAINST THE pitiful excuse for a pillow and closed her eyes wearily as the door closed behind the police officer. If she didn’t have so many drugs in her, she’d be a shaking, sobbing mess. As it was, she was just incredibly weary, and all she wanted was to go to sleep and escape her reality for a few precious hours.

“Elle?”

Merrick’s gentle voice crept into her consciousness. His hand smoothed over her brow and then caressed a line down to her jaw.

With effort, she managed to open her eyes and focus her bleary gaze on him.

“I won’t keep you awake long, baby. But I need to say this, okay? I can’t let you think this any longer.”

He eased onto the bed at her side and angled his body so he was sitting right next to her, his head just over hers.

“It’s okay,” she said, her words slurred. She just wanted the whole mess to be over.

He took her hand, warming it between his much larger ones. “No, it’s not okay. It’s not okay at all. Dakota had no right to tell you to leave the gym, and I had no right to jump down your throat. God, I was so scared when I saw you, baby. And I was angry because you should have been with me where you were safe. I fired Dakota. It won’t happen again.”

She gave him a stricken look, flabbergasted that he’d fired his trainer, someone he’d been with since the very start.

“Why would you fire him?” she asked, appalled.

Merrick gave her a perplexed, bewildered look that clearly said he hadn’t expected her response.

“Because he put you in danger. He presumed to tell you what to do and where to be.” His voice rose as he grew angrier. “He had no right to tell you anything at all.

“He was only looking out for your best interests,” she said wearily, so tired that her ache was bone deep. “You were distracted, Merrick. Even I could see it.”

“Do you honest to God think that you were the reason I wasn’t focused?” He studied her a moment and then shook his head. “Don’t answer that. It’s clear that’s exactly what you think.”

“Merrick,” Cade interjected carefully. “Now isn’t the time, man. She’s about to fall over.”

Frustration ate at Merrick. He couldn’t let her go on thinking what she was thinking. He leaned down close, cupping his hand over her forehead and smoothing her hair back as he stared into her eyes.

“Listen to me, Elle. I admit I was distracted. But it had nothing to do with you. If you want to know why I kept looking over at you, it was because it felt good to know you were there. When I felt myself losing focus, I’d look at you and it would reinvigorate me. It would remind me of what I was fighting for. I like you being there. I’ve become dependent on you being there. I don’t want to think about you not being around when I’m training. You’re like my security blanket.

“We fighters are a superstitious lot, and for me, you’ve become my talisman. I need you there. I want you there. And Dakota had no goddamn right to tell you to go home. From now on, I want you to have the confidence to stand up and say no. Because there’s never going to be a time when I don’t want you around, baby. Do you understand that?”

She nodded slowly, her eyes dull with fatigue and the cloud of the medication.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead, leaving his lips there a long moment.

“I love you and I’m so damn sorry for yelling at you. I was scared to death, and I was pissed because I wasn’t able to protect you. I was pissed that some son of a bitch put his hands on you. You’ll never know how it felt for me to see you there with blood on your face and your body so bruised.”

She smiled sluggishly. “You’re forgiven. I love you too, Merrick. But don’t fire Dakota. You’ll regret it.”

Merrick worked to keep the frown from his face. He didn’t want to upset her, not when she needed rest.

“We’ll see,” was all he was willing to concede.

At this juncture,Dakota would be lucky if Merrick didn’t kick his fucking ass.

“Get some rest, baby,” Merrick said gently. “Cade and I will be right here with you.”

She sighed and closed her eyes and was out in mere seconds. For a long moment, Merrick watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and how her eyelashes rested delicately on her cheeks.

His thoughts were in turmoil. Something had to be done. They couldn’t continue on this way. Things were too chaotic. Out of control. Elle wasn’t safe. None of them were.

The door quietly opened behind them, and Merrick swung around to see Dallas stick his head in. Merrick motioned him inside, and Dallas came in, a concerned look on his face.

“What the hell happened?” Dallas asked in a hushed tone.

Merrick relayed the events, and Dallas’s face darkened into a fierce scowl.

“Son of a bitch. This is getting ridiculous.”

“Tell me about it,” Cade muttered.

“Has the doctor been by?” Dallas asked.

Merrick shook his head.

“I’ll go see what I can find out since I’m her general practitioner.”

“Thanks, man. We appreciate that,” Merrick said.

Dallas left and returned just a few minutes later with the ER physician in tow.

After the doctor introduced himself, he cleared his throat. “Miss Walker has two broken ribs and severe bruising around her ribcage. She’s going to need to take it easy for the next little while. We’ll bind her ribs before she leaves so she doesn’t incur further injury. I’d prefer to keep her overnight, but Doctor Carrington has assured me that he’ll be looking in on her so I’m agreeable to letting her go so long as she is on complete bedrest for the next twenty-four hours and that she takes it easy for the next two weeks.”

Cade and Merrick both nodded, and Merrick sent Dallas a grateful look for stepping in.

“I’ll let her sleep off the pain meds, and when she comes around, the nurse will bind her ribs and give her the discharge instructions,” the doctor said.

“Thank you,” Cade and Merrick both said at the same time.

Now that the formalities were taken care of, Merrick was tired of sitting back when all he really wanted was Elle in his arms. He climbed gingerly onto the bed next to her and carefully positioned himself on his side so he could pull her up against him. He fussed with the blanket and her pillow so she’d be comfortable, and then he went still so she wouldn’t be disturbed.

Cade and Dallas stood on the other side of the bed, and after Cade related all that had happened between Dakota and Merrick, Dallas blew out his breath.

“Damn,” he murmured. “That’s tough, Merrick. You know Dakota is a focused son of a bitch and he can be a selfish bastard when it comes to training. But he’s good, and he’s been loyal to you and has been with you since day one. Are you really going to fire him?”

“I can’t believe you’re even questioning that,” Merrick said darkly. “He tossed Elle out of the gym and sent her home where she was attacked by some asshole with a grudge. That would have never happened if he’d just kept his mouth shut or, even better, come to me and talked it out before acting on his own and being a complete dickhead.”

“I agree there. He fucked up,” Dallas said bluntly. “But did he cross a line that he can never go back from? That’s the question you have to ask yourself. He has a lot to make up to Elle. No doubt there. But don’t you think he should be given the chance to do it?”

Merrick clenched his teeth so he didn’t bite the head off of his best friend. He knew Dallas’s heart was in the right place, and he knew he was making sense. But damnit.

“Look,” he finally said. “Right now I’m too pissed off to deal with Dakota. All I’m worried about at the moment is Elle. I want to get her someplace safe. I want to make damn sure she’s okay. I’ll deal with Dakota when I’ve calmed down some.”

Elle murmured something in her sleep and nuzzled her face closer into his chest. He automatically put his hand to her hair and stroked the dark strands.

“It’s okay, baby,” he murmured close to her ear. “Rest now.”

“I’ve got to run back to the clinic. I left a few patients waiting when I heard what happened,” Dallas said.

Cade’s brow furrowed. “How did you know what happened?”

“Cathy called me.”

Merrick sighed. The whole thing sucked. No, he didn’t want to lose longtime friends. But neither could he keep a person around who was purposely trying to drive a wedge between him and Elle. Over his dead body would he ever let anyone come between them.

“I’ll check in on Elle tonight if that’s okay,” Dallas said as he turned toward the door.

“We’d appreciate that, man,” Cade said. “Thanks.”

Dallas held up his hand in a wave and then disappeared out the door.

Merrick sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly as weary as Elle had looked. Damn but the entire day had sucked.

“What are we going to do about this, Merrick?” Cade asked in a grim voice.

Merrick didn’t pretend not to know what Cade was talking about.

“I don’t know,” Merrick said honestly. “One thing’s for sure. They’ve declared war, and they’ve made it obvious that they aren’t above stooping to the level of attacking an innocent woman to get their point across.”