Chapter 83

Chapter 83
“He just barged into our rental rooms and knocked out two of the men, and then he went straight to pound Ben’s face, nonstop. He rammed a pencil into his tattoo so deep he completely deformed it.”

“Wait! Who the hell is Ben?” Susy asks.

“Scorpion!” Lily explains, her smile eager with delight. Seriously, I’m still staring at her in awe because she looks like another person compared to the drugged, fiery-haired girl with a scorpion tattoo at the Japanese restaurant. The wonders a month of rehab can do. And my dark-haired fighter…

“Oh! Ben is Scorpion, got it!” Susy says, rolling her eyes.

“Ken was like a devil unleashed from hell, nonstop hitting. Ben couldn’t stop him as he kept shouting about staying away from his girl, that he wasn’t leaving without what his girl wanted, and tons of bad words, and then Ben scrambled to stop him and offered me. He said if he stopped that he would set me free in exchange for the championship as well. Then, Ken looked at me and asked me if I was your sister. And I nodded. And so he agreed. He didn’t even hesitate. He wanted me out of there that same night, but Ben said I was to be on lockdown until Ken delivered the championship, so Ken called Jhon to get me. Jhon took me to a rehab place in Connecticut and Ken paid for my entire stay, and then, he sent Jhon back for me.”

I fall into a chair and just can’t hold myself upright, my eyes a mess. After all the tears I’ve cried, I feel like I could still cry another great lake. For Ken Lewis. And for myself. And for underestimating someone who I believed would do something wrong, and instead, did the best and most incredible thing for me. Ken, when he goes black, has done a lot of bad things, or so they say. But boy, oh boy, did he make it right with Lily. For me. I know, despite Lily’s romantic side, it is for me he fought. For me he threw the fight. For me, and for who I love, that he promised to protect as his the night he tossed the entire hotel restaurant over.

I remember how proud he was during the fight, taking every blow. How it must have hurt him not to fight back! That’s all Ken knows to do. He’s a fighter at heart. Even in his eyes I could see his fierceness. He can barely control himself when provoked, and to think of him holding back when he was being hurt this way, only for me. For my sister.

Something clicks in my mind, and my heart swells until I think I’m going to pop with pain and emotion. I’m bombarded with thoughts of the first night I ever saw this man. All glinting blue eyes, golden tan, spiky black hair, playful face, and hard male body.

“Your name,” he growls, panting, his eyes wild on mine.

“Uh, Chelsea.”

“Chelsea what?” he snaps out, his nostrils flaring.

With trembling efforts, I pry my hand free and glance frightfully at Mel, who comes behind him, wide-eyed. “It’s Chelsea Law,” she says and then happily shoots out my cell phone number to my chagrin. His lips curl, and he meets my gaze once more.

“Chelsea Law.” He just fucked my name right in front of me, and right in front of Mel. He steps forward, and his damp hand slides into the nape of my neck. “Chelsea,” he growls softly, meaningfully, against my lips, as he draws back with a smile. “I’m Ken.”

Oh, god, I knew my life would change. I just never knew how much.

I. Love. This. Man.

Yes, he is a man who will be difficult, and bipolar to boot.

He’s strong, and he’s proud, and I don’t expect him to beg me.

But even though he probably won’t beg me to come back, he’s at least not asking me to beg forgiveness for being a chicken shit and dumping him while tubed in a hospital, either.

Feeling the first real sense of joy I’ve felt in weeks unfurl in my tummy, I glance down at the hotel address written on the card, and my insides move in anticipation.

He wants to be my real, not my adventure. Even when he will be the realest thing in my life, I know it’s still going to be an adventure. Because that’s him. An exhilarating bungee jump… a free fall… Olympics all year round for me… that’s what being in love with him is going to be like for me. What wondering when he gets black… and all the pushing and pulling and reasoning with him… will be like.

And suddenly, this is all I can think of.

Suddenly, my bad knee is all that’s stopping me from running after him.

I want the job he can offer.

I want to be with my big, crazy, sexy beast of a man, and I won’t apologize to anyone for it. He’s bipolar, and I’m crazy about him.

He never said he loved me. But he came back for me. He gave me my sister. He lost his wealth, his fight, and lay unconscious in a hospital bed. Because of me.

“Lily, I’m going to call Mom and Dad so you can spend some time with them, would you like that?”

“Yes, Chelsea, I thought about what you said, and I do want to finish college.”

Susy chimes in. “Oh, yay! Lily, college is the place for hot guys, girl! It’s something you definitely don’t want to miss,” she adds in total excitement, still all sweaty and red-faced from our run.

Plopping down next to Nora, I tell her, “The thing is, I may not be around for a while. My new job will require I travel.”

“New job?” Susy perks, then her tawny sleek eyebrows lower over her eyes. “Dish out, Chelsea!” she threatens.

“Susy. I’m going to get the job I want with the man I need,” I confess.

“You mean you’re getting back the man you need with the job you want,” she corrects.

“Same difference!” I laugh, flinging the card at her. “I’m getting my job back.”