Chapter 33

The ballroom was in full swing when Becket and Nova arrived. Due to the broken nose, Liam was hunkered down in his hotel room nursing his wounds. There would be no trouble with him tonight leaving the couple a chance to enjoy their evening together.

As the entered the ballroom, Nova's black sequin gown sparkled under the dim lighting.

"It's beautiful here. The decor is over the top. It reminds me of when I attended the Oscars," she said, beaming with joy.

"Yeah. Holt goes all out for the Power Olympics ball. He loves this weekend. He gets to show the world how tough his roster really is."

"Are you ready to compete tomorrow?"

Becket shrugged. "Not really. I can't get my head into it right now."

"Because of me."

"Nova, I love you. I can't stand you have to be around Liam after all he has done to you. Now some of those men who hurt you will be there too. I can't believe that smug asshole invited them."

"I know. I hate it too. Holt took extra precautions to keep me safe. They haven't even been near me or Claire."

"I just don't like it," he growled.

"Well, how about we forget about them for the night and enjoy ourselves. I want to dance with my fiance."

Becket pulled her to him by her waist, kissing her bare shoulder. "Sounds like a plan. I can't wait until the night is over."

"It just started."

Becket wiggled his brows at her and Nova slapped him playfully.

"You're insatiable. You just want to see me out of this dress."

"Exactly." Becket reached to squeeze her backside and Nova wiggled with a little squeal.

"Get your hand off my daughter's ass. I don't need to see that shit," Eric grumbled as he went over to hug his daughter.

"Daddy! Wow. You look amazing. Look at you and that tux. You're a silver fox. Where's Mimi?"

"She's over with Raven telling her stories about Woodstock. I couldn't stand to hear another second about my mother's escapades of free sex and running naked through a rock concert. Your mother is with them by the bar. My mother is half-drunk and has been hitting on Kevin."

Nova giggled. "Mimi is a hoot."

"That old lady is a nuisance. You act just like her."

Nova kissed her father on the cheek. "You love my quirky nature."

Becket laughed. "Quirky. Crazy maybe."

"Hush, you love every second. I'm going to go to see my Mimi. You and Dad talk."

"Sure, babe." Becket watched her walk away as Eric stood brooding over Becket. "What?"

"You know what. Why didn't you tell me about the engagement? That's my baby girl. You should have talked to me."

"Awe. Poor Eric is afraid his little girl is all grown up."

"Shut up, asshole. Nova has been my whole world since the day she was born. Sure I spoiled her, but she was the only girl of my five kids, and the youngest and smallest of them all. Her brothers were like monsters compared to my pumpkin."

"I get it. I do. I love her Eric. You know I have her best interest at heart. It was a spur of the moment. I didn't mean to disrespect you."

"I know. I guess I'm just a little stressed because of Liam being around. Two of the producers are here. Nova said every man who hurt her will be here for the games. I don't like this."

"Neither do I, but she has her mind set on taking them all down together."

"Ace and his stupid plan. If she gets hurt, I'll kick the shit out of your best friend."

Becket laughed. "You know Ace could destroy you, right?"

Eric raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Don't bet on it. Wait until you have a child. You'll do everything in your power to protect them. Truth is, it's taken everything in me not to kill those men. I thought about it for hours last night."

Becket agreed saying, "I get that. You're a great dad, Eric. Tell you what, let's go have a beer and chat. There is nothing we can do right now to stop this. But we can do a little bonding since I'm going to be your son-in-law... Oh, God. I can't believe I actually said that."

Eric chuckled. "Oh yes, Beck. You think I'm bad now, wait until you marry my little pumpkin. Your life will never be the same."

***

The Power Olympics were underway and Becket was standing by watching Kevin in the power-lifting competition. Most of the day would be different competitions of power, endurance, and strength. Weight lifting, track and field games, obstacle courses, and of course wrestling. The final games would end that evening with a live televised wrestling event where there were no scripts and the winners would have to win by pin or tap out.

The whole weekend came down to this day where the top athletes would compete, and Becket's team of friends were on top of the leader boards.

Nova walked up behind Becket wrapping her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back.

"Hey, baby. How was rehearsal?"

"Grueling. I wish I could have competed in the games this year."

"Next year you'll be on my team kicking ass. Your new song drops tonight at the start of the show. Are you excited? Your new album sounds amazing." Becket turned to her.

"I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Sure. What's up?"

"I want you to perform But Not Me with me. We wrote it together and I want you to be the one who sings it."

"I thought your guitar guy was going to sing the duet with you?"

"I told him I wanted it to be you and he agreed it would be prefect."

"Nova, I'm no musician. I like to play but I'm no professional."

"Doesn't matter. You're the only one that sings it right. It's our song. Besides, the shit will hit the fan with Liam and his goons tonight. I just want one happy moment this weekend that isn't tainted by him. Please?" Nova asked with sad eyes.

"You're scared, aren't you?"

"Everyone will know what they really did to me, not the watered-down version. No one knows who it was that did those things, just that I was abused. I couldn't say names before because they would claim it was slander."

"After tonight the whole world will see what sick bastards they are. No one will blame you." Becket thought about her request. "Okay. If you really want me to sing with you, I will. I can never say no to you."

"Thank you, Beck. Now. Go out there and kick some butt. Bring home the gold."

"Yes, Ma'am!"