Page 33 of Tainted Essence
He doesn’t take his eyes off my cousins when he answers me. “No. I would never have brought you here otherwise but it’s not like I would've left you behind.” His words sting more than I want to admit.
“You could have called,” Chaos says.
“Yeah, probably, but I was under the impression you all were supposed to be in Greece and Miami. I got skin in this game, I want that fucker more than your family does,” he answers firmly. I admit I thought the same thing, I never expected to see them here tonight.
“Destiny is our family, we get those fuckers, not you,” Chanel rebukes.
“She’s my–mine to protect. I find them, I’m killing them. End of story. Now, if there’s nothing else we’re leaving.” He doesn’t wait for a response as he drags me toward my car. I look over my shoulder to see them all staring at us.
“We leave for Miami in two days, anything happens before then you call,” Royal calls out. Taylan waves his hand over his shoulder, dismissing my cousin. I want to laugh but refrain, no one dismisses Royal Murdoch except for his father and mother.
Taylan
Three weeks later…
I’ve been in the States for a month and I’m still no fucking closer to finding Koda. Riley managed to find some intel on his whereabouts but when I checked it out the intel proved to be bullshit, the fucker lied just so they could get the 20k. I have a routine now and I fucking hate it, I don’t like keeping to the same schedule, it makes you predictable and in my line of work that is never a good thing. I always make sure Knox and Lake’s schedules are never the same two days in a row. Lake is always changing shifts at the hospital. When she goes on maternity leave that is going to make my life so much easier.
She’s three months pregnant now and I’m missing it. I love watching her belly grow bigger. That shit fascinates me how a baby can grow inside their mother.
Destiny is still holding a fucking grudge for keeping her in the dark about why we went to the underground. She constantly gives me the cold shoulder while the sun is up but the moment darkness falls she is on me with a vengeance, fucking me like she hates me. In those stolen moments under the cover of darkness she changes from the cold bitch persona she exudes during the daylight and becomes a seductress.
Fucking her is becoming an addiction and it’s not just fucking her. Spending every minute of every day with her is not what I expected. I tire of the same people, except for my brother’s and the girls, and I hate to admit it but I… don’t hate being around the Slayer.
“Come on, move your ass,” Gage snaps at her from outside the ring. I bite down on my tongue to stop myself from biting back at him, he constantly oversteps. I’m her trainer, not him! “You’re being sloppy!”
She throws her hands in the air and spins away from me to glare at her father. “You want to get in here and try it?”
“Destiny, he’s just trying to help.” She spins toward the entrance of the gym to see her mother walking toward us. Over the past month I have learned a lot about Destiny Murdoch without her having to say a word. She adores both her parents and loves them dearly, but her mother doesn’t agree with the path she has chosen.
“No. He is forgetting that I fired him as my trainer and made him my manager.” I shoot Gage a toothy grin when he scowls at me. “I can’t do this with him breathing down my throat, Mom.”
Anya’s features soften as she climbs up by her husband who places a kiss on her cheek and wraps his arm around her waist. “He just wants you to win.”
Destiny scoffs. “No, you swayed him to your side,” she mutters bitterly.
Anya purses her lips clearly upset. “Baby girl, I will support you no matter what.”
“Then support my dream of wanting to be in the ring, Mom,” she pleads. I drop my gaze to the floor suddenly feeling like I am intruding on a private moment.
“If I truly believed that this was your dream, I would be the one in that ring training you.” I snap my eyes up to stare at Anya, never expecting that to come out of her mouth. “You know I had to fight in a cage daily for my life. I know what it’s like to need to fight but I also know what it’s like when you hide behind your pain and use fighting as your escape from reality.” I watch Destiny slowly shutdown as her mother gets closer to the truth that she continues to hide from them. I’ll be honest, it’s getting fucking harder and harder to keep lying to everyone and hide the truth about who kidnapped her. I can’t even give my brothers the intel they need to track Koda better without giving away Destiny’s secret.
“This is what I want,” Destiny snaps before spinning around to face me and giving her parents her back. “Let’s go again,” she snaps angrily.
I shake my head and remove the pads from my hands. “You’re done for the day, hit the showers and cool off.”
“Fuck you, I want to go again,” she pushes.
I force more bite into my tone. “I said you are done, get out of the ring, now!” Her nostrils flare in indignation.
“Asshole,” she mumbles as she storms away. Gage shoots me a look that tells me to tread carefully with his daughter before following after her. I grab the discarded pads from the ground and hop out of the ring. I place them all back on the shelves and turn to leave, but come to a stop when I see Anya standing a couple feet away with a scrutinizing look on her face.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
Her eyes crinkle at the corners. “Are you screwing her for fun or because you care?”
I choke on my own spit. “Lady with the jacked up idea, say what now?” I wheeze out.
Her eyes harden. “Don’t deny it. I can see it in the way you subtly touch her and follow her movements with your eyes when you think no one is watching.”