Page 30 of Ky

Great. Reminders of Ky were everywhere I turn.

I sigh deeply as I make the turn into the driveway; the gravel crunching beneath my tires. A frown mars my face when I notice the side gate that leads to the backyard was wide open.

Swallowing down the panic that threatened to overwhelm me, I got Willow out of the car as calmly as possible and into the house. Ink wouldn’t be here at all today, since he was going with the club to watch Ky fight. Something he’d been training for, for the past couple of months, apparently.

So it couldn’t be him.

Besides, he’d be inside the house, not in the backyard.

I dislike the fact that my reliance on Ink has grown as our friendship has deepened, whenever he wasn’t around, I missed him. My thoughts are a jumbled mess as I pretend everything is okay while I bathed Willow and dressed her in clean clothes.

“Okay sweet pea, you can watch one cartoon while I fix lunch.” I tell her as we make our way downstairs, and she bounces on the balls of her feet excitedly. Before long, Elsa’s dulcet tones reverberate throughout the living room. And I can’t help but smile. That movie is my girl’s go to every single time.

With Willow engrossed in her movie and oblivious to me, I slip out to the backyard, my heart in my throat, but not finding anything out of the ordinary. Maybe a stronger gust of wind was to blame for the gate being open like that? I can only hope that was the case. Because the alternative, that Angelo had come for me, is something I couldn’t bear to think about.

Lunch took longer to make than to devour, and soon Willow and I were both lounging on the sofa, eating ice cream.

I look over at the bag of pregnancy tests. I know I have to bite the bullet and find out if what I suspect is true, but I keep telling myself there’s time still to find out. My arm is around Willow, and I can tell she’s fallen asleep watching the rest of the movie.

A soft kiss to her forehead, a smile on my face, and a hand resting on my stomach, I look down at my little girl with all thelove in the world. The thought of being pregnant hangs heavy; do I stay here and face the music, or do I flee with my daughter, leaving this town and the people I’ve gotten to know and love, in my rear-view mirror?

Shaking my head, I push thoughts of a hypothetical baby and leaving town to the back of my mind, my eyelids growing heavy and shutting against my will.

Falling asleep on the couch, overcome by the combination of ice cream and relaxation, and awoke to the smell of acrid smoke filling my nostrils, and the intense orange glow of the fire in my kitchen ripped me from sleep, replacing my drowsiness with stark terror. Eyes wide as saucers as I stare frozen at the scene in front of me.

Move!A voice inside my head directs me. I try to focus on my surroundings, but it’s difficult as smoke enters through my nose, making me cough Looking down, I see Willow still fast asleep in my arms, and I realize something else has taken a hold of her as shaking her doesn’t help wake her.

I scramble off the couch, her lifeless weight in my arms sending a surge of panic through me that feels like it will consume me whole; as another hacking cough rips through my chest. I rush for the front door, forgetting I’d armed the security system.

In my panic to get out as the flames lick into the living room, tears fall down my cheeks as I try to disarm the damn thing, but my brain won’t function, and I know I’m fucked if I don’t get out in the next few minutes. The smoke rolls and gets thicker, forcing me to cough up my lungs.

I can feel myself getting weaker as I pound on the front door, trying not to feel complete and utter devastation when it doesn’t budge, holding on to Willow the entire time, when I suddenly hear the voice of my savior telling me to get away from the door.

I can also now hear fire trucks and maybe ambulances too, but I’m so disoriented that none of it registers until the door burstsopen and there stands Ky like an avenging angel, as I drop to the floor with Willow in my arms before he has time to catch me.

Then, everything goes black.

CHAPTER NINE

Ky – The night before

I stare at my opponent’s bloodied face. He’s on his last legs in the fight, and one well timed hit to his chin or kick to his gut and he’ll be out for the count. This is what I’ve trained for, for the last couple of months.

I look around, seeing Mariah cheering her head off, and roll my eyes. Not too long ago, if I had a beautiful woman cheering for me in my corner, it would’ve made me as hard as a pike. But Mariah isn’t the woman I want in my corner. The woman I want isn’t anywhere near here. I’m surprised Ink hadn’t brought her to rub it in my face, that they were now together.

My jaw ticks with unrestrained anger, and I turn my attention back to the poor sap who’s going to feel my wrath, since I can’t unleash it on my club brother. Even though my heart wasn’t in the fight, since everything between Sera and me went to shit the night Mariah returned with Finn; I unleash a strength I probably could have cut back; I went to town on the motherfucker’s face, seeing Ink’s fucked up face instead of my opponent’s. Seconds later, the guy was down, and I was declared the victor.

Wiping the blood from my mouth with my fingerless glove, I storm out of the ring and return to my dressing room. Wanting nothing more than to block out Mariah’s whiny voice as she follows behind me.

“Go back to the group,” I tell her, without looking back at her, and slam the door of the dressing room in her face. She knows better than to come inside, even though I hadn’t locked it. Shewasn’t going to risk me unleashing my bad mood on her. At least I hope not.

But it seems she didn’t get the memo when only seconds later, as I rip off my gloves, the door opens and in she struts like she belongs there.

“What the fuck, Mariah!” I demand.

She stands there, wearing tight black jeans and a size too small white t-shirt showing off her tits, her blonde locks are on top of her head in a messy bun. And I hate myself for physically reacting to her. My cock hardening in my shorts.

“What are you doing here?” I demand gruffly, as she lifts a water bottle that looks exactly like mine.