Knight: Over The Edge Part 14

"Please explain that one to me."

"She'll always be a target if we are together. I'm trying to protect her."

"She is always going to be a target," my dad stands up his fist slams on the table. "She's a Knight whether she is with you or not. She is a tough young woman, start giving her some f.u.c.king credit."

No one speaks, my dad and I are in a stare down. I'm sure Justin is watching the show with amus.e.m.e.nt right now. He loves when I get in trouble with our dad. Even when we were kids, he took perverse pleasure in it.

"I let you make your own mistakes five years ago. I stayed out of it. Let Kat and you try to work it out on your own. That ends tonight. Kat belongs back here, this is her home."

My dad is raging at me as he walks around the table.

"I'm not in the mood for this s.h.i.+t."

I'm already fighting my natural urge to be with Kat in every way possible.

"I'm guessing you did some douche thing in this text I'm hearing about when she left."

"What if I did?"

"He sent her a picture of him with two girls and told her to f.u.c.k off," Justin informs my father.

"Thanks a.s.shole," I say dryly.

My dad heaves a huge sigh. He is at his limits with me and the situation. At twenty-eight I should be handling the situation a little better with Kat.

"She was coming back. That was always the plan after she graduated." He pauses. His face clouds as he thinks something over in his mind. "It explains why she never wanted you to know now."

He has my attention. What am I not supposed to know? My mouth opens to ask, but Justin beats me to it.

"Know what?" Justin finally speaks since my dad and I started arguing.

"It's nothing. It just things are beginning to make sense. Like why she never wanted to be around you. Why she wouldn't come back to Belmont."

My dad's face is red with anger. It would be wise if I keep my mouth shut at this point.

"Fix things with Kat, that's a f.u.c.king order," He says before walking out of the dining room.

"Dude you're f.u.c.ked," Justin says to me with pity "Dad's hiding something and whatever it is its big."

"I'm getting that Bro, don't need the obvious pointed out to me."

"Maybe you do," he says.

"Whatever."

"f.u.c.k that! Kat and you were always special. You balanced each other."

Justin is right. Kat and I together were dynamic. We put up with each other's s.h.i.+t. We called each other out when it was needed. She was never with me because of my name or money. In fact, she always hated when I showered her with gifts or spent money on her.

"My goal is to find out what Dad is hiding. It's a missing piece of the puzzle. What is Kat hiding from me? Then I can reformulate a plan."

"Yea, good luck with that bro. Dad's not likely to talk."

Justin and I, typical men to the end, finish our meals. Everyone else may have walked out, but we weren't going to waste good food. Justin is the only one in the house not p.i.s.sed off with me. I'll take an ally where I can at this moment.

"Why you still talking to me?"

"You're my brother. You may be acting like a d.i.c.k, but you're still my brother."

"Gee thanks man."

I can't help the sarcasm that comes so naturally to me.

"Everyone else is taking Kat's side, figured you need someone in the family here for you."

"What the f.u.c.k dude? You sound like a p.u.s.s.y. I'm surprised you haven't taken her side too."

I give him a once over.

"Oh I'm more on Kat's side, but I also get where you're coming from," he grins "Plus my brother is an idiot, and going to need help winning his girl back."

"I think if I didn't f.u.c.k that up for good five years ago, I might have finished it off today" I sigh the memories of being with her in the hospital today cause my d.i.c.k to stir to life.

"She loves you man. It may take time and effort, but I think you can win her back. Be even better than y'all were five years ago."

Slumping in my chair as I push my now empty dinner plate away from me, "I think it's too late for that"

"We'll see. Now that Dad has decided it's what he wants, he won't let it go."

He stands up and walks out of the room.

I am left sitting there by myself. I am frustrated as h.e.l.l. Why does this one woman have the ability to f.u.c.k up my perfectly calm and ordered life? f.u.c.k, I would rather face down one of my enemies in a gun battle. Kat really f.u.c.ks with me. She has since the first time I saw her when she was sixteen. I'll never forget watching Drew in the club that night.

Pete and I watched Drew that night as he stormed up to a dark haired beauty. My breath was sucked out of me when I looked at her. She captivated me from that moment. She was dancing with some douche on the floor and the girl had moves. Pete and I shrugged our shoulders and followed Drew. We had no idea what was going on, but we had our boy's back, always.

We moved closer to Drew and could begin making out some of the exchange between him and Kat. It was then I realized that this was his little sister. He talked about her often and he met with her often, but this was the first time I had ever seen her. I understood why immediately. He was being the overprotective big brother. She was wasted and p.i.s.sed at Drew that night, but all I kept thinking was she was f.u.c.king hot as h.e.l.l. She was a h.e.l.lcat. In my mind, Kat became Kitten that night.

That was the night Katarina Roberts stole my heart. I never said anything about it. She was too young at the time and she needed time to grow up before I could ever be with her. Every so often, I would ask Drew about his little sister if he had not mentioned her in a while, but I was careful. The day we met Kat in the diner I knew something big happened. Drew never allowed anyone to tag along when he met with her sister. Drew had to suspect I had a thing for Kat. That afternoon in the diner changed everything.

Looking back, I see that I did things wrong with Kat. Even at eighteen, she was young. Her mother had abused her for years. Who knew how many men she had to fight off because of her mother bringing them into the home? She was mine, and I wanted everyone to know it including her. I treated her like a possession. That's how I treated everything and still do to some extent. If I own it, I'm going to claim it and everyone will know it's mine.

Kat was not a possession I just learned it six months too late. We went through six months of her being submissive to me in her own way. However, I couldn't let her go. I wanted to keep her in a little box all to myself. My refusal to discuss UCLA with her is what cost me the girl I love. I was so focused on what I wanted and needed. I never recognized I was breaking her spirit. Then because her sneaking off in the middle of the night hurt me, I purposely hurt her. She didn't want to hurt me. She had tried talking to me so many times. I was just too stubborn to listen to her, or anyone else who tried to talk to me about it.

Now with this situation with Sal all I wanted to do is whatever it takes to protect her. Even if it means sending her back to California where she is safe and far away from me. It would kill me, because she is the only woman I would ever want. I watched the changes my dad went through after losing my mom. I was there when my mom was killed as a message to my father.

I make my way to the stairs, but at the last minute I change my mind before going upstairs to my bedroom. I turn down the hallway that leads to my dad's office. He's never given me bad advice. It is time to come clean with my father. It is time to be a real man and ask him for guidance so I didn't f.u.c.k up things any more than I already have with Kat.

Knock knock "Who's there?"

"Dad," I call through the door so he can hear me, "I need to talk to you."

"Come in" my dad is sitting behind his desk I see he's on the computer I'm not sure what he's doing, but he glances up "What can I do for you?"

Despite the unwelcome tone to his body, I know that I am doing the right thing.

"I need your help." I sigh, "I don't want to f.u.c.k up with Kat anymore."

"Shut the door. It's about time you came to me for help," he focuses his attention on me. "So son where do we begin?"

Chapter 15.

Kat Cole is an a.s.shole!

The way he just called me out at dinner made me feel cheap. Like I am nothing more than a piece of a.s.s to him. Until today, no one in his family was aware of what he had done to me. Yet he had no problem calling me out in front of everyone.

Walking into my bedroom on the second floor, I'm shocked. Bruce told me my room was waiting, and he meant it literally. Nothing about it had changed in five years. Some of my left behind personal items still littered the room. My memory board is still hanging on the wall. My fingers trace the pictures and other mementos tacked to it. Times when Cole and I were happy and in love. We were young and foolish back in those days.

Plopping down in the window seat, I take in the backyard. The pool is s.h.i.+mmering in the night as the lights s.h.i.+ne from underneath the water. A good swim might release the tension I have. I'm worried sick about Drew. The doctor has a.s.sured us he would live; time would tell if any permeant damage might be a concern. There are weeks of recovery and rehabilitation left. I would stay by Drew's side however long he needed me.

Something snapped inside me today when I heard that Sal Martin was responsible for my brother's shooting. I am no longer the sorority girl from UCLA, I am the girl from Belmont the one who grew up fighting to survive.

There is a knock on my door.

"Come in."

Julie walks in. She sits down next to me in the window seat.

"Cole's a douche!"

"Tell me something I don't know."

I say with a small laugh. It's not as if Cole spoke lies against me at dinner. Every word is true, but there was no need to do it front of Seth.

"So you think they should start a club huh?" she asks me nudging my side a little while laughing.

"Why not? They can compare notes. See who gets the best o.r.g.a.s.m out of me."

I shouldn't be joking about this with her, but it's either laugh or cry. I would rather laugh. Plus it's no contest Cole would always be the winner.

"So should I start planning my brother's funeral?"

"Nah! I'm just as guilty of damaging our relations.h.i.+p as he is."

I turn in my seat and face Julie.

"Trust me Cole and I have both made our share of mistakes," I sigh "There's so much you don't know."

"Like what Kat?" she asks me sitting up straight.

It's time to tell her everything I have been hiding from her. I learned a lot during my therapy sessions. One of thing is I need to be honest with my family and friends. Julie is the perfect place to start. Before I can open my mouth, there is another knock on my door, and in walks Luke.

"Don't wait for an invitation just come on in." I reply dryly.

"Whatever girl," he laughs he flops on my bed "Please tell me Cole being an a.s.shole is the topic of conversation."

"Something like that," I look between my two friends. "Actually, I'm getting ready to come clean with Julie about my secrets."

Luke sits up.

"You want me to leave you two alone?"

This is why Luke is my friend. His ability to read me and antic.i.p.ate what I need. I glance over to Julie sitting next to me, her body now a bit tense.

"No, it might be better if you stay."

It's always best to start at the beginning when telling a story. I do that with Julie. I start from the moment I left her in the hallway at the hotel. Julie knows most of my story from the college years. I hit the highpoints as I recount what happened when I first arrived in California. However this version is a bit different than the one she knows. This time she hears about the text from Cole.. Her face clouds over with anger. She is struggling to keep her mouth shut and let me talk.

"Luke and I went to a small private party one night. It was a friend of his that is now a Knight fighter. We had a good time, Luke dropped me off at the dorm and I climbed into bed. To this day I'm not sure the time or how long I had been asleep I just woke up in the worst pain ever."

I can't look at her as I pause to catch my breath, I am barely holding back the tears.

"I managed to call Luke, who called Rocco thankfully."

I stand up and begin pacing the room.

"They rushed me to the hospital, but I don't remember any of it. I only remember waking up some time later." Tears are now streaming down my face.

"Luke can actually fill in the blanks of what happened."

Confusion crosses Julie's face, but she motions me to continue speaking.

"I woke up in the hospital with Luke and Rocco sitting in the room. Luke was on the phone with your dad even though I didn't know it at the time. Rocco's face told me more than I wanted to know."

The tears stream faster and I try to wipe them away, but I can't keep up with them.

"I was pregnant and had miscarried the baby."

My sobs overtake me.

Julie gasps her hand clutches her chest, "Why... Why did you never say anything?"

"The only ones who ever knew were Rocco, Luke and his parents and your dad. I begged your dad to keep this to himself. I couldn't face Cole at that time. I began seeing a therapist and saw her steady for the first year I was in California."