Maya Banks - Theirs to Keep

Cade and Merrick took turns checking in on her until they were certain she was down for the count. Still, they stayed close by her door in case she woke up in pain or just scared.

Dallas showed up at nine p.m. with Chinese takeout. They sprawled in the sitting area of the suite far enough away from the bedroom so Elle wouldn’t be disturbed but close enough that they could get to her fast.

“So what are you going to do, man?” Dallas said bluntly. “You’ve got a fight in four weeks, and you just fired your trainer.”

“I don’t know yet,” Merrick ground out. “I need some time to think. I’ve been a little worried about Elle at the moment. She’s more important than some damn fight.”

“I get it,” Dallas said calmly. “But I don’t want you to fuck around and let this go. You’ll regret it later, Merrick. I know you. I’ve known you too many years.”

Merrick scraped his fork against the takeout box and shoved another bite into his mouth. Too many carbs. But tonight he didn’t give a shit. Dakota would have his ass over eating this crap.

He leaned back in his chair and then looked at his two best friends.

“What’s on your mind, Merrick?” Cade asked calmly.

Yeah, Cade would know something was bothering him. Other than the obvious.

He battled with whether to bring it up so close on the heels of what had happened. It would seem reactionary and like he was too quick to jump the gun. But the longer he pondered the solution, the more at peace he felt about it.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. This will sound crazy, like I haven’t thought it through, but I’ve thought of nothing else since seeing Elle bloodied and bruised in our garage. Elle, who was forced to defend herself with a fucking crowbar because some asshole wants revenge because we had his ass arrested. Fuck that.”

Dallas and Cade exchanged curious glances.

“You both want me to go hard at this title.”

Cade and Dallas both nodded.

“You want me to focus. You want me to move past the distractions. Well, I can’t do that until I know Elle is safe.”

“I get that,” Cade said.

Merrick leaned forward, putting his carton of Chinese food down so he could rest his forearms on his knees.

“I think we should hang up the business for now,” he said bluntly.

Cade’s head reared back. “Have you lost your goddamn mind? You know how hard I worked to get that off the ground.”

Merrick nodded. “I do.”

“Then what the fuck, man?”

Wisely, Dallas remained a quiet observer to the tense exchange.

“Elle said it best,” Merrick said. “When she was talking about wanting to take over the office with you. She said if I won the title, my life would change and I wouldn’t be working in our business. She’s right. Things will change. The thing is, I don’t want to be the only one who changes while you two are left behind holding the bag.”

Cade started to open his mouth, but Merrick shut him down with a look.

“Let me finish. There are so many reasons to do this, and I’ll start with the most important. Elle’s in danger because of us and our business. Because we crossed the wrong person and he wants revenge. The motherfucker isn’t going to stop just because Elle beat the shit out of his flunky. Hell, I don’t even want to take her back to that house. I’d rather us sell it and move someplace that fits the three of us better.”

Cade’s eyes narrowed, but he kept silent.

“The other thing is, if I win—and I want to win… I know none of you believe that. You think I’m fucking away the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m going to win. And when I do, I want you and Elle both right there with me. You’ve always been there, Cade. You don’t call what you do for me a job, but it is. You’re part of the camp, the team. I’ll need you more than ever if I win this thing. I can’t do it alone, and I want people I trust around me. I’ll need you and Elle to keep me grounded. None of us will have time for the business.

“If we’re going to make this work with Elle, we can’t be in two separate places,” Merrick added softly. “We want her with us. You want me to win. We can’t have both if you’re here and I’m somewhere else.”

“So you want me to just quit and ride your star like some fucking charity case?” Cade bit out.

“Oh, fuck you,” Merrick said rudely. “You’ve got goddamn money saved. You’ve been saving since you were a damn teenager. You hoard cash like Scrooge. You’d be paid a salary, and you’d damn well earn it. There’s no charity case, dumbass. If we’re going to make this work with Elle, then we need to figure out a way to be together and to work together where we aren’t worried every day that some asshole with a grudge is going to retaliate by assaulting the woman we love.”

“I hate to be the voice of reason here, because I’m always the voice of reason,” Dallas said dryly, “but Merrick has some very good points, as much as it pains me to agree with his ornery ass.”

“Thanks a lot,” Cade snapped.

“Think about Elle,” Merrick said. “Think about the fact that it would be much easier to keep her with us when we’re not split up all the time. And really, the timing is perfect. We can walk away from the business or sell it to someone else. Our building was destroyed. We’re renting shitty office space until we rebuild. So, what if we don’t?”

Cade blew out his breath. “Jesus, man. What a time to hit me with this.”

“It’s the best time to hit you with it. If we wait, it could be too late. I won’t risk Elle again. We’ve got to take this threat seriously, and we’ve got to become better at making sure one of us is with her at all times.”

Cade rubbed his hands over his face. “I can’t even believe I’m considering this.”

“I’m not asking for a split-second decision,” Merrick said in a quiet voice. “I know how hard you worked for this. Sleep on it. We can talk about it again.”

“Where the hell would we live?” Cade asked.

Merrick knew he’d scored a major victory by getting Cade to consider details like where they would live. It meant he was already looking at the possibilities and weighing them in his mind.

“Dakota’s been talking about moving our gym to Denver. If I win, we get increased exposure and a bigger city to draw in new fighters. We buy a house there and take the necessary precautions to safeguard Elle.”

Both Dallas and Cade lifted their eyebrows.

“Does this mean you aren’t firing Dakota?” Cade asked.

“Fuck,” Merrick said, the curse exploding out of his mouth. “I want to kick his goddamn ass.”

Dallas nodded. “Understandable. He certainly owes Elle an apology, and he probably needs his ass kicked.”

“And after you kick it, you can rehire him,” Cade pointed out.

Well, at least there was that. And he had to admit, he looked forward to flattening Dakota a few times before he played nice again.

“If I rehire Dakota, will you at least consider my suggestion?” Merrick asked Cade.

Cade expelled a long breath, his shoulders heaving with the effort. Then he looked at Merrick, his lips tight.

“Yeah. I’ll consider it.”

Then Merrick turned to Dallas, his chest tight because he knew what it would mean if he and Cade moved to another city.

“I want you there, man. Every damn time.”

“And I’ll be there,” Dallas said, his voice serious. “You know I will. When I can’t be at the clinic, my nurse practitioner does a crack job of keeping things flowing. It won’t be the same without you guys here where we can eat dinner together or shoot the shit at the house whenever we want. But I’ll never be further than a phone call away.”

Merrick held up his hand, and Dallas bumped his fist to Merrick’s.

“I want what’s best for you,” Dallas said sincerely. “I may not be able to fully wrap my head around this relationship you and Cade have with Elle, but I want the three of you to be happy, and I want you to succeed. You’re the best, man, and this is your time to shine.”

Merrick sighed. “If I haven’t fucked it up already.”

Dallas shrugged. “Just work harder. You’ve got four weeks. Get your shit together and then focus. If anyone can do this, you can.”

Cade leaned forward. “This isn’t just about you, Merrick. A lot of people have put a hell of a lot of time into your training. Dakota’s an asshole, but he and Cathy both have banked everything on you. Don’t let everyone down.”

A sense of purpose gripped Merrick by the throat. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Just remember that the most important person you do this for is yourself,” Dallas added.

Merrick nodded. “I’ll talk to Dakota in the morning. Tonight… Tonight I’m going to watch over Elle and try not to torture myself with all that could have happened and all that did.”

WHEN MERRICK AND CADE WALKED back into the bedroom after Dallas left for the night, Cade was surprised to see Elle awake and lying on her uninjured side.

Her face was nestled into the pillow, but her gaze was distant, and she didn’t react to their entry, which told him wherever she was, it wasn’t here.

He settled down on the edge of the bed and trailed his finger down the silky skin of her arm.

“Elle? Are you hurting, honey? Do you need something else for pain?”

For a moment, she didn’t respond. It wasn’t until Merrick crawled onto the bed behind her and sat up against the headboard so her body was flush against his that she stirred and directed her unfocused stare on Cade.

“I hurt,” she said simply. “It hurts to breathe.”