Almost Beautiful, page 27
I looked to Thomas, waiting for him to stop me, but he was just glowering at Brandon, his fists at his side.
“I should’ve done it the other night,” Brandon said, ogling my wife.
“Shut up, Brandon,” Abby said, fuming. She was shaking. I hadn’t seen her do that since the fire.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked.
“I came over the other night.” He winked at Abby. “Admit it. You were happy to see me.”
“Is that what you thought when I screamed at you to get the fuck off my porch?”
Brandon laughed.
“Laugh at her again, bitch,” America said.
“Hey,” he said, shrugging. His eyes were wild, his adrenaline pumping, ready for a fight. “It’s not my fault Travis’s wife has wanted to suck my dick since we met.”
“Don’t fall for it, Trav. He’s up to something,” Abby said. She rubbed the back of her shorts again.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She hesitated.
“Pidge?” I said the words firmer than I’d meant to.
“It’s going to leave a mark.”
I clenched my jaw, leaning my head to the side. “I have to.”
She looked at him, back to me, and then nodded. “Teach that asshole some manners.”
I lunged at Brandon, and from my peripheral, I could see my brothers backing everyone up to provide me a perfect circle to beat ass in.
My throws had as much power behind them as they did when I was attacking Benny’s goons.
Brandon was strong as fuck, but he was slower than Trenton, not a smart as Thomas, and couldn’t land a punch like the twins.
I railed on him, over and over. “Don’t you ever! Look! At my wife! Again!” I yelled, hitting him with each word.
When the blood began to flow, I still didn’t stop. After a solid fist to his jaw, Brandon flew up into the air, his feet above him, and then landed with a thud. The crowd reacted in a collective “OH!”
Brandon struggled to get back to his feet, and when he did, I held out my hands to my sides. “Still think you’re better, you arrogant fuck?”
Brandon swung, knocking me sideways. I grabbed my knees, feeling the sting of his knuckles on my jaw, the vibration of the impact still in my head.
“Travis?” Abby called from behind me.
I stood, breathing hard, holding up my index finger. “That’s your one.”
The crowd detonated, and I went in for the kill, connecting my fist with his face, my boot with his stomach, knocking him to the ground. I jumped on him then, putting everything I had into each blow.
“Enough, Travis,” Thomas yelled.
Seconds later, I was yanked up and away, but it wasn’t my family, it was campus police. My brothers were about to step in, but Thomas stopped them.
I wiped blood from my mouth, then spit crimson onto the ground, staring down at Brandon.
He slowly crawled to his feet, breathing hard, bleeding from his broken nose and busted mouth.
“Thank you,” he said, laughing. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
The campus police cuffed us both as the crowd dispersed.
“Travis?” Abby said.
I winked at her. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll see you soon.”
She nodded as Trenton pulled her back and hugged her to his side. “We’ve got her. You just worry about you.”
I nodded, and then a cop shoved me forward, following Brandon and his escort to the parking lot.
They were at least smart enough to place us in separate cruisers, and the ride to the station was short. I half expected Thomas and Liis to be waiting for us, but they weren’t. Brandon and I were processed, and then put in neighboring holding cells.
After an officer slid my bars shut, I sat on the cold bench, glad I was alone. My body still shook with rage. If anyone had been there to fuck with me, I’d have beaten the shit out of them, too.
“Bars, chief? Really? You haven’t updated this place since it’s been built, huh?”
“Shut up, Maddox,” the officer said, walking away.
“You’ve always been a dumb cunt,” Brandon said from his side. I could tell he was leaning against the same wall.
“Yeah? Well I’m not the one who cheats on my pregnant wife, who bangs my receptionist or my clients, or who just got smashed in the face with karma about thirty-eight times.”
Brandon laughed. “I hired you, antagonized you with your stupid, medium pretty wife, and set you up. And you fell for it.”
“Set me up for what, Brandon? You think I don’t know you were talking to the Feds? You think I don’t know you were streaming those fights and collecting millions in illegal gambling? Not to mention not paying taxes on any of it and laundering it all through the gym. One step ahead of you, precious.”
“None of that matters now.”
I huffed a laugh. “It matters because you did it. And one way or another, you’re going to get nailed for it.”
“No. I’m not. They don’t know any of that. And they’ll never be able to trace it. I’ve made millions off your stupid ass and I’m going to get away with it. I’ve been doing that shit for six years and they’ve never even caught a whiff. I haven’t made millions. I’ve made tens of millions and I’m going to keep making it while you’re rotting away in some dank federal prison trading Little Debbie snacks for ass.
“And then you know what I’m going to do? Convince your wife you were shady all along and you’re going to get letters from home about how good my dick is. I’ll have the gym, I’ll have the betting income, I’ll have Becca kissing my ass, and your wife begging to be in my harem. And there’s not a fucking thing you can do about it. What you don’t know, Trav, is I have immunity. They don’t know my involvement. They’re focused on nailing you. They just needed a reason to arrest you and get you into custody, and I gave it to them. I’m going to be living my best life, and you—you broke ass overconfident puddle of shit—you’re fucked.”
“You got immunity, huh? You got that in writing?”
He was quiet for a moment. “What do you mean? We have a deal.”
“You think the FBI runs on handshakes? Did you think, while you were doing all your wheeling and dealing, what we could offer them?”
He burst into laughter. “What the hell could you offer them? They can’t trace my shit. You’re too loyal to roll on Adam, and they have him by the balls, anyway. He was arrested at the scene and has no alibi.”
“You ever heard of Lucky Thirteen?” I asked.
Brandon hesitated. “W-what?”
“Lucky Thirteen. A little girl, at thirteen years old, was a poker phenom. She was playing all the Vegas greats and winning. She learned from her dad and spent her childhood around Vegas mafia. Knows about their dealings, how they work, who they’re in business with. Kind of a little bad ass if you ask me.”
“Your story time is boring me to death, Maddox.”
“Her father was Mick Abernathy.”
“So?”
I smiled, wishing I could see the look on his face. “Her name was Abby.”
He was quiet again. “What is your point?”
“My point is … my wife is Lucky Thirteen. She has ties to the Vegas mafia. When the FBI found that out, they went from trying to put me away to begging to be my best friend. Tell me Brandon, who has the better connections? You can give them me. I can give them organized crime bosses.”
“You … you’re full of shit, Maddox,” Brandon said, a tinge of panic in his voice. “One of us is going to prison, and it ain’t me.”
A door opened, and two cops walked through, followed by Thomas and Liis. They were wearing their suits, looking serious.
Brandon scrambled to his feet, gripping a bar in each hand. “What’s this about?” he asked.
One officer opened my cell, and I walked through.
“You’re free to go,” the officer said.
“What?” Brandon asked. “What do you mean he’s free to go? I’m the one with immunity!”
He tried to yank on the bars, getting nowhere. His eyes danced from me, to Thomas, to Liis, who had her federal badge hanging from a long thin chain on her neck.
Thomas patted me on the back. “Well done. Got everything we needed.”
“Wait. Your brother’s a … Wait a second!” Brandon cried.
I stepped toward Brandon, leaning in with a smirk. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, am I right?” I winked at him, and then followed the officers to the exit.
Thomas and Liis stopped there, and my brother shoved his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “We can’t go out there like this. They’ll ask questions.”
“Understood,” I said.
Thomas nodded to me. “Get that eye looked at.”
“Copy that,” I said, pushing out the door. My wife and family were waiting for me, smiling widely as I walked toward them.
Abby didn’t wait for me to reach them. She ran to me and jumped, wrapping her legs around my middle, pressing her lips hard against mine.
“Happy Birthday!” She kissed me over and over, and then threw her arms around my neck, squeezing. “Oh my God, I was so afraid I wouldn’t get to tell you that in person today. You okay?” she asked, leaning back to look me in the eyes.
“Brandon was a bigger fish to fry. I got him to admit to everything, and now I’ve got immunity.”
“Really?” she cried.
I sat her on her feet. “Really. We’re home free.”
She hugged me again, and then my brothers surrounded us with linked arms like a solid, steadfast Maddox fortress.
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Trenton said, “but it seems like you’re in the clear.”
“I am,” I said, trying to keep Abby from getting squished as they hugged us tighter.
Abby looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and then hugged me again, curling her body into me.
“Let’s go home,” I said.
“You’re my home,” she said softly.
Her words melted me. She was referring to what I’d said to her the time she’d tried to leave me. Not too long ago, I’d begged for her on my knees, in front of everyone who was staring at us from inside the campus cafeteria, not giving two shits what any of them thought. Nothing and no one was more important to me than the woman looking down at me, tears in her eyes, unsure if she could trust me. Then, it didn’t feel right spending a day without Abby Abernathy. Now, there was nothing I was more certain of than knowing I couldn’t survive without Abby Maddox.
I cupped her jaw with my hands, kissing her like it was the first time. I was married to the love of my life. And, as cliché as it sounded, my best friend. We had the rest of our lives together, and we could finally enjoy our happy ever after.
“I can’t believe I almost ruined this,” I said. “What a fucking idiot.”
Abby shook her head. “You can’t ruin this. I can’t ruin this. Because this… this is forever.”
I looked around at my brothers, each one with their arms around their girl. I nodded my head in the direction of the parking lot. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
Trenton flipped off the police station as he turned, simultaneously squeezing Camille and pressing his cheek against her hair as they walked. Abby handed me the keys, and the doors unlocked with a click of a button. I opened the door for my wife, then waited as she slid into her seat. She giggled as I stole a kiss before closing her door, then I wasted no time jogging around to my side.
She sighed as I started the engine, her shoulders relaxed.
I put my hand on her thigh. “We’re gonna be all right. All that bullshit is behind us now.”
She put her hand on mine. “I know,” she breathed. “It’s finally over. It’s almost hard to believe. And I’m so proud of us, for so many reasons. But you know what I’m the proudest of? Even on our worst days, we never stopped loving each other.”
I shook my head. “That day will never come for me, Pigeon.”
She smiled. “No one could ever convince me otherwise; not even you. I keep thinking about the beginning, wondering why I fought this so hard. I had to dig really deep, and while you were sitting in that jail, I realized it was because I once thought that to have real, lasting love it had to be perfect. But what makes love last is to be brave enough to push through the challenges and trust that you’ll come out stronger on the other end. I knew that no matter what happened in there … I don’t know. I just had this peace come over me. I knew that whatever happened, we’d get through it. Because the beauty of it is being almost perfect.”
“We’re almost beautiful?” I asked.
She nodded her head.
I kissed her hand, and then watched as she smiled at me with all the emotions I’d worked so hard to see on her face. Love, contentment and calm swirled inside those familiar, insanely gorgeous gray eyes. “You’ll never convince me that being with you is anything less than perfect, Pidge.”
She rested her head on my shoulder and hugged my arm. I pulled out of the parking lot, following my brothers’ vehicles out into the street. No one was in a hurry. Everyone was glad to be going home, and I brought up the rear, the last in a line of a Maddox caravan. A bunch of motherless boys, seemingly never getting it right, clueless when it comes to relationships, and yet sitting next to the women we loved, almost perfect, almost beautiful, and never happier.
Epilogue
Abby
I WALKED INSIDE MY FATHER-IN-LAW’S home with my best friend to immediately hear cheers from our family, including Shepley’s parents, Jack and Deanna, America’s parents, Mark and Pam, the Maddox wives, and one more special guest attending our college graduation party: Trenton’s god daughter, Olive.
Trenton held her in his arms between him and Camile, grinning from ear to ear. Everyone was happy.
This was the way life was supposed to be and we had earned it.
Travis stood in front of me holding up a beer, and his brothers, dad, and uncle followed his lead.
“To the most beautiful graduates to ever walk across Eastern State’s stage!” he yelled. “And Shepley.”
Everyone laughed and then applauded, shouting in agreement.
Over the last two years, Travis and I had settled into a routine. Once he graduated, Travis began to travel more and I stayed behind, finishing my accounting degree, interning for the Becken & Stall Accounting firm.
We missed each other like crazy when he wasn’t home, but we made it work. Surrounded by my family, I was exactly where I was always meant to be.
Travis helped me remove my graduation hat and then hugged me to his side and kissed my temple. He was all smiles and had been since he came home the week before.
When all the brothers were home, though, it just felt right, like we were complete, and my husband was nearly euphoric.
Everyone chatted, Shepley, America, and I opened our gifts, and then we all sat down at the table—and the sofa and an extra card table—to eat a late lunch that Liis and Falyn had prepared.
Travis absent-mindedly reached down to touch my knee as he teased Trenton and talked to the twins about their insurance business in Colorado.
“So, Abby … how would you feel about a rematch tonight?” Taylor asked.
“Poker? No,” I said, shaking my head.
The table burst into laughter.
“You wouldn’t beat her, anyway,” Thomas said.
I remembered the first time I played in Jim’s home, at that very table, surrounded by smoke and smiles. Thomas had figured out my secret, watching me with curious eyes that never really stopped observing his surroundings.
Liis was the same way, and over the years, I began to pick up even more things about them. How similar they were, how they sometimes left the room to have private conversations with my husband.
Thomas and Travis had grown closer, and Liis seemed to be in on it.
I’d been trying to figure it out, but they all guarded their friendship. Not in a way that made me uncomfortable, rather … curious.
“So, sis,” Jim said, dabbing his mouth with his napkin. “What’s next?”
“Well,” I said with a sigh, “Becken & Stall has offered me a position.”
The table erupted. Travis beamed.
“And?” Falyn asked with a smile.
“And … I’m thinking about it.”
“The money isn’t good?” Camille asked.
“No … No, it’s good. Really good. I just need to figure a few things out first.”
“Such as?” Thomas asked.
I shifted in my seat.
Olive leaned too far in her chair and fell backward, immediately crying out for Trenton. He rushed over to help her up and right her chair, examining her sore elbow.
“Is she okay?” Jim asked.
Trenton lifted her into his arms, placing a gentle hand on the back of her head as she cried over his shoulder. “She’s okay, aren’t you, Ew? You’re tough.” He took her elbow and kissed it.
She sniffed and nodded as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“See? All better!” Camille said with a smile.
“Are you finished, Jim?” Liis asked, standing up to take his plate. He nodded and she gathered a few more dishes before heading to the kitchen sink.
“I’ll help,” I said, standing.
“Nope, you’re the guest of honor,” Jim said.
“I can’t just sit here. Liis cooked!”
“Does that mean I have to help?” Ellie asked, serious.
“No, please don’t,” America teased.
I took more dishes and followed Liis to the next room, leaving the laughter of my family echoing behind me.
“Thomas seems really happy,” I said, turning on the faucet.
Liis smiled, scraping leftovers into the garbage. “I think so.”
“It’s nice to see him and Travis getting so close.”
Liis’s smile faded for half a second, and then her eyes brightened. “It’s pretty cute.”
“Cute?” I said with a wry smile.
“What?”
