Page 10 of Twisted Legacy

“I never actually left.”

Her husband walks into the room. He looks just as confused as his wife to see me here. Obviously Thea hasn’t told her guardians anything about me. Training her, that is. I can’t imagine any scenario where she mentions me fucking her in an alley an hour after we met.

“Coach Wolfe, did the school send you to follow up with the investigation? Because, as you can see, our daughter is still unable to tell you what happened, and we won’t be signing any waivers of liability until we get her side of things.”

“I’m not here on school business. I’m here for LaReaux.”

His chest puffs up. “Excuse me?”

“I said… I’m here for Thea. I won’t be leaving the hospital until she wakes up and tells me it’s okay to leave.”

“Look, we appreciate you finding her and bringing her in, but I believe your job as a teacher is done. So if you’re here to harass us-”

“I’m Thea’s coach at school. She takes my Physical Enhancement class, and I’m her trainer. She’s been working out at my gym for about a month now.” I point to the unmoving body on the bed. “I don’t know how involved you are or aren’t in her life, but since you look shocked to know that I’m training her, I’d say not much.”

“You’re not very good at your job, since it looks like she was attacked.”

Smart mouths must be a family trait. I ignore the jab Mrs. Hughes just hurled my way. “I’m excellent at my job and Thea’s one of the top fighters in my gym and a top student in my class. Which is why I’m staying. Because this…” I point to the bed again. “Whatever happened to her wasn’t a fight. It was a brutal beat down, and more than one person was involved. In fact, I’ll go as far to say that at least two people held her down, while everyone else used her as a punching bag. Now, before you ask me how I came by that number, I’ll say this. It’s because I train her to fight men twice her size with the same amount of experience and she bests them, almost seventy percent of the time. If I have her fight two at a time, they’re still working hard to put her on her ass. So in case you’re not following, it takes more than the pimply kid with the ice pack on his flaccid dick to do this to her. We won’t even go into me finding her in a coffin in an unmarked grave. Sorority prank, fraternity fuck-over, Mayhem Night Mischief. I don’t care what label the school gives it. As far as I’m concerned, your niece was targeted. It could be because of you and whatever you do for a living, or because she has a smart ass mouth and pisses people off. Who’s to say they won’t come here to make sure she never tells us what happened? LaReaux isn’t safe if she can’t defend herself. Now, if you don’t want me here, fine. Get a security detail. Make sure it’s someone you know and trust. Don’t accept anyone the school sends. If you need help vetting a team, I can recommend some people.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

The uncle’s an idiot. After everything I laid out, he’s willing to risk her safety? “You don’t want a security detail? That’s your choice. But like I said, I’ll leave when she wakes up and tells me to.”

“Deacon Wolfe, right? You own Wolfe Pack. That’s the gym you mentioned. You train fighters, but your students also have the highest scores at MISTIC, and your grandfather owns Dire Wolfe Security.”

“Did you just google me?”

“My daughter was missing. We hadn’t heard from her in three days, and the school said they didn’t know anything. Then we get a call yesterday, saying you’re the person who found her. What kind of man would I be, not to suspect that you had a hand in her injuries?”

The school let them worry for three days, trying to get their story straight. I found Thea early Saturday morning and took her straight to the infirmary. I’m glad he’s not blindly accepting their version of events, but he’s not in the clear himself. Why was it three days before they noticed she was missing? It’s not lost on me that he’s calling Thea his daughter, when all her paperwork says he’s the uncle.

I’ve caught bits and pieces from the phone conversations and discussions I’ve heard when I’ve gone to get coffee. It all boils down to one thing. They’ve been lying to Thea about who they are. I hope they’re prepared for the shit she’s gonna put them through when she wakes up. She’s really gonna love the part where she finds out she’s eighteen again, for a few more weeks. Fuck, I dodged a bullet on that one.

“I assume your research revealed I’m not a threat to LaReaux, and that’s why you haven’t had me escorted off the premises yet.”

“That and since you brought it up, we’d like to hire you.”

His wife side eyes him. “We would?”

“To teach you self defense?” I was just spit balling that they’re the reason Thea was targeted, but maybe I’m not way off.

“We want you to protect Thea while the school investigates what happened, and we determine it’s safe for her to go back.”

“I don’t do that type of work.”

“We’re hoping that you’ll make an exception.”

“I can give you names, better candidates than me.”

“The doctors are saying she’ll need therapy for the hand and shoulder. Thea doesn’t strike me as the type of person who will do well with therapy. You’re already training her, so you know her strengths and her limitations. It says here you have a degree in kinesiology. I can’t think of a better candidate than you, and Thea isn’t big on people. She’s not gonna let anyone near her, even if it’s for her own good.”

Breland cuts in. “Please, Coach Wolfe. Thea won’t care if she’s in danger. You know she won’t let anyone help her that she doesn’t already like, know, and trust.”

“What makes you think she likes and trusts me?”

She stares down at her friend. “She does. I can tell by the way she talks about your training sessions. She’s tired and pissy and calls you a sadistic prick. She says you don’t give out compliments easily.”

“None of this is winning me over to the side of wanting to say yes, Breland. If anything, it strengthens my reasons for saying no.”

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