Page 87 of A Dark Duet

“She feels bad about it and blames herself, but you guys took care of it, and she felt safe. I feel safe.”

“And then I’m the asshole that fucked it all up by treating her like shit and kicking her out of my life like she meant nothing to me.”

“Yeah, that,” Nate chimes in.

“Fuck. I promise to make it right and help her. You have my word.”

“Alright, brother. Giselle will try to call her, and I’ll text you her number. Another thing while I have you on the phone. There is this fight that is being set up by fighter promotions, a guy by the name of Zavier ‘The Sergeant’ Morales coming off an injury. Count this night as a freebie and no more drinking. Got it?”

“Yeah. Got it. See you guys later.”

Lying in my bed after dropping off Nick, I dial Brie’s number Nate sent me via text and it goes straight to voice mail. So, I send her a text.

Jaden: Nice try, sweetheart. Get ready, because I’m coming for you.

Picking up the picture on my nightstand, I glance at it. It is a picture of Brie. I speak to it like she can hear me. “We all have demons, baby, I’m just going to find which ones are yours and fight for you.”

Kissing the picture and setting it on the nightstand next to my phone on the wireless charge mat on my nightstand, I let sleep take me to the nightmares that plague me.

The feeling of many hands touching me has me springing up from the bed drenched in sweat. I’m panting from another nightmare. It must have been going on for a while because the sheets are off the bed and my phone is on the floor near the carpet.

The picture frame is clutched in my hand in a tight grip. Looking at it, the feeling of longing rises within me, making me forget my pain. The inner turmoil haunts me because there is this feeling that there is one person that is probably going through worse, and my selfish ass was too stupid to notice.

Pulling up to the gym, I’ve been checking my phone all morning like a lovesick fool, hoping Brie would text me back. Checking it one more time before getting out of the car, Nada. No text or return call. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. I’ve never been ghosted or ignored by a girl.

Opening the door of my car, I notice a black Bentley GT convertible. When I enter the gym, the guys notice me as I walk over.

“Yo, Jaden.” I give Nick a chin nod heading to my office.

“Whose Bentley?” Nick asks.

I shrug my shoulders. “Fuck if I know. Did Nate buy Giselle a new car?”

“Nope, her SUV is parked in the corner,” Jake says.

“Those are some pretty sweet wheels,” Charles says, sitting behind the reception desk. “Bentley Continental GT convertible.” He whistles. “Very expensive and very classy.”

“That’s brand new,” Kyle says, walking in and pointing at the topic of conversation this morning. He gives me a questioning look.

“Don’t look at me, it’s not mine,” I say, shaking my head with my hands up.

Nate walks in the front door of the gym, probably from seeing Giselle at the studio.

“Yo, Nate. Is that sweet ride yours?” Nick asks.

Nate glances at me with an expression that has me pinching my brows. “No, it’s someone that came to see Giselle,” is all he says. His eyes never leave mine. He places his hand behind the back of his head.

“Whoever it is, tell me.”

“Briana came to see Giselle. She’s in the studio.” My stomach clenches like a young schoolboy anxiously waiting to see his crush. An idea forms in my head.

“Bring her here. If I go over there, she will probably leave.”

“I don’t know, Jaden,” he says, shaking his head in denial.

“Tell her Charles wants to see her. That he wants to say hi.”

“That is childish and a setup,” he quips.

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