Fighting History (Fighting For Love Book 4) (5 page)

Chapter Seven

One week later, Maggie ran her hands over the apsara’s leg, admiring the curve. She’d gotten it just right, she thought: it was shapely and sexy, but also strong and fluid. The goddess looked like she was actually supporting some weight on it as she moved, and that was what Maggie had been after. Light and airy, a creature of air and myth, but still somehow flesh and blood. All woman; all spirit; all essence.

Her cell phone buzzed now and she frowned when she saw Joe’s number.

Argh. What now, creep? You call me every day, and I have yet to figure out why.

Briefly, she considered not answering, but she knew he’d just keep on calling. The man was nothing if not persistent.

“Hello?” she said, going for polite, at least for the moment.

“Hi, Maggie.” Even over the phone, Joe sounded tired, and Maggie reminded herself she didn’t give a crap.

“Hello.”

“How’s it going?”

She sighed. “The same as it was this morning when you called and asked me the same question. Good.”

“Good progress today?”

“Yes.”

“So.” He cleared his throat. “Can I come later this week and see the first sculpture?”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “It’s
your
apsara. You can come and check on its progress any time you want. I’ve told you this many times.”

“Yeah, I know,” Joe said. “I just want to come and see it when I’ll get a sense of the final result. Before then makes no real sense.”

She glanced up at the sculpture looming above her. “Well, if you can hold on two weeks, I think you’ll be able to see the completed bottom half.”

“The bottom?”

“Yes. I’ll work on her face last. I always do.”

“Oh, right. I’d forgotten that’s how you work.”

She said nothing. She’d long ago assumed that Joe Carlisle had forgotten pretty much everything about her.

“OK, then,” he said, and she heard paper rustling. “So I’ll come on Thursday morning. The twenty-fourth. Is that fine?”

“Uh, no. Simon Yates’ trial finally starts that day and Reena’s scheduled to testify. I need to be in court to support her.”

“Oh.” Joe’s voice changed now. The Yates trial was huge news, and despite the fact that she was supposed to be protected by anonymity, Reena’s name was being thrown around online pretty freely. Joe had heard about Reena’s attack, and the week before, Maggie had grudgingly confirmed what was going on. They hadn’t discussed it since, though, and her bringing it up now was a bit of a surprise. “So maybe you want to move the viewing to Friday?”

“No. Let’s just get it over with.”

He paused at her choice of words, and despair crashed over him as he realized – yet again – just how much she despised working with him. And then he wondered one more time why she’d taken the commission from a man she obviously hated.

Maybe I just wore her down with the calls and e-mails, and talking to her friends? Maybe I was just such a pain in her ass, she decided to do it to shut me up?

“OK.” He fought to stay as cool as she was. “So, Thursday evening? Six?”

“Good. See you then. Bye.”

Joe set down his phone and a wave of exhaustion just washed over him. Everything for the restaurant was working out and slowly coming together – but nothing was easy. And Maggie was the most not-easy thing of all.

But it’ll all be worth it when she does the work. No matter how tense things are between us, the fact is that I don’t want anyone on the whole damn planet to do this job. Just Maggie.

**

Mia pressed up against Nick’s large, strong body, wanting to be as close to him as she possibly could be. She was starved for his touch, for his kisses, and she arched up in to him. She rubbed herself against his erection and moaned. She was so ready for him, she thought she’d be able to come even fully clothed.

“Mia,” Nick murmured. “I love you, babe.”

“Oh, God. I love you too.”

“I wish I could stay tonight, but I can’t. I’m sorry.”

She pulled back. “Why? We haven’t spent the night together in almost two weeks… what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Nick kissed her again, but she didn’t respond this time. “Mia…”

“No.” She sat up, her brown hair tousled and her shirt halfway unbuttoned. “You come for dinner, you promise to spend the night. You pick me up and throw me on the bed, you start to take off my clothes and now, what? You just hit the brakes?”

“I’m sorry.” Nick sat up too, his gray eyes hazy with lust. “I just remembered I have to do something in the morning.”

“What?”

“It’s a private lesson with a new client.”

“A karate lesson?”

“Yeah.”

She stared at him.

“I’m really sorry, angel.” He got to his feet, wincing a bit. “I’d do anything to stay.”

“So stay. We can just sleep together, if you’re worried about being too tired after some marathon sex session.” She was trying not to beg, but she missed him so much, it was starting to hurt. “I just want you close to me, Nick. That’s all.”

“I want that too, I swear. But I don’t have any of my gym stuff here, and I don’t want to have to go home and pick it all up. OK?”

“No.”

“Mia, please.” Nick shook his head. “Try to understand.”

“I’ve spent weeks trying to understand, Nick.” Her voice was quiet. “I’m trying to understand why you’re hardly around at all and why when we are together, you’re distracted and distant. What’s happening with you?”

“Hey, now.” Nick’s handsome face softened. “Nothing. It’s just a bad time at work.”

“You keep saying that, but it only explains and excuses so much.” She stood up too. “Are you… do you want to break up with me?”

“What? No!” Nick looked shocked. “Never, babe.”

“So, what…”

He pulled her in to his arms now, and she closed her eyes as his familiar scent washed over her. His chest was broad and muscular, and she heard his heartbeat, strong and steady. She knew its rhythm as well as she knew her own heart's.

“Mia,” he whispered. “It’ll all be OK soon, I promise. Can you just hang on a bit longer? For me, angel, can you try?”

“I’ll – I’ll try. But Nick… I’m worried about you. I’m worried about
us
.”

“No.” His kiss was hot and loving. “Never, ever worry about us, Mia. ‘Us’ is good.”

But when Mia shut the door behind him, she wasn’t sure about that at all. In fact, she was sure that ‘us’ was in serious trouble. She just didn’t have a clue what the trouble really was.

Chapter Eight

Rita rolled over in bed, blinked at the clock. Everything was horribly blurry and she felt too hot. She tried to sit up and a sharp pain shot through the middle of her body.

Oh, no. No, no, no. Am I rejecting the kidney?

She reached for her cell phone, the distance to the bedside table seeming to stretch on in to infinity. She fumbled it, dropped it on the floor. Rita sighed, shut her eyes.

Get that damn phone. Now.

Slowly, painfully, she inched to the edge of the bed and peered over it. The phone was right there, thank Christ, and with a groan she reached for it, idly wondering why her hand looked so puffy and bloated. Carefully, she lifted the phone to her face, squinted through the blurriness to find Maggie’s number on speed-dial. Somehow she managed to push the right button with her massive sausage finger, then settled back on to the pillows, trying to stay calm.

“Hi, Mom. You OK?”

“Maaaaggieeee…” Rita was slurring, her tongue was huge in her dry mouth, and her voice was weak. She wondered if Maggie had even understood what she’d just said.

A long pause, then Maggie’s voice came, tight with panic. “Mom? You need me to come over?”

Rita nodded, then remembered that Maggie wouldn’t be able to hear that. “Yeeeetttthh.”

“I’m coming. Should I call an ambulance?”

“Yeeeetttth…”

“OK. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Hang on, Mom.”

Rita pushed the red ‘disconnect’ button with her swollen thumb, dropped the phone next to her. She closed her eyes, and tried to not give in to the rising, blinding panic washing over her body.

It’s going to be fine. Just breathe
.

**

“Is she rejecting the kidney?” Maggie asked.

“No.” Carrie Langston looked very grave. “She has an infection in her stomach. Quite a bad one.”

“But – how?” said Reena, her arm around Maggie. “From what?”

Carrie shrugged, almost helplessly. “Nobody can say, I’m afraid. As you know, she’s on some very strong drugs to prevent her from rejecting the kidney, but those drugs make her very, very vulnerable to infection.”

“Yes,” Maggie said.

“So, this reaction happens in transplant patients. A lot.” Carrie looked at the chart in her hand. “Rita was fine when she was here for her check-up two days ago, so whatever this is, it moved fast.”

“OK, so.” Maggie tried to sound calm, even though she was losing her mind. “What happens now?”

“We give her drugs to fight the infection.”

“More drugs?” Maggie asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“And if the infection spreads? What then?”

“We try different drugs.”

“Why is she so swollen?” Katie asked suddenly. “That was the infection?”

“That’s the next thing I need to talk to you about,” Carrie said. “That swelling, and the redness of her skin? Those are early signs of sepsis.”

The women stared at her, horrified.

“Sepsis?” Reena said. “Like – her body is poisoned?”

“Well, that’s what an infection is, broadly speaking,” Carrie said. “A bacteria, a foreign body, a virus, a poison. It’s something that shouldn’t be there, and usually, our bodies are strong enough to just fight it off. In Rita’s case, her body is weaker, more vulnerable.” She smiled a bit. “She’ll need some help to fight it.”

“OK,” Maggie said. “So… we try some new drugs. And?”

“And we wait and see.”

Maggie took a deep breath. “OK. I’ll wait.”

Carrie nodded and left the visitor's room. Her legs felt like jelly, so Maggie sat down, trying to breathe evenly. Her friends sat next to her, around her.

“You’re going to stay?” Mia said.

“Yeah.” Maggie rubbed her eyes. “For sure.”

“I wish I could stay with you,” Reena said. “But I have to go and meet Charlotte for prep. I’ll come back after, OK? With some food?”

Maggie nodded. “Thanks.”

“And I’m not going anywhere,” Katie declared. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Me too,” Mia piped up. “I’ll go get us some coffee… and a croissant, right?”

Maggie managed a smile. “Please.”

Reena gave her a huge hug, then she and Mia left the room together. Katie took Maggie’s hand, and they sat, quiet. There was nothing to say, so they just didn’t say anything.

**

Carrie dropped by the waiting room six hours later, looking worried. Reena had arrived an hour earlier with some food, and all four women dropped their forks and got to their feet.

“What?” Maggie blurted. “What is it?”

“The infection has spread,” Carrie said. “It’s also in her lungs.”

“Oh, God.”

“We’ll switch drugs now, and see in the morning, OK?”

“I can come back at eight o’clock in the morning, right?”

“Yes.” Carrie sighed. “And the night team will be in touch if anything really critical happens during the night.”

“I understand. Thank you,” Maggie said. “For everything.”

“You’re welcome. And listen, don’t panic, OK? I know it’s frightening, but these infections are very common, and the drugs are pretty effective. And I know Rita’s a fighter… she wants to go to Paris with you, remember?”

“Yeah.” Maggie pulled herself together. “I remember.”

**

After having been at the hospital all day, Maggie had lost a full day of work on the first apsara. Joe had called that afternoon, and she’d kept the conversation brief and snide:
yes
, they were still meeting on the twenty-fourth;
yes
, everything was under control;
yes
, he was still an asshole. Though that last part had merely been strongly implied.

Now she was at the studio, working through the night. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, from worrying about her Mom and waiting for her phone to ring with an urgent call from the night staff, so she might as well use the time to make some progress on the sculpture. Her body was chilled, as the fear she’d been sitting with all day settled in her stomach as a massive block of ice, and started to pump freezing water through her veins.

I will not think about her dying. I will think about this fucking apsara and Paris and that’s all I’m thinking about. The end.

She worked all night, barely pausing, and when dawn’s first light crept through the studio windows, Maggie stepped back, amazed at how much she’d actually accomplished. She blinked up at the legs and hips of the dancing goddess, stunned at her grace, her serenity.

Can you loan me some of that, lady? ‘Cause I’m in short supply of both right now.

**

And so the next two weeks passed, with Maggie at the hospital during the day – sometimes alone, more often with at least one of the girls – and then she went to her studio every night and worked. When she felt well and truly dead on her feet, she lay down on the sofa in the studio and closed her eyes. She’d sleep an hour, maybe two, before the stress of the looming deadline and terror for Rita would get her up and working again.

Anything to meet the agreement obligations, and get Joe Carlisle out of her life, once and for all.

Anything to distract her from the fact that Rita was getting worse.

Chapter Nine

Katie held on to Adam’s broad back tightly, loving making love with him. He was moaning her name, his breath hot against her throat. His thrusts were getting faster, deeper, and she closed her eyes.

“Katie, baby. Oh, God… I’m gonna come…
fuck
.”

He stiffened, stilled, his hips jerking as he released inside her. She smiled, and held him closer. She kissed his eyelids, his cheek, the line of his jaw. He was panting, his face buried in the pillow next to her head.

Adam lifted his face to meet her eyes. “You didn’t have another orgasm.”

She laughed. “I already had two, as you may recall.”

“Yeah.” He forced himself up on his forearms, taking most of his weight off her smaller body. “But you didn’t come
with
me. I love when you do that… it makes me feel so – close to you.”

“It’s OK.” She kissed him on his lips, lingering as her tongue traced their curves. “I like watching you.”

He sighed. “It’s because I’m not wearing a condom. It changes the whole thing – I just
feel
everything, you know?” He ran his huge hand down her hip. “You’re so hot, baby. Wet. Tight. It makes me lose it almost right away, I swear.”

“Uh-huh.” Her dark eyes sparkled up at him. “Well, we’ve only been doing this for a few weeks. Maybe with some more practice, you’ll last a bit longer?”

“Doubt it,” Adam growled. “But I don’t mind the practice.”

She felt him swelling and lengthening inside her again and she rolled her hips. “You want to practice right now?”

“You know it,” he said. Adam withdrew a bit, slid back inside her slim body. Katie gasped, loving that they could do this without having to break contact and use a new condom. Making love without one was an entirely different experience, for both of them.

Adam watched her face as he moved inside her again. She was so amazingly beautiful to him, and as her lips parted in ecstasy, he felt his response building. He couldn’t get enough of her, not ever, and he thrust slowly now, wanting to last this time.

Katie gripped his muscled arms, threw her head back, shut her eyes. “Oh, God… Adam. You feel so good.”

He slipped his hand between their bodies and gently rubbed her clit. A bolt of heat burst through her and she gave a cry and lifted her hips to him, taking him deeper. He ran his tongue down the length of her delicate throat, down her breast, took the nipple between his lips and sucked. She shuddered helplessly.

“Open your eyes, Katie.” His voice was hot, deep. “Look at me when you come. I love seeing you give me everything…”

Their eyes met; hers molten and dark, his blue smoke. The connection between them became even more immediate, more intimate, and something inside of her responded, hard. Her climax began to grow now, and she groaned, fighting to keep her eyes trained on his.

He smiled. “You’re so close, sweetheart.”

“You too,” she panted. “You’re so hard… oh,
God
.”

He found the perfect spot deep inside of her, and he pressed on it, over and over, in short, intense thrusts. She writhed beneath him, her cries becoming rhythmic, her movements becoming frantic. Adam started to lose control now, and he held her hips with both hands, pinning her in place, as he drove in to her hot centre. She sobbed, close to the edge, needing just the tiniest bit of a push to go over. He pushed, and she flew.

Katie’s orgasm rolled through her, over her. It washed her away and she barely heard her own scream. She dimly felt Adam go rigid against her, dimly heard his hoarse grunt as he came deep inside her. All she knew for certain was that she was in his arms, and she was almost dizzy with pleasure. She closed her eyes at last, let her whole body go limp and boneless.

Adam held her as she sagged against him. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest heaving with her release. He smiled again, kissed her forehead. Her eyes flickered open. They were unfocused and hazy, and he felt the need to check in with her.

“OK?” he said softly. “You here with me?”

She nodded. “Yes. Oh, yes.” She kissed him, sweetly. “I love you, Adam.”

“I love you too, sweetheart, so much.”

He fully relaxed now, glad that she hadn’t gone back to that darker time in her life. She still did that sometimes after making love with him, but it happened less and less as time passed. He stroked her long hair and stayed inside her for a while longer, loving her heat and softness. Finally, he pulled out and she gave a low moan at the loss of his closeness.

He lay on his back and gently turned her on to his chest. He held her like she was made of porcelain, cradling her. Katie was the most precious, amazing thing in his whole life, and he never forgot that for one second. She never forgot it, either; he never let her.

They lay quietly for a few minutes, then he sat up. “You thirsty?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Stay still,” Adam said. “Lie back, see if we can make a baby this time.”

She grinned at him. “OK.”

Katie watched him leave their bedroom and she sighed. She had no idea she could be so happy with a man – and if anyone had told her upon first meeting Adam that
he’d
be the man to give her so much joy, she’d have scoffed.

Funny how your opinions of people can change so completely.

Adam came back now, saw the look on her face. “Hey. You alright?”

“Yeah.” She sat up and accepted the glass of water he held out to her. “I’m just thinking about Nick.”

Adam shook his head, annoyed and worried. “Nick.”

“Do you think he’s OK?”

“I have no clue. He won’t talk to me.”

“He’s not talking to
anybody
,” Katie said. “What the hell can be happening?”

“Yeah, I was thinking of forcing the issue soon.”

“You were?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You think that’ll help?” Katie asked.

“I have no idea, but I have to do something, you know?” Adam shrugged. “He’s my best friend, and I have to at least try.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Katie drank a bit of water, then asked the question that had been circling in her mind since that night at Mia’s with the girls. “You think he’s going to break up with Mia?”

Adam was silent. “Honestly? If you’d asked me that a month ago, I’d have said no fucking way. But now? I just don’t know.”

“Yeah. Me either.”