Between all the wins I’ve had over the last ten years, my contract with the UFC, and the several endorsements and sponsorship deals I have, I have a nice cushion in the bank.

It sucks that Kaden won’t be able to train me anymore, but I just can’t be around my dad. His latest stunt was the last straw. I’ve been thinking a lot about Bella and Liz and where I want things to go with them. I need to spend some time getting to know my little girl and her mother. Now that I know I have a daughter, I need to step it up as a dad and make sure I’m nothing like mine. Then there’s Liz and me… there was definitely a connection there between us both times we hooked up, but I don’t know if I fucked it all up beyond repair when I said all that shit to her. When she was going on and on at the store, she made a comment about me not wanting to be with her, but she never actually said she doesn’t want to be with me, so maybe there’s still a chance for us to get to know each other.

I glance at my phone ringing and check the caller ID hoping it’s Liz, but it’s just my mom. I send it to voicemail, having too much going on in my head to deal with her right now. I’m not surprised Liz hasn’t reached out to me since the day at the grocery store, but I was still hoping she would. She obviously meant it when she said she was leaving the ball in my court so I’m going to need to call her soon so we can talk.

My phone rings again, and I see it’s my mom, again. I haven’t had a real conversation with her in almost two years. She calls and leaves voicemails occasionally, and I text her back that I’m busy. She doesn’t usually call back to back, so I answer it in case it’s important.

“Hey, Mom, sorry, I was just out running. Everything okay?”

I can hear her sniffling into the phone, but she hasn’t said anything yet.

“Mom, are you drunk?”

She starts crying harder. “No, I’m not drunk. If you could ever stand to speak to me for more than five seconds you would know that.”

I cut her off, not having the patience to deal with her right now on top of everything.

“Okay, Mom. If you aren’t drunk then what’s going on? I’m kind of busy right now.”

I can hear her sigh into the phone. “Liam, it’s your father. He had a heart attack.”

“Is he okay?”

“No, sweetie, he’s not. I’m sorry but he didn’t make it. I guess he never updated his emergency contact information, so they called me.”

I sit in the grass and stare out at the lake. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about this. For years, I wished he would just disappear, but I never wished him dead. He was so damn unhappy all the time. I just wish he could’ve found a way to be happy before passing away. He never even knew he had a granddaughter. Shit, my mom doesn’t even know she has a granddaughter.

“How did it happen?”

“The doctor said he was feeling chest pains, so he went to the ER. While running tests he had a heart attack and they couldn’t revive him. The tests they ran afterward said he showed signs of smoke inhalation, which is weird because he doesn’t smoke. They said they found traces of soot in his lungs as well as fluid. They think he might’ve been in a fire and the fluid in his lungs most likely lead to the shortness of breath, which caused him to have respiratory failure. I’m here at the hospital now. Can you come down?”

“Yeah, I’m heading back to the house now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay, sweetie. I’ll see you when you get here.”

I hit end on the phone and begin jogging back to the house. Respiratory failure from smoke inhalation? It doesn’t make any sense. Where the hell was he that he was inhaling smoke?

Seventeen

Liz

Three Hours Earlier

“Bella, if you don’t get out of bed right this instant, I’m going to hide Maleficent from you!” I yell down the hall to my sleepyhead daughter as I finish getting dressed.

I have an interview at an accounting firm and, if we don’t get moving, I’ll never make it across town in time. I don’t know what I was thinking agreeing to an interview so close to when I have to drop Bella off at school.

The first week of school went great. She was so excited to be going, she was up and ready before the crack of dawn. Now, the newness has worn off and she’s back to wanting to sleep until noon. Not happening, especially not today. I finish putting on my heels and run back to her room to make sure she’s up and getting ready. The fact that she didn’t respond to my threat of taking away her favorite movie isn’t a good sign.

Tags: Nikki Ash Fighting Romance
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