Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(63)

Ky only smiled his generous smile, though, and placed his hand on his daughter’s head. “Of course. Are you both ready to leave?”

Grace held up two fingers. “Two minutes! We’ll say good-bye and get our shoes on.”

Then she was running off.

Rojas caught Ky’s gaze. “I understand if you’d prefer not to.”

Ky’s smile sobered a fraction. “I was sincere when I thanked you for my daughter’s safety, Rojas. And I know something of what it cost you to keep things calm here. Not every man could do that. I’m honored that you’d trust me with your daughter after such an interesting evening.”

Rojas didn’t know what to say, so he put his hand out. Ky took it and shook it firmly. “When your Elisa feels comfortable, bring her in to see me at the station and we can see if there’s enough evidence of stalking to have a restraining order put in place. We’ll do our best to help her.”

“She’d appreciate it.” Rojas smiled then, genuine and sincere. “Thank you.”

The other man nodded.

“Speaking of your Elisa”—Greg edged past Rojas—“I’m going to take her on upstairs. She looks like she’s about to lose it.”

Rojas quickly scanned the room for Elisa and saw her standing near Boom, holding Boom’s backpack. Her smile was trembling, and her already pale skin had a faint gray tinge to it. “Yeah. I’ll—”

“Finish up parents’ night.” Gary clapped Rojas on the shoulder. “We’ll take her to unwind while you tie up loose ends here and straighten out the kids’ stories so we know what kind of damage control we’ll have when their parents ask about it.”

Fantastic.





Chapter Twenty-One



Sorry.” Elisa sat on the edge of the small bed as Gary hovered near her. “Sorry.”

“No worries. Don’t you worry at all. This place needs a little excitement to keep us all on our toes, anyway.” His voice was gentle, kind. There was no trace of anger.

A knock at the door to the room made her jump, despite knowing there was at least one trusted police officer and Alex between her and anyone planning to take her away. Not to mention any number of children and their returning parents still downstairs as witnesses if anything should happen at this point.

Greg entered the room carrying a small tray with three steaming mugs. “I brought up some tea.”

Gary made an odd noise. Sort of a cross between a growl and a groan.

Greg rolled his eyes. “I brought coffee for you, ruffian.”

“You like it rough, lover.” Gary grinned and took a mug covered in cat images.

Greg rolled his eyes, but there was an affectionate smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Maybe they’d interrupted a good date night between Gary and Greg.

Another thing Elisa felt guilty about.

“I noticed you like the mint tea in the evenings when you’ve come back.” Greg sat next to her and brought the tray close enough for her to see. “I brewed us a couple of mugs of this fantastic blend of mint and chamomile, with a hint of orange and rose blossoms. Doesn’t it smell incredible? Most of the people we have training here don’t have the palate to appreciate it.”

Most of the people training at Revolution MMA drank water or sports drinks, as far as Elisa had seen. They always had their sports bottles with them and the only people drinking tea or coffee were parents waiting as kids were taking classes.

But then, it was one of those thoughtful touches. Elisa imagined other places might only have a water station. Gary and Greg went out of their way to have comforts and conveniences available for the people who came to their school. Even this room had been created for people who trained with them to have a quiet place to rest the night before a fight. It spoke volumes about the two men and the environment they’d created within their school.

Thinking about it, Brandon had wanted those sorts of touches for Hope’s Crossing Kennels, too.

Here she was, bringing insanity down on all these wonderful people. “I’m not good for all of you. Every time I think I might be in a place to stand up for myself, my ex yanks the footing right out from under me. Worse, he threatens to hurt the people around me. I shouldn’t stay anywhere near any of you.”

“You should stay right where you want to be,” Gary said quietly. He leaned against the far wall, sipping his coffee from his cat mug.

Greg lifted a mug with a German Shepherd Dog silhouette and a caption that said I can make it to the fence in 2 seconds. Can you?, holding it out to her until she took it from him. He took up his own mug, covered in cockatiels, and breathed in the rising steam from it. “You’re a kind person, Elisa. And I can understand why you wouldn’t want to cause trouble for the people around you. But you’d do more harm than good just up and leaving us all. For one thing, we’d miss you. And Boom would be heartbroken.”

Elisa bit her lip, wrapping her hands around her mug until the heat almost burned her palms. “How is staying and letting my ex take potshots at you any way he can better? He’s going to try to ruin your school or the kennels next. This was too public not to cause some trouble for you. He’ll try to mess up the careers of anyone who gets between him and me.”

“He’ll try,” Gary agreed. “But trust me. Greg and I have had plenty of people try to ruin us over the years. It’d be one more challenge. Not the end of the world.”