Fight for Her #4: MMA New Adult Contemporary Romantic Suspense by JJ Knight Read Free Book Online Page A

says.
    “Don’t talk if it makes you cough,” I say.
    “Coughing means I’m not dead,” he counters with a smile. “I’ll live through it.”
    “How bad are your lungs? Has the doctor said?” I ask.
    Dad waves his hand to dismiss the question. “I’m fine.”
    I sit on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
    “Clean and dry and warm. Well fed.” He elbows the pillow behind him. “Good food and a comfortable spot. I’m the best I’ve been in years.”
    This stabs me straight through my chest. “Dad, we have to get you off the streets. I’m grown now. I can help.”
    “You have your own life to worry about. And this fine young man here.”
    “You’re part of my life,” I insist.
    “I haven’t told him,” Parker says.
    I turn to him. “About what?”
    “Lily.”
    Dad looks back and forth between us. “Who’s Lily?”
    I take his hand. It’s weathered and tough, like an old glove. “Dad, I have a little girl.”
    His eyes open wide. “I have a grandchild?”
    I nod. I don’t know what he’ll think, since I’m not married, and I was so young.
    “Does he belong to this fellow here?”
    I nod again.
    “Well, where is she? Can I see her?” He’s sitting up again, animated, eyes sparking with excitement.
    “I can fetch her,” Parker says.
    I think about it. Lily knows we are seeing her Grandpaps, as she has called him, since that is what she learned from one of her favorite books. “Okay,” I say. “As long as the nurse thinks it’s okay.”
    “Who cares about the nurse?” Dad says. “How old is she?”
    I hesitate since then he’ll know how young I was to have her. “She just turned four.”
    This doesn’t faze him in the least. “I remember when you were four. Such a brave little creature you were. Always getting into things.” Another cough threatens, but this time Dad beats his chest and doesn’t succumb to it.
    “I’ll go down for her,” Parker says. “Should Delores come?”
    This changes Dad totally. He turns to me. “Your aunt is here?” he asks.
    “Yes, I live with her. In New York.”
    Now he is confused. “But Parker is here in LA.”
    I want to clear up the problem. “Dad, Parker and I aren’t married. He just said that so they would let him see you. We, sort of, fell apart.”
    Now he looks back and forth between us. “That explains the sadness in both your eyes.” He reaches over to squeeze my hand. “I think the only thing that will put the light back in them is each other.”
    This is too much talking, and he has to pick up the cloth, coughing painfully into it. I rub his back again and look over at Parker.
    His lips are pinched together, and a muscle tenses in his jaw. He nods at me once, then leaves to go get Lily.
    I wish things were as simple as two people just being together. But for us, it just isn’t.

Chapter 11: Parker

    I walk around my apartment in useless circles. Maddie has agreed to see me by herself. She didn’t want me to pick her up, so I just have to wait until she comes.
    It’s been a long day. Lily and her grandfather had a good time coloring on his bed. Lily passes no judgments and has no fear. She is so much like her mother.
    Delores oddly opted to stay away from the hospital room. She sat in a waiting area at the end of the hall.
    I dropped them all off at Maddie’s mother’s house a couple hours ago. Maddie suggested I not go in and sent me on the errand to pick up a booster seat for Lily.
    The box sits by the door. Colt has told me to hold on to the car for a few days. I know how lucky I am to be surrounded by friends who are willing to help. I took the day off training today, but I’ll have to go back tomorrow. The fight is coming up fast.
    Unless I cancel it. And I will, if Maddie asks. I’ll return all the money, the sponsor fees, everything. I won’t care. I’ll stick on a security uniform and sit by a door all day if that’s what it takes. I know what I want now.
    Maddie just has to say that it’s what