Wrestling Desire 2 (A Contemporary Romance) by Michelle Cary Read Free Book Online Page A

that?”
    “It doesn’t matter who told me.  It’s true isn’t it?”
    Several long seconds passed before he finally answered. “So what if it is true.”  He began to pace.  “It’s my turn.  Derek had his turn and now he’s gone.  It’s my turn now.  It’s my turn to prove I can be a champion.”
    “But blackmailing Gene into giving you the push?  Really Bryan?  Gene is like a father to us.  He’s always been good to us. How could you do that to him?”
    “How could I do what, Emma?  How could I demand the shot that I deserve?”  His eyes narrowed.  “You have no idea what it’s been like to be me.  To either be known as Crusher Cruise’s little boy or Derek Cruise’s little brother.”  He shook his head.  “Nobody sees me for who I am.  Nobody sees Bryan Cruise as being a great wrestler. I’m not the legacy.  Derek is.  All I want is my shot at the spotlight.  All I want is to prove that I’m just as good as the rest of them.”
    “Gene would have given you that shot, Bryan.  You didn’t have to try and blackmail him to get it.”  She stared blankly at him.  “I-I don’t even know you anymore.”
    He practically sneered at her.  “You never knew me, Em.  You’ve never even made an attempt to get to know the real me.  Of course why would you when you had Derek, the great protector around?”
    “Derek protected you too.  He took care of us.”
    He shook his head. “I thought we had a real chance for us to become close.  The way you and Derek are close. But I guess that’s not going to happen now.  What happened to you standing by me, Em?”
    “That was before I knew what you did to get the shot.”
    “I deserve a chance, Emma.”
    She nodded.  “Yeah you do.  But not like this.”
    “What Holt did was wrong.  You know that.”
    “You’re right it was and he feels bad about it, but what you did was just as wrong.  And two wrongs don’t make a right.  I know that.  But if you’re going to force me to choose.  You’re gonna go there?  I’m going to choose Holt.”
    Brian shook his head.  “I can’t believe you.  I can’t believe you would do that to me.”
    “And I can’t believe you’d lie to me.  What would Derek think?  Does he know about any of this?”
    “Derek! Derek!” He threw his arms in the air. “It’s always about Derek!  What about me, Emma?”
    “What about you Bryan?” Emma looked at him and shook her head. “You go ahead and do whatever it is you feel you need to do.  I’ll always love you because you’re my brother, but don’t ask me to stand by you.  Because I can’t.”

Chapter 6
     
    Holt walked through the inner halls of the arena on his way to see Gene.  It had been a rough twenty-four hours and with Emma now sick it didn’t look as if it was going to get better anytime soon.
    He raised a hand to knock only to have the door swing open before his knuckles connected to the metal.  A look of shock crossed Gene’s face and was quickly replaced by a smile.  “Just the man I wanted to see.” He stepped back into the office and allowed Holt to enter.  “I had a visit from Doctor Andrews this morning.  How’s Emma?”
    More tired than he realized Holt dropped down into the closest chair and raked a hand through his long hair.  He hadn’t bothered to pull it back that morning and with it now in his face he wished he had.  “She’s resting.  Since she refused to go to the hospital I made her stay in bed.”
    Gene slid into his chair behind the desk.  “Is this more than just her normal nervous stomach?”
    All too fresh memories of her kneeling in the shower, bloody and dazed flashed before Holt’s eyes and he suppressed a shiver.  “I think so.  She’s dizzy too and last night she threw up for the first time.  Doctor Andrews thinks it’s the flu.”
    “He should know, right?”
    Holt nodded, yet something in the pit of his stomach told him this was more than just the flu.  “If she’s