Blown Away (22 page)

“Did I say
something to offend her?” Eli asked.

“It’s not you,
Eli. She’s had a rough year.”

“I can
relate.”

“Tell me
something,” Ava said, taking a sip of her wine, “are you really
interested in a serious relationship, or are you doing this for the
wrong reasons?”

“The wrong
reasons?” He frowned. “I don’t follow.”

Ava turned away
from the crowd and leaned her elbows on the bar. “Some people join
Lasting Connections because of pressure from their families, others
feel they’ve reached a point in their lives when they should think
about settling down… I get the feeling you may be doing it because
you’re trying to forget someone else.”

Eli winced.
“I’m that easy to read, huh?”

“I’ve been at
this a while,” Ava said, smiling to soften the criticism. “I’ve
gotten pretty good at reading people.”

“I’m not gonna
pretend I don’t wish things could be different, but Jamie’s made it
clear she’s not interested in me that way anymore.” He signalled to
the bartender for a refill. “I loved that girl. I always thought
we’d find our way back to each other, but she’s been back in town
almost a year, and she’s pretty obviously still hung up on her ex.
She even has a Google alert on her computer so she won’t miss any
news about him.” He rolled his eyes. “How sad is that?”

“Does he still
have feelings for her?” Ava said, twirling the stem of her wine
glass between her fingers.

Eli regarded
her closely before he said, “I don’t think so. It seems he’s moved
on with someone else.”

“That must have
been hard for Jamie to accept.”

“I don’t know
that she has,” Eli sighed. He watched the guests mingling as he
propped his elbows on the bar behind him. “But she’ll have to
accept it eventually. He doesn’t love her anymore. Hell, I’m not
sure he ever really did.”

“But you do…?
Love her, I mean.” Eli was so obviously still in love with his ex.
She felt sorry for him. She couldn’t imagine what loving someone
who was in love with someone else felt like.

“I probably
always will.” He watched Nick and Megan slow dancing, but he turned
his attention away when Nick kissed her. “But you can’t make
someone love you, Ava. No matter how much you might wish you
could.”

His comment
made Ava appreciate her relationship with Brent even more. She was
so glad they were finally on the same page: in love and looking
forward to a future together.

The last thing Brent
wanted was to leave his father alone, but when Elsie returned so
she and Jerry could watch their favorite evening drama together,
the old man told Brent to get the hell out for a while. He said he
appreciated Brent’s concern, but his hovering was driving him
crazy.

Brent took the
opportunity to check on Ava and wish her father a happy birthday.
Brent stood in the entrance of Jimmy’s, his eyes adjusting to the
dim lighting, until he spotted her. She was dancing in the arms of…
No, it couldn’t be. Brent moved in closer.
It was him.
He
watched for a few minutes, too stunned to move until Eli’s hand
slid lower to splay across the swell of Ava’s bottom. That’s when
he saw red.

The same man
who stole his woman once was trying to do it again.
Hell no!
Brent didn’t even think about the repercussions. He grabbed Eli
from behind and swung him around, giving him a second to process
what was happening before he landed the first blow. Since Brent was
a trained martial artist, Eli didn’t stand a chance.

Brent heard Ava
scream before the crowd moved in to try to break it up, but he
couldn’t stop. The only thing he could think about was that man
trying to take Ava away the same way he’d taken Jamie. He couldn’t
let that happen. Life without Ava wasn’t an option.

Brent continued
to deliver well-placed blows long after his opponent was down and
defenseless. Like a man possessed, he couldn’t stop. He’d taken a
vow to use his hands only to defend himself or others, but that
fight wasn’t about self-defence. It was about self-preservation. He
was trying to save the thing that mattered to him above all else:
his relationship with Ava.

“Stop it!” Ava
screamed. “Are you crazy? You’re going to kill him!”

Brent felt the
unmistakable sensation of a gun prodding his ribs, finally breaking
his fierce trance.

“Get the hell
up.” Two men hauled Brent to his feet and one of them flashed a
badge. “Derek McCall, police chief. You wanna tell me what the hell
you were thinkin’ goin’ after him like that?”

Brent caught a
glimpse of Ava’s tear-streaked face. She sat on the floor beside
Eli, carefully wiping blood away from the contusion on his head so
she could assess the damage.

“Someone call
911,” she said, sounding desperate. “He needs an ambulance.”

Fury lanced
Brent when he saw her concern for another man. If he could, he’d go
after him again. If he messed with Ava again, he wouldn’t be
walking away next time.

“Get over
here,” Derek said, leading Brent to the hallway to the restrooms.
Brent watched the chaos as people tried to tend to the injured man.
He didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for what he’d done, not even
with the police chief staring him in the face. He’d let Eli get
away with it once because he hadn’t cared enough to fight for
Jamie, but he would die before he let Eli take Ava. “You wanna tell
me what the hell that was about? Why’d you come at him like that?”
Derek asked.

“He was coming
on to my girlfriend,” Brent said.

Derek frowned.
“Ava’s your girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

Brent watched
the woman he loved crying over another man, and he realized he’d
been had. Just when he thought he was too smart, too experienced to
get taken in again, someone proved him wrong. He’d never expected
that someone to be Ava. He’d trusted her, and she’d betrayed him.
With Eli, of all people. They were only dancing, but Brent saw that
look in Eli’s eye one too many times when he looked at Jamie. He’d
ignored it then, assuming his jealousy and insecurity made him see
things that weren’t really there. He wouldn’t make that mistake
again.

Derek put his
revolver away and sighed as he led Brent to a table apart from the
crowd. Sirens sounded in the distance and someone ran outside to
meet the paramedics. “Okay, let me get this straight,” Derek said.
“You beat the hell out of some guy because he was dancing with your
girlfriend? I hate to tell you this, buddy, but that doesn’t sound
all that rational.”

Brent knew he
was totally irrational when it came to Ava. He was in control of
every other area of his life, but with her, and the thought of
losing her, he couldn’t think straight. He became a savage, an
animal, fixated on protecting what was his.

When Brent
failed to responded, Derek said, “You’re Brent Armstrong, aren’t
you?”

Brent nodded as
he watched the paramedics load Eli’s limp body onto a stretcher. He
still hadn’t regained consciousness, and with that knowledge came
Brent’s first twinge of regret. He hated Eli with the same ferocity
he despised his stepfather, but he’d never been a violent man. He’d
mastered martial arts because he thrived on being in control. He
loved living with the knowledge that no one could hurt him, but
he’d studied for years and never once thought he would use those
skills to seriously harm someone.

“We can have
this conversation here or down at the station,” Derek said, his
frustration apparent. “I’m trying to give you the benefit of the
doubt here because frankly, Ava’s like family to me. Her granddad
and me go way back, but I can’t look the other way when I see
someone breakin’ the law, son.”

“I understand,
sir,” Brent said, tearing his attention away from Ava, who was
accompanying the stretcher. She hadn’t looked at him, not even
once, and that scared him more than the prospect of spending the
night in jail. He was furious with her, but he still loved her, and
he wanted to give her a chance to explain how and why she’d gotten
mixed up with Rea.

“Just tell me
why you did it.”

Brent propped
his elbows on the table and lowered his face to his hands. “I wish
I could. I saw them together and I just snapped.” He rubbed the
heels of his hands into his eyes as the possible outcome of his
actions finally hit him. He could lose everything, including
Ava.

“Why?”

“Eli Rea was
involved with my ex-fiancée years ago. They slept together while
she was engaged to me.”

Derek swore
softly. “Okay, it’s starting to make a little more sense. And you
thought he was having an affair with Ava too, so you went
ballistic?”

Just thinking
of Ava making love to that man turned his stomach. “I don’t know
what I thought.” He sighed. “I don’t think I was thinking. I just
reacted.”

“Assuming he
wakes up, he may press charges.”

Brent wasn’t
even willing to consider the possibility Eli wouldn’t wake up. He
hated the man, but he didn’t want him dead. “I understand
that.”

“In the
meantime--”

Brent’s cell
phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw his father’s
name flash across the screen. “I’m sorry, I have to answer this. My
father’s been sick--”

Derek waved off
his explanation. “Go ahead, answer it.”

“Dad, what’s
up? Are you all right?” Brent covered one ear with his hand when
the frenzied voices in the background made it difficult to
hear.

“Honey, it’s
not your dad,” Elsie said. “It’s me.”

Brent felt his
chest tightening with fear. “What is it, Els? Is something wrong?
Is he okay?”

“The ambulance
just took him to the hospital, Brent. He couldn’t breathe.”

***

Ava sat by
Eli’s bedside feeling like the lowest form of life. If she hadn’t
invited him to the party, Brent wouldn’t have beaten him up. It was
all her fault. No, it was Brent’s fault for being an out-of-control
basket case convinced that her dancing with another man meant she
was cheating on him. What was wrong with him?

Her father
poked his head in the door. “Can we come in?”

“Sure.”

Ava’s parents
moved quietly into the room and stood at the foot of Eli’s bed.
“How is he?” Victoria asked.

“He woke up
briefly. The doctor thinks he’ll make a full recovery, thank God.
It might take some time though.”

“Honey, the
press are all over the place,” Jay said, standing behind her. He
put his hand on her shoulder. “Given Eli and Brent’s public
profiles, they’re going to hound you about what happened.”

“Brent lost his
mind,” Ava said. “What else is there to say?”

Jay squeezed
her shoulder. “What the hell possessed him to go off like that? I
don’t remember him being violent when y’all were in college. Why
would he start wailin’ on Eli for no reason?”

“He’s got
issues.” She sighed as exhaustion seeped into her body. “I thought
we were in a good place. I thought he was finally starting to
believe he could trust me. Then he pulls something like this.” Ava
rubbed her eyes, not caring that she was probably smearing what was
left of her eye makeup. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Jay and
Victoria shared a concerned look. “Honey, he doesn’t seem very
stable,” Victoria said. “Maybe you need to re-think your decision
to have a relationship with this man.”

“Clearly.” Ava
knew their relationship was doomed if he reacted that way every
time he felt threatened. She had a lot of male friends, and that
wouldn’t change just because Brent was uncomfortable with it. After
what he’d done, she couldn’t imagine how they could move forward.
“Don’t worry, guys. I see Brent for what he is.”

Just then,
Brent opened the door. He stood in the doorway, staring at her,
before he said, “Do y’all mind if I come in?”

“What the hell
were you thinking?” Jay turned on him. “You’re clearly a skilled
martial artist. You took the same vow I did, hell, the same vow we
all did. Using your hands as weapons the way you did tonight…” Jay
shook his head. “That was low.”

Brent hung his
head. “I know that. Look, I’m sorry, okay? I made a mistake.”

“Your mistake
could have cost a man his life.” Ava tried to find a hint of the
man she thought she loved in him.

“I know that.”
He stepped into the room, letting the door close. “I’m ashamed. I
didn’t think. When I saw you with him, I just reacted.”

Victoria moved
to her husband’s side. “Jay, we’ve said our piece. I think we need
to leave them alone to talk.”

Jay glared at
Brent. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”

Brent shoved
his hands into his pockets. “I know you’re not too happy with me,
and I don’t blame you, but you have to believe I would never do
anything to hurt your daughter. I love her, sir.”

Ava knew her
father well enough to read the doubt in his eyes. Jay had every
reason to question Brent’s motives. He didn’t know Brent the way
she did. No matter what Brent had done, she knew he loved her. That
didn’t erase the fact he’d lashed out at an innocent man and
destroyed their relationship in the process though.

“Please, Dad,”
she said, reaching for his hand. “Just give us a few minutes.”

His gaze
lingered on Brent before he said, “Fine, we’ll be in the cafeteria.
Call us if you need anything.”

She waited for
them to leave before she looked at Brent. “How could you do this?”
Touching Eli’s arm, she said, “He didn’t deserve this.”

A muscle in
Brent’s jaw jumped as he said, “I made a mistake. I admit
that.”

“What were you
thinking?” She knew he couldn’t justify it or erase the damage he’d
done, but she needed to know why he felt justified striking out at
Eli because of one harmless dance.