Submit (Surrender #2)(55)
Author: Melody Anne

“I give the utmost respect to my mistresses. They are very comfortably taken care of and walk away with far more than they brought in to our relationship. I haven’t had any complaints.”

“You don’t give them the option to complain, because you make damn sure that you own them from the second they enter a relationship with you. I don’t even know why I’m calling it a relationship; it’s a business agreement, damn it. Lia cares about me, and I care about her. I didn’t come here to ask for your permission. I’m here because you’re my best friend and I won’t go sneaking behind your back. I have nothing to be ashamed of, and I won’t hide in the dark when it comes to Lia. I said care about her, and I meant it!”

Shane turned to leave, fed up with talking. He’d known how it was going to go. When it came to his family, Rafe was completely unreasonable, but maybe, in time, he’d come to understand. Then again, Shane didn’t know how long this…thing with Lia would last — it wouldn’t be forever. So maybe he was making a mistake.

“Wait!”

Shane stood at the door with his hand on the knob. He knew he should go, but if there was a chance they could come to an understanding, maybe he wouldn’t lose his best friend. Slowly, he turned around, his protective shield firmly in place.

“I’ll listen, Shane, but I’m telling you, I don’t like this at all.”

“I know that anything beyond your control is hard for you to handle. I can accept that, Rafe. I don’t want to give up what we’ve cultivated for the past fifteen years.”

“How did this happen?”

“Hell, Rafe, you know Lia’s been pursuing me since the first time I stepped through your door.”

“She was a kid,” Rafe accused.

“Like I was even looking twice at her back then!” Shane thundered. It pissed him off that he had to say that.

“Sorry. I know.”

Shane accepted Rafe’s apology, then walked to the cabinet and poured himself another shot. They could turn this around.

“You know about the time last year when Lia and I ended up at the hotel together. But I swear nothing happened then. Ever since, however, I’ve seen her in a new light. I’ve fought it like mad, but your sister doesn’t give up. This trip, I just stopped fighting it.”

Rafe let out a laugh, which astonished Shane enough to stop him mid-drink. Had his best friend finally gone off the deep end?

“Yes, I know how persistent my sister can be. Hell, I’m impressed it took her this long to get what she wanted.”

Just like that, the tension evaporated and the two men sat down and discussed Lia for a few more minutes, then dropped the subject in favor of the upcoming UFC fight.

Shane was both relieved and surprised to have come to an understanding, but now that he had Rafe on board, he had to convince Lia to let go of her anger. When he’d left her room, she’d been furious. A smile came to his face as he imagined all sorts of ways to put her in a better mood.

Chapter Thirty

Shane walked into the event center and was overwhelmed with pride. The stage was set and people buzzed about as they made last-minute preparations. This was the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter.

It might have been a reality television show, but the kids who were in this competition had chosen to take the higher road in life — and he knew how hard that was.

“Where’s your kid?”

“He’ll be down shortly. I got him a room upstairs.”

“That’s a change for him,” Rafe said with a smile.

“Don’t be a smart ass, Rafe. You know what he’s gone through.”

“I know. You’ve done a great job with him, and the other dozen kids you’ve helped.”

“You’ve been right there with me helping these kids, too.”

“I’m not the one who got involved with this. You are, and we both know why,” Rafe said as he patted Shane on the shoulder.

“Let’s not talk about that. Today is a day of celebration. Seth gets to see where he’ll be in a few years.”

“I still don’t get how his beating the crap out of somebody in a ring is any different than doing it on the street.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that, Rafe. You love to box.”

“Yeah, boxing relieves stress for me, but these kids go beyond boxing.”

“If my kids fight on the streets, they’re out of the competitions. No exceptions — you know that. Giving them this control changes everything about how they act in life. They get an outlet for the frustrations their circumstances threw at them.”

“Hey, Shane. That room is out of this world!”

“So you made it down here, Seth. Just in time to get to our seats.” Shane turned around and gave Seth a hug.

“Rafe, I wasn’t expecting you here. It’s good to see you, man.” Seth gave Rafe a hug next.

“It’s great to see you, too, kid. You’ve grown about a foot since the last time.”

“It’s only been a couple of months,” Seth said with a smile as he shifted on his feet.

“Well, you’re seventeen now — and I hear you graduated from high school with honors. What college are you attending in the fall?”

“I just want to keep fighting and focus on that, but Shane won’t let me unless I enroll. I’m starting at Stanford in the fall thanks to Shane’s connections,” he said with a sigh. Though he was pretending to protest, Seth didn’t seem unhappy about attending such a prestigious school.

“It looks like Shane has your best interests at heart. You’ll enjoy school there. I hear a lot of great-looking women attend.”

“Nice! I can dig that! Hey, I can smell someone barbecuing and I’m so ready for a burger. Do you guys want anything?”

“We’re good. Just meet us back down here when you’re done.”

Seth took off and Shane and Rafe sat down.

Shane reflected on when he’d first met Seth. He’d been at the beach swimming one day in San Diego. He’d left his shirt on his cooler and when he got back it was gone along with the cooler and everything in it. Since Shane had suffered through a difficult few years of his own, he knew it was most likely a street kid who often stole from tourists.

Normally, Shane would have just let it go, but it was one of his favorite shirts, so he took a stroll down the beach and was amazed to see a scrawny kid wearing his clothing. The kid wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he’d stolen Shane’s things. To make the insult worse, the kid was sitting on Shane’s cooler drinking a bottle of Shane’s water.