"I just…love you," she said simply, in a tiny voice. "That's all." She held his gaze for a brief moment, seeing an odd mix of emotions coming into his eyes as his mouth opened in surprise. When she couldn't bear the look on his face anymore, she slipped inside the room, pulling the door shut behind her and feeling terrified, brave, uncertain, and happy all the same time.
"You look like you're going to pass out," Nik said, suddenly appearing at her side. She took her baby sister's arm and led her to a chair. "What's the matter? Are you okay? Do you need water?"
Despite the emotions warring inside her and her curiosity if Heath was still standing on the other side of the door, Drew shook her head. Even if she'd just fucked up monumentally, she'd been forthright, brave and voluntarily honest…with him and with herself.
"I'm good," she said, and meant it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Heath rarely ever watched television, but now it seemed he couldn't stop.
He was finally back at his own place after spending the night at Connor's house when they'd gotten in from New York. He'd been planning to drive home to his apartment last night, but Lana had all but threatened bodily harm if he didn't agree to stay with them. As a result, he'd had a fuss made over him by his sister-in-law and his nieces, and slept over in the guest bedroom. He'd tried to sneak out early that morning but had been caught by Lucy, who had then woken up everyone else in the house and he hadn't been permitted to leave until after breakfast.
His pain was manageable after swallowing a dose of ibuprofen. He refused anything stronger, not wanting to potentially head down the same path involving painkillers he was on last year. Before going home, he'd stopped by his own physician to get a more thorough exam and to get his ribs re-taped. His doctor persuaded him to go home and rest, and sternly advised that any exercise was out of the question for at least the next four weeks. Heath was only too glad to take a little bit of a break, although he knew it wouldn't be a full four weeks before he was back to some form of physical movement. It just wasn't in him to be idle for that long, with or without an injury.
Now, he was seated on the couch in his living room, intently watching ESPN. He was surprised at the amount of coverage there was not only about Smackdown in general, but specifically about the three notable situations he'd personally been involved in. There was a feature about Drew and how her situation had been shared with the public. There were snippets of interviews with various MMA fans, both from Smackdown and not, and the general outcry was that whoever had leaked her story to the press should be soundly punished. Connected to that story immediately was the story of how he had fired his manager on the first day of the tournament. Apparently there were mixed reactions from the fans—some thought he was a chump for firing his manager over a girl. Others thought he was a perfect gentleman and made the right choice, while still other believed that the principle was sound, but the execution was a bad idea. Heath personally didn't give a rat's ass one way or the other how anyone felt about it; he was just as comfortable now with his decision to sever ties with Carter as he had been in the moment he'd made it.
The third story from Smackdown involving him had to do with his shocking loss. The entire MMA community was in an uproar. According to the reports and eye witness accounts, Heath had been the clear winner and the general consensus was that something was definitely fishy. Clay Cavasso had been contacted for interviews several times, the story's reporter said, but had yet to comment. Maddox Smith, the creator of Smackdown, also had declined public comment "as yet", although the possibility of him addressing the matter was still open.
Heath turned the television off before throwing the remote onto the couch beside him. He sighed and instantly regretted it as a sharp pain tore through his side. He leaned back and lifted his hands above his head, staring off into space, deep in thought. He'd always known Carter Steele to be a bit unscrupulous, but he had taken things to a surprising level. Heath wholeheartedly believed that anyone was capable of anything, but he'd never quite gotten the malicious vibe from Carter. In the span of two days, Carter had humiliated Drew, tried to break them up by involving her father, and more than likely had something to do with Heath losing the tournament. He realized that there was little that could be done about it now, but his concern was trying to predict from where Carter's next attack would come. He didn't believe for a second that Carter was through with him, but just how far he planned to take things, Heath couldn't be sure. Unfortunately, Carter knew quite a bit about Heath's personal life, from where John lived to where Connor lived, and he could probably find out pretty easily, if he didn't already know, where Drew lived. He at least had Mr. Carnevale's cell phone number. Heath rubbed a hand over his face as worry gnawed at his gut. Things could get really, really ugly if Carter wanted them to.