Free The Silencer: A Bad Boy MMA Romance by Aubrey Michelle Page A

theory.
     
     
    “I got some news after I got off the phone with you. My promoter landed me another fight. I’ve got about two weeks to get ready.”
     
    “That’s good news, right?” I asked.
     
    “Very good news. I need to stay as loose for my big fight and the best way for me to do that is to actually be inside the cage. The only problem is that this is going to be my opponents first professional fight so I’m not going to be able to watch any video of him to prepare.”
     
    “I see. Is this the first person you’ve ever fought that hadn’t had a fight before?”
     
    “No, I’ve fought a few guys in their debuts. I’ve just never had to do it with so much on the line. It’s like I’m psyching myself out for some reason.”
     
    “You’ve got this . I saw the doctor with your brother today,” I continued. “He’s impressed with the progress he’s been making. I know it’s all baby steps but he’s talking about getting Casey set up with some basic physical therapy to see if we can make something work.”
     
    “That’s fantastic. The other place I had my brother in didn’t even have an option for physical therapy. Does he think there’s a chance he may be able to walk again?”
     
    “It’s highly unlikely but first, we’re going to want to focus on basic cognitive skills before moving on to any type of motor skills.”
     
    “Yeah, that makes sense. I’m glad he’s got someone to work with him, though. It makes me feel a little better about having him in there.”
     
    “He’s in excellent hands, I can assure you of that.”
     
    I paused for a moment, not sure how to breach the topic that I really wanted to talk about. I finally figured that the best thing to do was just jump right into it.
     
    “Speaking of Casey, I never did get any more information about him for his charts. Why are you his guardian and not your parents? Did something happen to them?”
     
    “No, but I wish something would.”
     
    “Excuse me?” I said, a bit surprised by his reaction. “I take it you and your parents don’t get along.”
     
    “I am just counting the days until they die. The world will be a much better place without them in it.”
     
    I saw a side of Jason that I’d never seen before. I could see the rage in his eyes as he spoke but I also saw a hint of pain that he was trying to keep hidden.
     
    “I’m not trying to be nosy, but what happened with your parents?”
     
    “Where do I even fucking start?” he asked. “For as long as I can remember, my dad used to beat the shit out of me on a daily basis. I remember coming home from school every day and praying that he wouldn’t be there. If he wasn’t, I would do my best to avoid him all night, hoping I wouldn’t do anything to get on his radar. It didn’t matter, though. He’d start drinking and, eventually, he’d come into my room to whip my ass for who knows what? It never failed.”
     
    My heart was breaking for Jason but I could tell that he was only just beginning to give me the whole story.
     
    “One day, I came home from school and neither of my parents were home. My dad was in a holding cell at the Detroit PD and my mom was in the hospital. Apparently, she had told him that she was three months pregnant that afternoon. Instead of being happy like a normal person, my dad went off on her about how she was a whore and that there was no way the baby was his. He beat her ass pretty good and the doctors were worried that she had lost the baby.”
     
    He stopped talking just long enough to get up and grab another beer out of the fridge.
     
    “The baby was okay but my mom refused to press charges against my dad. Throughout her pregnancy, he continued to beat her on an almost daily basis. On one hand, I was glad that I wasn’t getting hit on every day but I was also confused as to why she would let him continue to treat her like that. Eventually, he beat her so bad that she went into labor. It was almost three months