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Chapter 63 - I wish I could understand

"I think Aaron may be incredibly drunk because his text doesn't make much sense but he basically said that he doesn't know." Juliet looked to Matt as he sat beside her on the front door step.

After trying to enjoy a few hours of the party, Juliet had very quickly bumped into Matt and it hadn't taken long for that burning conversation to occur between them. She knew he had been aware of the situation with Andrew and Kieran however, she had been surprised to hear he was the one who had questions for her.

It appeared as though Kieran wasn't so open about his past life in fighting as Matt would have liked him to be and he was left feeling just as unsure as Juliet.

"Do you think your brother joined another gym?" Juliet tried to clarify if this idea was coming from Matt himself or something he had heard.

"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders as he looked out into the dark night. "Possibly because I don't think he would have quit fighting."

"Why is it so important that you know? Does it change anything?" Juliet then went onto ask, trying to approach this cautiously but feeling desperate to understand his mindset.

If this involved Andrew, she wanted to know everything.

"Not really, I just want to know if Reck truly fucked up his chances of ever fighting again. That guy has control of a lot in the fighting world. He probably ruined his name when he dropped him."

"So you think Reck is the reason he stopped fighting all together?"

"Yeah. What he says, goes. I doubt any other gym would take him if Reck put a bad word in about him."

Juliet felt her whole body chill at Matt's words. She hadn't realised the extreme Reck had been able to go to make their brother's lives hell. It was as though it had to be his way or no way and he had succeeded in getting exactly what he wanted.

"Please tell me Reck doesn't train Aaron." Matt chuckled however, there was no actual amusement in his voice. He knew the real danger in that.

"He does." Juliet muttered back as she felt nothing but fear now running through her body.

"Shit. I though Toni was his trainer?"

"No... it's Reck."

Sophie had always complained that Reck was strict when it came to training. She was never appreciative of his need to try and take up all of Aaron's time however, it was only now that Juliet was understanding the full intensity of it.

He was strict in his methods of training, something that really differentiated him and Toni. If you couldn't handle dedicating your whole life and passion to the world of fighting then his patience would be running extremely thin on giving you any of his time.

"Don't get me wrong, he's a fucking A grade trainer but that's all that matters to him. Fighting is the only thing he deems important."

"He's already made that very clear to Aaron."

"But he's still with your sister? How?" Matt exasperated as though it was a completely insane concept and truthfully, it was.

"Don't say it like that!"

"I'm sorry, I just... he should be careful. Reck will only take so much. If Aaron doesn't win a fight, you know who will be getting the blame."

"Sophie, I know." Juliet bit, feeling pure anger the more they spoke about this.

It was causing so much realisation to hit her of what this could all mean. Reck wouldn't only be messing with Aaron's health, he would also be playing with Sophie's happiness and wellbeing in the process.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to scare you." Matt instantly reached out to lay a hand on Juliet's leg, causing her whole body to react at his touch.

She felt butterflies consume her stomach as she looked to his hand and then back up to his face. She knew it was such an innocent and reassuring gesture but she couldn't help but feel momentarily dazed by it.

"It's just a lot to take in." Juliet breathed, sounding as though she had just run a marathon. "I wish I could understand it all more."

Nodding his head, Matt looked down to where his hand was placed before giving her thigh a gentle squeeze and then pulling away.

"Maybe I could speak to my brother... he might talk to you, help you understand. He has a lot of old photos and videos of Andrew too. I'm not sure if that will make you fell better or worse but..."

"I'd love that!" Juliet instantly bit in before Matt even had chance to finish his sentence. "Thank you."

"This life is fucked up. It's good to find someone I can kind of relate to." Matt added and there was a brief glimpse of vulnerability in his eyes.

This guy was such a mystery to Juliet. He had come stumbling into her life in the weirdest way but she automatically held so much trust in him. It felt good to have someone other than her sister who knew what she was going through. It felt even better to speak to someone who held they key to finding out so much more about her brother than she had ever been told by her own family.

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Super short chapter, so sorry! I've had such a crazy few weeks. But there will be a part 2 soon 💜💜