Chapter 53
Proof
Elliot POV
My phone pings, indicating I have a message. I look down at my phone and open the text that Kate just sent and my face blanches and my mouth drops open. To say I'm shocked is an understatement. Speechless is pretty accurate. Actually, I don't think there's a strong enough word to describe how I feel looking at these photos. However, there's a slew of emotions racing through my blood: Outrage, yep. Horror, most definitely. Disgust, that too. I could go on but it would take too long.
Never in my life have I seen anything this bad before, especially on a female. What makes it even worse it the fact that her hands are tiny, both of her hands can fit in one of mine, so the damage looks much worse. Sure, I've been in plenty of fights but my fists have never looked this bad. The first thing I notice is the color. It's such a dark purple it looks almost black. Just from the placement of the bruising, it almost looks like she's wearing a glove, the kind weightlifters wear at the gym or a biker when he's riding his Harley.
Don't even get me started on the swelling. It's so bad it doesn't even look like there are any knuckles from the middle finger to the pinky. It reminds me of one of those rubber glove balloons. The back of her hand looks, for lack of a better term, squishy. Like if you touched it the whole thing would burst.
My mind starts wandering and my next thoughts make me chuckle to myself. The similarities between me and Rhi are many. We both have a twisted sense of humor and a lot of the thoughts we have are, shall we say, inappropriate. For example, right now. This is an extremely serious situation and I'm definitely NOT making light of it but, to be honest, Rhi would do the same thing if the roles were reversed. She's actually rubbing off on me because I can also imagine a dead body building up gas from bacteria so much the skin bursts, like the decaying body of a beached whale exploding at the slightest touch. Gross, I know, but it's fitting.
For the amount of time I've known her, I've learned a lot. Kate and Ana have told me a lot about her, with her knowledge of course, but Rhi has also shared a lot with me herself. There are some things, okay, a LOT of things, that Kate and Ana either don't approve of or don't know about. I'm actually pretty sure they don't know about the shenanigans she gets up to with the friends in her other circle.
Rhi has another life away from Kate and Ana, like alter egos Jekyll and Hyde. Rhi and I would never do anything behind anyone's backs but sometimes you need to be with the right people in different situations. Kate and Ana know Rhi and I hang out sometimes and I think they're okay with that because it gives them peace of mind that there's someone watching over Rhi. Not to mention they get a much needed break from all the stress.
To say she's impulsive is an understatement. She also has this little problem with never turning down a dare; she either can't or won't. It makes life exciting and there's never a dull moment where she's concerned. Christian and Taylor are going to go crazy when they meet her. They have no idea what is in store for them. I can't wait to sit back and watch and say 'I told you so.'
Anyway, back to the current situation. I've known that Rhi could fight; I've seen her in action. I work out with her often and I've seen her in the boxing ring at the gym. There's usually a pretty big crowd around the ring watching, especially when her opponent is a lot bigger than her. It's quite impressive, actually. Don't get me wrong, she's not undefeated, but she can take a hit just as well as a man and, depending on the man, sometimes better. She's taken hits before that have knocked her on her ass but she's stubborn and doesn't let anything keep her down.
When I asked her about why she trains the way she does, she told me it's one of the things that saved her life a few years ago. She explained it's because she was in a situation where she had no control. She physically couldn't do anything but once she was rescued, or escaped whichever term you want to use, she decided she would do anything in her power to keep that from happening again. She's also been training with some of her dad's coworkers and adopted family, along with her future employer, though I'm not sure which has been more beneficial. Each one has a different theory: bar fights are more for street smarts, friends and family are more for self-defense, and her employer is more professional and intended for restraint.
The training at the gym is structured and rules are in place for the safety of everyone. Bar fights are a completely different story. There are no enforced rules and they can be brutal. While she doesn't get into them a lot, she does have a reputation of not backing down. She will not take anyone's shit and will defend the honor of anyone who needs it. She has a big heart and doesn't like to see anyone be bullied or abused. While I may not have physically seen her in any bar fights, she's told me about some situations that have taken place where someone has needed manhandling. I would pay money to watch her in action because my imagination runs rampant with visions of some big guy squaring off with tiny Rhi in a bar.
Though I know she's had proper training in the ring and has amazing self-control, it takes a lot to push her over the edge, I also know there's a ticking timebomb inside her that is just waiting to go off. From the images I'm looking at right now, it looks like Luke lit that fuse and that bomb exploded in his face.