Every Knight needs a challenge

Boise, Idaho

“Rosalie Knight? Your lawyer is here to see you.”

Rosalie lifted her head from where it was cradled in her hands, and stared at the policewoman blearily. It took a moment for her to register what had been said, and then she quickly rose to her feet. “Thank you, very much.” She followed the guard to a room where her lawyer waited at a table. Upon entering the room, she shook his hand, and then sighed. “So… what’s the deal?”

“Well, Miss Knight, I was working on a plea deal for you involving community service, but Mr. Garrett has decided not to press charges after all. I should be able to have you out of lockup in a couple of hours, when all the paperwork is done.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” Rosalie let out a long sigh, and then shook her head. “Any way you could work your magic and get him out of my house before I get home? I think I pay you enough.” She grinned. She’d had a good relationship with her lawyer for years for things like contracts and other legal documents, so of course he had been her phone call.

“He has already expressed that he will be out of your home before noon. I have to warn you, he may sue for damages in small claims court.”

“Whatever. He’ll be able to sue for, what? The cost of an ER visit? No judge is going to award him much more than that after what he did.” She was pretty certain that she could find the cost of an ER visit somewhere in her budget.

“It never hurts to remain informed. As always, you can give me a call if you have further trouble.” He rose to his feet, and she joined him to shake his hand once more.

“Thank you again. I owe you one.”

He grinned back at her. “Of course you do. I’ll send you the bill.”

---

Earlier that morning:

“Man, I can’t believe that you got screwed out of the title like that.” Andrew’s first words as she stepped off the plane smacked her in the face, and she grabbed her little brother in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

“Hush. I don’t want to talk about it. How are you doing?” She forced a grin and released her hold on him before anybody decided to call security. “Mama still being a bitch about things?”

“Always. But I heard back from Boise State’s admissions office. They’re willing to give me a higher education.” He grinned back at her, and threw an arm around her shoulder. He might have been her younger brother, but there wasn’t much little about him. All-American high school wrestler in his own right, and much taller than she was.

She’d always suspected he wanted to follow in her footsteps, but he’d always been too much of a mama’s boy to do so. Not so much anymore. She was sort of proud of him for deciding to come live with her… not that she was keen on the idea of letting her brother live with her and Ethan. “We’re getting home about a day earlier than expected. I haven’t called Ethan yet… I want it to be a surprise.”

“I bet he’ll be surprised.” Andrew looked away as they both headed toward the baggage claim now. Their flights had arrived within minutes of each other; she was quite pleased with how the planning had worked out on that one. “Do you think you’re going to marry him? Because, you know, that would be pretty cool.”

Rosalie shrugged, but she was grinning and could feel her cheeks turning slightly red. “I’m hoping so. He’s pretty good for me.”

“Much better than that asshat Jared.” Andrew laughed and leaned up against the railing of the moving sidewalk they just stepped onto. “Although I’ll be honest… And this is just me worrying about my sister… Maybe you shouldn’t worry about relationships right now and just focus on your career.”

Rosalie raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ll… keep that in mind, Andrew. Don’t think you’re in a position to be giving relationship advice right now, though, do you?”

A laugh was his only answer.


A while later, they pulled up in front of her home. There was a car she didn’t recognize in the driveway, and she frowned deeply before she looked up at the house. It was about nine in the morning, and Ethan wasn’t expecting her home until much later tonight. She pulled in behind Ethan’s car, and then looked over at Andrew.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not sure yet… but I don’t know that car. Stay here for a minute, will ya?”

“Sure, Sis.”

Rosalie got out of the car and closed the door quietly before she approached the house. She moved around to the back door; the front door had a telltale squeak. It was unlocked, as it often was in their neighborhood when someone was home, and she pushed the sliding glass door aside. She stepped inside, into her own kitchen. The fridge was open, but whoever was rummaging through it was ducked down low and she couldn’t see them over the counter. “Ethan?” she asked quietly.

The figure in front of her fridge bolted upright with a shriek, and Rosalie was treated to a full-frontal show of male nudity… that did not belong to her boyfriend. “ETHAN! THERE’S A CRAZY BITCH IN THE KITCHEN LOOKING FOR YOU!” The stranger slammed the door closed on the fridge and then got up in her face. “Honey, you better get out of here. I don’t know what your business with my man is, but he’s mine.” The effeminate way in which he spoke, as much as the words that he was saying, caused Rosalie’s heart to stop, and a deep feeling of dread to take root. “So you best be leaving the house now, slut.”

“Excuse me?” She was so stunned that she couldn’t manage much more than that. “I don’t know who you are, but this is MY house. If anyone’s leaving, it’s going to be you, before I call the cops.”

“What’s going on?” Ethan sounded sleepy as he rounded the corner, and stopped dead in his tracks, robe half pulled-on as he saw what was going on in the kitchen. “Oh.” He had that deer-in-the-headlights look of a man who knew he was caught. At least Rosalie wasn’t alone in the way that she folded her arms and stared at him, expecting an explanation. His gay lover did the same. “Uh, Rosalie, this is my boyfriend Edward. Edward, this is my girlfriend, Rosalie.”

Rosalie exchanged looks with Edward. At least she wasn’t alone in Ethan’s deceptions. “Care to explain to me what he’s doing in my house? And is THIS what you couldn’t go to the biggest event of my entire career for? So that you could stay home and fuck your gay lover? While I’m in the ring fighting to keep my career relevant?” Rosalie felt the anger growing hotter inside, and Ethan started looking more and more scared.

She turned to Edward now. “You. You have three minutes to get your clothes on and get out of my house.” Edward didn’t argue, and Rosalie was left in the kitchen with Ethan.

“Rosalie, I…” He saw the look on her face, and decided against giving excuses. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? That’s all you have to say, is sorry?” She stalked right up to him, and punched him in the face. She had thought she was just slapping him, but her fingers had curled on their own as she became angrier. “Get out! I don’t ever want to see you again!” She gestured to the door.

He held his jaw as he stared at her. “Where am I going to go?”

“Not my problem. Why don’t you ask your boyfriend to take you in? You don’t deserve everything I’ve given you. You have twenty minutes to get your shit and get gone.”

“I don’t think so.” Edward’s irritating voice had returned to the kitchen, and he waved his cell phone at her. “The police are on the way, for assault.”

Rosalie shrugged, and sighed. Well, if she was going to be in trouble for it anyway… She punched Ethan again, this time in the nose, and felt some satisfaction as she watched the blood flow.

---

“I don’t know how I let you talk me into this.”

“Because school doesn’t start for me until August, and you love me.” Andrew grinned and ducked as she reached out to smack him in the shoulder.

“You know that I can’t guarantee you’ll get to talk to anyone famous, right? Much less get Johnny Electric to listen to you pitching yourself.” Rosalie laughed as she and Andrew stepped into the elevator at the hotel. “Do you even have a gimmick?”

“I… Well, I will.” Andrew’s face turned a bit red.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She laughed again, stepping out of the elevator and going to the rooms that she’d rented for the next couple of nights. “Text me when you’re ready to go to dinner. I need to make a few phone calls, but I’m hungry.”

“Okay, Sis. Soon.”

Rosalie ducked into her room as Andrew disappeared into his own. She set her bag down on the bed, and then flipped open her laptop. She needed to know what was going on. But the first face she saw on her homepage was James Shark. She groaned and rolled her eyes. What an ego-tripping asshole, promoting a movie about himself, sleeping with all the women, giving the title away to someone who hadn’t earned it… He was everything that she hated about this business. She tried to be nice, to everyone, but some people did try her patience.

She closed the laptop. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. Not before dinner. She wanted another shot at James Shark… not his latest fucktoy that he kept under the pretense of promoting her to be the next big thing. Serai Leone would probably do well to listen to Shark's former women... But that was their drama, not hers. She didn’t even need to be thinking about it.

She just wanted the chance to redeem herself after getting screwed out of that title. She would get that opportunity, though. She would have to work hard for it, but she would get there, and she would get that title from Robbie Hart. Robbie Hart didn’t deserve it, and she couldn’t respect James Shark for giving it to him. And if Johnny Electric thought she'd be deterred from advancing by not winning that match? The General Manager had another thing coming.

She was jarred out of her thoughts by the sound of her text message alert. Andrew was hungry, and so was she. Time for the Knight siblings to get out on the town, just like the old days. Without Jared, without Ethan, without Katie. And whatever came after that… well, she would be ready tomorrow morning. Tonight, she and her brother were going to party.