Redemption

by Shey Stahl

  The ability to move with a punch to reduce its impact or turn in that same direction so that it doesn’t land cleanly.

  As I was contemplating staying over again, this time in Destry’s bed and not on the floor in his bathroom, Jared called my phone. I answered, knowing he wasn’t going to stop calling. “Hello?”

  “Where have you been?”

  “With Destry.” I looked over at Destry, who was staring at the ceiling next to me. His left hand rose and ran down my spine. I smiled, content with how this was going and how easy it seemed for us to forgive.

  “I was just there, and no one answered. I’m coming over there, with Marcus.” And then he hung up.

  Shit. Immediately, I was fuming as I started throwing clothes on.

  Destry pulled his shirt over his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

  For a short time, I’d forgotten all about Marcus. Now the thought made me fucking livid. My cheeks flushed as my blood began to boil. “Jared is coming over with Marcus.”

  His body tensed immediately. “Marcus Hadley?”

  I forgot they knew one another. Well, if Destry didn’t kill him, I would. “Yeah, that Marcus.”

  He sat up, scowling. “Why the fuck would he do that?”

  “Well, they’re friends and Marcus was probably worried I found out about his lie.”

  “What lie?”

  I drew in a deep breath and reached for a pair of Destry’s sweatpants. “He called Silas and convinced him to meet me. That’s the only reason Silas called me in the first place. I’ve known Marcus since high school. He knew Silas too, and I’d told him one night how I wished I could see Silas again. Silas never called because he wanted to see me. He thought I wanted to see him. Which, I did, at first, but whatever. The end of the story here is I’m going to kill Marcus.”

  There was a knock at the door, and I couldn’t explain much before I was flying at Marcus like a spider monkey. “You motherfucker! I can’t believe you did that!”

  Marcus tried to shield himself from me, his hands defending himself as we crashed against the wall outside Destry’s apartment. “I’m sorry.”

  Destry grabbed me by my shoulders and hauled me back inside his apartment, Jared and Marcus followed.

  “I’m really sorry, Tallan.” Marcus glanced at Destry, his eyes wide and panicked as if he was waiting for him to react too. “I’m sorry to both of you.”

  “Not good enough!” I twisted from Destry’s embrace and made sure my footing was correct, and I drew my right fist back and practiced that right hook I was taught.

  Nailed it. Fucking nailed it.

  And might have broken my hand. Destry had forgot to tell me how bad that hurt.

  Jared looked at Marcus and then me, clearly confused by all of this. “What the hell is going on?”

  Destry smiled, holding me up by supporting my elbows. “Nicely done, tough girl.”

  “I think I broke my hand.” I curled myself into Destry, whimpering like a baby. He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

  “Seriously. What’s going on?” Jared looked to Marcus. I barely did any damage, but his nose was bleeding so I was satisfied with that.

  I twisted from Destry’s embrace to stare at Jared. “That fucking douchebag used me! He called Silas and gave him my number. Told him to call me.”

  “Okay….” Jared scratched the side of his head. It was hard for him to follow along sometimes.

  “You’re a bad cop.” I shoved him against the wall. “Who told you about Destry, Jared?” I glared at Marcus, who hung his head, wishing him a slow, painful death.

  “Well, Marcus did at poker the night after Silas called you.”

  “Exactly! He knew I would do anything to look good for Silas! Who he called, and told to get in touch with me because he knew I wanted to see him. And then he knew I wanted to lose weight, and he wanted his story he couldn’t get so he used me to get it.”

  It took Jared another minute before it dawned on him.

  Destry growled behind me, finally understanding how all this tied together, his patience gone. “You better get the fuck out of my face unless you want to taste my fist again.” He stepped toward Marcus.

  “I’m leaving, I swear.” Marcus scrambled back, knowing Destry’s punches were a hell of a lot stronger than mine.

  “Oh my God!” Jared shook his head as Marcus wormed past him and out the door. Jared followed him, no doubt ready to kick his friend’s ass. “Why the fuck would you do that to her? Get back here!” Marcus started to run from him. “I’m going to arrest you!”

  I would have stood there for hours fighting with Marcus trying to get every detail out of him about why he did it. Marcus was a reporter. He’d do anything for a story and when he couldn’t get it, he used his resources. In reality, was I any different?

  I was about to follow Marcus, because that didn’t stop me from feeling pissed, when Destry caught me and slammed the door shut. “I’m pissed. And I want to kill that guy, but I need to do something. I can’t wait any longer and let the chance slip away.” He leaned down and took my swollen red hand in his, kissing my knuckles softly.

  “What?” I asked, my cheeks warming as he backed me up against the door, pressing his body against mine, so strong, so firm, and exactly what I needed.

  “Will you go on a date with me?” His question was spoken as a plea, begging in a sense. “As my girlfriend? None of this fucking-around shit anymore. I’m yours. And you’re mine.”

  “Is that really what you want?” My anger evaporated, as did the pain in my hand.

  “It’s what I want.” He smiled, leaning in to kiss me once, and then drawing back. “Jared said I could.”

  “You asked him?” I shook my head, knowing what Jared said. Or at least, what he would have said.

  He nodded. “I did.”

  “And he said?”

  “That you two have an arranged marriage, but that I could borrow you for a while.”

  I shook my head, pulling his lips to mine. “He’s lying.”

  “I’m sure.” He grinned, leaning in to kiss me again.

  A point is taken away from a fighter when a blatant foul or rule infraction occurs. It can also happen after several warnings have been issued, such as in a case of unintentional, but repeated low blows.

  “I was granted a rematch with Lucas.”

  My hands immediately covered my mouth. Not only did I have a mouthful of the best steak in the world, but I couldn’t believe what Destry had told me. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded, lifting his wineglass to his lips. “I am.”

  I stared at him. This was our first official date. He’d taken me to Metropolitan Grill, and it was the first time we’d ever been dressed up together too.

  He was wearing a dark gray dress shirt, black tie, and slacks. I was wearing a black dress that clung to my curves. It didn’t matter that I never ended up losing the entire twenty pounds. What mattered was that I was comfortable, and I had closure. And I did.

  Destry had opened my eyes to so much more than I ever could have imagined in six weeks.

  “So, you start training then?” I set my wineglass down on the table and cut another small chunk off my steak.

  “I’ve been training since the day I lost. I never stopped.” I watched his features as he chewed slowly, the dim lighting over the restaurant casting shadows over his eyes, but the intensity behind them shined bright. With a man like Destry, it didn’t make sense to me that he threw that fight. Not even for a woman.

  “Why did you throw that fight? I know it wasn’t just about Stella. What really happened?”

  He stopped chewing, his eyes snapped to mine as if he hadn’t been expecting that question from me.

  I’d considered not asking since it was his business. If he wanted to tell me, he would. But I wanted to know. I wanted to know him, and in turn, I needed to know this. Maybe it was the journalism side of me.

  Drawing in a deep breath, Destry leaned back
in his chair, preparing himself for a truth maybe he’d never admitted to himself. “Stella and I had been fighting nonstop. About everything. Didn’t matter what. I was in the middle of training for the fight with Ray Lucas, and it’s hard to give your attention to anything but training. You have to stay focused. Usually she understood but this time… she didn’t. She said she was leaving two days before the fight. I begged her to stay. I couldn’t have her leave. It was right after my dad had his stroke. I thought for sure if she left too, I’d have no one.” Raising his right hand, he ran it over his jaw. “She said, if I loved her, I’d lose the fight and prove it. Prove to her that she meant more than boxing did to me.” He shrugged. “So, I did. And it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done because she left me anyway. With Ray. She had been seeing him all along. Now knowing that she’d been with Ray the entire time, I know she bet a shitload of money against me. No doubt in my mind. But… I did it anyway. Not because I thought she’d stay, but because I feared being alone with who’d I become.”

  “You mean alone with yourself?”

  He nodded. “I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.”

  My heart hurt for him. Tears rolled down my face and he leaned forward to wipe them away.

  Destry sighed as if he was disappointed in himself and my reaction. “I didn’t tell you any of that to make you feel bad for me. I did that. I threw that fight. It’s on me and no one else.”

  “What happened after that?” I wanted to understand Destry and everything he had been through. I wanted to understand where all that hate came from. Pulling his hand back, he paused and took another drink of his wine. Slowly his eyes met mine. “Well, she left and the next day Danny told me he’d bet on that fight for me to win. He bet the bar. So I got it back for him and started doing some training around town to make some money since my former manager decided to take off with two hundred grand. Everything I had went into getting the bar back and taking care of my dad.”

  “How did you… so you thought you’d train some fat girl to get into shape?” I laughed at the irony of how this all happened.

  “You were never fat. You were unbelievably sexy,” he stated, his stare intent on mine. I believed him too. “Danny said he had a friend who needed some help. He never told me it was a woman, so when I talked to you on the phone, I was a little confused but went with it because you were hot. Then I stared at you the entire time, hormones got in the way and then I had sex with you. I was done after that.” He laughed. “Kissed the canvas.”

  “Well, I thought you were the world’s biggest asshole,” I leaned in, giving him a nice view down the front of my dress. Naturally his eyes lowered. “But I’m glad we got drunk that night.”

  “We weren’t that drunk.”

  “No.” I winked for a change. “We weren’t.”

  We continued to eat our meals, flirting, touching under the table like all first dates might when Destry got a confused look on his face. “I still don’t understand why Marcus would have called Silas. Why did that matter if he wanted the story on me?”

  “Who knows with Marcus.”

  Destry appeared deep in thought and then shook his head. “I gotta warn you up front though.”

  “Of what?”

  “Me in training mode. I… I’m not the easiest person to get along with… and I make a lot of mistakes on the boyfriend front.”

  “Are you trying to scare me?” I laughed as I slipped off my shoes and ran my foot along the inside of his thigh.

  “Yes. I just want you to be prepared for being with a fighter.”

  My foot reached his lap and traced the outline of the hardness that had formed from me running my foot up his thigh. “I think I’m prepared for anything. I had a good trainer.”

  Quirking an eyebrow at me, amused maybe, Destry grabbed my foot under the table and then slid his hips forward, pressing his erection into my foot. “Have you ever been fucked, baby?”

  Shivering under the heat of his eyes, I leaned forward again, my breath blowing over his face. “Show me what you got, fighter.”

  We were just about to leave, Destry was paying for our meals, when Jared came into the restaurant wearing his uniform with another officer to his left. He looked all business, which seemed unusual for him.

  Shuffling through the tables and many stares, they both stopped at our table.

  Destry finished signing the credit card receipt and gave me a nod, as if he was silently telling me everything was fine.

  “Jared…” I looked up at him. “What’s going on?”

  He blinked slowly but said nothing, only spared me a brief glance.

  The officer beside him turned to Destry with handcuffs in hand. “Destry Stone?”

  Destry nodded, his apprehensive stare moving from Jared to the officer that spoke to him. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Silas Cade.”

  The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

  ~ Muhammad Ali

  This is a term used to describe a boxer who gets hurt in the opening rounds or stopped early in the fight because he or she was not mentally or physically prepared or warmed-up.

  Some people could take a hit, others couldn’t. I don’t even mean a punch, but a hit in life. That moment, when you made a decision and immediately, you knew you’d made the wrong one. Me? I didn’t like to get hit. It had nothing to do with pain. It was the idea that they caught me off guard. I didn’t like surprises either. It made me feel out of control, and as a fighter, the last thing I wanted to do was to be out of control.

  Drawing in a breath, an officer turned in my direction and flashed the cuffs. “Destry Stone?”

  I nodded, my eyes flickering from Jared, Tallan’s roommate and best friend, and then to the officer standing solemnly beside him. “You’re under arrest on suspicion of the murder of Silas Cade.”

  I knew this was coming. How could I not? I knew when I stepped inside that bar the other night, it would follow me. The headline this morning told the world that he’d died. Tallan must not have read it. Though hundreds could place me at the bar that night, they found Silas in his hotel room, dead. I knew I didn’t kill him. Sure, I went back in that bar intending to teach him a lesson on respecting women. Yeah, I beat the shit out of him, but I didn’t kill him.

  Believe it or not, you knew when you’d killed a man. No way did I think I was capable of doing that, but then again, most people didn’t know the power behind their fists. Regardless of how I felt the other night, or any other night for that matter, killing another human being took more than I was willing to do. And Silas was still standing when I left. Well, maybe not standing, but he was breathing at least.

  Staring straight ahead, Tallan’s lashes fluttered in disbelief, denying me access to her pretty brown eyes I’d grown to obsess over. “What are you talking about?”

  I didn’t like Tallan when I first met her. But then again, I didn’t like anyone. I was angry. But somehow, someway, this all-fight and determined woman wormed her way into my life and made me fall in love with her. It killed me to have her looking at me this way. My gut knotted at her reaction and that I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I wanted to force her to look at me, talk to me, beg her to believe me.

  Jared’s eyes flickered between the two of us, blinking rapidly and trying to focus. “Silas was found dead in his hotel room early Thursday morning.”

  I could feel, and hear, the sharp intake of Tallan’s breath being sucked in. Unconsciously, I did the same, wishing I could read her mind. I wanted to tell them to fuck off, deny it, argue my way out of this, but I also didn’t want to cause a scene, and embarrass Tallan any more than she already was.

  Standing, I tucked my wallet back into my jeans and gave a nod outside as I reached for her hand. I thought for sure she’d shove me away. Only she didn’t. She gently placed hers within mine.

  My thumb grazed the back of her hand, the sof
tness exactly what I needed to remember to stay calm. “Let’s take this outside and we can talk there.”

  As we made our way outside, stepping around tables and people gawking at us, my heart raced, sharp thudding beats, the anger raging inside me and begging to be released. It wasn’t the time, or place for me to throw a fit.

  Jared and the officer agreed and followed the two of us.

  Tallan clung to my side, her head tucked against my shoulder. “Destry, what happened?”

  “It’s just a misunderstanding,” I whispered, kissing her temple as I held the door for her.

  Once outside, the city swarmed with cars and bystanders, all of which were about to witness my arrest. The former heavyweight champion of the world, arrested again.

  I stood there, waiting. I knew the drill.

  Tallan seemed disoriented, as if she couldn’t process what was happening. Her eyes darted around the street, making contact with no one, wildly searching for what, I didn’t know. I wanted to beg her to see that I didn’t kill him.

  “Destry.” She gasped, drawing in another deep breath. “Did you…?”

  Immediately, I shook my head, leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I would never.”

  Swallowing hard, she nodded too, and pulled back. “Should I call someone?”

  “Adam. He’ll get in touch with my lawyer.”

  Frantically reaching inside her purse, she fumbled around for her phone and then began typing. “What’s his number?”

  I handed her my phone placing it in the palm of her hand. “It’s in here. My passcode is your birthday. Take it with you.”

  Her breathing caught. “You know my birthday?”

  I stared at her. “Really?”

  “Sorry. I’ll call him.”

  I wanted to laugh and tell her that it was merely coincident that her birthday fell on the day my dad won the world heavyweight title, but I didn’t think now was a good time to explain all that.

  Jared glanced the other way when Tallan reached for my phone, the officer beside him behind me now. “Put your hands behind your back, sir.”