After a few moments, she found what she was looking for.
“This, you need to see this,” she said, looking over at Katrina, as she leaned forward to hand Katrina the iPad. “It’s like Remi’s greatest hits… literally!”
Remington reached for another cigarette, giving Wynter a narrowed look. Wynter simply smiled back at her as she moved to kneel next to where Katrina sat.
“Now look at this… she’s so damned fast! Quinn was telling me that no one is as fast as Remi is… See that! She totally avoided that kick, and look… see? She punches so fast that they don’t even have time to react… look, right there! She smacks the girl and just kind of dances away… I don’t think that chick even got one hit...”
Remington sat back in her chair, leaning her head back, staring up at the sky as she smoked her cigarette, wishing she was somewhere else at that moment.
Wynter glanced over at Remington and could see her discomfit. She grinned knowing that Remington would never have shown Katrina any of this. Remington did not brag, she did not blow her own horn, even if it was an amazing one. Wynter couldn’t think of one famous person she knew that wouldn’t grab the chance to impress someone with their work, but that wasn’t Remington, not at all. If Wynter hadn’t figured out all on her own how amazing a fighter her bodyguard was, she’d never have known.
Katrina looked over at Remington as well, seeing that she was embarrassed by the lavish compliments coming from Wynter. She couldn’t disagree with Wynter in the slightest, however. Remington was an amazing fighter. It was easy to see why she’d been a five-time UFC Women’s Champion, and Akasha Salt’s outrageous claims seemed all the more inflammatory now. Everyone who knew anything about Remington’s fighting abilities would be appalled by Akasha’s claims and derision. And that was definitely the case.
Remington’s phone pinged with multiple messages. She read them then put her phone down without answering any.
“Who’s that?” Wynter asked, moving to sit in her chair again.
“Quinn,” Remington said, her grin embarrassed. “Jericho… Cody… Lyric… Mackie.”
Wynter chuckled, shaking her head. “They’re all probably hearing the news at this point.”
“Or they heard it last night, like we did,” Katrina said.
“You heard this last night?” Wynter asked, looking from Katrina to Remington.
“On the news,” Remington said nodding.
Wynter’s phone started ringing and she picked it up, looking at the display, laughing. “It’s Xandy,” she said answering the call. “Yeah… she’s right here… I know, she’s gotten texts from lots of people already… She what? Oh”—Wynter looked over at Remington—“Quinn says you need to ‘beat the piss out of that skank.’ ”
Remington rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking over at Katrina.
Katrina laughed softly. “I guess your friends don’t like Akasha talking about you like that.”
“I guess not,” Remington said.
Remington’s phone pinged and she picked it up, groaning out loud this time.
“Wait, hold on,” Wynter said, her eyes on Remington. “Who is it?”
Remington gave her a deadpan look, and turned the phone around to show her the name.
“Oh, crap, Billy just texted Remi, I’ll call you back,” Wynter said, hanging up a moment later. “What did she say?”
Remington shook her head. “I can’t repeat it.”
Wynter grinned, glancing over at a confused-looking Katrina. “She won’t cuss in front of ladies.”
“Let me see it,” Wynter said holding out her hand for Remington’s phone.
Remington hesitated.
“Oh for God’s sake, I’m not going to answer her!” Wynter said, rolling her eyes.
Remington handed her the phone.
Wynter read it and her eyes widened. “Wow…” she said simply.
“Who’s Billy?” Katrina asked.
“Billy Montague,” Wynter said, handing Remington back her phone.
“You mean… Billy and the Kid, Billy Montague?” Katrina asked, looking shocked.
“Yeah,” Wynter said, nodding, “she seems to have a thing for Remi.”
“But…” Katrina stammered. “She’s straight isn’t she?”
“And married,” Remington added.
“Maybe she wouldn’t consider sex with another woman cheating,” Wynter said, winking at Remington.
“That’s not funny,” Remington said, her tone serious.
“What did she say?” Katrina asked curiously.
“Don’t,” Remington said, as she saw Wynter start to tell Katrina. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Why?” Katrina asked, looking over at Remington. “Was it that bad?”
“She used the word ‘cunt’ more than once,” Wynter said, grinning.
“Wynter!” Remington exclaimed, giving her a pointed glare.
“What! You said I couldn’t tell her, you didn’t say I couldn’t use a word…” Wynter said, laughing at Remington’s obvious outrage.
“I’ve heard that word before, Remi, it’s okay,” Katrina said, winking at Remington.
“It isn’t that I think you haven’t heard it…” Remington started to say, but let her voice trail off as she realized she was outnumbered.
“Has she told you about her military service?” Wynter said then, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
“Bondye ede m '…” Remington muttered.
“What does that mean?” Wynter asked, before Katrina could. Then she looked at Katrina and said in a conspiring tone, “She says it a lot.” Katrina nodded, grinning.
Remington pursed her lips, the desire to keep the phrase to herself warring with her manners. When a woman asked you question, it was imperative that you answer it. That was what she’d been taught. She narrowed her eyes at Wynter, who grinned gleefully, guessing easily what was going on in Remington’s head by the look on her face.
Finally, Remington sighed loudly. “It means ‘god help me,’ ” she said, her tone telling Wynter she was not happy with her at that moment.
“I see. That explains a few things,” she said, winking.
“You know…” Remington said her voice trailing off ominously.
Wynter looked shocked. “Remington LaRoché that sounded like it was almost a threat! Did you just almost threaten me?”
“That would be wrong,” Remington replied, her tone far from convincing. “And it’s LaRoché, row-shay, not row-sh.”
Wynter’s eyes widened further, as she pressed her lips together in an effort not to smile. She saw Remington’s eyes narrow immediately and started to laugh.
“I’m sorry,” Wynter said, still laughing, “but you’ve never corrected me before…”
Remington tilted her head to the side, and a resounding pop could be heard as she stretched her neck. Wynter immediately pressed her lips together again, this time looking circumspect. She knew she was pushing too hard now, and she didn’t really want to piss Remington off. She’d been truly surprised by not only the almost threat, but the correction as well.
“LaRoché,” Wynter said, pronouncing it perfectly this time. “Got it, won’t get it wrong again, I promise,” she said her with wide eyes.
Remington closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly as she grinned.
“So,” Wynter said, looking over at Katrina, “you should see the uniform in her closet, it’s got an amazing number of medals and ribbons on it.”
“Wynter,” Remington said, her tone aghast.
“What?” Wynter queried with a cheeky smile. “She knows you were a marine, right?” she asked, glancing between Remington and Katrina.
Katrina looked surprised, and Wynter gave Remington a quelling look. “You served your country, that’s not the first thing you tell the girl? What is wrong with you?” she asked, shaking her head, like she couldn’t imagine.
“You were a marine?” Katrina asked Remington.
“Yes,” Re
mington said.
“She was in Iraq,” Wynter told Katrina.
Katrina looked at Remington for confirmation and she nodded.
“For how long?” Katrina asked.
“Four years,” Remington said.
“That’s a long time,” Katrina replied.
“Three tours,” Remington said simply.
“And she has the medals to prove it,” Wynter added, winking at Remington. “You should check it out. Her uniform is in her closet.”
Katrina looked hesitantly at Remington. “I don’t want to invade your privacy,” she said.
Remington gave her a soft smile. “If you’d like to see it, you’re welcome to look,” she said.
Katrina smiled, biting her lip. “Is it okay if I go look now?”
Remington smiled, nodding, and stood up as Katrina did. As soon as Katrina stepped inside, Remington turned to look at Wynter.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her tone bewildered.
“Telling her stuff about you, that you never will,” Wynter countered mildly.
“Why?” Remington asked, still looking puzzled.
Wynter looked back at Remington for a long moment, not sure how to answer her question, since she herself wasn’t sure why she was doing it. It was as if she needed to prove to someone else who Remington was, as if someone else believing Remington LaRoché was someone amazingly special would mean that she wasn’t crazy. And maybe, just maybe, it would mean that Wynter wasn’t crazy for wanting to know so much more about her and she wasn’t risking a seven-year relationship for something insane.
“Wynter?” Remington queried, seeing that Wynter was considering her answer carefully.
Wynter finally shook her head. “I just think she should know how awesome you are.”
Remington looked surprised by that answer, but she didn’t have time to question Wynter further, because Katrina walked back out onto the balcony then. Remington turned to look at her, she’d never sat down after Katrina had left the balcony.
“That looks impressive,” Katrina said, moving to sit down again, her eyes on Remington as she did the same. “Why do you still have your uniform? You aren’t still in, are you?”
“Technically, I’m a reservist,” Remington said, surprising even Wynter this time.
“You are?” Wynter queried.
Remington gave Wynter a rueful grin. “Yes, and the marine birthday is coming up, which is the only reason it’s in my closet here. It looks like I’m going to miss it, however,” she said, shrugging.
“Because of the tour?” Wynter asked.
Remington nodded.
“When is it?” Katrina asked.
“November eleventh,” Remington said.
Wynter grimaced. It was right about the time the tour would start. “That sucks, I’m sorry.”
“The marines aren’t going anywhere,” Remington said with a confident grin.
Remington’s phone pinged again. She glanced down at it, and dropped her head, shaking it.
“What?” Wynter asked.
“Billy said she’s going to make a statement to the press,” Remington said.
“And that’s bad?” Katrina asked.
“Billy isn’t really the diplomatic type,” Wynter said. “And I’m betting whatever she says won’t be okay with Remi…”
“Her responding to Akasha at all is not okay with me,” Remington said seriously.
She texted Billy and asked her to please refrain from saying anything. A moment later, the reply came back and Remington grimaced as she read it.
“What did you say?” Wynter asked.
“I asked her not to say anything,” Remington said.
“And what did she say?” Wynter asked, her look darkening significantly.
“She asked what I’ll do for her,” Remington said, her tone wry.
“Oh hell no!” Wynter snapped, seeing that Remington was already responding. “What did you tell her?”
Remington tossed her phone on the coffee table again, leaning back, ignoring Wynter’s glower. Wynter picked up the phone to look at the message she’d sent.
“Are you fucking nuts?” Wynter asked Remington. “You know how she’s going to take that.”
Remington didn’t answer. Katrina looked between Remington and Wynter, sensing some serious tension, and she thought it was of a sexual nature, but wasn’t sure. She also wanted to know what Remington had said to Billy Montague, but she wasn’t brave enough to do what Wynter had just done. She simply looked over at Wynter, who looked supremely unhappy with her bodyguard.
“She told Billy she’d give her whatever she wants,” Wynter practically spat. “Mark my words, that’s going to come back to bite you square in the ass, Remi,” she said as she stood up.
Remington stood as well, clearly not worried about Billy Montague. Wynter looked up at Remington for a long moment, then shook her head and walked back into the house. Remington looked over at Katrina, seeing that Katrina didn’t understand exactly what was going on. In truth, Remington was surprised by Wynter’s obvious ire, but had no idea what it was about, so she couldn’t comment.
“How about some coffee?” Remington asked Katrina to break the tension.
Katrina laughed softly, nodding.
Chapter 3
“Look, I’m sorry,” Wynter said, feeling like she was forever apologizing to Remington.
The fact was she couldn’t stand the silence in the car. Remington had seen Katrina off that morning, then showered and dressed, then had waited patiently for Wynter to get dressed for Natalia’s class. Waited patiently, but with a kind of tension that Wynter could tangibly sense and she hated it.
As she looked over at Remington, she could see that her look had not changed. “Remi, I’m sorry, okay? I just hate that Billy pulled that on you, and that you had to basically beg her to keep her trap shut. It’s not cool.”
Remington turned her head to look over at Wynter.
“Why does it matter to you?” she asked, her tone not accusing, simply questioning.
Wynter looked back at Remington. She’d known she was going to ask that and still didn’t having an adequate answer.
“Everyone knows how Billy is,” she said, shrugging. “I just don’t think you’d want to get caught up in her drama, especially not with the tour coming up.”
Wynter could see that Remington didn’t believe her attempt at an explanation for a moment. Fortunately, she let it go anyway. Her phone pinged then and she looked at the message. It was Lauren saying she was sorry she hadn’t made it home the night before. Wynter texted back and just said she was glad she hadn’t been out in the storm. She and Remington continued the drive in silence.
At Natalia’s class, however, Remington was set upon the moment she walked in the door.
“You are going to respond, right?” Jericho said.
“She’s gonna hand her her teeth,” Quinn practically growled.
Wynter sighed, shaking her head as she glanced back at Remington. “Have fun,” she told her bodyguard as she went off toward the dance floor to get ready for class.
Remington narrowed her eyes at Wynter’s retreating back but then looked at the other women giving her varied degrees of glowering looks.
“Who’s working with me this morning?” Remington said, ignoring the comments and heading toward the room that had recently been set aside for weight training and footwork.
Quinn, Jericho, and Rayden exchanged looks, each grinning or shaking their head, and followed Remington. Eventually, Jet, Sebastian, Tyler, Raine, Skyler, and Cody joined the group doing the MMA-style workout. As the music started for Natalia’s cardio dance class, the bois started their workout, shutting the door to the room and putting on bands like Disturbed, Linkin Park, and Breaking Benjamin.
Remington went through her paces, doing bag work with high kicks, knee strikes, spinning back kicks, and various punches and elbow strikes. The others did their best to keep up. Most successful was Quinn, who’d been
doing MMA fighting for years. Raine also did surprisingly well, always able to pick up new moves quickly.
By the time Natalia’s class was over, the bois were sparring, but it was quickly suggested that Quinn and Remington spar in the main area so everyone could watch. To Wynter’s surprise, Remington agreed. Mats were dragged out and then Quinn and Remington stood facing each other on the mats. Both women wore gloves and had already agreed to keep contact to a minimum. Wynter and Xandy stood off to the side watching, both nervous.
Jericho stepped in to act as referee. She had them touch gloves, backed them up, then gave them the signal to start. Quinn moved toward Remington, who stood her ground watching every move Quinn made. Faking to the right, Quinn brought in a left hook, and Remington shifted her feet quickly, shifting back at the last minute, grabbing Quinn’s arm as she extended, twisting it down, sweeping her feet with right food and taking her down to the mat. Remington jumped back up and extended her hand to Quinn to help her up. Quinn nodded, grinning. She knew she was out-matched, but she also enjoyed the challenge. They faced each other again and took fighter’s stances. Quinn bounced on her feet, whereas Remington remained perfectly still, her body tense, but her eyes taking in Quinn’s movements. Quinn surprised everyone in doing a series of kicks, advancing on Remington quickly. Remington backed up, putting her hands up to block any kick that got too close. When she was near the end of the mat, Remington ducked a high kick, coming up with lightning speed she was known for to grab Quinn’s ankle, shoving her back. Quinn managed to keep her balance, going for a spinning back kick, which came dangerously close to Remington’s head. Remington shifted just in time to keep from being caught.
“Nice,” Remington said, smiling and nodding to Quinn.
Remington stilled for a long moment, and Quinn stood at the ready. Suddenly Remington advanced quickly and Quinn attempted to throw a jab, but Remington shifted quickly and, seeing an opening, she threw a punch at Quinn’s face, stopping right when her fist would have connected. Quinn yanked her head back, but knew that had Remington not stopped, she’d have taken a pretty hard blow. She grinned widely, nodding in admiration.
Lightning Strykes Page 6
