Lady and the Champ

by Mia Madison

  Yet, there she was, in full-color glossy photos, sitting in a parked car looking up at my apartment.

  The look on her face sent a chill up my spine.

  She looked angry. Focused. Driven.

  The phone on his desk rang, and both the detective and I jumped, our concentration broken by the unexpected interruption.

  “Excuse me for just a moment, please,” he said, picking up the phone.

  I tried not to listen—or pretended not to, anyway—but the urgency in his voice suggested that something was going down.

  “Onyx,” he said, hanging up the phone and standing up from his desk. “Let’s go.”

  I stood up and watched him come around the desk and open the door from his office out into the busy dispatch area. He motioned for me to follow, but my feet were planted firmly.

  “Wait, what?” I cocked my head to the side. “Go where? Me and you?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded and started walking so that I was forced to follow if I wanted answers. “Me and you. I’ll drive.”

  We were already out the door and heading across the parking lot by the time I caught up with him. “But why? What’s going on? Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to your apartment.” He finally stopped and looked at me just as we made it to his car. “Your ex-wife has entered the building. We need to get there. Now.”

  I didn’t ask any more questions. I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, fastening my seatbelt as we pealed out of the parking lot with sirens blaring. I held onto the door handle as we careened into traffic, my heart and my thoughts racing as I thought about Lauren and Faye, sitting in my apartment unaware of all this craziness.

  I thought of Sheila, and that determined look on her face.

  And then I prayed.

  Lauren

  I looked at my phone. Onyx had been gone for over an hour, and I still hadn’t heard from him. I was doing my best not to worry, but now that Faye was napping and the apartment was quiet, all that I had left were my thoughts.

  My fears.

  My anxiety.

  I took a deep breath. There was no need to worry, yet. Not too much, anyway. Maybe a little dancing would clear my mind, or at least make me tired enough to go nap with Faye until Onyx got back.

  I was already up from the couch and walking toward the little studio Onyx had made for me—my new favorite place—when I heard the sharp knock at the front door.

  My heart leapt into my throat as I froze in place.

  During the entire time I’d been staying with Onyx—almost a month, now—we hadn’t had a single visitor. I tried not to think about how coincidental it was that someone was knocking on the door now that Onyx just happened to be gone.

  It’s probably nothing. It’s probably… nobody.

  I went back and grabbed my phone again before I went to the door.

  If it looks like someone suspicious, I won’t answer. I’ll just call Onyx. Or the police.

  Whoever it was knocked again, louder this time, and I scrambled to get to the door before the noise woke Faye up. A crying baby was the last thing my frayed nerves needed at the moment.

  I looked through the peephole on the door and exhaled in relief. It was just a lady, nicely dressed, and perfectly normal. Probably a neighbor or something.

  Thank God.

  I opened the door and gave what I hoped was a friendly smile. “Hi.” I tried to sound upbeat, even though I still had plenty of adrenaline coursing through my veins. “Can I help you?”

  As soon as she saw me, the lady’s face twisted into something ugly, something angry. I should’ve closed the door right then, but I didn’t.

  “You little bitch,” she practically spat the last word at me as she took a step forward. “I knew I’d find you here.”

  Something was wrong. Very wrong. I backed up and tried to close the door, but she flung it open and stood in the doorway.

  “You need to get out of here,” I said, my voice trembling a little. “I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing, but—”

  “Shut up,” she said, pulling a gun from her jacket. “Don’t say another fucking word or I’ll blow your cute little head off. Understand?”

  My eyes went wide and my heart stopped beating, but I somehow managed to nod. I couldn’t take my eyes off the gun, less than a foot away from my face.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” the lady said, waving the gun to encompass the whole apartment before pointing it back at me. “You don’t even deserve him.”

  I was too scared to speak, and even if I hadn’t been I wouldn’t have known how to respond to that. Sometimes I felt like I truly didn’t deserve Onyx’s love and his affection and all of the attention he gave me.

  But I sure as hell didn’t know why this woman with the crazy eyes and a fucking gun had any reason to think that.

  “I gave that man some of the best years of my life,” she said, barking out a short, bitter laugh. “Sure, I got married again eventually, but I always knew he’d come back to me. I’ve just been waiting for the day. But now…” She shook her head and looked me up and down. “Now that he’s got you, he doesn’t seem interested anymore.”

  “Look, I’m sorry,” I spoke slowly and quietly and didn’t make any sudden moves. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but if you just let me go, I promise that—”

  “I don’t wanna hear your promises,” she cut me off, taking another step closer with the gun still pointed at me. “Your word doesn’t mean shit to me, little girl. I thought with your brother out of the way you would’ve gotten smart—would’ve left town or something. I can see now that I’m just going to have to pick up where I left off and get rid of you myself.”

  I gasped. She was the one who stabbed Fabian? This woman? This stranger?

  But I could tell from the look in her eye that she wasn’t joking. She wasn’t lying. Not even a little bit.

  The phone in my hand rang and I nearly screamed, but somehow managed to keep from jumping or moving as her gaze flicked from my eyes to my phone.

  “That’s probably him now,” she said. “Your little lover, checking up on you. Don’t answer it. And don’t even think about moving.”

  “I won’t,” I said, meaning it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive this—or if I would—but maybe if I could at least talk her down a little, maybe distract her, I’d have an opportunity to save myself. “I swear, though, I’m not a threat to you. I don’t know you. We can forget about all of this if you just—”

  “Shut. Up.” She looked as if she might actually explode at any second. Clearly, my plan of talking her down from crazy town hadn’t worked. “I told you already, I’m not gonna stand here and listen to your lies. I ought to just shoot you in the head right now and be done with you. I wonder if you’ll go down as quickly as your brother did.” She laughed again. “He didn’t even see it coming. You should’ve seen the look on his face when—”

  Everything that happened next was a blur. There was movement out of the corner of my eye, and then a body collided with the woman, knocking her to the ground. There was yelling, and a gunshot, then more gunshots.

  I heard screaming, and somewhere in the back of my mind I realized that the person screaming was me.

  I felt myself falling, and then everything went dark.

  Onyx

  “Lauren,” I called out, opening my eyes as I tried to sit up. A sharp burst of pain in my stomach made kept me still, but there was no amount of pain that was going to keep me from finding out what happened. “Where’s Lauren?”

  I didn’t know where I was or who could hear me, but I dammit I needed answers. I looked around the dark room, and then I saw her, standing next to me like an angel.

  “I’m here,” she said. “Onyx, I’m here.”

  My Lauren. My love.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, reaching out to touch her face even though it hurt like hell to move. I didn’t care. It was worth the pain just to know that s
he was there with me, smiling sweetly. “Did she hurt you?”

  “No.” Lauren shook her head, then shuddered. “That woman was… horrible. But then you came and saved me, just like you always do.”

  Thank you, Jesus.

  Still, I had more questions than answers.

  “What happened?” I looked around again. “Where are we?”

  “We’re at the hospital. She shot you in the stomach, but the doctors said you were lucky—the bullet missed all the important parts.”

  “It hurts like a bitch,” I said, frowning.

  “I bet it does, but it could’ve been so much worse.”

  She was right. I should be thankful—I was thankful that she was okay. That was reason enough to celebrate. I’d deal with my injuries later.

  “And what about Sheila? Did they arrest her? Is she in jail?”

  Lauren paused for a moment, then shook her head. “She’s dead, Onyx. When she shot you, the officer who was with you shot her. They told me that she died instantly.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked. There was a time in my life that I would’ve been devastated to lose Sheila, a time when I would’ve given my own life to save hers. But now? After she’d nearly killed my best friend and then gone after my girl? I couldn’t bring myself to feel sad. I didn’t feel anything, really.

  Just… numb.

  “I’m sorry that it happened like that,” Lauren said, quietly. “I shouldn’t have even opened the door without you there. I just thought that she looked so nice, so normal, so—”

  “No.” I shook my head, snapping out of the dark place my thoughts had gone to. “Don’t apologize. Don’t even think about that. The only thing that matters is that you’re safe.” Then my eyes went wide as another thought hit me. “Where’s Faye? Is she okay? Did she see any of that?”

  “She’s with the babysitter,” Lauren said. “And no, she was napping when that woman—Sheila—came to the door. Thank goodness.”

  “Thank goodness,” I echoed her. That had been a small piece of good news, at least.

  We would all be traumatized enough by everything that had happened. It would’ve been even worse for that innocent baby to have seen any of it unfold.

  “What do we do now?” Lauren asked.

  Even without saying anything else, I knew what she meant just from looking into her eyes.

  “We pick up the pieces,” I said. “We can finally rest now that we know she’s not a threat anymore. And as soon as we get the go-ahead from the doctor, we get the hell out of here and go home. Together.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” she said, smiling faintly as she reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Home. Together.”

  It did sound good. Better than good. It sounded like we were finally going to be okay.

  All of us.

  “You really shouldn’t have brought me breakfast in bed.” I said grinning sheepishly as I finished the last bite. I patted the bed next to me for her to sit down. “But I’m glad you did. Thank you.”

  I’d only had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days, thank God, but now that we were back home she was treating me like I might break if I moved around too much.

  “You’re very welcome. And I know I didn’t have to,” she said. “But I’ve finally found a good excuse to spoil you, and it even comes with a bonus—you have to stay there and let me spoil you.”

  “That’s not fair,” I shook my head, but I was already laughing. “As soon as I’m better, I’m gonna have to spoil you twice as much.”

  “No way. You’re already too good to me.” She moved the empty dishes away from me and set them on the nightstand. “It’s about time I get the chance to do stuff for you. It’s a nice change of pace.”

  It was sweet of her to say that, but I didn’t feel right lying around in bed while she waited on me hand and foot. I really had meant it when I’d said I planned on spoiling her twice as much.

  Just as soon as I could move without wincing in pain.

  “I’ll promise you this,” I said, running my hand up her thigh. “The minute I’m able to move around again, I’m gonna be inside you. I’ve been missing that feeling more than anything.”

  “Oh, really?” Her eyes traveled down my body to my crotch, where my cock was already rock-hard. “Maybe we can still have a little fun…”

  “Fuck, don’t tempt me, baby.” I groaned as she reached down and gently stroked me through the sheets. “Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?”

  Lauren stood up and pulled the covers away from me, smiling when she saw my cock pointing straight up out of my boxers.

  “I’ve got a pretty good idea of how much,” she said, giggling. “But what I have in mind won’t require you to move at all. You just have to lay there and let me take care of you.”

  She slowly, carefully climbed back onto the bed and straddled my legs, supporting herself on her hands and knees as she bent down to taste my cock.

  “Fuck, baby,” I murmured, starting to thrust my hips upward.

  She stopped and raised up a little, then shook her head. “No moving. You’ve gotta let me do the work this time.”

  It was going to be torture—but the best kind of torture I could imagine.

  My cock jerked as she went down on it again, her tongue lapping at my shaft as she took inch after inch into her mouth.

  “You were right,” I said, breathless as she went down to the base of my cock. “This is good. Maybe being spoiled isn’t so bad…”

  She didn’t take her mouth off my cock, but I could see her eyes light up with what would’ve been laughter if she hadn’t been preoccupied with making me feel so damn good.

  Then she built up a rhythm, bobbing up and down as she took every inch of my cock to the very back of her throat, and I couldn’t speak, couldn’t think of anything else.

  “Baby… Lauren… fuck,” I panted. “I’m not gonna last long. I’m gonna come if you don’t stop…”

  She kept going, though, and that only made it hotter—and more difficult to hold back.

  Up and down, in and out, she worked my cock just the way I liked it, not even needing to use her hands to bring me to the edge of the orgasm that had been building inside me.

  And when she looked up at me with those big, beautiful eyes, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  “Fuck, baby… fuck…” I moaned, grabbing the sheets in my fists as my legs started shaking.

  Down she went again, and that was all it took. I felt my cock shoot straight down her throat until it filled her mouth and she finally had to back off, raising up as she swallowed it all.

  “You’re so fucking sexy,” I said, unable to take my eyes off her as she ran her finger along the head of my cock and then brought it to her lips for one final taste. “Jesus, how did I get so lucky?”

  She smiled, then shrugged. “I think we both got lucky. I’m glad I could make you feel as good as you make me feel every single day.”

  All I could do was smile, because she was right. Again. Just like she always was, and there was no denying that we were perfect for each other.

  And that I was the luckiest bastard in the world.

  Lauren

  A month had passed since that horrible day—the day Onyx had been shot.

  Seven weeks had passed since the other horrible day, when Fabian had been stabbed.

  Some days it seemed like a lifetime ago, and other days it felt like no time had passed at all. Sometimes I still woke up in the middle of the night, scared and sweating, and not until I look around and reach for Onyx do I realize I’m safe at home, that the person who tried to hurt us—to kill us—only lives on in my nightmares now.

  Today wasn’t a day for those kinds of thoughts, though. There was no room for nightmares in my mind right now.

  We were at the hospital again, but this time it was for a good reason—a happy reason.

  Fabian was coming home.

  It was also a little bittersweet, because while we�
�d be taking him back to his apartment—the one I used to share with him—I wasn’t going to be living there anymore. I’d still be over every single day to check on him and help him recover, but the chapter in my life where he was the one who took care of me was closed.

  Now, I had Onyx in my life, and we took care of each other.

  “What are you thinking?” Onyx asked as we waited for the final go-ahead that Fabian could be discharged from the hospital.

  I looked over at my brother, sitting and waiting anxiously in a wheelchair as he held his sleeping daughter. “I was just thinking about how much things have changed over the past couple of months. So many bad things, but then… so many good things, too.”

  Onyx and Fabian both nodded. Onyx spoke up first. “I know what you mean, babe. It’s been a roller coaster, for sure. But I think everything happens for a reason, and I would go through it all again if it meant I got to have you in my life.”

  “Thank goodness we don’t have to go through any of it again,” I said. “And I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me now.”

  “Never stuck,” Onyx corrected me, shaking his head. “Never. I love you, and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been before.”

  I knew he meant it, and I was grateful every day that he was in my life. But it still didn’t make the news I had for him any easier. It should be happy news—I was beyond happy—but… I couldn’t be sure how he’d react.

  We’d never really talked about long-term plans. It had been enough of a struggle just to stay alive during the short time we’d been together.

  Fabian’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “I hope the two lovebirds can stand to be apart for a few hours at a time once I’m back on my feet. Just because I’m not at a hundred percent doesn’t mean I can’t be a hard-ass trainer and manager like Lauren.” He looked at Onyx. “I’ll have you wishing she was in charge again once I get you in the ring.”