by Anne Martin
“I’d throw him out for you. I’d throw him out anyway. No-good bum. Reminds me of myself at that age. He’s good with kids, though. He doesn’t let them down when they’re waiting for their coach.”
He took us out to lunch at a place where they had dogs with sauerkraut that would put hair on your chest. I passed because I needed to not mess with my blood pressure. No more salt.
“Are you going to win this year?” Patty asked Horse.
Horse glanced at me. “Well, Nix is at a disadvantage since Trix is taking the time off, but it’s hard to say.”
“I’ll be watching the cage fight. Pay-per-view. Mick will probably make a party of it at the gym. Trix, should we cheer for Nix’s team or Horse’s?”
That was a good question. “Whichever suits your fancy, as always, Patty.” I kissed his head and then we headed back to the garage.
“Trix! Did you really get married? Who would be so insane?”
I smiled at Joey, but when he got close, I punched him a solid to the stomach. He folded with an oomph, but came up right away, grabbing me into a huge hug that lifted me off my feet.
“Careful,” Horse said. “She’s pregnant.”
Joey put me down and grabbed my shoulders, staring at my face like I’d carry the baby there. “Yeah? You are kind of fat.”
I knocked his hands off and we kind of grappled until Horse grabbed me from behind and put his body between us.
“Careful,” he murmured in my ear, giving me shivers. “You don’t want more bed rest.”
I did not want more bed rest. Ever. I put my hands up in surrender.
“Come and see Lucas. He’ll kill me if he finds out you came by and didn’t get to say hi.” Joey nodded towards the depths of the garage.
I froze. “I’ve got to get back. I’ve probably been on my feet for too long.”
“Is this your old friend, the mechanic?” Horse murmured then when I nodded said, loudly, “I’d love to meet him.”
I winced. I didn’t want Horse to hit on me in front of Lucas. It would look cheap and feel weird, but Horse was going with Joey.
I glanced over at Patty. He studied me seriously. “Ten bucks they fight.”
“Twenty. Not a chance. Horse is a professional.”
“Twenty-five. There was pain in his eyes.”
I swore and headed after them. I didn’t run because I wasn’t supposed to run. When I got to the garage, there was Horse and Lucas rolling around in the engine grease and sawdust like a couple of teenagers. Joey stood there recording the whole thing on his phone.
I headed towards the men and a girl jumped me. She took me down and punched my face. Like that was going to happen. I hurt her hard and fast, then rolled to my feet and crouched, waiting for the girl to get back up. She took her time. She was cute, blonde, and was wearing a very sensible navy coverall. It had my name on it.
I punched her face the second she was up, then two strikes to the body before I knocked her out.
I headed over to Horse and Lucas. I was feeling a little nauseous and took a second leaning on a car while I tried to get my wind back. Being knocked onto the concrete wasn’t on my list of safe activities.
I’d been going to stop them, but on second thought, I was more comfortable on the bumper watching Horse fight Lucas. There was something secretly satisfying about watching Horse fight for me, however stupid it was. Horse hit Lucas in a way I’d never seen before. Mad. Horse never fought mad. He was always loose and cocky, calculating and cool. Lucas was a scrappy fighter, always had been. He hurt Horse, but he didn’t feel it. He would later. At one point, Horse just lost it on Lucas, pounding away on his body until Lucas was down, arms up, clearly done.
That’s when Patty came in, grabbing Horse by the arms and yanking him back, releasing him before Horse could turn and attack.
“Hothead. I’m telling Mick. You two, get home. Trix, you okay? I don’t want to hear about it. You’re not in the condition for fighting, including breaking up a fight. Did you give Cass a concussion? I don’t want to know. Your mother will hear about it. Get home!”
Horse blinked and rounded on me. “You were fighting?!”
I shrank away from the roar. “She jumped me.”
Joey helpfully said, “You were going to side with Horse. She was just keeping the odds even.”
Horse grabbed me and picked me up, holding me against his strong chest. “Joey, call a cab.”
“I’ll drive,” he offered.
On the drive, Horse held me in the back seat. He just held me, tight, like he didn’t know how to let go.
Chapter 12
Horse Demon a.k.a. Nathaniel David VanBuren
I called the doctor while Joey fought traffic on the bridge towards Trix’s parent’s apartment. The doctor was very calm. The only thing to do was keep her off her feet and watch her for bleeding or any sharp pains. I hung up without saying anything else.
I was so angry. I shouldn’t have gone nuts when I’d seen her old lover, the mechanic who broke her heart and made her so afraid to love, but I wasn’t a fighter because I was a natural pacifist. She was so beautiful. She didn’t struggle in my arms. She seemed to realize that I wasn’t letting her go and that she should let me protect her if she wasn’t going to.
“What did he say?” she asked.
“You’re on bed rest for the next twenty-four hours until he can come and check you.”
“He’s coming here? You’re flying a doctor out here to check on me? I can just go to the family doctor.”
“He’s going to be out here anyway. What were you thinking?”
“It’s not like I asked her to jump me.”
“You need to be more careful.”
“And you weren’t supposed to beat the crap out of him. You lost it. I’ve never seen you like that. It was scary.”
I scowled at the back of Joey’s head. “You’ve never seen me fight when it isn’t for show, Dragon. I’m not always the Horse you know.”
“Why don’t you bring that fury to Nix?”
“I like Nix.”
“Why?”
“He never seduced you.”
“You’re being completely irrational.”
“He’s not the kind of person who would seduce a person on his team. I know he’s always had his faults, but his basic character wasn’t irredeemable.”
“Lucas is fine.”
“It is not fine to hurt you, Trix. That’s never going to be okay.”
“Wait, Lucas hurt you?” Joey turned to stare at us over the back of the seat.
I growled at him. “Focus on the road.”
He rolled his eyes and faced forward. “Trix, you should have said something. You know that we’d all take turns killing him. Mom would be last because there wouldn’t be anything left after she was finished.”
“Shut up,” She wriggled on my lap.
For a second, I was almost distracted because she was Trixie, my wife. She was soft, and beautiful, and sweet, and delicious, but then I remembered that she was going to be in bed without me for twenty-four hours, and I felt a wave of frustration instead.
When we got to the apartment, Trix’s dad was waiting on the front steps as I carried her in.
“Is she okay?” he asked.
She patted my chest. “I’m fine. You can put me down, Horse.”
“Bed rest for twenty-four hours,” I replied without slowing. He got the door for us and followed us to the elevator. It was a bit crowded in there. When we got to their apartment, I was tired and feeling all kinds of idiotic. I shouldn’t have lost my temper and gotten in a fight. She was right, but what had she been thinking, trying to break it up?
“What happened?” Mick asked once we got to the apartment. I went to the couch and sat down with Trixie still in my arms.
I shook my head. Joey came in, slamming the door loudly. “Do you want to see the fight, pops? If Nix hurt Trix like Lucas did, Horse would kill him. What do you think, Trix? For the cause?”
“Dad, punch Joey in the face for me.”
Her dad shook his head. “Face hurts, Trix. Haven’t I taught you anything? Let me see your knuckles. This girl, you hurt her bad?”
Her dad knelt in front of us and examined her hands, then lifted her chin so she was staring into his eyes.
“Not too bad. I would have been more gentle, but I had to end the fight before she gave me a body hit.”
I tensed up when she said that. She couldn’t take any kind of hits, not ever again. I held her close and kissed her hair while I tried to breathe evenly.
“I’d say ice these knuckles, looks like you broke a blood vessel. You,” he said, frowning at me, “are very ugly. You’re coming to the gym as long as Trix is on bed rest. If you’re going to be part of the family, you’re going to bring honor.”
I stared at him. “Yes, sir.”
He grabbed my shoulder in that painful grip. “Call me Mick. Or dad if you like. Get your wife to bed.”
I stood up and carried her into Joey’s room and the bed. I laid her down gently and started taking off her shoes.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said with big eyes.
I bit my bottom lip. “Do you know how much I like your family?”
She laughed. “I would guess very little.”
“They love you so much. They’re so generous and warm. You don’t know how lucky you are to have a family like that. That’s the kind of family that I want to have.” I put her shoe down and started on the other one. Boots. She wore boots so well.
“Half is mob and half is fighter.”
“But all of it is family. All of it is loving.” I took a deep breath and leaned over her to kiss her forehead. “Are you hungry? That salad you had didn’t look very good.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m sure my mother will feed me.”
“I’m sure she will. Trixie, if you wanted to stay at home with the baby, I wouldn’t mind. I like living with you. I love your chaos. There’s no rush. You can take your time figuring out what you want to do, how you want this dynamic to work. I want it to work.”
She studied me with a frown before she nodded. “Thank you. It’s stressful not knowing how it will be. I don’t know what I’ll want or need. I guess you don’t either. I mean, you’re offering me something that you don’t understand. Maybe it’s nice to have chaos every once in awhile, but kids are two a.m. and then three a.m. and then five a.m. and it never ends. I’m not saying that I’d make you get up, but crying will happen. If you want me in your bed, even after we get back—”
“Which I do.” I kissed her and smiled at her, but I felt nervous.
She hesitated then nodded. “Then you’ll be disrupted.”
“I don’t care. I do care. I look forward to it.”
She frowned at me. “Just for a few months until I adjust to the life.”
I stared at her. “I don’t know, Trix. I think that you might be stuck with me. I’ve never beat up an ex-boyfriend before. I think that was jealousy and protectiveness. I might never want you to leave. I mean, if your pasta is anywhere as good as your mother’s, I won’t be able to survive without it. All Las Vegas would be desolate without the magic of your cooking.”
She snorted. “Magic of my cooking?” She touched my face. “You really, really shouldn’t have messed around with Lucas. The doctor will have to check you when he comes tomorrow. Horse, I’m kind of tired. Do you mind if I take off my jeans?”
I swallowed. “Do you want me to go? I’m kind of tired too. I could help you with your pants.”
She smiled and the next thing I knew, I was undressing my wife. She’d said that she was tired, but she didn’t seem to mind my touching her. I wanted so much to touch her more than was probably good for either of us, but instead, I wrapped my arms around her and tried to live in that moment, the perfect synchronized breathing, her stomach beneath my palm, her body curved against mine.
“Horse,” she murmured.
“Mm.”
“Sometimes I forget that it’s not your baby.”
“It is.”
The next morning, I sat up and swung my legs out of bed. She put her hand on my back.
“Where are you going?”
“Your dad said that he wanted me in the gym today.” I touched my face gingerly.
“If he hurts you, I’ll come down there and beat him up myself. Don’t get hurt.”
I turned around and kissed her. She put her hands around my neck and wouldn’t let me go. For a long time I kissed my wife instead of getting punched.
When she finally released me, I brushed her hair back and stared at her. “You get more beautiful every day.”
She frowned and touched her nose. It was swollen along with her cheek from her fight with the girl. “Your vision is probably blurry. You look even worse today. Do you know how much I like you mangled? You’re too pretty.”
I kissed her again and grinned. “I’ll be pretty again, but lucky for you, I have that cage fight coming in a few weeks. I’m sure I’ll look terrible afterwards.”
She caught my hands. “You should win.”
I stared at her while my heart pounded. “Why’s that?”
“Nix is getting cocky, and you look good when you win, too.”
I kissed her too hard and left the room before I could change my mind.
Breakfast was once again too much, but I ate and left with Mick.
“How’s she doing this morning?” he asked as we walked.
“She seems okay. How’s the girl?”
“Patty called. She’s fine. She’s not pressing charges, which is good because she jumped Trix, and of course, Trix being pregnant… Do you want to hear about Lucas?”
“Not particularly.”
“It’s a pity you hurt him so much. If we ever knew that he was messing with our Trix, well, he wouldn’t still be working with Patty. I wonder, though. I always thought that she wouldn’t have him. The way he looked at her, he obviously had feelings, but she always treated him like a brother.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t always show her feelings. The way she looks at you…” He gave me a sharp glance.
“Disdain mixed with amusement? She’s given me worse. I think she doesn’t quite hate me anymore.”
“Not hate, no. She lets you carry her. She likes you carrying her. She’s not a small woman.”
“She’s not fat.” I frowned at him.
He laughed. “Goodness, no. She was, once upon a time. Boys are easier, but it was probably a mistake to raise her like that, no different from our sons.”
“She’s no boy.”
He nodded and that was the only thing he said for the rest of the day, other than instructions on how I was supposed to hold the punching bag. I assisted him as he coached other fighters, doing menial tasks like fetching water and taking checks. I didn’t mind because it’s how he treated Marco when Marco wasn’t working with his own clients. After a long day, I helped him lock up and we walked through the dusky streets.
“How long are you going to fight?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You should have a plan. Are you saving it or blowing it? No one’s on top forever. You’ve got to use your momentum now to build your future.”
“I’ve got a solid reserve of funds.”
“That’s good to hear. You’re not as flighty as I thought you’d be. You come across as quite the cock on-screen.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled at me, soft and gentle with those hard eyes. “If you retire, there’s a place for you here.”
I blinked at him. “That’s too kind of you.”
He raised his hand. “It’s family. There’s always a place for family. Trix too, of course. She’s good. She always loved engines more than gloves. She’d date mechanics instead of fighters.”
“But she married a fighter in the end, and that’s what matters.”
I slowed down as we neared the apartment building. In front, leaning again
st the wall was the lovely and alluring Jezabel. I muttered a swear word or two.
“Is that a friend of yours?” Mick asked, those eyes hardening.
“Jezabel. She’s on Trix’s team. Nix is probably here too.”
He relaxed slightly. “You’d better not mess around, son.”
“I’d have to be drugged out of my mind. I don’t do drugs. Excuse me.” I went forward to give her a cool smile while I crossed my arms. “You’re here to see Trix?”
She smiled brightly, her red lips vicious looking. “In a minute. I bring greetings from Nix. Hi there! You must be Trix’s dad. I’ve heard so much about you.” The bosomy woman gave Trix’s dad a big hug. He stiffened up and the second she released him, he darted into the building.
“Now that we’re alone,” she said, turning to me and crossing her arms, “I’d love to have a word with you.”
“As long as we stand in the open where it’s public, I’m all yours.”
“How many women have you slept with in the last year?”
“I can’t keep track.”
“Try none.”
I inhaled sharply. “There certainly weren’t none. How is my personal life your concern, Jezabel?”
“Well, you getting married to Trix, it made me a little bit curious. I started thinking how strange it was that you’ve never slept with any girls in the circuit. I guess you had your reasons, but you didn’t sleep with any of the strippers or dealers that I know, or any of the girls they know. You mess around in public, lots of messing around in public, but you never move anything into private arenas. Girls don’t complain because you’re very agreeable. As far as I can figure, you’re a nun.”
I scratched my chin. “You know the show, Jez. I’ve got my image just like you’ve got yours.”
Her eyes hardened imperceptibly. “That’s what I thought. Is this thing with Trix for show or for real? Did you knock her up so that you’d win this year? Would you do that much for the game?”
I laughed in her face. “Are you kidding me? That’s the conclusion you came to? It’s my lucky break that I was there when Trixie needed someone. She never needs anybody, at least not more than once every few years. We’re nuns the both of us. Did you honestly come all this way to accuse me of stooping that low to sabotage your team?”
