by Tia Lewis
Money. That was what I needed. I needed to get back home. "Um, thanks you don't have to do that."
She waved her hand as she pulled some bowls out of the stainless steel fridge. "Oh, I couldn't ask you to work for free. You're saving my ass today by showing up."
I didn't say anything, not really wanting to argue. Whatever she was willing to pay, I would accept. I needed money to get out of this mess I found myself in, money to get back on my feet until I could figure out what the next steps were. One thing was for sure. I wasn't going to stay in this city any longer than I had to. I was going back to Cali and forgetting that Kevin ever existed.
My pocket vibrated, and I pulled out my cell, seeing a number I didn't recognize flash across the screen. I should ignore it, but I wondered if it was Kevin. I wanted to rail at him, ask him why he had done this to me. The night he had given me a wink and left, I had thought everything was fine. Not even twelve hours later, I had found out the truth of why he had left, and it hadn't been good news.
Swiping the screen, I held it up to my ear. "Hello?"
"Tell your boyfriend that I want my money, and I want it back now."
I swallowed hard. "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what you are talking about."
"Don't lie to me," the menacing voice replied. "If he doesn't get my money, I'll have your ass and his."
"Wait, I," I started before the line went dead. Angrily I shoved the phone back in my pocket, realizing Hannah was staring at me with concern on her face. I gave her a sheepish smile, my heart racing. "Wrong number."
She set down the bowl she had been holding and gathered me into a hug, her warmth filtering through my now cold body. "Honey, you can tell me what's wrong."
I pulled away, confused and embarrassed that I was dragging yet another person into my mess. "I-I really can't." I wasn't going to do it. She seemed so nice, and the last thing I wanted to do was put her in danger. "Can we just get to work?"
She gave me a nod and handed me a bowl, catching on for now. "You ice, I pipe."
Blowing out a breath, I stirred the thick icing as she set a tray of cupcakes on the island. This would help get my mind off my worries for a little while at least.
Chapter Five
Travis
"Who's the girl?"
I looked up from the account I was working on to see Tony standing in the doorway, a smirk on his ugly mug. "What?"
He leaned against the doorjamb. "The girl working with Hannah today. Who is she?"
I swore. I should have known that Hannah would waste no time texting her fiancée about my issue, namely my brown haired beauty. "She's nobody."
Tony snorted and walked into the office, having a seat in the chairs in front of the desk. "Now, I don't believe that lie. She must be somebody for you to want to put her with my fiancée. Should I be concerned?"
I thought back to a few months ago when Hannah was attacked by her ex, and Tony went fucking berserk. "I would never put Hannah in any danger." I knew how much Tony loved Hannah, and she was becoming like family to all of us. She had saved the man in front of me. There was no one left on this earth that could save me. I was too far gone.
"I didn't think so," he said, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "So, what's up with the girl? Hannah says she's in some kind of trouble."
I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. "Yeah, though I don't know what kind of trouble. All I know is someone tried to snatch her off the street last night."
"Shit," Tony swore, his eyes darkening. "Who is she?"
I thought about Julia, the way she had looked at me this morning when I had told her I had a place to take her. The relief was unmistakable though she had tried to hide it. Something was seriously wrong here, something that I wasn't so sure I wanted to find out about. "Hell man, I don't know. It was a chance meeting with her on the streets last night. I don't know anything past her name."
Tony laughed. "So you're telling me you have a stranger staying at your place, a pretty one, by the way Hannah has described her, and you don't know shit about her? Who are you and what have you done with Travis?"
"I know," I sighed, thinking it was way out of my character as well. I had been largely by myself since Nicole's death, walking away from fighting after that night, to everyone's surprise, and taking myself far away from anything that reminded me of her while I tried to deal with the overwhelming pain of losing her. I didn't know how to handle it, and I had found no answers while off on my sabbatical either. I was going to be stuck with the fact that I got Nicole and our unborn child killed for the rest of my life, a constant reminder of how I had royally fucked up the best thing I had going for me. "But she had nowhere else to go. I had no choice." I wasn't an asshole.
"Dude," he said, leaning back in the chair. "You're in a mess."
"Tell me about it," I said, running my hand over my hair. I had been doing that a lot lately. "Can she come stay with you and Hannah?"
Tony shot me a look that dared me to ask the question again. Of course not. I was stupid to think so. They were like newlyweds, and if it were me, I wouldn't want a stranger in my house either. "Hannah says she's a chef," he continued after a moment. "Maybe she can cook for you."
A chef. I would have never guessed. How did a chef almost get kidnapped and end up being homeless? I couldn't remember the last time I had experienced a home cooked meal, preferring anything in a can that could be eaten quickly. There was once a time I enjoyed cooking, but that time was long over.
"Why didn't you come to the party last night man?"
I turned my attention back to Tony. "What?"
"The engagement party," he reminded me. "We looked for you, man."
I shrugged, not wanting to tell him the real reason I didn't want to come. It reminded me of my past, the life I would never have. "Sorry. I ran into Julia and well, you know."
Tony looked at me. "Dude, we consider you family. I hope you know that."
I nodded, emotion working in my throat. The gym was all I had, and these guys kept me sane most of the time.
"There you are."
We looked up to see Benji in the doorway, a stupid smile on his face. Benji was the third fighter out of the four of us that owned a piece of Warrior Zone, the gym where we specialized in the arts of mixed martial arts. All of us had been a cage fighter in our day, though Benji was the only one that still fought on a regular basis. Today he was sporting a black eye and a busted lip, the prizes of war from his last fight. As much as I hated to admit it, I missed those feelings, when you woke up the next morning after a brutal fight, and couldn't get out of bed. The more I hurt, the more I knew I had done a fine job on getting my win. "What do you want?" I grumbled, pushing those thoughts away.
"We are getting back in the cage boys," he grinned, bracing himself on the doorway. "All of us."
Tony chuckled. "Hell no, I'm not. I've learned my lesson. I'm too old for this shit."
"I'm done with the cage," I forced out, anxiety building in my chest. Get back in the cage? Hell, the cage had taken everything away from me. I had no desire to do anything like that.
"There are no options with this," Benji stated, glaring at us. "We've been invited to a tournament, a battle of MMA gyms if you want to call it. Winning the damn thing will put us in that top slot fellows. I'm afraid if we want to keep the doors open, we need to all do this."
I sighed. Membership had picked up right after Tony had won his match, but it had drifted back off once Tony announced his formal retirement. With Benji being the only relevant fighter still left in the group, guys were looking elsewhere for training. At this rate, we would be lucky to still be in business next year. It wasn't about the money. All of us had more money than we probably knew what to do with. This was our passion, our love. Without MMA, none of us would be in the position we were in today. We wanted to cultivate the next crop of fighters.
But I couldn't fight. I would do anything for the gym, anything but that.
"Fine," Tony grumbled, absently rub
bing his knee. "I'll do it, but it better be someone who's slow. Hannah will kill me if I blow out this knee right before the wedding."
Benji grinned before looking at me. "Trav? What about you? Can we count on you?"
I pushed away from the desk and stood, anger simmering in my body. I wasn't going to do this. "No."
Benji's grin slid from his face. "What?"
"I said no," I forced out, pushing past him and out into the gym. I heard him calling me, but I ignored him, my eyes trained on the door, the escape. I wasn't going to explain to him why. They could kick me out of their little club, pull my twenty grand off the table that I had ponied up to be part of this gym. I wasn't going to fight. End of story.
I reached the door and pushed it open, night falling in the distance. The cold air did nothing to settle my nerves, and I flexed my hands, really wanting to punch the shit out of something right now. The bakery door opened and Julia stepped out, her bag flung over her shoulder. Not only did I have this mess to deal with now, but I had completely forgotten about the woman that had abruptly entered my life last night. She saw me and apparently I looked extremely pissed off, for she stepped back a few steps, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Um, hi."
"Are you done?" I forced out, my throat tight.
"I, yes, I'm done," she answered, looking at me warily. I blew out a breath and pointed toward my place. "Come on. It's cold as balls out here."
I didn't wait to see if she followed, but it wasn't long before she finally reached my side, her breath coming out in short burst clouds. "Do you ever slow down?" she asked as we approached the building. "I mean, I feel like I'm running a race."
"I like to get where I'm going," I answered, some of the anger starting to fall away. They weren't going to kick me out. I would have to tell Benji why I couldn't do it, why I couldn't fight. He would understand.
She laughed. "I would believe it."
I moved down the stairs to my door and opened it, the blast of hot air from inside a welcome relief from the chilly air outside. She followed me in and closed the door behind us, dropping her bag on the chair beside the door. "Are you hungry?"
I turned to look at her. "What?"
She sighed, stripping off her coat. I tried to not look at her curvy body, the way the long sleeved shirt clung to her chest or the way her jeans flared at the hips. Julia had a damn fine body. "I asked if you are hungry. I-I'm a chef, and I don't mind whipping up some dinner in exchange for staying here."
I shrugged, curious. "Have at it."
She nodded and walked over to the kitchen, pushing up her sleeves as she did so. "I have to tell you something," she said as she opened my fridge and started to root around in it.
I couldn't imagine what she could tell me where I would give a shit, but I wasn't going to say it aloud. Hell, she was willing to cook for me tonight. My mouth damn near was salivating at the thought of a home-cooked meal. "Go on."
"I got a call today," she said softly as she pulled out some eggs and a bag of spinach I had just bought a few days ago. "They threatened me."
My blood ran cold as I heard her soft words, hearing the tremor in her voice. "Who?"
"I don't know," she said, looking back at me. "I don't know."
Chapter Six
Julia
I didn't know why I told him. Travis wasn't going to be my savior, he didn't even have to be involved with what I had gotten myself into, but after I had told him, he had walked out, tension evident in his body. I had put the food back in the fridge, having lost my appetite and curled up on the couch, the blanket around me as I waited for him to return. I had told him the truth. I didn't know who was calling me. I knew why, but I wasn't quite ready to share that information until I was sure that I couldn't fix it myself. Kevin had really screwed this up, and now I wondered what I could have seen in him. He had charmed me, told me how successful he was and taken me to all of these glitzy Cali spots whenever he visited. We would go to wineries and hot night clubs, and at the end of the night, he would take me back to my little bungalow house, and I would surrender to his touch. For a while, I couldn't imagine living without him, but now I wished I had never met him.
The door opened, and I looked over to see Travis walking through, shaking off the snow that had started to fall outside from his hoodie. He dropped his hood and closed the door, throwing the locks before turning to look at me. "I'm sorry," I blurted out immediately, feeling horrible that I even said anything.
He shook his head. "Don't be. I just, it wasn't about you."
I wanted to tell him he was a horrible liar, but I decided it was too awkward between us already. "Hannah is paying me under the table so in a few days I'll be out of your hair."
Travis straightened his shoulders. "It's fine you are here. Stay as long as you like."
I untangled myself from the blanket and climbed off the couch, clasping my hands in front of me. "I really appreciate everything."
He nodded, running that hand over his hair again. "Take the bed tonight. I'll sleep out here."
"No, I couldn't," I started before he held up his hand, his eyes glittering. "Go. I'm fucking tired and really don't want to argue about it, okay?"
Swallowing, I gathered my things and gave him one last look. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he said. "Good night, Julia."
"Good night," I answered walking down the hall he had disappeared to last night. His bedroom was elevated up a couple of stairs, the massive king bed dominating the room. The room was also decidedly masculine, with dark furniture and covers. I found a master bath through one door, with a claw-footed tub to die for, and a stand-up tile shower with a glass wall. There was no sign of Travis's clutter, everything looking neat and orderly, even the walk in closet that I peeked into. Though the place had great potential to be a warm, inviting home, I found it quite the opposite. There was a sadness here, one that I didn't understand.
Dropping my bag on the wood floor, I stripped off my clothes and replaced them with a tank top and shorts, frowning as I looked at my dwindling pile of clean clothes. I was going to have to make a trip to the apartment soon to gather the rest of my things, if they were still there that was. I would be taking a massive chance with my life, but I wanted my stuff back. Luckily, I had stored a spare key under the mat just in case I had locked myself out. I could only hope it was still there.
A small picture frame on the bedside table caught my eye, and I picked it up, admiring the couple in the photo. One was definitely Travis, though his grin surprised me. Gone was the haunted look in his eyes, the stone-faced expression I was getting used to. His arm was thrown around a tall blonde with a beautiful smile, looking up at him adoringly. Who was she and where was she now? Was she the reason that he was like he was? Had she broken his heart?
With a sigh, I put the picture frame back on the table carefully and climbed in the massive bed that smelled faintly like aftershave. Wow, his bed was comfortable. I was literally sinking into it, the sheets silky soft and luxurious. For a man who had such a weird demeanor, he sure liked the finer things in life.
I awoke to someone screaming. Not just screaming, a gut wrenching scream that caused goosebumps to break out all over my body. I threw back the covers and ran out of the bedroom, nearly falling down the stairs in the process, my heart in my throat. What if those goons had found me and were torturing Travis? He couldn't be injured because of me. I wasn't going to allow it. How I was going to stop it, I didn't know.
I turned the corner and skidded to a stop, looking for anyone lurking in the shadows. There was no one in the room save Travis, thrashing around on the couch. I swallowed hard as I approached him, realizing that he was asleep still, his eyes closed as he turned his head from right to left, his expression one of pain. "No," he said. "Not her, please God, not her!"
The pain was evident in his voice, and my heart lurched. Oh my god. Someone had hurt him horribly. Kneeling next to the couch, I reached out, afraid to touch him. Tears streamed down his face, and I
had to swallow to keep the tears from clouding my eyes as well. This strong man was crying like a baby. I hated whatever was causing this, and knew he would hate that I was witnessing it as well.
"I'm sorry," he sobbed, his hands blindly reaching out. "I'm so damn sorry. Please don't leave me. I'll do anything."
Any girl would be lucky to hear something like that from a man like this, and I wanted to soothe him. If the blonde had caused this, I wanted to rip out her hair for doing so. He sounded so heartbroken. Carefully, I touched his forehead, finding it slick with sweat. "Shhh," I said softly, touching his skin. "I'm right here. No one is going to hurt you."
He whimpered, and I ran a hand through his hair like I had seen him do numerous times. He quieted under my touch, leaning toward me. His brow was still furrowed in pain, and I wondered if this was a common nightly fight for him, his dreams nothing more than nightmares. It was horribly sad.
"Nicole," he breathed, falling back into a normal breathing pattern. I removed my hand and stood, looking down at him with tears in my eyes. Now I understood why he was the way he was. Someone had hurt him deeply. Someone he loved a great deal had destroyed him, and I was willing to bet it was the blonde in the photo.
Feeling emotionally drained, I walked back to the bedroom. I wasn't the only one that was harboring secrets. Mine just weren't quite that painful at the moment.
When I woke again, sunlight was streaming through the small windows that ran at the top of the wall. The weight of what I had learned about Travis on my shoulders, I hurried to take a shower in that wonderful shower stall and changed into my last set of clean clothes, pulling my hair up into a loose bun before stepping out of the bedroom, not sure what I was going to find in the other room. Travis stood at the counter in the kitchen, a mug in his hands and the smell of coffee lingering in the air. "Good morning," he said, his expression blank.
