by Teagan Kade
Somehow, he managed to eke out the win. I tried to cheer just as loud as the rest of the crowd. It was frustrating knowing my voice blended in with the rest of the voices around me and he couldn’t hear me. I was hopeful somehow he’d be able to feel my presence and know I was there with him.
It took everything I had not to move as I watched him step away from the ring with Hammer heading toward the locker room. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
Ready?
It was a text from Kevin. I sent back a thumbs-up emoji. Now the fight was over, it was time for a showdown of a completely different variety.
I kicked up onto my feet and made sure everything was arranged in my purse before I headed down the steps onto the floor and made my way around the stands. I was careful to keep to the perimeter of the hallway as I headed toward the locker room. In the hallway there was a pair of security guards keeping overzealous fans from stampeding the locker rooms.
Kevin and Nigel stood about twenty feet away from me in the middle of the hallway and appeared to be deep in discussion. I flashed a laminate press card at the security guards, keeping my head down. They waved me through. It was another item Kevin secured for my cover. I loitered just on the other side of them, pretending to dig in my purse for something, but my eyes never left the pair in front of me.
I saw Nigel grimace. He dug into his pocket. I already had the camera app on my phone open and I zoomed in on the two of them. As I suspected, the item in his hand was a roll of cash. Just as Kevin took it out of his hand, Nigel’s eyes swung around and landed on me.
“Shit,” I said under my breath. I knew I had been spotted. Nigel’s face twisted up in anger. He started pointing at me. I knew this confrontation was inevitable, but I still wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. I was going all in.
He stomped toward me. I moved forward to meet him. Kevin trailed behind with a paranoid look on his face.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Missy? Didn’t I make myself clear what would happen if you came around here trying to cause trouble again?” Nigel was shouting before he even reached me.
I refused to be intimidated by him this time. “Perfectly, but I think our mutual client has the right to know the kind of business manager he has working for him. Someone who is setting him up, leaking stories to the press, and profiting from it. You’re even bringing other people to the team now.” I nodded toward Kevin to make my point.
“Shaun is your former client, and you can’t prove a damn thing. I owed my buddy Kevin here a little bit of cash on a side bet we made on the fight. I was paying him back. That’s all.”
“You were paying him off, but it wasn’t because of some side bet. You were paying to keep him quiet so you can keep doing what you’re doing, smearing Shaun’s name. I won’t let you get away with it.”
“You better turn your little ass around and get out of here now, or else that picture is going viral. I’ll tweet it out right now.”
“I don’t care,” I said. I crossed my arms. “You’re going down, Nigel.”
“You don’t know who you’re fucking messing with, do you?” Nigel stuck his finger right in my face.
“What is going on here? Tori?”
The voice that haunted my dreams nightly for weeks floated to my ears. We all turned and saw Shaun standing there with a shocked expression on his face. This wasn’t the reunion I had planned for us at all.
Chapter Sixteen
Shaun
It was the yelling that got my attention. I was due to have a quick chat with a few select reporters handpicked by the new guy from Kommen and Russell. I was getting cleaned up when I heard Nigel’s screaming out in the hallway. For once, it wasn’t directed at me.
I stepped outside the locker room and saw Nigel near the end of the hall with the PR guy at his side. The conversation was happening with someone I couldn’t quite see. Figuring it was some fan that was trying to get through security, I was about to leave when I caught a flash of wavy brunette hair tied up in a ponytail. I couldn’t stop my feet from moving in their direction.
When I was less than ten feet away, my suspicion was confirmed. Tori stood there looking like she’d just stepped out of a biker magazine. She looked different, but she was still stunning. I would have known those eyes and that body anywhere. Her face was pale, but she wasn’t flinching under whatever it was Nigel was railing on her about.
“You better turn your little ass around and get out of here now, or else that picture is going viral. I’ll tweet it out right now,” Nigel said.
Picture? What picture?
“I don’t care,” she said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re going down, Nigel.”
“You don’t know who you’re fucking messing with, do you?”
Whatever was happening was clearly something big. “What’s going on here? Tori?” Nigel and the PR guy, I thought his name was Kevin, swung around and saw me. Nigel immediately fell silent, but I couldn’t give two shits about him. My focus was entirely on Tori.
Now she was fully in my view, I saw a few things I missed the first time. There were heavy bags under her beautiful brown eyes, and she looked a little thinner than the last time I had seen her, too. I wondered if the weeks between the last time we saw each other and now had been anywhere near as difficult for her as they had been for me. I wanted to understand what I did to drive her away, but that conversation was going to have to wait.
“I asked a question,” I said, terse. When it became clear no one was jumping to say anything to let me in on what was happening, I softened my tone. “Tori?”
“She’s trying to blackmail you, Shaun,” Nigel interrupted.
Tori’s mouth gaped open. I could only imagine her expression was similar to mine. “I didn’t want you to have to find out about it this way. I thought I could handle it. But she sent this picture to me and said if I didn’t pay her off she was going to release it all the major news outlets.” He took a picture out of the pocket of his jacket and handed it to me.
I felt the anger rise as I took a picture that captured another one of our passionate embraces, but this one clearly showed Tori’s face and her exposed breast.
“He’s lying,” Tori said. “Why would I risk my career by releasing a picture like that? Even if I was willing to do further damage to your career, which based on everything I have done for you, you know isn’t true, I’d hurt myself in the process. He hired the photographer that took that picture and the picture he fed to Georgie for your interview. He’s been setting you up this entire time, getting photographers to follow you and hiring people to get in your face, get you angry and make you look bad.”
It was all too much.
“She’s the liar. Why would I do that? I’ve been your manager since your first fight. I found you,” Nigel sputtered. “This is fucking preposterous.”
“Why would he do something like that?” I said, directing my comment to Tori.
“He gets paid. It’s that simple,” Tori said. “I’m sorry you had to find out about it this way.”
“She’s the one who’s after money, Shaun. I’m telling the truth. She’s trying to blackmail you. She can’t prove anything about this crazy story of hers.”
Tori looked at Nigel coolly. “Actually, I can.”
The look on Nigel’s face told me everything I needed to know. I felt as if had been knocked upside the jaw. Tori looked at Kevin. “Nigel, meet Kevin. Kevin has been my best friend for the last three years I’ve worked at Kommen and Russell. Kevin, can you show Shaun the proof Nigel has requested?”
Kevin took a wad of cash out of his pocket. He handed it to Tori.
“That doesn’t prove anything. It was a side bet between a couple of guys,” Nigel said.
Kevin unbuttoned his shirt and showed off a small microphone taped to the inside lapel. He pulled a small recording device out of the waistband of his pants. “It’s all here just like you asked, Tori. Nigel offered to pay me a tidy sum of cash every month as
long as I kept my mouth shut and looked the other way so he could run all of Shaun’s appearances. He said he got a fat payday from what happened with Willy Copeland last week, especially once they split the payoff money. He said it was just a matter of time before Shaun cracked again.”
A white rage of fury started to burn deep inside of me.
“He’s full of shit,” Nigel said, but there wasn’t any fight left in his voice. “Champ, you gotta believe me. I would never do anything that would seriously hurt your reputation. You and me, we’re a team. We both profit from the extra publicity.”
I stiffened as he reached for my arm and shook him off. “Well, apparently you’ve gone solo and forgot to tell me. You’re fired, Nigel. Get out of my fucking sight.”
Nigel started to huff. My fists clenched again. Tori stepped next to me and put her hand on my arm. “Security!” she called to the two men behind us. “Mr. Nichols would like this man escorted off the premises. Now.”
Nigel sputtered and cursed as the men grabbed his arms. “You’re going to regret this, you little bitch. Don’t forget what I have on you! I’ll fucking take you down with me!”
We watched in silence as Nigel was thrown unceremoniously out of the building. There was something about it that felt perfectly right.
“What did he mean about taking you down with him?” I asked. I couldn’t believe she was there. She smiled tumultuously at me and I could see the worry she was trying to hide behind her eyes.
“Well, that picture in your hand will go viral, my boss will fire me, and no one else will want to touch me. I’m supposed to clean up my clients’ scandals, not be part of them.”
“Come work for me directly. No more working for anyone else, and no more having to worry about that kind of bullshit,” I said.
“I’ll consider it. There is one thing we can and should do, though,” Tori said thoughtfully. “Do you trust me?”
I felt it in the depths of my soul. “You know I do.”
She looked over at Kevin. “You have it all lined up like I asked?”
He nodded to her. “They’re waiting in the press room.”
Tori smiled at me as she pulled the ponytail down, her long, curly waves roaming free over her shoulders. My fingers itched to touch her, but I knew it wasn’t time for that yet. She and I were going to have a talk, but I’d let her do her thing first.
“Make sure Shaun’s ready,” she directed Kevin. “I just need to make a quick stop to the little girls’ room. Give me ten minutes and meet me in there.”
“You’re the boss,” Kevin said with a mock salute.
Tori moved toward the restrooms while Kevin gave me a quick once-over. “Another fifteen minutes and she’ll be all yours.”
That was the best god damn news I’d heard in a long time.
Chapter Seventeen
Tori
I was in my element standing in front of a dozen of the most reputable reporters from across the industry. A quick change in the restroom had me in clothes I was much more comfortable in, though I had left my hair down because I knew Shaun liked it that way. After everything I’d done to him, I wanted to please him more than anything else in the world. This was one small step in the right direction.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight on such short notice. I know I promised you the first scoop on what is going to be the biggest story in sports for at least the next few days.”
“So, what’s the big secret, Tori?” one of the reporters in front asked. “Another big scandal?”
“It has come to Mr. Nichols’s attention that his manager, Mr. Nigel Ross, has been profiting from his recent run-ins with the press. In fact, Mr. Ross was paying both individuals and members of the press to show up and manufacture the sensational events that were then played out in front of the cameras without Mr. Nichols knowledge or consent.”
Several voices started speaking at once. I put my hand up in the air to quiet them. I looked next to me. Shaun stood there. I saw his jaw flex as he clenched his teeth, but otherwise he was the picture of calm composure. That was just how I needed him to be.
“Mr. Ross, having obtained these exclusive images and footage, then proceeded to sell these materials through an intermediary to the highest bidder in order to profit on their sale. I want to reiterate that my client, Mr. Nichols, had nothing to do with these fabricated, elaborate set-ups and was a victim in these circumstances of Mr. Ross’s attempts to slander him.”
“He beat up a guy, Tori,” one of the reporters broke in.
I saw Shaun’s eyelid twitch out of the corner of my eye, but I was prepared for this too. “Mr. Copeland, the reporter in that incident, has gone on record saying he was the one who initiated the physical contact in the incident between him and Mr. Nichols.” There was a collective murmur through the crowd as they processed this new nugget of information. “That’s why the charges were ultimately dropped. Mr. Ross was also collaborating with the witness to the incident, Ms. King. Mr. Nichols’s side of the story where he tried to tell officers this detail was buried. I am rectifying that now.”
I certainly hoped Kevin remembered to brief Shaun on that particular morsel of information. I knew he was probably beating himself up about the whole thing, but after some digging and a bit of cash, the reporter confessed he had been told to start something that day even if Shaun didn’t. Whether Shaun threw the first punch or not, Nigel had intended for the situation to go down exactly the way it had.
“Mr. Nichols! Do you have a comment?”
I stepped back from the podium. Shaun took my place. I sucked in a deep breath hoping this would go off the way we both needed it to and he would keep his cool.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight. This has been a long road for me since Rio,” Shaun said. He paused and shook his head as if he was silently trying to find the words to say what he wanted to say next. “I know everybody out there thinks I’m some kind of ticking time bomb. With everything that has happened I have to admit there was a part of me that started to believe it too. It seems like something out of a movie or book to think someone so close to me would be willing to sell me out so easily. What I’ve come to realize is that I put my trust in the wrong person. That has been a hard lesson to swallow.”
He looked at me, and I saw something in his eyes that called out to me. I knew I did the right thing. I didn’t care about my career anymore. I could build a new one. If Shaun was serious about hiring me, I didn’t have to give a flying crap about Martin or anyone else. I could manage Shaun’s career exclusively, and that was fine with me, because I found something else I wanted even more than a corner office at a top PR firm. I found a guy who made my heart sing and set my body on fire. That was worth whatever blowback would come our way if Nigel did release the picture. I’d manage it, and Shaun and I would get through it. Together.
That was assuming he still wanted to have anything to do with me in the romantic sense. He and I needed to talk about that, but right now, I was so proud of him for speaking his truth in front of the press. He was finally being released from the shackles of the bad boy image. He was starting over, and so was I.
“So what’s next?” came the next question.
“I’ve been fighting for years. I think it might be time to take a step back and reassess my life and my goals for my career.” Immediately, the questions rang out in a snarled mess. Shaun held his hand up. “I’m not retiring or anything like that. I just have a lot of other things on my plate right now that require my attention. I want to make sure that when I’m back, I’m showing all of my fans I am the right kind of role model for them, no matter how old they are.”
Shaun turned to me and motioned for me to come closer. “I’ve said already trust is something more important than I ever realized, and where you put that trust is important to evaluate on a regular basis.” He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. There was a moment of hesitation before I let him squeeze me. I sensed this was important to him. “You hav
e all met my PR agent, Victoria Ellis. I want to state for the record I am crazy about her, and if she’ll have me, I’m ready to yell from the rooftops exactly how I feel about her.”
My mouth fell open.
“Is Tori the girl in the photograph?” These guys were astute, no doubt about it. Shaun looked down at me with a question in his eyes. I took a deep breath.
“Yes, that was me,” I said, not taking my eyes off of Shaun. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, and for the first time I didn’t care who saw it. I was in the arms of the man who was about to change my world. I knew it could only be for the better.
Chapter Eighteen
Shaun
The press conference went on for another few minutes, but I didn’t even remember what I said. All I could think was when crunch time came, my girl didn’t flinch. I put myself out there and could have been publically kicked in the balls, but she didn’t do that. Instead, it was obvious, despite our heavy-handed diversions around the questions of our relationship status, that Tori and I were together. We were officially a couple. That made me the happiest man on earth.
I sat in the back of the taxi waiting as she told her friend Kevin goodnight. She crawled into the back next to me. I couldn’t help but wrap my arm around her and pull her close up to my side.
“That was exciting,” I said to her.
She chuckled. “Even more exciting than I expected.”
“Look, if you don’t want this, then just tell me. But I figured if I let the cat out of the bag about our relationship, if Nigel does release the picture, it’s not any big revelation.”
“I know. He’ll still make a mint off of it,” Tori said.
“Well, I had his phone and laptop confiscated as soon as I figured out he’d been lying to me,” I said. “Hopefully we’ll have the originals on that.”
