by Lane Hart
“Cain’s a big boy,” Ivan mumbles. “Don’t worry about him.”
“What if something happened to him? Why don’t you guys have cell phones?” I exclaim. “You have plenty of money from wins.”
“I don’t,” Ivan remarks since he rarely wins fights.
“And what’s the point of a cell phone?” Knox asks. “We’re either here or the gym.”
“You still need to have phones in case of an emergency!”
“We’re fighters. There are no emergencies for us. The three of us can take care of ourselves,” Knox responds right before the doorknob turns and Cain walks in.
“Oh, thank God!” I sigh in relief before I run over and hug him. “Where have you been?”
“He was at the gym!” Knox answers at the same time Cain says, “It’s a long story.”
“Don’t lie to me,” I pull back from our embrace to look up at his face. “Where were you?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” he asks on a heavy exhale as he takes my hand and pulls me into our bedroom. Shutting the door behind us, Cain says, “It’ll change everything, Gabby.”
My brow creases as I let those words sink in. “What do you mean?” I ask, taking a seat on the foot of the bed.
“If I tell you the truth, you may not see me the same, and you probably won’t have anything to do with me…”
“That’s impossible,” I tell him as he continues to stand in front of me with his hands tugging on his hair. “There’s nothing that could change how I feel about you.”
“You say that now…” he starts before he groans in frustration. “Fuck it. Robbie’s probably gonna tell you anyway.”
“Tell me what, Cain?” I ask. Oh, God. Is he gonna admit that what Robbie said about him is true? What if he’s right and it ruins everything between us? Either way, I need to know. Having this doubt for only two days has been making me go crazy…
“I killed a man,” he comes right out and admits it in the middle of the bedroom.
“You…you did?” I ask, swallowing around the sudden knot of worry in my throat.
“When I was fourteen. That’s why I ran away…”
“Oh,” I mutter, unsure what else to say. Even after hearing him admit that, I can’t believe it’s true. Cain wouldn’t kill someone. It must have been an accident that he blames himself for. “Was it…you didn’t do it on purpose, did you?” I ask him.
He glances up at me, and in his dark eyes, I see the angry truth before he answers.
“Yes.”
A gasp parts my lips as I stare at the man I’ve known for years, or at least thought I knew. But this whole time he was hiding this side of himself from me…
“Why?” I ask him, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Because I hated him. He didn’t deserve to live when my mom was dead.”
“Your mom?” I repeat in surprise. All Cain’s ever said about her is that she loved roses and died from pneumonia. “Who was he?”
“Her boyfriend,” he answers as he paces in front of me. “We lived with him for a few years, and then she got sick, but he wouldn’t fucking take care of her!”
“Oh.” Understanding the situation, a little better, I say, “That’s why you…”
“Not entirely,” he answers. Blowing out a breath, Cain crosses his arms over his chest and says, “After she was gone, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Without my mom there, the asshole didn’t have to pretend to be nice. He beat the shit out of me, constantly. The only time I ate was at school. So one night, when his steel-toed boot was kicking me in my ribs and stomach, I decided I was done.”
“You killed him?” I ask, tears falling down my cheeks because I hate knowing that someone could be so cruel to him, especially right after he lost his mother.
“I should’ve tried to save him before I ran away. I know that now,” Cain replies as he comes over and goes down to his knees in front of me. “I do regret it,” he says, placing his hands on my knees. “When I picked up the bottle of whiskey from the floor and smashed it against his head to make him stop, though, it felt…good, to finally be able to hurt him after months of the pain he caused me,” he says with a shake of his head. “But then when I saw how bad he was bleeding and scrambled backward, I turned over the heater, watched it catch fire, and then I left him there to die.”
“Aw, baby,” I say, combing my fingers through his hair to pull him against my chest. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him, resting my cheek on the top of his head. I feel the exact moment Cain releases the breath he was holding, worried about my reaction.
“I regret it, angel,” he says against my chest. “I really do.”
“I know,” I tell him. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Cain replies with a shake of his head before he pulls away. “Tonight they held me at the police station, asking me questions.”
“Oh, no,” I gasp. “They know you did it?”
He nods. “The only reason they let me leave is because they haven’t made a decision about what to charge me with now that I’m an adult. Any day now they could show up with an arrest warrant.”
“If that happens, we’ll get you an attorney. We’ll fight it,” I tell him. “Unless, do you think we should run?”
“Yes,” Cain answers without hesitation. “But I won’t. I’ve been running from this shit for too long. Whatever happens, happens. If I drag you away, you could get charged too. I want you to stay here, so Ivan and Knox can take care of you if I go away…”
“You’re not gonna go away!” I tell him, unable to even consider that happening.
“I could,” he tells me. “Maybe they don’t have enough evidence and were just trying to get to me to confess. I don’t know, but this is serious. I could get a long prison sentence.”
“Whatever happens, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him, bringing his lips up to mine to kiss him. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“Thank you for not hating me,” he replies.
“I could never hate you,” I reply honestly.
While it’s hard to believe that Cain could do something so awful, I also know that he’s still a good person inside. He’s always been there for me, and there’s nothing he could ever do to push me away.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cain
Gabby knows her brother and I both have a fight tonight, but neither of us told her we were fighting each other.
I still can’t believe that, after I told her the truth about the fire, she didn’t leave. Every night since, we’ve slept together and Gabby still lets me hold her. It’s such a relief, and knowing she’s not going anywhere means I’ve been able to focus on my fight with Robbie. Well that, and wondering when I’ll be arrested.
Knox and Ivan have been focused on how to give me an edge to make sure I win.
In the old warehouse bathroom, the two guys stretch out a clear tarp on the floor and then unroll the hand wrap I’ll use tonight.
“What is this shit?” I ask them when they start sprinkling white powder on the wrap.
“Plaster of Paris,” Knox answers as he works. “The powder will be unnoticeable to the eye, but when you sweat in the gloves and the powder gets wet, boom! It turns hard like a cast.”
“What if Vaughan finds out and tosses it?” I ask.
“That’s a chance you’ll have to be willing to take,” Knox replies.
“Vaughan won’t give a shit. He doesn’t have a dog in this fight,” Ivan tells us. “As long as it won’t blow back on him, he’ll look the other way.”
“Let’s hope so. If I lose…”
“You’re not gonna lose!” Ivan and Knox both say simultaneously.
“Right,” I mutter.
Once the powder has been sprinkled on the entire wrap, the guys start rolling it back up, shaking off the excess until it’s nice and neat again, looking no different than any other roll.
“Now I’ll go put this with the supplies, and you make sure to grab it
and hand it to Vaughan when he’s ready for you,” Knox explains.
“How will I know which roll it is?” I ask in concern.
Ivan reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out an ink pen. Removing the top with his teeth, he makes a small mark on the top and bottom of the roll in Knox’s hand.
“I’ll place it at the front,” Knox tells me. “Good luck.”
“Yeah, good luck,” Ivan echoes with a slap to my shoulder. “Good always prevails over evil.”
“If that’s true, then why am I cheating?” I mumble.
“Because sometimes the good guys just need a little boost,” Ivan answers with a grin. “I didn’t say that good equals morally righteous, just better than evil.”
“Whatever you say,” I tell him. “Are one of you going to Escapades to keep an eye on Gabby tonight in case I go down?” I ask them, since I have no idea how quick Mario would revoke our deal. I’m guessing he wouldn’t waste much time.
“Hell yeah. I’m there,” Knox says. “Ivan will stay and watch the fight. Look, we even have cell phones now, so we’re like a real deal undercover crew.” He pulls out a flip phone from his pocket and holds it up to show me. “You’ve got one too back at the apartment.”
“Thanks, I guess,” I tell them.
“Gabby’s idea. She thought we should all be able to keep in contact, so we got four of those burner phones with no call records and shit,” Knox informs me. “I’ll write down all the numbers for you.”
“Good idea,” I agree since I know that at any time I could get picked up and hauled off to jail. It’ll be nice to give Gabby and the guys a head’s up if that happens.
“Look, man. We’ll work out something with Mario if things go south here or with the charges,” Knox says since I told him and Ivan the gist of what the cops wanted with me last week.
“Yeah, I know,” I tell him. “First I need to win this fight, and then I can worry about all the other shit.”
“Hell yeah. I’m gonna put this in place and take off for now,” Knox tells me, holding up the roll of wrap. “See you tonight.”
“Thanks,” I tell him again before he disappears and Ivan starts cleaning up the room, picking up the tarp with powder on it and stuffing it all in the trash can.
A few minutes later and Vaughan comes looking for me.
“You ready for me to wrap your hands?” he asks.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” I tell him, following him over to the supply station. “So, who’s your money on tonight?” I ask Vaughan, knowing he doesn’t gamble on his fighters but needing to distract him while I look for and grab the right roll of wrap. Thankfully, I find it right away and hold it out to him.
“If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t bet against you,” he says, looking down at the wrap with a raised eyebrow before taking it from me.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t either,” I tell him as I hold out my right hand for him to get started. Of course, some of the powder flakes off while he works, so much so that Vaughan has to slap his hands together to get it off after he cuts the wrap and starts on my other hand.
“Freshening up with baby powder tonight?” he whispers to me while he works.
“No comment,” I mumble softly.
“Sneaky,” he says as he looks down at the wrapping. “But now you need to play it smart. Think about your moves before you execute, and stay the fuck out of his reach.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” I agree with a nod.
“Don’t get discouraged. Stay positive. You can beat him on a good day without any additional aids,” Vaughan tells me.
“Thanks. Is that the same pep talk you gave Robbie too?” I ask.
“Nah. He said he’s not worried, didn’t need any advice tonight.”
“That motherfucker,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Keep your head on straight and don’t let your emotions get the best of you,” Vaughan warns.
“Easy for you to say. That asshole didn’t rat you out to the police or screw over your girlfriend,” I remark.
“No, he didn’t,” he replies with a smirk.
…
Gabby
“What are you doing here tonight?” I ask Knox when I take him a bottle of water. “You’re not fighting, so I know you can’t drink or…do anything else.”
“Just came by to enjoy the view,” he replies with a small smile that doesn’t last long. His eyes aren’t even on the dancer on stage but sweeping around the room.
“What’s up?” I ask, propping my tray under my arm.
“Nothing,” he answers.
“Yeah, right,” I mutter with a roll of my eyes. “Since when do you show up here and don’t have at least one girl on your lap.”
“Must be losing my charm,” he says.
“Did something happen with Cain? The police pick him up?” I ask in concern.
“Nah, Cain’s fine. Quit your worrying and get back to work,” he says with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Fine, but you better not be lying to me.” I point a finger at him in warning.
“Scout's honor,” he says, holding up three fingers.
I don’t get to comment further, because Deidra, one of the dancers, comes over to Knox and covers those fingers of his with her mouth, sucking and releasing them with a pop.
“Where does my favorite fighter want to put those fingers tonight?” she asks while climbing up on his lap.
I take that as my cue to leave the two of them alone.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cain
Robbie’s right fist lands on my ribs like a fucking hammer, making me double over. His left jab hits my cheek just as hard. Fuck, I’ve never felt anything like it before…
Goddamn him! The asshole’s fucking cheating too! I bet he’s got brass knuckles on underneath his gloves. No wonder he always wins!
And while I may have done the same to protect his sister, the thought that he could stoop so low to beat me, knowing what’s at stake for Gabby if I lose, pisses me the fuck off. He cheated for purely selfish reasons.
All that rage I have for him turning me in and not giving a shit about his sister comes boiling over as I go on the attack, hitting him harder than I’ve ever hit anyone thanks to the plaster hardening in my sweaty gloves.
In the beginning of the second round, my right uppercut sends Robbie flying backward onto the canvas where it’s lights out for him.
Even though the ref calls the fight, I fall down on top of him to rip each of his gloves off. Finding exactly what I expected, the brass knuckles, I start slamming my fists into his face. When someone finally starts trying to pull me off of Robbie, I eventually go, but I don’t even wait for the ref to raise my arm as the winner. I’m too fucking pissed off. That fucker doesn’t give a shit about anyone but his damn self!
As I start to walk through the crowd, I see Mario sitting in the front row and glare at him, seeing if his expression gives anything away. Did he know Robbie was planning to cheat? Is he the one who told him to do it?
“Nobody fucking beats me!” I yell to him and the silent crowd as I walk out the door to go home. Fuck this place and everyone in it!
Tonight was too close. A few more of those brass knuckles to my head and I would’ve been out. And Gabby would’ve been forced to not only dance naked in front of a room full of horny men, but Mario would make her fuck him and everyone else too. I can’t let that shit happen to her.
She’s better than being a common whore and deserves so much more in life. Now with the police all up on my ass about the fire, I’m just not sure whether or not that involves me. The two of us are stuck in this fucked-up world together, at least for a few more years. It doesn’t matter how hard I try, though, I’m destined to let her down.
I’m one sorry ass protector too, because what I want from her is the exact same thing as Mario. Ivan’s wrong. I’m not good; I’m just the lesser of two evils, but I’m still evil. The anger and darkness inside of me will only end up dragging Gabby down
.
…
Gabby
For the last few days, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Cain and what he told me happened in his past.
All these years, I knew he had been through terrible things, but I thought the worst of it was having his mom get sick and die so young. I had no idea about the guilt he’s carried around on his shoulders, scared of probably me or the guys finding out about the fire for fear of our reactions.
He shouldn’t have worried.
While I’m shocked and feel awful about what happened to Cain’s mother’s boyfriend, I also know that Cain was barely a teenager when it happened. He wouldn’t have snapped like that unless he had been pushed past his breaking point.
Now my biggest concern is whether or not Cain will have to go to prison to pay for his crime. That worries me more than his actions years ago.
Every night leading up to the fight he’d been going to bed early, passed out from exhaustion, but he still wrapped me in his arms and held me all night, making me feel safe and loved. And while I may have wanted us to take things further, I kept my thoughts and hands to myself since I knew Cain couldn’t fool around with his fight just around the corner.
Hopefully, he won tonight, and if so, I plan to be very persistent until both of us are naked and finally making love for the first time.
He constantly worries about some asshole at Escapades putting their hands on me, when he won’t even give in and touch me himself. Knowing he doesn’t need the extra stress, I always tell Cain they don’t when he asks if the clients get handsy. And that’s the truth.
Mostly.
Late tonight when we were getting ready to close, Vivian, our usual hostess, got into an argument with Mario and quit before storming out. Instead of getting to head home, Mario insisted that he wanted me to take over the hostess duties from now on during the weekends and wanted to show me how to run the register for tomorrow. I was excited to be bumped up to that position because it got me off my feet and into a cushy chair at the counter near the front door where I would still have a jar for tips.
