Impact (The Fight for Life #2)

by K. A. Sterritt

  “Okay, great.”

  “I have something else I wanted to discuss with you.” He started walking in the direction of his office, gesturing with his hand for me to follow.

  When we got to his office, he sat down at his desk and pulled out a folder. I took a seat opposite him and leaned forward to retrieve the folder he’d just pushed across the desk.

  “What is this?” I asked, staring at the folder in my hands. It was obviously old, judging from the faded colour and dog-eared corners.

  “It’s everything you need to know to make your decision.”

  “Decision about what?”

  “Buying the club.”

  I snapped my head up. “What?” Now I was more than surprised. I was completely shocked.

  “My son isn’t interested in the business at all. Think of it like a succession plan.” He winked. “I’m not getting any younger.”

  “You’re not old,” I rebutted. “What are you? Fifty?”

  “Fifty-two, but I feel a hundred most days.”

  “Shit, Nick. I’ve just got my head around one offer and you hit me with this.”

  He nodded. “I’m offering it to you at a very fair price.”

  “I’m sorry, Nick, but I’m not ready for something like that.”

  “Come on, mate. This is a solid investment.”

  “I’m sorry.” I shook my head and wrung my hands in my lap. “I don’t have the money and I’m not mortgaging the farmhouse.” I glanced up at him, hoping I could make him understand. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but that’s just the way it is.”

  I dropped the folder back on his desk then crossed my arms over my chest.

  “You know, I’ve seen enough damaged fighters to know generally what makes and breaks people. You have to let what happened to your father go. Otherwise, you’re a liability to yourself and to those around you.”

  “I’m moving forward. I lost control when I saw my mother and I should never have accepted the Perth fight, but I might never be able to move on from what happened to my father.”

  “Give it some thought,” he grumbled. “Talk to your girl.” He took the folder back and dropped it on the floor beside him. “I’ll come back to you with a schedule for the young guys I want you to mentor.”

  “You want me to mentor them? I thought I was just helping you train them?”

  “You have a lot to offer, son. You’ll be surprised how much the young guys will look up to you.”

  “Why are you doing all this for me?” I really wanted to know why a man I’d ditched more than a decade ago and then overruled in the ring was willing to help me now.

  He stared straight ahead for a few moments as if contemplating his answer before turning back to face me. “I have my reasons.”

  When I left the club in Lilydale, I headed to the farmhouse as planned. I had to admit, the more time I spent there, there more I was starting to enjoy it.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Juliette

  When I walked into my apartment building after work, my mind was still reeling from my conversation with Charlie and the fact I was going to be unemployed in a month. Charlie had sent me several text messages throughout the afternoon, apologising for pushing too hard. I had my earbuds in, so I was startled when Leo stepped out in front of me. I pulled them out immediately and drank in the sight of him. He was wearing faded jeans that looked like they needed a wash and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt. He was breathtaking.

  “Hey,” he said in a raspy voice that made my heart flutter.

  “Hey.” My response came out as a whisper and I had to clear my throat.

  He moved towards me, never taking his eyes off mine. I felt like a deer in headlights, but without the paralysing fear because I wanted to be devoured by this man, whatever the cost. He stunned me every time, not just with his looks, but with the way the world disappeared when he looked at me like I was the only other person in it.

  His arms encircled me, crushing me to his hard body. I had expected his lips to crush mine with a hunger I felt deep in my bones, but there was no crushing.

  “I.” A light kiss just behind my ear made me shiver. “Missed.” Another feathering of kisses to my neck shot desire straight between my legs. “You.” I was a goner.

  He held my face and kissed me on the lips so lightly, I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment and revel in our contact. I was so in love with this man.

  “I missed you too,” I managed to croak out through my lust haze.

  “Let’s go upstairs.” He took my hand and pulled me gently towards the lift. I felt drunk and stumbled a little before snapping myself out of it.

  “How was your day, beautiful?” A few fellow residents joined us in the lift, so we stood next to each other, holding hands, sexual tension filling the air.

  “Tough,” I replied honestly.

  Leo turned to face me. “What happened?”

  The reality of what I was about to tell him starting to hit me. “I resigned today.”

  “Seriously?” he asked, staring at me with wide eyes.

  The lift doors opened at my level and we walked out. Leo dropped my hand and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in closer while I opened the door. I had taken the promise of hot sex and ruined it, but I really did have things to tell him.

  I dumped my handbag and keys on the sideboard then plonked myself onto the couch. Leo surprising me in the lobby had given me a much-needed boost, but I couldn’t avoid telling him about Charlie. I also wanted to hear about what Nick had had to say.

  Leo sat down next to me and pulled my legs over his lap and started massaging my feet. I tried to yank my feet away from his strong hands. “I know girls are supposed to love that, but I am insanely ticklish.”

  Laughing, he didn’t release my feet, but he did stop massaging. I held my breath for a few seconds, waiting to make sure the assault didn’t restart. When I was sure he wasn’t going to torture me, I exhaled.

  “Talk to me, Jules. Tell me all about your day and I promise I won’t tickle you.”

  I grimaced. “You better not.” I rubbed my face with my hands. “I fell into that job. I don’t hate it. That isn’t fair. I just don’t feel like going through the motions of gainful employment doing something I don’t love.” I looked at him to see if he understood. “I guess I’d like to feel a little more excited about what I do.”

  “Life’s too short, Jules.” He squeezed my feet gently and I liked it. “You’re young and you have no financial obligations like kids or a mortgage. There’s no reason you should stay there.”

  “That’s what I figured.” I took another deep breath, feeling my body relax into his gentle touch. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do instead, and in a month, I’ll be unemployed.”

  “What would you love to do if you had your choice of anything in the world?”

  I scrunched my nose up. No one had ever asked me that before, and sadly, I’d never asked myself either. I pondered the question for a while, allowing my thoughts to drift to the things that I loved.

  “Did something happen today specifically that triggered your resignation?” he continued, trying to prompt me. “Did your boss piss you off or something?”

  “I don’t think you’re going to like my answer.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Tell me anyway, Jules.”

  “I had lunch with a guy I met while I was travelling.” I bit my lip. I felt his whole body tense as his gentle touch turned into a steely grip. “My dad’s doing some work for him, so he’s only in town for a few days.” I looked into his beautiful but intense blue eyes. “And he offered me a job working for his family business in Sydney.”

  His nostrils flared, and what looked like a mixture of anger and fear flashed across his eyes. “What did you say?”

  “I declined his job offer. I don’t want to move to Sydney and I’m not interested in the job, but it made me realise I didn’t want my current job either.”

  “Did something happ
en with him while you were away?” He spoke through gritted teeth and the pressure on my feet intensified. “Is that why you didn’t think I’d like your answer?”

  I shouldn’t have hesitated because nothing actually had happened, but there had been an undeniable chemistry between Charlie and me, and I would’ve been lying if I said it had never crossed my mind. I’d left behind a life of chaos and uncertainty, so the temptation to stay over there had, at times, been great.

  I pulled my feet out of his hands and sat up straighter on the couch, pulling my legs underneath me. “Nothing happened between us overseas,” I whispered.

  Leo bristled. “What are you not telling me, Jules?”

  I scrunched up my face. “He kissed me today and told me he was in love with me.” I blurted it out to get it over and done with.

  “What the fuck?” The murderous look on Leo’s face made me regret telling him, but I was done with secrets, lies and protecting the feelings of those I cared about because, in the end, it would backfire. He stood up and stalked to the window. His chest was heaving and his fists were clenching and unclenching. “Fuck, Juliette.” He didn’t look at me.

  I jumped off the couch to join him. When I placed my hand on his arm, he flinched. “I wasn’t going to tell you.”

  “Then why did you?” he snapped.

  “Because we need to be open and honest with each other,” I stated firmly. “I can’t begrudge you not opening up to me if I withhold potentially hurtful information.” I leaned into him. “Charlie is a good man. He is smart, kind and fun.”

  He groaned. “Wow, Juliette. This isn’t helping.”

  “Let me finish,” I whispered. “Look at me.”

  Eventually, he turned to face me, but the hardness in his features remained.

  “Charlie is exactly the type of man I think my mother wanted for me all along. She got it totally wrong with Richard, but her intention was to find me a respectable, safe partner to look after me and I, thinking I was doing the right thing, let her railroad me.”

  Leo groaned. “So your parents would approve of this Charlie guy and he’d make your life easy.”

  “You’re right. Being with Charlie would make my parents happy.”

  Leo huffed. “You told me in Perth you yearned for normal.”

  “I yearn for you,” I shot back. “That is what stopped anything happening with Charlie overseas, and that is what brought me home to all this craziness.” I moved to stand in front of him and snaked my arms around his waist. I looked into his eyes and hoped I could make him understand. “I’m done doing anything just to keep my parents happy.” His shoulders visibly dropped and I heard him exhale. “We’ve brought complication and heartache to each other’s lives, but we’re moving forward.” I waved my hand between the two of us. “I will continue fighting for you, for me and for us. It’s the Leo and Jules way.” I gave him a goofy grin and he attempted a small smile to let me know I was cracking through.

  He ran his thumb across my lips and appeared pained. “The thought of another man…”

  “I don’t want anyone kissing me but you.”

  His lips claimed mine in a frenzy of lust and possession.

  I pulled back reluctantly. “Can you ask me how my day was again, please?”

  He appeared confused. “How was your day?”

  “Fantastic.” I smiled. “Please take me to bed.”

  Later, I made us spaghetti and meatballs and we watched two episodes of Game of Thrones together on the couch. The contentment was bliss. When the second episode ended with more questions than it had started with, I turned the TV off and snuggled into Leo’s hard chest.

  I had completely forgotten about our earlier conversation, thanks to the mind-blowing sex and the drama we’d just been watching that made our lives seem boring in comparison. The only dragon I’d had to deal with was my mother, and she was fairly tame and rarely breathed fire.

  I kissed the middle of his chest then sat up and looked at him, remembering he had been to see Nick today. “Did you go to Lilydale today?”

  “I did. I wanted to talk to you about it.”

  “Tell me.”

  He shifted on the couch. “I accepted his job offer to train young guys while I get serious about my own training, but he’s talking about selling the club.” He paused allowing me to process. “I’ll have to look for a new trainer too if Nick disappears on me.”

  “Oh, wow. That’s unexpected. I thought Nick was a lifer.”

  “Yeah. Me too. I was totally blindsided. He asked me to buy it from him, but I declined.”

  “Bloody hell. Why didn’t you tell me all this immediately?”

  “I kinda got sidetracked when I heard another man kissed my girlfriend.” He raised his eyebrows and I cringed.

  “So when do you start?” I asked, keen to change the subject.

  “Next week. I’m going to quit my bar job, but I’ll give Adri some notice. I don’t want to leave her in the lurch.” He hesitated before he continued. “Nick also offered me the apartment above the fight club.”

  I flinched. I knew it would make more sense for him to live out there, but the idea of being that far apart made my stomach drop. “Oh.”

  “I said no. I don’t want to live that far from you.”

  A mixture of relief and concern hit me. “If it weren’t for me, would you move back there?”

  “I don’t know.” He appeared pensive. “Probably, I guess, but it’s a moot point.”

  He pulled me into a hug and I knew whatever happened, in his arms was where I was happiest. The cogs in my brain started to turn with visions of wide open spaces.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Juliette

  “Do you like Thai food?” Leo surprised me with this random question when I got home from work on Wednesday evening. I’d given Leo a key to my apartment so he could come and go as he pleased.

  “I love it, but I haven’t had it in years. Richard always said all Asian food was full of MSG and refused to eat it, so I guess I just never think of it.”

  Leo cringed when I said my ex boyfriend’s name.

  “Have I ever told you just how much I love Thai food?” he asked.

  “Nope.” I smiled. “You’ve never told me about your love of Thai food.”

  “Then I’m going to take you to my favourite restaurant. I’m starving.”

  “Well, I’d hate to see you starve.” I raised my eyebrows.

  ***

  When we arrived at the restaurant in Prahran, Leo was greeted warmly by the owner, an intimidating figure, to say the least, and I listened in rapture as they spoke in what I naturally assumed to be Thai. I heard Leo say my name and I smiled, assuming I was being introduced.

  “Hello,” I said, making a mental note to ask Leo to teach me a few words.

  “Yin dee krap. Welcome, Juliette.” He bowed and I returned the motion.

  “Jules. This is my friend, Singdam, but feel free to call him Dam.” They both chuckled and I cringed at the idea of calling this scary looking guy dumb. “His chefs make the best Thai I’ve tasted outside Thailand,” Leo informed me, elicting a wide smile from his friend.

  We were led to a table by the window of the richly decorated room.

  “Kob khun krap,” Leo said when he was handed a menu, and I was determined to attempt the same.

  “Kob khun krap,” I repeated what I was pretty sure I’d heard Leo say.

  Dam smiled and walked away.

  “Kob khun ka,” Leo said, leaning forward. “Men say kob khun krap and women say kob khun ka.”

  “Oh my god. Was I really rude? I was just trying—”

  “No, no. I love that you tried. Thai is a very difficult language for Westerners to learn and speak correctly.”

  “I got that when you told me men and women say thank you differently.” I chuckled.

  “Similar sounding words can have different meanings based on the tone they have. Like the word ‘kao’. It can mean rice, nine, knee, to come in,
news and a few other things.”

  “Seriously? How on earth did you learn it? Sounded to me like you were pretty much fluent.”

  “I lived in Thailand for a few years after my dad died. When in doubt, you just say it in a flat, toneless way and hope your listener can work it out from the context. That’s what I did when I was learning anyway.”

  “You amaze me, Leo Ashlar. You drive me crazy and often make me want to wring your neck, but you continue to amaze me.”

  “Ditto, Juliette Salinger.”

  Dam and one of his waiters arrived at our table with several plates of food we hadn’t ordered.

  Leo obviously noticed my surprised look. “Everything is good, so I just asked him to bring a variety for you to try.”

  “Kob khun ka.” I spoke slowly and tentatively, hoping I got it right this time.

  Dam smiled and rattled off something in Thai that made Leo laugh, and I clearly didn’t understand. He seemed happy though when he walked away.

  “Dam says you’re far too beautiful for me.”

  I shook my head, thinking that was completely ridiculous. Leo was easily the hottest man I’d ever seen in real life, in magazines or at the movies. He was in a league of his own with a heart to match.

  “By the way,” he continued. “Dam is spelt D-A-M but pronounced Dum. I remember being terrified to call him dumb when I first met him, but he’s the kindest and most generous man I’ve ever met. He just also happens to be one of Thailand’s greatest Muay Thai fighters ever.”

  “Oh wow.” I glanced over at Dam waiting on a table on the other side of the restaurant. “He could be called whatever you want and no one would bother him about it.”

  Leo chuckled. “Very true. Nick introduced me to him after my father’s funeral and he trained me in Muay Thai. A year later, when I was still in a terrible state, he took me to Thailand to learn about his culture and train with the locals. I found some peace, thanks to him.”

  “Seems ironic to find peace in fighting, but I know what you mean. Do you still train with him?” I asked, riveted by this part of Leo’s past I didn’t know ’til now.

  “On and off for five years now. He comes to my cage fights when he’s not travelling back and forth from Thailand. He makes a good living from this restaurant and manages to financially support a range of youth charities in the provinces he grew up in.” He glanced over at Dam, who was serving other customers. “He doesn’t fight anymore, but in his day, he was a legend. Still is.”