Breaking the Silence (Hard Drive Book 2) (16 page)

I think it was the same five guys. He didn’t fight back.

She glanced from his face to his bloody shirt.
He would fight back,
she insisted.

He has nothing to fight for, Avery.

What did he have to fight for before?

Lindsay watched her for a long moment before he signed.
You.

Avery’s whimpers turned to sobs as she collapsed on the sofa beside him. He wrapped her tight in his arms to comfort her, cradling her head against his chest as she cried.

»»•««

Rico clenched his eyes shut as he flung himself against the hospital pillow. He growled in frustration. He hated hospitals. Had since he was a kid. Spending two weeks in one at thirteen for a broken jaw had sworn him off them. He’d rather bleed to death.

Unfortunately, since Rico had arrived in Minneapolis, he no longer made his medical decisions. Mark did. It didn’t help that one of his best friends was an emergency room doctor. And this time, he hadn’t been coherent enough to protest.

He slowly opened his eyes as he heard footsteps on the tile floor. Then quickly, he squeezed them tight again. The lights were as dim as they would go, but they still made his head throb. He squinted enough to make out the blurry image of Max.

“How are you doing?” Max asked softly.

“Fantastic. Never been better,” Rico snapped.

“Glad to see your smart ass, cynical attitude is still intact.”

“Some things will never change.”

Max shoved his hands in his pockets then looked away for a moment. He turned back to Rico. “I’m pulling you from the fight.”

Rico shot up in the hospital bed then doubled over in pain. “You can’t do that to me. That fight is all I have right now.”

“You’re lying in a hospital bed after being beaten up by a bunch of thugs. You didn’t fight back. You let them tear you apart. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Rico glared at him silently.

Max shook his head. “You’ve skipped practices. You aren’t performing when you’re there. You’re falling apart, Rico. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Believe in me.”

“I do. But I can’t be part of your suicide mission.” Max sighed. “Rico, you’ve got to get Avery out of your head. You’ve got to get past her.”

Rico let go a weak laugh. “Don’t you think I wish I could?”

“You need to get it done.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You got the woman you love. You got your happily ever after.”

“You think it was easy? It wasn’t. Far from it. Chloe was sick. She didn’t trust me. It took weeks to get her to do that. Then, I nearly lost her to Phoebe’s lie.”

Rico gave him a feeble smile. “I know. Remember? Who found the ring? Who talked sense into both of you? Oh, that’s right. Me. I did.” He rubbed his eyes. “Please, Max. Let me fight. I swear I’ll be in the gym every day. I’ll be the best. Don’t take this last thing away from me. Please.”

Max stared at him for a moment then pulled a hand free from his pocket. He shook Rico’s. “I’m holding you to it.”

“Thank you, Max.”

Max settled into a chair beside Rico’s bed. The room fell quiet. Not another word was said between them. There didn’t need to be. Rico was grateful for his best friend. But Max was more than a friend—he was a brother. And there was no way Rico would let him down.

»»•««

Through the next couple of weeks, Rico spent every free moment he had at the gym. He lifted, sparred, and even taught a few classes. He steadily regained his spot as one of the superior mixed martial artists at Hard Drive. The mojo was back.

Yet, once he stepped across the threshold of his apartment, his world came crashing back down. He would drop his bag on the sofa then shuffle to the refrigerator, prying it open and snatching a beer. It would be the first of many for the night.

He wasn’t about to tell anyone of his drinking. Passing out was the closest he ever got to a good night sleep. He hated himself for every swig he took. Every drink reminded him of his father. Of that night. Of the one too many gin and tonics the man had swilled before getting behind the steering wheel of the family sedan and killing Rico’s mother and the couple in the other car.

Rico couldn’t remember a time his father hadn’t had a drink in his hand. He had obsessed about alcohol just like Rico obsessed about mixed martial arts. It was just one more sin Rico would never forgive himself for. At least he would be plenty sober before he got to the gym the next day.

Finally, the week of the fight arrived. Rico waited by the curb for his ride to the airport. A vintage sports car slowly rumbled a path between the cars on the street and stopped before him.

“Ready to go?” Max questioned.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Rico slid in the passenger seat. “Mark and Dan?”

“Will meet us at the airport.”

“Chloe?”

“Going to fly out right before the fight. We both agreed that I don’t need the distraction. I need to focus on the fight and my opponent. If she’s there, I’ll be thinking of her. Not that I won’t be missing her like crazy.”

Rico winced at his words. He knew about missing a woman. Missing Avery was driving him insane.

Max pulled into the long-term parking lot and found a spot. Both men slung their luggage over their shoulders and hiked the distance to the terminal. They were met halfway there by Mark and Dan.

“Rise and shine, campers! Are we ready for Florida?” Mark chirped excitedly.

“Looks like someone finally got a good night’s sleep,” Max laughed.

“Nope. Got off work an hour ago. I’m looking forward to getting some sleep as soon as we board that plane.”

“Once we pry you into the seat. Kind of like a sardine can. Did you bring your shoe horn?” Dan chuckled.

Mark glared at him as the rest laughed. They picked up their luggage and finished the walk to the building. They talked and joked as they waited to go through security and board the plane. Rico watched as Mark carefully settled into his small seat. How such a big guy could sleep in such tiny confines was beyond him. Maybe Dan had a good idea with the shoe horn. But Mark was right. They weren’t twenty minutes in the air before he was snoring away.

The flight gave Rico time to think. Was this the life he wanted? Or had he let the life he really wanted slip through his fingers? He knew the answer to those questions. But it was too late to make the right decision for his future. It was time for a change. He elbowed Mark to wake him up as the plane descended.

Once they checked into their hotel, they headed to the gym that Max had arranged to practice in for the week. It would be an all-day training session, with flocks of people shuffling in and out to watch them. Maybe if Rico was lucky, one of those people would be who he was looking for. After an hour taking turns rolling with the rest of the guys, his luck came walking in.

A small, bald, rotund man waddled up to a group from the arena. By the reaction of the well-dressed group, they weren’t excited to see him. Rico knew why. Paul ran a low level MMA fan blog and was frequently nosing around in the wrong places for a juicy tidbit to share with his followers. He rubbed on the last nerve of fighters and promoters alike. He was just what Rico needed.

Rico crossed the mat to retrieve his water bottle, waving to the men watching.
If I get close enough…

“Hey, Rico!” Paul shouted eagerly.

Rico offered up a customary eye roll. He couldn’t show his cards quite yet. “Yeah, Paul. What do you want?”

“Got anything you want to share on my blog before your fight?”

Rico paused. “Yeah. I just might. Meet me in my hotel’s bar at seven tonight. I’m staying at the one just down the street from the arena. We’ll talk.”

“That’s great.” Paul’s arms waved in excitement. He clearly believed he had just gotten the break of the year. “Seven. Got it. I’ll be there.”

“See you then.” Rico dropped his bottle on the bench then returned to spar some more.

That night, he showered as quickly as possible then raced down to the bar to meet Paul. As he sank into the booth in the far corner, he struggled with himself over ordering a beer. He needed to stay sober the entire week he was here. When the waitress sashayed over, he begrudgingly ordered a ginger ale.

He smiled as he watched Paul hustle between patrons and tables, his face bright red as he huffed and puffed. Rico smirked as he offered the man a seat so they could begin.

The interview took over an hour. When they were finished talking, Paul scuttled, wide-eyed, from the lounge, making a beeline for his own room. Rico chuckled as he slowly stood and stretched. He had never seen the large man move so fast. His plan had worked just as he hoped.

As he strode into the lobby, he heard his name called. He turned to find Max, Mark, and Dan approaching.

“Where’ve you been, Rico?” Max questioned.

“Doing an interview.”

“I thought we did interviews together.”

“Do we have to do everything together? When did we become Siamese twins?” Rico snapped before he spun on his toe and stormed to his room, leaving the other three men in stunned silence. Did he want to lash out at his best friends? No. But all hell was going to break loose in the morning when the video he had just recorded went viral. He needed to prepare for the onslaught.

As he had predicted, he was woken up the next morning by a fist pounding on the door. He took a deep breath and opened it. Max’s eyes were near murderous as he clenched his tablet in his hand.

“Why didn’t you talk to me?” Max demanded. “Do you know what it was like, learning it on the internet? I thought we were brothers.”

Rico sighed. “Max…”

“Just tell me that it’s not true. Tell me you’re not retiring after this fight.”

Rico rubbed his jaw silently. “I am.”

“Why would you throw your career away like that?”

“It was just as I said on the video. Sometimes, there are things worth sacrificing for. Unfortunately, I’m too late.”

“Avery.”

“Of course, Avery.”

“Are you hoping to get her back this way?”

Rico laughed hopelessly. “I tried e-mailing her. I tried texting her. She never answered me back. No, she’s long gone. We’re over. I’m moving back to Chicago as soon as we get back. I going to turn in my notice on my apartment and quit my job when we get back. I need out of Minneapolis.”

“Away from us. Away from your family. Are you fighting in Chicago? Are you going back to boxing?”

“No. Just getting a normal job. Trying to move on.”

Max shook his head sadly.

Rico continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you. I couldn’t let you talk me out of it. It’s going to kill me to leave you, Chloe, Mark, and Dan. You’re my family. But I need to jump start my life again.”

Max was silent for a few moments. “I understand. I’m still ticked off, but I get it. I’m going to miss having you around. Aside from Chloe, you’re my best friend.”

“You’re mine.”

“So, are you ready to go spar? Let’s make this a week you’ll remember for a lifetime. And let’s send you off with a win.”

Rico smiled. “Sounds great. Let me go change.” He motioned Max into the room, closing the door behind him.

Avery trudged up the walk to the house. She hated getting out of bed. She hated moving. But lying curled up under the covers didn’t make life go on. Going to work and school did. She still didn’t have to like it.

It seemed like she thought of Rico every single second of the day. The littlest thing reminded her of him. Being at the coffee shop was pure torture. They had spent so much time there together that there wasn’t one inch of the place that didn’t echo his sexy smile. Cups of ice reminded her of the skate rink and their first kiss.

The teddy bear he had won for her at the carnival had nearly found a new home in the trash, but she couldn’t part with it. The fuzzy toy was a treasure from the time they had been in love. She just couldn’t shake him, and it was tearing her apart.

She wasn’t mad at him any longer. He had only been doing what he had been advised to do. She had never asked if he was a mixed martial artist. He had just never volunteered the information.

However, he was Rico Choate. In the articles she had forced herself to read about him, she had learned two primary things—he loved MMA over anything else, and he seemed to have a new girlfriend every week. He had to have moved on to another woman. She must be yesterday’s news to him.

She huffed as she reached the front porch. Lindsay was no help. Ever since the attack in the bar parking lot, she came home each day to find him on his laptop, searching for the littlest information on Rico. He wasn’t being her over-protective, big brother. He was acting more like a deranged fan, soaking up every stat. It tore her apart to catch glimpses of Rico dressed in his MMA shorts and sporting his gloves.

Avery nearly growled when she found Lindsay in his usual spot on the sofa with his computer on his lap. The lump caught in her throat as she noticed the slack-jawed look on his face.

She sat next to him then set her purse on the floor. She caught his gaze and signed.
What is it?

Lindsay didn’t answer her. He just picked up the laptop and handed it over. She whimpered as she read the blazing headline.

Rico Choate Retires From MMA.

Her heart raced as a video began to play automatically. The room it had been shot in was too dark for her to make out what his lips said. She looked up to her brother, puzzled.

Lindsay began to translate.
I thought my first true love would always be mixed martial arts. But sometimes, someone comes along that puts life, puts love, in perspective. Someone worth fighting for, someone worth sacrificing for, someone you just cannot live without.

I was too stupid to see it when I had it. I made the wrong choice. Now, I will live with the consequences. I have lost the love of my life, and with that, I have lost my love for fighting. I want to thank my brothers, my team, and my fans for all your love and support. It has meant the world to me. But it is time to move on.

Avery shook her head vehemently.
I’ll talk to him as soon as he gets back. I will not let him quit.