UNBROKEN: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 2) (13 page)

There’s a long silence. Even her feet, easily audible on the floor just a few seconds ago, have come to a sudden halt. “Please tell me you have a good reason for this.”

“Last night, Tobias did something really stupid after his fight with Rick.”

“You mean, worse than the fight itself?” she jokes.

“Kind of. Maybe. Basically, whoever wins the tournament gets the girl.”

“Beg pardon?” she spits. “You can’t be serious.”

“I think I can talk some sense into Rick about it but I don’t want to do it over the phone,” I say. “And I don’t want Tobias involved.”

“I can see why,” she mutters. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll come pick you up. You can take my car while I’m at work.”

“Thank you, Amy.”

“Just don’t crash it. He’s my baby.”

I hang up, happy that convincing her took less effort than I initially feared it would. Going in person to talk to Rick is a horrible idea, this much I know, but I can’t shake the idea from my head. Tobias is out for the day. Charlie is used to me and Amy spending our Saturdays together nowadays, so I can count on him not asking too many questions about my whereabouts. It’s now or never and I won’t be able to sit still until it’s all over with.

I crack open Tobias’ door and peak inside the dark room. I see him, lying there in his bed, his chest rising and falling with the rhythm of his breath. He lost the fight on purpose, but I can’t help but wonder how much of that is true. Tobias is a wonderful fighter, but he’s out of practice. Rick has been training, building himself up into a machine. He couldn’t beat Tobias last year when he attacked him in the barn, but he might be able to beat him now. Tobias seems confident that he can’t, but…

I’m honestly not sure.

***

“Do you even know where he is?” Amy asks as we speed down the highway towards town.

“I called my mother,” I answer. “She said he’s been living on people’s couches since he moved,
but
last night, I noticed Rick was wearing a sweatshirt with an embroidered logo on it — looked like a curved dumbbell.”

“Right…” She nods, her eyes straying from the road for a brief moment.

“I ran a search for local gyms in St. Louis and came up with one that had that logo.” I hold up my phone and flash the online map of the area. “I figured I’d start there and ask around.”

“That’s on the east side, Claire,” she warns, moving her eyes back to the road.
“Not
the best place for a girl like you to be wandering around alone.”

“Well, if you don’t hear from me for a while, send help. Just don’t tell Tobias.”

She bites her lip. “You sure about this?”

“Not really,” I admit. “But I just… I just have to do this.”

“Call me if you get into any trouble,” she says. “If you need something more immediate, call Lillian. I’ll let her know you’re in the area.”

“Thank you,” I tell her again.

A few minutes later, we reach the grocery store and Amy passes the car keys off to me. “Remember,” she says, pointing her finger at me. “Don’t crash him.”

“I won’t,” I assure her. “See you later.” A rush of butterflies attacks my insides as the rumbling engine purrs with life and the seat vibrates beneath me.

***

As I drive through the streets of East St. Louis, I regret more and more that I came alone. I also probably should not have brought Amy’s pristine sports car with me, as I’m certain I made a target for myself for that alone. I catch multiple locals eying the vehicle at stop lights, but I try to ignore the fear raging throughout my body and focus on the task at hand.

I came here to find Rick and beg him to drop his bet with Tobias. It’s a long shot, but I still feel like, even after everything that’s happened, that he and I still share a connection. If I can find a way to appeal to that sense, to that feeling of affection he still has for me, maybe I can get him to change his mind… and let me be happy…
with his cousin.

I said it was a long shot.

I find the gym — a decrepit hole-in-the-wall place called The Bulging Bicep — and park near the front of the lot. A quick look around tells me there’s more abandoned buildings than operational ones and I wonder how a place like this manages to stay in business.

The inside is far nicer and well-kept than the outside with new equipment lining the walls and forty-inch television sets hanging from every corner, each one displaying a different sporting event from around the globe. The first pair of eyes fall on me, his nose curling out of shape as he looks me up and down, no doubt curious as to what the hell a girl like me is even doing here. I take a deep breath and take a play from Amy’s hand. I square my shoulders and look forward, ignoring their gazes as I walk deeper into the lion’s den.

I find the boxing ring in the back, following the shouting voices and laughter. It’s surrounded by men, almost two dozen of them that paused their workouts to watch the intense boxing match in progress. I look up and feel no surprise to see Rick sparing bare-handed with another fighter. His eyes are forward, dark and determined, as the other fighter darts forward with a flurry of jabs. He dodges them easily, beads of sweat falling off his pecks to the ground, as he swiftly slides down and sweeps the man’s legs out from under him.

The other man falls and his head slams to the mat, much to the approval of the shouting bystanders. Rick waits for him to climb to his knees before striking him again with a snappy kick to the jaw. The crowd winces as a stream of blood falls from a broken tooth. Rick draws back his fist, preparing to strike the man again. I step forward, pushing through the curtain of moist shoulders.

“Rick!”
I shout his name and somehow, it carries to his ears over the fierce voices of all the others.

He pauses and turns to look at me from the ring. A smile tugs at his lips. “Hey, Claire…” He wipes a drip of sweat off his brow before it invades his eyes.

“I need to talk to you,” I say.

All eyes fall to me. I hold onto my confident body language like my life depended on it, ignoring the nervous chill creepy up my spine as I find myself the center of attention.

A large man with glistening tan skin strides up to me, his eyes tingling with satisfaction as he towers above my petite height. “The
Alpha
is busy, lady,” he snips, looking me up and down before scoffing loudly. “Why don’t you turn that tight, white ass around and get the fuck out—”

“John!” Rick shouts at him. “She’s a Dame. Show some respect.”

I can’t hide the surprise from my cheeks, but I catch my jaw from sagging longer than a second. I look up at Rick and he nods back at me.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” John says. He loosens his tense pose and takes a long step back. “I didn’t realize.” He lingers on me, expecting a reply of forgiveness, but I say nothing and stare him down until he walks further away from me.

Rick’s eyes show great amusement as he climbs down off the ring to meet me. He looks over my shoulder and his blue eyes scan the gym as the testosterone army around us disperses. “Where’s your escort?” he asks.

“He’s not here,” I say. “I came alone.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He pushes his moist black hair off his forehead and grins.

“I just came to talk, Rick,” I say with steady voice.

He nods. “Yeah, I can tell. You’ve got your no-bullshit face on.”

I smile, though not voluntarily. “Can we go somewhere more private?”

“Sure,” he says. “Follow me.”

He leads me into the back of the gym and down a thick-aired hallway until we reach the doors to the locker rooms. Rick pushes open the door to the ladies’ room and gestures me inside.

“Don’t get a lot of women in here?” I ask. My voice echoes off the walls, hitting nothing but the pink-colored lockers and good-as-new benches bolted to the floor.

“We do not,” he chuckles.

“Not surprised,” I say. I cross my arms and stare at him in the fluorescent lighting. It reveals the sharp angles of his face and I suddenly remember why I was so infatuated with him back then. He looks straight out of 1940’s detective story, complete with thin cheeks and a strong jaw. Definitely a swooner.

“So, what’s on your mind, Claire?” he asks. He leans back against the pink lockers behind him and waits for my answer.

I spent the drive up here debating what to say and how to say it. There’s the flirtatious way, or the harsh way, or even the emotionally manipulative way. I clear my throat and quickly decide that the professional way is probably the best option. “Rick, I drove up here to ask you politely, in person, to please call this off.”

“Call what off?” he asks.

“You know what — the side bet you have with Tobias.”

He takes a deep breath to draw out his response. “No.”

“Please, Rick.”

“I can’t, Claire.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want you back.”

I shake my head. “Even if you win, I’m not just going to magically fall into your arms, Rick.”

“I know that.”

I sigh. “Then why bother with this? Just call it off.”

“Honestly, I threw it out there as a joke,” he says.

“A joke?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “I never thought he’d agree to it, but when he did, I knew I definitely had to do everything I could to get you away from him.”

I blink. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“He’s dangerous,” he says.

“Funny, I thought the same thing about you while you were
beating him
in front of two hundred people, Rick.”

“I didn’t know he was going to challenge me like that,” he says. “I didn’t even know blood duels were a thing until Lillian told me that he challenged me.”

“So, you thought you’d take the opportunity to try and break as many of his ribs as possible?”

“He would have done the same to me and you know it. He jumped at the chance to use you as a bargaining chip,” he argues. “Tobias doesn’t respect you, Claire.”

A laugh attacks my throat. “And what?
You
do?”

“I deserve that,” he says. “I haven’t exactly been kind to you and I’m sorry.”

I stand still, frozen in the stiff and warm atmosphere of the locker room. “What the hell did you just say to me?” I mutter with icy breath.

He pushes off the lockers to stand up taller. “I know there’s nothing I can say to encourage any form of forgiveness out of you—”

“Don’t you
dare
, Rick—”

“But I want you to know that I am sorry. For everything.”

“You’re…
sorry
?” I parrot back. I can feel the tears invading my eyes, but the anger in me keeps them from touching air.

“You can hate me as much as you want, and hell, I flat out encourage it, but Claire…” He takes a single step closer to me. “Tobias is bad for you.”

“Tobias
protects
me.”

“He
controls
you.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Fine,” he says. “I sincerely hope I am. But what do you think he’ll say or do when he finds out you came all the way out here
alone
to talk to me?”

I press my lips together. “You’re wrong…” I repeat. “He’s a better man than you’ll ever be.”

Rick stares down at me with warm eyes and I look to the floor. His eyes — stark and beautifully blue — are the direct source of months of emotional manipulation. Every time I’d say no to some party or night out together, he’d flash them at me and my entire body would turn to rubber. I can feel it now, that gelatin sensation, creeping up into my knees. “He’s
dangerous
, Claire. The Midwest Alphas are
dangerous
. You should get away from all of this while you still can—”

“I have to go,” I whisper. “I can’t listen to this—” I step away from him and reach out to grip the door knob.

“Remember what I said, Claire.”

His echoing voice vibrates my spine as I step out of the locker room. I can feel their eyes on me as I charge through the gym, each and every one of them deciding for themselves what happened between Rick and I in the abandoned ladies’ locker room. I don’t have the energy to care about that though.

This buzz, it’s all too familiar. I look back on it and cringe, remnants of an old life of a rebellious teen. I was a quiet girl, my true nature left buried until one day, I met my wicked stepbrother and he lulled me out of my cocoon, pumping me full of whatever he could talk me into. I’m not proud of it and I sure as hell have no desire whatsoever to repeat it.

But his words. Something about them felt so real.

I step outside and a sharp breeze brushes my hair against my face. I push it back and zip up my jacket before scanning the parking lot for Amy’s car, desperate to get as far away from this place as possible.