Fight 3 Read online

  FIGHT

  PART 3

  M. DAUPHIN

  Chapters

  Prologue

  1- Gwynn

  2- Eddie

  3- Gwynn

  4- Eddie

  5- Gwynn

  6- Eddie

  7- Gwynn

  8- Gwynn

  9- Gwynn

  10- Gwynn

  11- Gwynn

  12- Eddie

  13- Gwynn

  14- Eddie

  15- Gwynn

  16- Eddie

  17- Gwynn

  18- Eddie

  19- Gwynn

  20- Eddie

  21- Gwynn

  Epilogue

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, events, or places are purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any way, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording without written permission.

  ©

  Copyright 2015

  M. Dauphin

  To

  Karen, Missy, & Jan

  The ones that believed in me from the first page of my first book. The ones that helped me bring to life the voices in my head. The ones that gave me the courage to continue this.

  Thank you

  Prologue

  “What do you mean she’s fighting Tanya!? Are you insane?!” I yell into my ear piece as I watch her asshole boyfriend open the door for the pizza guy.

  This shit is sickening. She should be mine, she was mine until Eddie came along. God, even his name pisses me off. What the hell type of man has a name like Eddie? Fucking nerd with mommy issues, but Gwynnie just doesn’t see it like I do. She is so stuck on the tough guy look, that she doesn’t know just how much of an asshole this dude is.

  I’ve been watching his ass ever since Gwynn walked into that apartment for the first time a year ago. Of course I knew he was her neighbor... someone has to look out for her. This guy is sick. Never keeping a girl for more than one night, most girls leave only hours after arriving. He stays cooped up in that tiny apartment for days on end, then out of the blue leaves for weeks. He isn’t good for her. No one is good enough for my Gwynn. No one but me.

  “The girl needs to learn she doesn’t fuck with me, son. You know what I could do to her. This fight will show her not to mess with her contract, and not to mess with me.” Mac growls into my ear.

  Mac is my biological father. We’ve been in contact most of my life, but I would never actually call him a dad. That title belongs to the man that actually raised me. Mac and I have never seen eye to eye on anything, really. I only stayed in contact with him to make my mom happy. We were like total strangers each time we got together, that is, until Gwynn started fighting. He saw her drunk and street fighting one night early on, right after her dad died, and contacted me about her. I don’t know how he knew about us being best friends, but I knew right then that she would be perfect for him. And he for her. He could teach her how to channel the anger that almost took her life away from me.

  Ever since their first meeting, I’ve been keeping a much closer eye on her than she would like, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. She signed on as Mac’s top fighter, planning fights every week, winning the shit out of them, bringing in so much money that Mac was able to rebuild on a new lot. The contract was sweet, too, because she really didn’t know how bad she had gotten shanked. Only getting thirty percent of the cuts from the fights, not being paid for gym time. She was so ready to fight and hit people, that signing with Mac was the best thing she thought could happen, and wasn’t worried about money. The contract with Mac is almost up, though, and I’m more afraid now than ever that I am going to lose her. Especially with Eddie in the picture.

  I need to make him go away.

  “Right, Mac. You know as well as I do, though, that Tanya cheats. She’s put two other girls into coma’s, and one is still out!” This pisses me off that he’s doing this to my Gwynn, no matter how upset with her I am. I still love her. She needs me to protect her now more than ever.

  “She will be fine, I told Tanya to go easy on her. I’m not making money from this fight, Jase, I’m losing it with the amount of money I had to pay Tanya to come down to our level.” He huffed and let out a breath. “I know how you feel about her, Jase. You need to know this is the business, though. She flakes on me, and I will have every last penny she makes for the rest of her life... however long she chooses that to be.”

  I fucking hate his threats to hurt her. I feel my blood starting to boil, my face getting hotter and hotter.

  “You don’t touch a hair on her head. You hear me? Tanya hurts her, and I’ll ruin things so bad she won’t be able to fight.”

  “We will see about that,” he chuckles and hangs up the phone.

  I sit here, watching the lights in Eddie’s room light up, then see the two of them...shit.

  Putting my binoculars on the passenger seat, that’s one thing I don’t want to watch again. It was bad enough the first time. I know what I have to do. Smiling, I’m finally pleased with my plan to get her. Vegas didn’t go as planned, but ruining their homes this early in the relationship will definitely pull her back into my arms. Or in the very least, in my apartment. Close to me all day.

  I need to ruin everything they have.

  Then I need to make sure I’m there to help Gwynn pick up the pieces.

  Pulling my phone back out, I shoot a text to a good friend that has exactly what I will need.

  JASE: Lighting it up tomorrow night. No lives. Need rubble.

  Steven: On it. Give me info. And don’t be fucking near it this time, assclown.

  Chapter 1

  Gwynn

  I hear his words, but I’m not really able to register them as it’s taking all I have to fight through the headache and find his eyes. I can finally look up at him, and I see the pain in his eyes. I see the anger, the guilt.

  A fire? What does a fire have to do with us being here?

  “What are you talking about?” I manage to get out, though everything on my face hurts when I talk.

  That bitch got me good. She knew just where my weaknesses lie. I don’t want to think about what Mac is going to do to me, or who he’s going to make me fight, since I most definitely punched him in his smug-ass face. Three more fights. That’s all I have to live through and I’ll be clear to leave him without having to fear for my life.

  “Red, are you sure you’re okay?” Eddie’s voice cuts through my thoughts and I glance up at him.

  His face is worried, his eyes focused solely on mine. I silently nod, dreaming about the day that I don’t have to wake up in pain from defending myself the night before. Wincing as I try and smile, the cut on my lip is making it insanely hard to show any sort of emotion right now. His shaky hand reaches out and puts the washcloth of ice back on my face. I feel the sting and flinch.

  “Shit, I’m sorry baby. Jesus...” he sighs. “Just... please tell me how to help you. God, Red. You gave me a good scare last night, baby.”

  “I’ll be ok, Tex. I’m stronger than I may look,” I mumble from under the cold cloth.

  He just keeps shaking his head, like it’s not going to be ok. I’m so confused, he should be happy that I was able to walk out of that damn fight on my own two feet. He should be thrilled that I finally snapped out of my funk and took Tanya down.

  “It’s all gone, Red. Everything,” he whispers as his hand rests on my hip. I feel that familiar pull, that charge of electricity that I always feel when he touches me, but I push it away. Something is very wrong with the statement that he just said. I try and furrow my brows in confusion, but just that slight movement hurts. Shit.

  “What are you talking about, Eddie?” I have a pounding headache and have
to close my eyes again since even the dull glow of the TV in the room is making it ten times worse.

  “The apartments. Our apartments. Red, it caught on fire last night. Everything is gone,” he says, his voice low and his eyes searching mine for a response, an emotion, a reaction.

  I’m pretty sure I’m in shock. I feel no emotion. I feel nothing right now. Not even the pain in my head anymore. I stare at him for what feels like lifetimes. His breathing is slow, even. His eyes look... sad. I don’t like sad Eddie eyes. I like happy Eddie eyes, lust filled Eddie eyes, hell even angry, pissed off Eddie eyes are hot. These sad, dull, hazel eyes that are staring back at me right now make my heart hurt.

  Our stuff is gone.

  The realization is slowly hitting me, but I have yet to feel the complete implications of his words.

  “How?” I whisper as my focus shifts to the bedspread that I’m curled into. Jesus, what type of hotel are we in? The linens on this bed are fan-fucking-tastic. I just want to pull them over my head and lie here, ignoring the world and the drama that has taken over my life. Instead, I have to be a grown up about the fact that my home was burnt to the ground and I’ve lost everything that I’ve built for myself. Everything.

  “They don’t know, baby. Police are talking arson, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

  “What the hell?” I shake my head and attempt to sit up in bed, groaning as I realize just how much of my body is swollen and sore. Son of a bitch.

  “Stop, Red. There’s nothing you can do right now. You need to rest.” He tries helping me back down, but I push him away. He sighs and puts his hands on his hips, obviously pissed that I’m not being a good patient. Well fuck that, I’m not letting a little bruising make me incapable of doing things by myself. He watches me intensely as I struggle to use my bruised and swollen abdominals to sit up and scoot back.

  Goddammit it hurts to move, but I’m so fucking stubborn that after some of the most painful movements I’ve ever had, I have myself propped against the headboard of the bed. I look up at him, now standing by the bed, tense with nerves, and grin.

  “See, did it,” I say sweetly.

  “Fuck, woman, you’re gonna be the end of me.” He walks across the bedroom and slips into a different room. What is it with this man and huge hotel rooms? Who’s paying for this anyway? The landlord? Insurance? I sure as hell don’t have the money to fork over for a place this nice, and I’m betting that Eddie doesn’t either since he lived in the same shithole that I did.

  I look around and find the clock across the room on a small table. It’s almost noon, I’ve slept all morning! The thought starts to cross my mind that I need to call into work tonight, since I’m not in good enough shape to bar-back tonight, but then I remember the fire. Eddie said everything is gone. Did he really mean it, or did he just mean our apartments and not the entire building?

  I’m so confused, all I want to do is see what’s left. I’ve always been a visual learner; I have to see to believe. The whole Santa Claus thing was lost to me as a kid, because every time I saw him, he looked different! Fucking creepy, even as a kid I knew something was off about it.

  Thinking of my childhood brings me to thinking of my parents. Shit, my mom. I need to tell her about my apartment. God, I guess I have to move home now. Now that I’m homeless, I really have no other option. The thought of living in that house again rushes through me, and the emotions I knew were coming earlier final hit. They hit hard, too, as soon as it clicks that I have to go home. My breath starts speeding up, the knot in my throat grows, and as much as I try and swallow it down, it doesn’t work. The tears start to fall as I imagine living there again.

  I can’t be in that house. I moved out and never moved back. I can’t see my mom with another man every day. I can’t see my dad’s pictures collecting dust on a table, behind new photos of her and Craig. I don’t even like going home for holidays because just the smell of the house reminds me of him. The first time I went home after everything settled down after the accident was Christmas and I still remember seeing a tube of my dad’s chap-stick sitting on the side table by his chair. I was furious that a fucking tube of chap-stick could turn me into a blubbering mess, but it did. Ever since that day, I’ve had a hard time going home. I made excuses, canceled last minute, and made sure I always had plans with Jase for the holidays. He never went home either, so we always had each other. I can’t move home. I could move in with my brother, but that would also mean moving to New York, and that’s a hell of a long way away from my life here.

  What life, here, though? If the bar is really gone, that’s one job that I wouldn’t have to quit if I did move. New York is so far away, though. I wouldn’t be able to continue my contract with Mac if I moved because it’d have to be sooner than later. I’m sure whoever is paying for this hotel isn’t going to want to keep paying forever. I’m almost certain that Mac would let me out of my contract if my only option of having a roof over my head was moving in with my brother. I just can’t make that decision right now. There’s something holding me back from calling him up and asking for help. It’s not that I know he wouldn’t do it in an instant. He would. He loves his little sister, and even as much as I made his life a living hell growing up, I still know he would do anything for me. So I know if I make the phone call to him, I would have a place to move tomorrow if needed.

  No, the one thing that is holding me back from picking up that phone.... The one thing that I would consider staying here for. The one other person that I could see moving in with, as crazy as it sounds, is Eddie. There’s this school-girl fantasy of having the home, the kids, the life that I thought I always wanted before my dad died. I gave up on it, focusing on making the pain go away, until Eddie came around. Now I watch him doing something as normal and mundane as straightening up a room and those fantasies come rushing back in. I want it all with him, but I’m just not certain he’s ready for everything yet. He’s changed so much in the last few weeks, I’m afraid that too much, too fast, will break him. Then I’d be left with nothing. And if given the option between nothing and something, no matter how small, I will choose something. Just to have some part of him.

  I hear him walking back into the room and quickly reach up to wipe away the tears that had fallen down my face. I don’t want him to see these emotions right now. I want him to see the tough Gwynn, the one that just took down someone twice her size. I want him to be proud of me, not pity me.

  “Here, I got you some pain killers.” He hands me a glass of water and a few small white pills. Popping them into my mouth, I tilt my head back and swallow, enjoying the cool rush of the water as it trickles down my throat. I sigh as the water makes the burning in my throat subside, and pray the meds kick in soon. Opening my eyes, I adjust on him to see his look from earlier gone, replaced by pure lust.

  “How did I ever get so lucky, Red?” He sits on the bed, staring at me like I’m the most beautiful creature he’s ever seen. I laugh because I know if I looked in the mirror right now, I’d probably scream at my reflection.

  “Why are you laughing?” His eyebrows scrunch together and he crosses his arms. The plain black t-shirt he’s wearing helps the ink on his arms stand out. My gaze travels from one arm to the other, admiring the muscles and tattoos adorning his body.

  “Right, because I look so fucking sexy right now. Black eyes and all,” I quip, meeting his intense gaze as best as I can.

  “You know what I see when I look at you, Red? I see a woman who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. A woman who won’t take no for an answer, won’t let people beat around on her, and most definitely isn’t afraid to fight back. I see the woman I love, Red.”

  Even in the most terrible of times, when I should be upset and pissed and crying my eyes out, Eddie is able to bring things into the light. I smile the best I can and reach over for his hand.

  “Love you too, Eddie.”

  Chapter 2

  Eddie

  This woman is the strongest woman I’
ve ever met. She’s nothing like my mother, and I’m nothing like my father. I love her with every fiber of my being. I’d never do anything to hurt her. I’ll make damn sure that she knows that every single day of her life, as long as she will have me.

  The ring is burning a hole in my pocket, but I can’t give it to her now. Not when she’s recovering, and not now that we have to deal with finding a new place to live, as well as finding the person that burned our place down. It shouldn’t be like this. When I propose to her, it will be the best fucking thing ever, because that’s what she is to me. The best fucking thing. Ever.

  “So, where are we anyway? This hotel is probably way out of my price range,” she asks as she looks around the room.

  I didn’t have the heart to check us into a hotel when I knew of a place we could stay for free. Sure, I’ve got the funds, but it’s a waste of money if it’s not needed. All it took was one phone call and we were in. The Savage family would do anything for me, really.

  “Ah, well it’s not a hotel, babe. Tatum’s parents, Al and Alice Savage, own a few places around Texas. This one happened to be sitting empty, so they are letting us stay here.”

  “The Savages? I guess I never realized he was THE Tatum Savage. Jesus, Tex, you really know who to keep on your good side. Shit, that family is nuts!” She shakes her head and lays it back on the pillow she has propped behind her.

  “Nah, they’re good people. Intimidating as all hell, but as long as I stay on their good side and don’t fuck around with them, I’m not worried. Al Savage treats me like his own son.”

  “Well, I’m glad you have rich connections. I’d hate to have to worry about getting bed bugs from a gross hotel mattress,” she quips, eyes still closed, grinning.

  I let out a stressed chuckle, but I can’t shake the funk I’m in. Maybe it has to do with seeing her so beat to shit, unable to move properly without being in pain, or maybe it has to do with the fact that the one thing I held onto from my life growing up is now in ashes, but I just can’t shake it. I also can’t shake the feeling that this fire was a personal attack against us, which has been making me insanely uneasy.