Brooklyn's Baddest: A Bad Boy Fighter Romance (18 page)

When Corbin saw that his attempt to reach Jake had failed, he tried again. “I watched you fight, Jake. I’ve seen what you can do, and it’s nothing. It’s crap. It’s not even a comparison to my own karate. There’s nothing you can do to me here; you’re in my kingdom right now, and this is my palace. All you’re going to get is a swift-” Corbin had been moving subtly towards Jake as he talked, and all at once he interrupted his own monologue with a kick toward Jake’s ribs, but Jake hadn’t been listening to him at all. He had been watching him, and he saw what was coming almost a full second before it came.

Jake dodged and bent, and as he did so, he kicked Corbin solidly in the chest, planting the heel of his foot there. The tremendous force of the impact sent the other man backward and he landed flat on his back. Jake remembered when Corbin had done the same to him, knocking the breath out of him. Corbin’s breath hadn’t been knocked out of him, but Jake moved instantly, following Corbin’s fall, and when the other man landed on the mat, Jake was right on top of him, bringing his elbow down sharply where he had just buried his heel, and getting Corbin twice in the same place on his chest.

There was a loud crack, and Jake knew that he had fractured Corbin’s sternum. Corbin cried out as Jake leapt to his feet and moved backward, waiting for Corbin. The other man pushed himself to his feet, and his face contorted in pain and fury. Jake knew that look better than anyone. It had been his look, his method for all of his life, up until he began to learn from Koichi. He recognized the fire and bitterness in Corbin, and in that moment he knew that he was going to win. They circled again, and Corbin seethed and growled almost like an animal. Jake knew instinctively that Corbin was more dangerous then than he had been at any point during the fight.

Corbin watched him almost without blinking, trying to size him up, trying to find a weak spot, and Jake waited. Corbin leapt forward and Jake thought he was going to kick him in the leg, but Corbin turned suddenly on the ball of one foot and redirected himself, hitting Jake in the ribs with his fist. Jake collapsed on the spot from the force of the hit, and though he felt pain in his ribs, knowing that they had been injured even further, he didn’t feel the level of intensity from the pain that he had expected. He rose back up to his feet quickly, and Corbin laughed and taunted him again.

“Got you when you least expected it, didn’t I? Yeah… you’re going to get that again, and then this match is going to be mine, and that title is going to be mine, and that woman over there… Lisa… she will be mine, too.” He gloated gleefully in his hit, and Jake was silent, waiting and watching again.

Corbin began to circle, and Jake decided to change things up. He stopped circling and stood perfectly still in place. He knew that the best way to defeat Corbin was to let him get so frustrated that he came to Jake, and the best way to do that, he decided, was to stand still and let him come. That was exactly what Corbin did. A look of confusion came over the other man’s face as Jake stood there stock still, poised, waiting silently and watchfully. Corbin made a couple of faux moves to see if Jake would flinch or move, but Jake was as still as a statue, as still as one in deep meditation.

Corbin grew restless and finally became agitated, commenting on anything he could think of to insult Jake, to annoy and anger him, to enrage him, but Jake stood still and silent, and everything passed around him and over him. Nothing touched him. Nothing fazed him. At long last, Corbin growled in outrage again and vaulted for Jake, aiming for his ribs once more.

It was all like slow motion to Jake. He ducked down instantly when Corbin neared him, almost in a squat on one leg while the other leg shot up and he jammed his heel into Corbin’s chest once more, following him again like a shadow, and the moment Corbin hit the floor, Jake landed both fists, hardened and positioned side by side, directly into Corbin’s chest. There was another crack and pain shot across Corbin’s face as he howled in agony, but that was the last thing he did.

A moment later the pain was too much for Corbin to take and he passed out. Jake rose slowly and quietly, and stood over Corbin, looking down at his nemesis and feeling overwhelming peace. The entire arena had been dead silent, but as Jake closed his palms together in front of his chest and made a bow to the unconscious loser at his feet, the entire audience erupted in shouts of joy and it wasn’t until that moment that Jake looked up and gazed around him, and the truth sunk into his mind.

He had won the competition. He had defeated Corbin, and it was over. The referees hurried over and one of them lifted Jake’s hand high in the air while the others tended to Corbin. A minute later he was presented with a trophy and given a championship belt.

Masahiro and Koichi rose up from their seats and Lisa rushed toward him, wrapping her arms around him when she reached him, holding him tightly.

“Congratulations!” she cried out happily. “You did it! I’m so proud of you! You did it!” She laughed and cried, and together they made their way through the crowds and reporters and flashing cameras to Masahiro and Koichi.

Jake handed his trophy and belt to Lisa, and bowed humbly to both of his Masters, who each bowed to him in return.

Masahiro looked at him proudly. “Congratulations on your win, Jake Allen, and thank you for bringing such a great honor to our dojo.”

Jake shook his head. “I never could have done without you, Master Masahiro, and you, Master Koichi,” he said, looking at them both earnestly. Then he turned toward Lisa. “I never would have had the chance without you. Thank you, all three of you, so much. It was all three of you who made this possible.”

Koichi grinned. “Well, we made it possible, but you are the one who made it happen. Well done, Jake. You have reached your goals. You are the champion. Congratulations!”

Muldoon and Evan were both waiting to offer their heartfelt happiness as well, and Jake introduced both of them to his friends from the dojo. Evan was especially glad to finally meet Lisa. Bonnie made her way through the crowd and more introductions were made as she met Jake and his friends. It was a truly joyous group, but the group was growing.

Reporters and businessmen in suits began to pull Jake’s attention away from his friends and he finally gave them what they were after. Seemingly endless photographs and conversations, requests for interviews and meetings, and then one of the sponsors of the competition gave Jake a check for his win, and he stared at it as it was put into his hands. It was made out to him in the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

None of it seemed real to him, even after they finally left the arena and were riding on the quiet train back to Brooklyn. Jake sat still most of the way, letting it all soak in, and both of the older men seemed to know that he needed the quiet time. They left him to his own thoughts, and Lisa slept on his shoulder, her hand closed in his.

Jake stared out of the window and wondered at the incredible changes that his life had taken.

When Lisa and Jake made it home that night, they only talked a little, and he told her about all of the offers he had received from businessmen at the event. They wanted him to endorse things for them and do commercials and television shows and interviews. He hadn’t realized that there would be so much publicity, but he understood that he had become the underdog champion against a much loathed jackass, and the rewards and celebrity status he had achieved were going to change everything in his life.

He laid beside Lisa that night and thought about everything until sleep stole him away finally.

*

When Jake awoke in the morning, he discovered that he was alone in bed, and he got up, walking through the house looking for Lisa. He didn’t find her right away, but he was surprised when he did. She was out near the water garden in her backyard, sitting with a cup of tea in her hands, gazing at the koi fish swimming lazily before her. He walked over to her and sat down beside her.

Lisa looked up at him and knew that it was time to tell him. He smiled at her and leaned over, giving her a kiss, and making it that much more difficult for her to say what she needed to say to him. “Jake…” she began, hoping she could find the courage to speak the words in her heart.  “We have to talk.”

Looking at her expectantly, he smiled a little and shrugged. “Okay, so talk,” he said simply. “What’s going on?”

She drew in a long slow breath and let it out gradually. “Well, you’ve proven yourself to Masahiro and to Koichi, and the rest of the world,” she grinned and then continued, “so… if you want to call off the engagement, you could.”

Jake frowned. He hadn’t thought of that at all, and hearing her say it left a cold hole in his chest. “Well…. I uh… we don’t have to call anything off right away, I mean… yeah, I proved myself to them, but… this is working out alright like this… isn’t it? I mean, unless you want to call it off. If you want your house back and you want me out of here, well… I can go, but it seems like things are going pretty well. Do you want me to leave?” he asked cautiously, his eyes locked on hers, almost afraid to hear her answer.

She sighed and shook her head. “It’s not that, Jake. It’s not that at all. I love having you here, in fact… I love having you here so much that I don’t want you to leave. I love… I love you, Jake. I can’t help it. I have fallen in love with you and there’s no getting over that for me.”

He looked at her in amazement, eyes wide, and a grin began to spread over his face. “You love me? You do?” he laughed happily and reached up to touch her cheek softly. “I love you too. I have for a while. I just didn’t think you felt like that about me.” He leaned toward her to kiss her, but she turned her face away from him.

He stopped short and looked at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Biting her lower lip, she told herself that it was time. Lisa looked back at him and furrowed her brow slightly. “It’s not just me, here, Jake. I’m… I’m pregnant.” She waited in silence. There were birds chirping and the fountain at the other end of the water garden bubbled, but there was no sound nor movement between her and Jake for a long moment.

He blinked, finally, and gave his head a shake. “What? What did you say?”

Taking a deep breath, she spoke the words again. “I’m… well, we’re pregnant.” She needed to make him see that it wasn’t just her.

Jake pushed himself up to a standing position in an instant, and stared down at her in horror. His heart pounded in his chest and a rush of blood flooded his ears so that he couldn’t hear anything but his own heartbeat.

“No…” he whispered.

She nodded and watched him. He shook his head and took a few steps backward before turning and bolting from the garden, and then from the house, grabbing his car keys on the way. He raced out to his car and in no time at all he was driving toward his old neighborhood.

Jake’s mind was a tangle of confusion and fear
. She couldn’t be pregnant
, he told himself. Thoughts of his own father leaving him ripped at the edges of his heart. Thoughts of his mother dying tore at him and his heart bled for her all over again. His parents… the loss of his parents had made him vow to himself that he would never have children. He wasn’t ready to settle down. He was just beginning his fighting career. He was just beginning his whole life…
the good part of his life
, he told himself. This was no time for a kid and a relationship with a woman.

Waiting at a stoplight, he grabbed his cell phone and sent a text to Evan, asking him to meet him at his house. Evan texted back that he would be there. The light turned green and Jake floored it to the driveway beside his rented home. He parked the car and got out of it, slamming the door behind him and swearing.

The old woman sitting in her rocking chair on her front porch next door to him shot him a dirty look and he turned away from her, gasping and wheezing. Panic flooded through him and he bent at the waist and planted his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

A minute later, Evan pulled up in his car and hurried out of it over to Jake, closing his arm over Jake’s back. “Hey man, what’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked Jake worriedly.

Jake held his hands over his stomach and heart and slowly stood back up, trying to breathe. Evan walked him carefully to the front steps leading off the porch, and they sat side by side.  “No…” Jake gasped as he tried to steady his heartbeat and his breathing. “I’m not okay.”

Evan looked panicked as well. “What is it? Do you need me to call someone? You need an ambulance or something?”

Jake shook his head, still holding his hand over his heart. “No… I just… damn it!” he swore again and then buried his face in his hands. He took long slow breaths and made himself find some balance. It was all he knew how to do in moments without control. Gradually, he calmed himself and sat up, lowering his hands from his face. Evan was watching him closely, waiting for him.

“Lisa’s pregnant with my kid.” Jake finally managed to say.  The words sounded alien to him as they crossed his lips, and he couldn’t believe the truth of them, even out of his own mouth.

Evan’s jaw dropped open. “What? Are you serious? You’re… you’re going to be a dad? Holy crap.” A small smile began to curl on Evan’s mouth and he clapped his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “That’s amazing bro, congrats. I can’t believe it.” Evan shook his head and turned away from Jake for a moment, pushing his hands down into his pockets and then turning to face his best friend with a wide grin. “That’s the best news ever bro! I’m so happy for you!”