Takedown (4 page)

She was not sure why he was being too kind to her. Her best guess was he probably wanted to make up for what transpired between them when she went to see him in his office. Her second guess was that he was trying to present a good image of himself to her so she would not tell anyone that she was the one who had knocked him out in the gym.

She had no idea what happened to the case. The afternoon after she had spoken with him, her brother came home. Josh told her that the police had nothing to charge him with so they had no option but to let him go.

She hoped it was all over now. She had learned her lesson. The next time she’d decide to hit someone, she’d be more careful.

“Are Bryan’s relatives blaming you for what happened?” she asked. “I heard them saying that if you have only taken care of Travis two years ago, this couldn’t have happened.”

He chuckled. “Do you believe that?”

To be honest, she shared the same sentiment. “I think so.”

He sighed. “Even his mother thinks so.” He paused and tapped the wheel. He seemed suddenly upset. “Christ, if I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have quit. I could have kicked my brother’s ass out of the ring. But the hell, even if I didn’t quit, it isn’t for certain that I could have defeated Travis. He’s a monster, too hungry for the title that he wouldn’t have minded killing me to get what he wanted. That was one reason why I had to back down. Because one way or another, one of us might have to die.”

She clasped her hands on her lap and cleared her throat. She regretted asking him that question. “Sorry.”

“No.” He shook his head. “It’s not you or anything you said. I’ve been hearing that for a while now, and it’s getting into my nerve.”

“I understand.”

He took a deep breath and silence followed. It made the moment feel awkward. While he had his eyes fixed to the road, she took the opportunity to have a better look at him.

He was still the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. Two years out of MMA had not changed that. He still sport that same masculinity that a lot of women had gotten crazy with. The twenty pounds that he claimed he had lost was barely noticeable.

He still had those rippling muscles on his arms. He still exuded a remarkable aura of strength that seemed to waft in the air as he moved. She could almost feel it.

But she wondered if he still had those eight pack abs that kept her mouth watering everytime she saw him shirtless on TV. That was before she met Bryan, of course.

His thick, dark brown hair looked good with his tan, a perfect match for his smoky gray eyes.

He suddenly turned in her direction, something she had not anticipated. Although she had quickly looked away, she knew he had caught her dreamy eyes staring at him.

Damn, what was she doing? Her boyfriend had just been buried, and here she was, ogling his bestfriend.

“What are you daydreaming about?” he asked.

She flushed. She could tell her cheeks were beet red by now. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes. “I was just…” She had to think of something to say to save herself from this embarrassment. Fast. “I was wondering why your nose is still that straight. I heard you broke it during your second title defense.”

He grinned. “You know about that, huh?”

She stroked the back of her ear, just to have something to do with her hand. “I… was a fan.”

“Really?” He looked at her in disbelief. “It does not show at all, especially when you came into my office and smashed my balls, including that of my trophy. That’s not something that a fan of mine does, is it?”

More heat burned her cheeks. Yes, that obscene trophy. She could not understand what was so great about that freaking thing that he even displayed it in his office for everyone else to see.

“Well, to answer your question,” he continued. “I had a good surgeon. I was lucky nobody tried to break it again the second time around.”

She smiled. “It’s rare to see an MMA champion who retires undamaged and unblemished.”

He laughed deeply. “You have no idea.”

“What do you mean?” She frowned. “Did you have any injuries that you wanted to keep from the public?”

He shook his head. “We, fighters, are not only prone to physical injuries. There are other things that we struggle with everyday which people do not see.”

“What are they?”

“Stress, pressure, wounded pride, shame, humiliation… to name a few.”

“And what specifically did you struggle with?”

“Pressure,” he replied. “From the fans, trainers, promoters, and everyone else. I got pressured to a point wherein I almost jumped out of the plane to escape. I finally crumbled down when they set my next match with my brother. They planned to take advantage of the rift between us and exaggerated it for publicity. I just turned away and never looked back.”

For a moment, she was quiet. She had read all about his rifts with his younger brother, but no one actually knew what caused all that. “May I ask you something?”

“Personal?”

She nodded.

“If it’s about my family, my answer is no.”

She lowered her head, a bit embarrassed, but she understood.

“About other matters,” he continued, “I’m open, but unfortunately, you’re out of time. Here we are. Rawhide Street. Where should I drop you?”

She looked through the windshield. Indeed, they had arrived. “Right there,” she said, pointing at the left. “That pink building with a big cat in front.”

He frowned and pulled over right in front of the cat. “What’s that cat for?”

“It’s a lucky cat. Asians believe they bring good luck.”

“And did it bring good luck to the business?”

“I think so.”

He nodded, maybe not at all convinced, but uttered no objection. “This is where you work?” He peered through the window. “A beauty salon?”

“My weekend job,” she replied and hopped out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, and for letting me see Bryan.”

“I did it for him. Not for you.”

She was briefly dumbfounded. Did he know all along? “So you knew?” she asked.

He frowned. “Know what?”

Perplexed, she shook her head. “Nothing. Thanks anyway.”

“No problem. I might drop by sometime to get a hair cut.”

She smiled. “Anytime. I’ll do it for free.”

“I knew you’d say that,” he said. “Well, see you.”

She watched the gray sports car zoom through the road. She suspected he had figured out who she was, but he was merely playing dumb.

She sighed. She still couldn’t believe she had actually spent two hours with her long-time crush. Half the time, she had been alone with him, in his luxurious Porsche. How many girls could get that opportunity?

Well, she was one lucky bitch.

But what the hell was she thinking? Does she always have to remind herself that her boyfriend has just been buried?

She ought to be ashamed of herself. Besides, Blaze Rockwood was a man she could never have. Aside from the fact that he was a notorious womanizer, she wasn’t the type of woman that he would prefer. As he had told her in his office, she wasn’t his type, and she believed that.

She glanced at the cleavage peeping at the opening of her dress. This was the culprit. Fact, he never even looked at it while he was driving.

She sighed and entered the salon. She found the room empty, aside from Candace who was vacuuming the floor.

This beauty salon was Candace’s sister’s business. Her friend and office mate invited her to work here on weekends for some extra bucks.

“Where’s Josh?” she asked. “I told him to come help out here while I’m gone.”

Candace straightened her back to look at her. “He did. He just cleaned the bathroom. So how did it go?”

“Oh,” Megan smiled. “You won’t believe it. I’ll tell you later.”

“What about now?”

Megan frowned when she read the title of the news on a folded paper resting on the table.

Former UFC Champ’s Attacker Arrested.

“What the?” She grabbed the paper and blinked to make sure she had read it right.

“I was surprised, as well,” Candace grinned. “And guess what? The attacker is right there at the back, talking to your brother.”

“What?” She read the article to find the name. “Leonard Tillman?” Shocked, she turned to her friend. “Is this Leo? The delivery boy?”

“You said it.”

“How the…” She glanced at the paper again. “I don’t understand. How did he become a suspect?”

“Don’t ask me. If you want an answer, your brother and Leo are at the back.”

Megan dropped the paper and headed for the back door. She found the two young men talking on the corner. No one even bothered to look at her as she approached them.

“I want my twenty percent?” Josh demanded.

“Twenty percent?!” Leo exclaimed. “It wasn’t your ass sitting in that jail for eighteen hours, man.”

“If I didn’t recommend you, you wouldn’t have gotten the deal. Give me a gran.”

“What the fuck? You said twenty percent.”

“One gran is twenty percent of five gran, idiot.”

Leo scratched his head and reluctantly pulled the folded pile of 100 dollar bills from his pocket. He counted and handed a few pieces to Josh. “If they need me in jail again for a price, just sign me up, okay? No need to ask for my consent.”

“Hey.” Megan tapped both men’s arms. “What the hell are you two talking about? What deal?”

“Sorry, Meg,” Leo said as he stuffed his money back in his pocket. “Can’t tell anyone about the deal.”

“To whom did you make a deal with?” she asked. “Blaze Rockwood?”

Leo ran his finger along his closed lips, telling her his mouth was zipped. “Not a word,” he said and turned away. “See ya both around. Gotta get back to work.”

She turned to her brother. “What is the deal, Josh?” she demanded.

Josh sighed. “Blaze told me to find someone who’s willing to take the blame, preferably one of my friends. Leo’s the only one I can think of. He’d been arrested before for theft so he didn’t mind.”

“So they arrested Leo, confessed to the assault, and then paid him five thousand dollars to stay in jail for eighteen hours?”

Josh nodded.

“Oh, God. Is that Blaze’s idea?”

“Yes. He didn’t want anyone to know that a woman knocked him out,” he said and laughed.

She rubbed her forehead. That man was crazy. But at least, he just freed her from liabilities. “And what entitled you to get twenty percent from his pay? Are you his agent?”

“Kind of. Four gran is a lot of money for just sitting in jail for eighteen hours. I spent two days in jail and I got nothing.”

“Oh, Josh, I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s alright. I earned myself a gran for sitting in jail for two days. So all’s good.” Josh stuffed the money in his wallet. “Now that you’re here, can I go?”

“Where are you going?”

“I saw an ad across the street looking for a janitor. I’d like to try.”

“Janitor?”

“Can’t be choosy now. See ya later, sis.” Josh headed for the door.

Her eyes followed him. “Did you not apply at the bakeshop?”

“I did. Didn’t get it.”

She watched her brother disappear behind the door. Poor kid. Because of the incident in the gym, he lost his job. She was to blame for it. If she weren’t such an idiot trying to be a hero for her brother.

Sometimes, she wanted to blame her father for this.

Jim Riley was once a Battledome champion, but that was during the time when the sport was not yet very popular. When he was at the peak of his career, she and Josh were very much provided for. But things came to a sudden turn when he injured himself during practice. Many people advised him to forfeit his next fight, but he was too stubborn to believe he could win despite his injury. As a result, his opponent broke his rib, and he never managed to fight again.

He got depressed. He had changed from a doting father to an abusive alcoholic. She had witnessed several occasions where he slapped and beat her mother. Even Josh, who was only twelve years old then, was not spared. Until that one Sunday morning when she asked Josh to get something in the basement. She just heard him screaming, and when she ran to check what had happened, she found her father hanging from the ceiling fan.

Josh was extremely traumatized by the event. No amount of counseling was able to save him. His mental capability suffered the most and he had to relearn a lot of things that he used to excel with before.

He managed to finish High School, but the school handed him a diploma merely out of pity, for being a very hard working student.

It was useless, though. He never got a decent job anyway. He always failed interviews so his only option was to stick with the low-paying blue-collared jobs.

But despite that, he had a dream. He wanted to be like his father someday, and he was working very hard to make that dream come true. He had achieved a milestone. Being one among the line-up of Battledome’s Middle Weight Division fighters was something, considering that he was only twenty one years old.