X: The Hard Knocks Complete Story (21 page)

“Leave me alone, Xavier!” I order.

“No,” he says sternly.

“How
could
you?”

Xavier catches me in his arms, halting my escape.

“Leave me alone,” I demand again and shove against his chest.

His jaw muscle flexes beneath his skin as he attempts to hide the emotion in his face. “Don’t you see that I can’t?”

“Why?” I plead.

Can’t he see I just need to get away?

I can’t deal with him…this…the entire situation.

He grips my shoulders, and his gaze locks with mine. “You’re the one, Anna. The dream I’ve always been chasing. You make me feel whole. I’m addicted to your light. Please—” There’s a noticeable break in his voice. “
Please
, don’t take that away from me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You give me hope that I can be a better man, because I see myself through your eyes. Give me a chance to be that man.”

I close my eyes and allow the tears to streak down my cheeks. “You promised, no other women…just you and me.”

Thick fingers slide under my chin and tilt my face up. His magnetic blue eyes hold mine. “I didn’t break that promise. There’s no one else. I swear to God, it wasn’t what it looked like. No other woman holds me like you do. You’re
it
for me.”

Every fiber in my being wants to believe that what he’s saying is the truth.

“You swear?”

“On my fucking life,” he whispers. “I went to talk to Deena because I was trying to con her into asking Rex to put an end to the storyline. I won’t allow him to touch you. It’s not in me. I won’t be able to hold back.”

“I love you,” I say so softly that I barely hear my own voice.

He cradles my face in his hands and rests his forehead against mine.

“Anna…” Xavier’s warm breath falls across my lips.

The moment our lips meet everything else fades away. There’s only me and him—no one else in this entire, crazy world. Even if he can’t bring himself to tell me he loves me back yet, I know he does. I can feel it in his kiss.

And I’ll wait patiently until he’s ready.

S
tanding
behind the curtain while Rex’s entrance music plays throughout the arena turns my stomach. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I know it’s not going to be good.

Xavier pours half a bottle of water over the top of his head to help keep him cool during his match. Water soaks his trademark tank top and speckles his camouflage pants.

Rex approaches us to get to the stage with a smirk on his face.

I squeeze Xavier’s hand in mine and wrap my other hand around his wrist. It won’t keep him from attacking Rex if he really wants, but I hope my presence is a reminder for him to keep a cool head because his job depends on it.

Rex grabs the back fabric, ready to head out to start the show, and says, “See you out there, Princess.”

“Screw you!” I retort.

Xavier tenses and I tighten my grip as Rex laughs and winks at us before disappearing into the arena.

My heart pounds in my chest. This is going to be worse than I thought. I have to stop this.

“Please, Xavier. Don’t go out there,” I beg.

“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll be fine,” Xavier says with a growl.

“You’re not going out there like this. Forget what he said—he’s not worth it!” I plead with him, attempting to calm him down.

He shakes his head and water drips from the tips of his hair onto his bare shoulders. “When are you going to finally hear me? You’re everything to me. I’d trade my very soul to protect you, because y
ou’re
worth it. I’ll never let anyone hurt you,
ever
, and no one is going to take you away from me. No. One.”

My heart squeezes in my chest. I can’t remember the last time anyone has ever cared about me this much. He’s trying to save me, I know, but all I worry about is saving him from himself—his own self-destruction. I run my fingers along his scruffy cheek. “Please, don’t do this. Don’t throw everything away for me.”

He flexes his jaw while pure intensity shines in his blue eyes. “I have to. This ends now, Anna.”

His trademark entrance song,
X Gon’ Give It To Ya
, blares throughout the arena and my breath catches. Xavier’s temper is uncontrollable. Pushing him into the ring with Rex now will not end well. This could ruin everything he’s worked for. I have to try and stop him. I refuse to be the cause of his undoing.

“Please. Don’t.”

I know it’s a lame attempt, but just begging him to not do anything stupid is the only thing I can think of. It’s not like I can overpower him and force him to stay with me.

He cradles my face in his large hands. “It’s too late. The show has to go on—you know that. I want you to stay back here. I won’t be able to focus on him if I know he can get to you.”

Xavier crashes his lips to mine quickly before pulling away and heading for the black curtain to give the fans the showdown they crave. The moment he steps into the spotlight the roof on the building nearly blows off with the force of the crowd’s screams. I turn toward the monitor and stare, mesmerized by the pure determination on his face. I swallow hard as nervous energy flows through my body.

It’s like a train wreck—I shouldn’t watch, but I can’t tear my eyes away.

He marches down the ramp and jumps up onto the platform before slipping through the ropes and into the ring. The rumble of the crowd pumps even more energy into the air. So much so even I can taste it. Xavier and Rex stare at each other from opposite corners. A chill runs down my spine as I take in Xavier’s cold expression. It’s murderous, and I really don’t like what that might mean.

They circle each other for a moment before wrapping each other up in holds. They fall to the mat grappling, and Rex says something into Xavier’s ear, but only loud enough for Xavier to hear. Xavier’s eyes grow wild, and he slips out of Rex’s hold with ease and rolls him onto his back. Xavier straddles Rex and lands a hard right punch to the side of Rex’s face.

I cover my mouth. Shit just got very real. I’ve seen enough matches to know that they never really hit each other like that in the ring. Xavier is losing it—and on national television.

I have to stop him.

Before he destroys everything he’s worked so hard for.

O
n the mat
, putting on a show for the crowd, is really fucking hard. All I want to do is pound the ever-loving shit out of Rex. He’s run his mouth for far too long but fucking with Anna is the last fucking straw. I want nothing more than to end him. Holding back for the sake of my job is testing my sanity.

Rex wraps his arms around my neck and jerks my head toward his face and growls in my ear, “I can’t wait to find out what Anna’s sweet little pussy tastes like.”

A cloak of red covers my vision, and that’s all I can see.

I grab his shoulders and flip him onto his back, and the only thing I want to do is inflict pain. I draw my fist back and slam it into the side of Rex’s face, and he grunts in pain.

I pull back my left and hit him just as hard and follow it up with another right hook.

Rex bucks his hips, and I fall off him. Crimson flows from Rex’s nose and I stare down at my hands covered in the same slick liquid. I’ve hurt him, but it’s not enough.

I roll off the ring and force a man sitting ringside off the metal chair he’s sitting on. I grab the cold steel and toss it into the ring.

Rex pulls himself up the ropes so he can stand as I slip back into the ring. I grab the chair and as Rex turns to face me I smack him across the face with it as hard as I can. An audible crack echoes around the arena.

Rex falls down to the mat. He rolls side-to-side, groaning and clutching his face.

If he’s still moving, he hasn’t had enough.

I throw the chair down and grab him by the hair of his head and yank, forcing him back to his feet. Rex wobbles in front of me, and I’m tempted to ask him where the fuck his cocky-ass smirk is now, but I resist. I’d rather just focus on showing him who the king of this fucking ring is.

I draw back and land a hard right square into his nose. The bone breaks easily against my knuckles, and the delight is such that I actually smile.

It feels good to release all the anger I’ve been keeping bottled up inside. The animal inside me has been caged for far too long. Being under contract gave me something to lose if I lost my head and fought against the world. That’s probably one of the reasons why the nightmares have been coming so frequently.

My mind flashes with visions of Rex’s constant taunts…Grandmother beating me…Mom, dying in my arms.

The last one stings the most. I couldn’t save her, but I can surely save Anna. I’ll never allow anything bad to happen to her. No one will ever hurt her, including me.

Never again will anyone mess with
my
Anna, least of all this fuckin’ cockroach. I’ll see to that by breaking his fucking jaw.

I slam my fist into his jaw and Rex’s mouth snaps open awkwardly as he falls to his knees before me. He stares up at me with hazed eyes, and I draw back one more time.

A large arm hooks around my elbow, and I find myself being yanked back. A roar that rivals an angry lion’s rips from my throat. I’m still hungry to finish what I’ve started and it pisses me off someone that is preventing that.

I yank and pull and scream, “Get the fuck off me!”

“Chill, man. You’ve got to chill. They’ll arrest your ass if you don’t.”

Freddy’s voice cuts through the haze in my brain.

My vision swirls and when my eyes finally focus, I’m brought back to the harsh reality of what I’ve done. I stare down at Rex’s uncharacteristically still body on the mat, surrounded by a medical team.

Oh God. I fucking did that.

Shit.

My legs give out below me, and Freddy, along with two other members of the security team, allow me sink to my knees. I grab my hair in my fists and squeeze.

This isn’t happening. All I’ve ever wanted is to leave all my violence in the past, but no matter how fucking hard I try, I can’t always contain my rage.

I press my hands against the mat and drop my head.

I fucked up. I’m going to lose everything.

I close my eyes and just focus on breathing. The fans in the arena mumble as the doctors work on Rex. Everyone’s waiting to see if he’s going to be okay.

“Brian, let me go!”

Anna’s voice cuts though the noise, and I glance up just in time to watch her push away from Brian and dash across the ring, sinking down to her knees beside me. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and kisses my cheek.

“Are you okay?”

I peer into her concerned eyes. Tears flow down her cheeks, and I know that I don’t want to live without her. I need her by my side always.

She needs to know how I feel about her.

I cradle her face in my hands and wish so badly we were alone in a room somewhere—anywhere—rather than being watched by millions of people while I’m still covered in another man’s blood, but this might be my only chance.

“I love you, Anna, no matter what happens next,” I whisper. “And I always will.”

Tears continue to flow from her beautiful green eyes, but she gives a slight smile. “I’ll love you forever.”

I press my lips to hers in a soft kiss. Anna means the world to me and I’ll do anything to protect her.

Police officers begin to circle me, and I know I’ve royally fucked up. I close my eyes and tighten my arms around Anna, trying to memorize the way this moment feels.

“On your feet. Xavier Cold, you’re under arrest,” an authoritative voice says.

I glance up at the officer in front of me as he pulls handcuffs from his waistband. My eyes drift back to Anna’s face, and she shakes her head.

“No! You are not taking him!” she yells at the officer.

“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to step away from him,” the cop orders.

Anna clings even tighter to me, and as much as it pains me, she needs to do as he asks.

I kiss her forehead. “You’re going to have to let me go, baby. I don’t want them putting their hands on you. I’ll lose my shit.”

She swallows hard and sniffs. “I don’t want to be without you.”

I cup her face in my hands, and I fight back all the emotion from my face. I can’t let her see how this is breaking me.

“You have to be strong.” I don’t know if this is more for her benefit or my own.

Tears flow down her cheeks, and she reluctantly nods. “Okay.”

“Good,” I whisper, and before I get a chance to kiss her again, a cuff is locked around one of my wrists.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you…” Two officers yank me to my feet as they continue to read me my rights and pull both of my arms behind my back so they can finish linking both of my wrists together.

They begin leading me away, and I turn back to look at Anna. She’s still kneeling on the mat clutching her chest while she sobs. More than anything I want to break out of these shackles and hold her. That frown on her face is killing me, and I hate knowing I’m the one who put it there. I close my eyes and pray I haven’t just done something that will destroy us forever now that I’ve finally found my heart.