X: The Hard Knocks Complete Story (30 page)

T
he SUV comes
to a stop just outside an old building. It appears to be an abandoned factory of some type, which is common in this city. When the economy went south a few years back, most of the big businesses left, leaving it even poorer than when they had been here.

“We’re here,” Kai says before opening the door.

I follow suit and get out, wondering what in the hell we’re doing. I’m not sure if he brought me to this abandoned building to kill me.

Kai notices me staring up at the building and laughs. “You can stop that shit that’s going through your mind. Just because your bitch-ass punched me in the face doesn’t mean I’m going to kill you, no matter if I should or not. Bishop wants to talk. That’s all.”

“About what?” I ask briskly, not liking all the secrecy.

Kai lifts his chin. “It’s Bishop’s place to tell you, but trust me, you won’t want to turn it down.”

My jaw muscle clenches as I try to figure out if that was a threat or not. “And if I say no?”

Kai sets his gaze firmly on mine, his dark eyes almost appearing black. “Trust me when I say, you won’t want to do that. Now, come on. Bishop doesn’t like to wait.” He heads toward a metal door leading into the building with me close behind. Before he opens it, he turns to me and smiles. “This is going to blow your fucking mind.”

I tilt my head as he opens the door, and music wafts outside, sounding like a party with the hip-hop bass thumping. We walk through the large open space and then round a corner before heading through a set of double doors into a room illuminated by blue and purple neon lights.

It has the feel of a nightclub, complete with a bouncer, who happens to be the other guy who showed up at the house last night.

His eyes narrow as I pass by him, and I notice he has a split in the center of his lip, no doubt caused by me. He doesn’t say anything though. He just remains on the stool he’s sitting on while guarding his post.

“What’s up, G? How are the ladies looking tonight?” Kai asks the man, like having me with him is no big deal.

The man’s gaze flicks from me to Kai as they clasp their hands together. “Some hot asses in the spot tonight.”

“Good lookin’ out, playa. I’ll see you later.” Kai grins at me after he speaks to the bouncer. “This way, X.”

We finally make it into the main room, and the man who drove us here disappears into the crowd of bodies in front of us. This place is like a full-on underground nightclub. A few topless girls dance on a small stage in the center of the room and men stand around throwing money at them.

“Where the hell are we, Kai?”

“We’re at Bishop’s place. He got tired of going to bars where he couldn’t control who came in and out, so he made his own spot. It’s the hypest place in town.”

“What’s all this got to do with me? Bishop has all the money he needs. I don’t owe him any money, and I never snitched on anything that had gone down while I ran in his crew. Why can’t he just let me be?”

Kai turns and shrugs. “Look, X, we’ve known each other for a long time. Things have changed since you’ve been out of the game, and the thing you have to get through that thick skull of yours is that Bishop gets what he wants. There’s no refusing him, and there’s no walking away when you have something he needs.”

“Like I told you before, I don’t have any money.”

He gives me a stop-fucking-with-me look and then motions for me to follow him. “Explain that to Bishop.”

He weaves us in and out of the writhing bodies on the dance floor until we come to a sectioned off area with two men standing guard, both about my size. Bishop has certainly upped his protection. Back in the day, I was his only hired muscle. Bishop can afford a lot more than one bodyguard nowadays.

“Stay here,” Kai orders as he slips past the men.

My eyes stay trained on Kai as he struts over to a plush black couch, and I spot Bishop sitting between two women. Kai leans down and whispers something into his ear, and Bishop’s eyes snap in my direction.

A huge smile sweeps across his face as he shoves off the couch and walks in my direction with his arms out. “Phenomenal X, my man. What’s up?”

He looks older than the last time I saw him. The last ten years haven’t been kind to him. His light-brown skin has a few lines etched around his eyes, and his signature goatee is graying. The Afro he once sported is gone, replaced by tight braids against his scalp. The black pin-striped suit he’s wearing is perfectly tailored to fit him. The tiny bowtie wrapped around his neck and the glasses on his face finish off the outfit. He looks like a pimp to some high-class hookers.

I raise my chin and stare down at him. “What do you want from me, Bishop?”

He cocks his head to the side. “Is that any way to talk to an old friend, to someone who helped you out when you were at the lowest point in your life?”

While that might be true, he sure as fuck didn’t do it out of the goodness of his heart. Every scrap he gave me, I earned it by doing his dirty work, like beating money out of people who owed him.

When he sees there’s not going to be any open-armed reunion, his smile disappears, and he motions toward the couch where he just came from. “Come in. Let’s talk.”

“You’re wasting your time, Bishop. Whatever it is you want from me, the answer is no. Like I told Kai, I don’t have any money. I have nothing of any value to you.”

He squares his shoulders and meets my stare head-on. “As you can see, money, I have. What I need is a legitimate name, so I can open a business—a real nightclub—to pass my money through. And seeing as how you’re on the straight and narrow now, I think you’re the man I’ve been looking for.”

It’s common practice in the drug world to have businesses to make the large amounts of money moving through hands appear clean, and I have no desire to get mixed up with anything that could hurt my wrestling career.

I lick my lips. “No, not going to happen.”

Bishop’s eyes flit to Kai, who shrugs.

“I told you, man,” Kai says. “This isn’t the same X who ran with us.”

Bishop sighs. “I was hoping things wouldn’t have to get nasty, but I need this, X. I
need
you to do this for me, and I’m afraid I won’t take no for an answer.”

Even though the threat doesn’t sound so menacing the way he presents it, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a vicious one. I need to tread carefully with what I say next because Bishop seems to have quite a bit of power around here now. That still doesn’t mean I’m going to give in to him though.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help you out. I’m not the right partner for you,” I say.

Bishop shoves his glasses up the tip of his nose. “Are you close to that
bitch
of yours?”

Anger rolls through me, and I clench my fists at my sides. “Don’t,” I growl. “She’s off-limits to you.”

“Now, that depends. If you agree to do as I’ve asked, then your Anna won’t be touched by me or the crew, but refuse”—Bishop lifts one shoulder as he pokes his bottom lip out a fraction—“and it’ll be open season on her.”

“Touch her, and I will fucking kill you.”

Bishop throws his head back and laughs. “There’s the X I knew.”

There’s nothing more I want at this very moment than to bash his face in with my fists, but I’ve got enough sense to know that if I do that—Cole being a witness to seeing me take off with Kai—I won’t be walking out of this place.

“Here’s the situation, X.
You’re going
to cooperate with me and help me get the nightclub going. You will invest some of your money, and your name will be on all the legal stuff.”

My nostrils flare as I allow him to talk, knowing full well that I’ll never go along with what he says.

Bishop straightens his suit jacket. “Now all of that is taken care of, sit down with me, and let’s have a celebratory drink.”

“No. I’m good.”

“All right then.” He gives Kai a pointed look before turning back to me. “Your ride will be out front.”

I begin to head back the way I came when Bishop’s voice stops me dead in my tracks, “Tell Anna hello for me.”

I flex my fingers, and as hard as it is for me to walk away, I know I have to.

Wandering through the bodies to make it to the exit, the only thing I can think of is how thankful I am that Anna will soon be back on the road and far away from this city. As much as I hate to admit it, I would much rather risk her being around Rex without me than her being here in this city with me while Bishop has her in his sights.

I shove open the metal door leading outside, and I find a white Mercedes waiting with the engine running. The windows are tinted, so I can’t tell who’s waiting inside.

The passenger window rolls down, and a familiar face leans over and smiles.

“Hello, X.”

Angie Martinez, a girl I used to fuck around with back in the day, is sitting behind the steering wheel.

I scrub my hand down my face. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Get in,” she says.

I glance around, but there’s no other option for a ride, so as much as I don’t want to, I open the car door and slide into the passenger seat of Angie’s car.

She smiles and I can’t help but to notice her too-tight skirt, showing off more leg than should be legal. Her dark hair flows loosely around her shoulders in big waves, and her face hasn’t changed a bit since I saw her ten years ago.

“Where exactly am I taking you?”

“Tough’s Gym.”

The car rolls forward, and Angie’s gaze slides over to me for a brief second before turning back to the road. “You look good, X. Glad to see you’re doing so well. I’ve missed you around the Block.”

I fold my arms over my chest, wanting to cut to the chase. “What are you doing with Bishop, Angie?”

She sits up a little straighter in her seat. “I’m not
with
Bishop. I work for him.”

I shake my head in disgust. “What happened to getting out of here and going to college?”

She shrugs. “I didn’t see the point in spending time hitting the books when I could work on the Block and make four times as much as I could at a regular job.”

“A negative of a regular job isn’t prison time though,” I retort.

“Still righteous, I see. You’re the only person I’ve ever known who actually left here and made something of himself. The rest of us who try always find our way back.”

“Then, you didn’t try hard enough to stay away.”

Angie parks the car outside of Tough’s Gym, and I don’t waste any time in getting out of the car.

She’s right behind me as I walk toward my bike. “Where are you staying? Maybe I can swing by a little later to keep you company.”

I turn around to tell her there’s no way in hell that’s going down, but before I can get the words out, she kisses my cheek.

I grab her wrist before she can reach up and touch my face. “No, Angie. It’s not happening.”

She pokes her bottom lip out. “You’ve never told me no before.”

“I’ve met someone,” I tell her.

Her eyes scan my face, taking in my serious expression. She slowly pulls out of my grasp. “You love her?”

I nod. “I do.”

Angie adjusts the blue top she’s wearing, and her lips pull down into a deep frown. “She’s a lucky lady.” She takes a step back. “Good-bye, X.”

I stand there, watching Angie hop into the car.

I have no doubt that my rejection hurt her. Back when we used to mess around, she made it clear that I wasn’t the only man in her life, which was why I never took her seriously. We never loved each other.

I never knew what love was until I met Anna. She’s my heart.

S
everal shades
of colored tulle line the table from the aftermath of Quinn picking her wedding colors. She points to a piece of violet tulle and holds it up next to a pale yellow one. “Perfect. It’s so girlie. Don’t you love it?”

Aunt Dee smiles at her. “Aye, they’re lovely. I can’t wait to see them paired next to your dress.”

“My dress!” Quinn’s excitement is evident. “Oh my God, Anna, wait until you see it. We need to figure out a time when we can go get you fitted for your dress.”

I lay the fabric down on the table. “Oh, it’ll have to be sometime in the middle of next week. I have to fly out to Seattle to meet up with Tension for a show on Sunday, and then I have to stay there for Tuesday’s show.”

Quinn’s eyes widen. “Seattle? You do realize, being that close to Portland, Uncle Simon might just pop up.”

I sigh. “I know, but if he shows up, I’ll handle him.”

“I don’t doubt that, baby girl,” Aunt Dee says as she adjusts the scarf wrapped around her head. “From what I heard, you shocked the hell out of him when he showed up in Atlanta. He wasn’t prepared for you to speak to him that way while you were defending your relationship with X. It’s hard for my brother to realize that his little girl is all grown-up.”

“It took some real guts, telling him off like you did in Atlanta, cuz,” Quinn adds. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to handle facing Uncle Simon because of how hell-bent you were to avoid him when you first got into town, so major props to you for actually growing a little backbone.”

“Thank you.”

Standing up to Father was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but I’m glad I made it clear that I’m in love with Xavier. Father should know now that I never plan on returning to Portland to marry Jorge. Xavier completely has my heart.

I glance at my cell phone. “I can’t believe it’s nearly five already.”

“Five? Shit.” Quinn pops up from her chair like someone lit a fire under it. “I have to be at work in forty-five minutes. Let me go get changed, and I’ll drop you off on the way, Anna.”

“Okay.”

The moment Quinn leaves the room, Aunt Dee sets her brown eyes on me. “I know I harp on this every time I see you, but have you thought about calling your father? My poor brother has been going out of his mind since he discovered you’re in love with that hunky fighter.”

“He’s a wrestler,” I correct her.

She tilts her head. “Is that different?”

“Very much so. Not only does Xavier have to be physically in shape, but he also has to be able to follow a script and put on a show for the fans. Fighters just step into the ring and focus on inflicting physical pain on their opponents. Wrestling . . . it’s a mixture of physicality and acting.”

“Quinn told me you’re a part of the show now. Does that mean, you’ll have to fight someone in the ring? You know your father will go ballistic if he sees that on TV.”

“I’m not trained for that, so that will probably never happen—” Something she said just registers in my brain. “Are you saying Father watches Tension?”

“Every time it’s on,” she confirms. “He told me it gives him peace of mind to catch glimpses of you. He worries about your safety.”

“I didn’t know he did that. He hates wrestling.”

She reaches over and lays her hand on top of mine on the table. “That might be true, but he loves you even though it doesn’t feel that way to you at times. He’s harsh, and I’m in no way condoning his actions toward how he was trying to force you to live your life, but I do understand his grief about missing his only daughter. I don’t know what I would ever do if Quinn wasn’t speaking to me.”

“I don’t think that would ever happen. Quinn loves you too much.”

“At one time, you loved your father, too.”

“I still love him. I’m just mad at him right now.”

“Then, promise me, when you’re both ready to let your anger go, you’ll allow him an opportunity to apologize to you. Simon is a good man, but it’s hard for him to see that he’s not always right about things. He’s been that way since we were kids. When he saw that I was never going to bend to his will, he eventually gave in and stopped trying to change me. He learned to love my crazy ways even if he didn’t fully understand them.”

“You think that will happen between us? Right now, I feel like he hates me for running out on Jorge and for embarrassing the family.”

Aunt Dee smiles. “He loves you, sweet girl, and love always conquers everything.”

Quinn comes bouncing in the room, wearing a work uniform that says Property of Larry’s. “Ready, Anna?”

“Yeah.” I push myself out of my seat at the table and stretch my arms over my head, attempting to ease the stiffness in my back from sleeping on the hardwood floor last night. “Can I ask for a favor before we go?”

“Anything,” Quinn answers instantly.

“Can I borrow the air mattress I slept on while I was here?”

Quinn furrows her brow. “Sure, but why do you need it?”

At first, I think about telling her the truth—that Xavier couldn’t bring himself to sleep in his mother’s bed or on the couch in the living room because his mother had died on it—but I decide to keep Xavier’s heartbreaking past to myself.

“The bed at the house is like sleeping on the floor. The air mattress is much more comfortable.”

“Okay. Let me grab it out of the closet for you.” She dashes off and then returns with the portable bed and the sheets and blankets that I used on it. “I figured you might need these, too, since I know they fit the mattress pretty well.”

I wrap my arms around everything. “Thank you. This will help so much.”

Quinn smiles. “Awesome. Now, let’s get on the road before I’m late, and Andy jumps all over my ass.”

I laugh as I follow her out the door, and I throw a good-bye to Aunt Dee over my shoulder.

We load the stuff into her trunk while she prattles on about Larry’s. “Things are so much better since Alice’s bitchy ass has been fired. Andy promoted me to shift supervisor. Can you believe that? He says he knows he can count on me.”

“Congratulations! That’s awesome news.”

“Thanks. The extra money has really come at a good time. Paying for a wedding is expensive.”

We hop in the car and the mention of the cost of what it takes to get married causes the corners of my mouth to pull down. Father sank a pretty penny into the wedding he and Mother were planning for Jorge and me, and that makes me feel guilty because my family doesn’t exactly have a lot of money to spare.

She fires up the car. “Uh-oh. What’s wrong, Anna?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” I forgot how well she could read me.

“I call bullshit on that one,” she throws back at me as she pulls out onto the road. “I know that look. That beautiful face of yours is incapable of disguising sadness, especially those green eyes. They are, as people say, the windows to your soul.”

I turn to stare out the window in an attempt to hide my emotions from her, but the moment I do, something catches my eye and causes my jaw to drop open.

“Xavier?” I whisper his name.

“He’s the problem?”

“No . . . yes . . .” I tumble over my own words, not realizing I said it out loud. “I mean, I see him.”

“Where?” She gasps when I’m sure she spots the same scene I’m witnessing in front of my very eyes. “Oh, hell no.”

She jerks her car over to the side of the street where Xavier is standing, bumping her tire on the curb in the process.

Quinn turns to me. “Are you going to kill him, or do I get the pleasure? Don’t let him get away with that shit, Anna, or so help me, I will revoke your lady nuggets.”

“Oh, I’ve got this one.” I fling open the car door. “Keep the motor running.”

“Will do,” Quinn says.

I hop out and march in Xavier’s direction. My heart thunders in my chest as adrenaline flows through my veins. A million things I want to scream at him pop into my mind as I head right for him. I take in a shaky breath when I pass the girl who just kissed my man as she hops into a white Mercedes.

Who in the hell is she?

Xavier immediately holds up his hands in surrender, and I can tell by the shock on his face that he didn’t expect to see me here. “Anna . . . it’s not what it looks like.”

“Save it. I know what I saw. You kissed her!” Tears burn my eyes as betrayal rocks through me.

Flashbacks of the night when Deena was strutting around Xavier’s hotel room in nothing but some lingerie flip through my head. He hurt me once. What’s stopping him from going behind my back again to sleep with someone else?

I swat the tears away as my stare bores into him, waiting on his explanation for allowing another woman to kiss him. Xavier reaches for me, but I smack his hands away.

“No. Don’t touch me. Explain yourself.”

His crystal-blue eyes soften. “Anna, please, calm down.”

“Oh my God. This is
her
? How do you even put up with it?”

I whip around to find the source of the female voice bashing me, and my eyes land on the gorgeous Latina woman who I saw with him moments ago.

She is standing between the open driver’s door and the car as she focuses her gaze in our direction. “Seriously, X, what do you see in her?”

Pain from the truth of her words slices through me. Many times, I’ve questioned what he sees in me when he can obviously have any woman he wants.

“Get back in the car, Angie,” Xavier orders. When she doesn’t move to follow his order, he adds, “Now.”

Angie shrugs. “I think I would rather stay here and watch you talk your way out of our kiss to your little girlfriend.”

“We didn’t fucking kiss,” he fires back at her. “You kissed me. It’s not the same thing.”

A wicked smile crosses her face. “You didn’t exactly tell me
no
either. If this girl is going to be with you, she should learn that you’re not exactly a one-woman kind of guy.”

“Shut up, Angie. This doesn’t fucking concern you.”

I flinch at his tone. It’s the same tone he took with Deena. Is this how he treats a woman when he’s done with her? Will he treat me that way one day?

“Fine,” Angie sighs. Then, she flips her long dark hair over her shoulder. “But if you change your mind about my offer from earlier, you know where to find me.” With that, she slips into her car, slams the door, and pulls out onto the street.

I stare up at Xavier and fold my arms. “Another old friend?”

“Don’t worry about her,” he replies without a speck of emotion on his face. Then, he reaches for me, but I step back before he can touch me. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

I lift my chin. “No. I’m not going anywhere until you explain to me how you ended up standing on a sidewalk, kissing some old girlfriend.”

“She was never my girlfriend.”

“Then, just another girl you made a special
arrangement
with, like Deena?”

“Something like that.”

“Will that be
me
someday—just some other woman you once had a fuck-buddy relationship with?”

He scrubs his hand down his face. “How many times do I have to explain to you that you’re different? You’re nothing like the women I’ve been with before.”

“How do I know you didn’t feed them the same lines you’ve been feeding me? I won’t be able to handle you breaking my heart, Xavier.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Then, explain to me why you were with her,” I demand, wanting the full truth from him.

His face twists and I can tell he’s holding something back from me.

“I can’t do that,” he says.

My heart crumbles, and I clutch my chest in an attempt to hold it together. “If you keep things from me, how am I supposed to ever trust you?”

“There are some things you don’t need to know, beautiful,” he answers coolly. “Just be satisfied with what I can tell you.”

I square my shoulders. “That’s not good enough.”

Seeing that I’m not getting anywhere with this, I take a few steps away from him, toward Quinn’s car. “Come find me when you feel like telling me the truth.”

He stands there with a blank expression, but makes no attempts to chase after me.

Devastated, I turn and race to the Honda, not daring to look back.

I close myself inside. “Drive.”

She doesn’t question me, just shoves the transmission into gear and slams on the gas.

“Holy shit. What happened back there?” she asks.

I rest my head in my hand. “I’m not even sure.”

“Who was the woman?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. I would like more details about that myself. “Her name is Angie, and apparently, she’s a woman from his past.”

“His
past
? Are you saying that’s an old girlfriend?”

“
Girlfriend
is a pretty specific title, one Xavier never uses when it comes to women he’s been with.”

“You mean, she was an old fuck buddy of his? What the hell was he doing with her?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. He said it was basically none of my business.” Repeating it out loud causes my lower lip to quiver. “Do you think he—oh God.”

The tears can’t be stopped now. The very thought of Xavier being with another woman causes a sharp pain to rip through my chest, and I gasp for breath. My hand covers my mouth as I attempt to stop from crying, but it’s no use. This hurts so damn bad.

“Oh, Anna.” Quinn reaches over and takes my hand. “I’m sure he wouldn’t do that. Xavier might be a big brute of a man, but he’s not stupid. He wouldn’t risk losing you over some random piece of ass.”

“He’s done it before with Deena.” I take a deep breath.

Quinn’s brows furrow. “I know this sounds like I’m siding with him, but that situation with Deena was technically before the two of you were together. Do you really think he’d pull that shit now that you are official?”

“I didn’t think he would, but what other reason would he have to be with her and not explain the situation? I saw her kiss him, and he did nothing to deter my doubting mind from thinking the worst when I confronted him about it.”

“What
exactly
did he say?”

I sniff as I try to steady my breathing. “That there were some things I didn’t need to know about.”

Quinn twists her lips in an obvious show of questioning thought. “Do you trust him?”