Beyond Promise (8 page)

“You look stunning,” he rumbled so close to
my ear only I could hear.

Ayden wrapped his arms around me, and I
nestled my head against his chest, feeling the strength of his hold
on me. How I prayed nothing would happen to him. I forced the
thought away and whispered to Ayden.

“Stretch pants are always known to be sexy.”
I’d also put on one of his sweatshirts that fit more like a dress
on me, but it was cold outside, and the sweatshirt had proven to be
good luck at his other fights. “I figured I needed lots of room
when we go out to eat later to celebrate your victory.”

He nodded and released his arms from our
hug, and I suddenly felt extremely alone in a room full of my best
friends. I glanced around the space and saw the worried expressions
on Gabby and Brandy, while I forced down the lump that was about to
evolve into a full meltdown of tears and anger. Jason and Aaron
were doing their best at keeping the conversation rolling over by
the door so that Ayden wouldn’t see their expressions, but I was
certain Ayden felt something different in the air today. He knew he
shouldn’t be getting in the ring.

“Hey, we’ve only got about ten minutes,”
Derek called. “Let me get your other hand wrapped.”

Ayden brushed a soft kiss along my lips, and
I kept my eyes closed until he turned and walked toward Derek. If
he’d looked in my eyes, he’d have seen the fear running rampant,
and I couldn’t do that to him.

Ayden strode toward Derek and stood directly
in front of him, glancing down toward the ring, his expression
hardened. I wondered what he saw, but instead I focused on the
physical features of the man in front of me. His bare, broad
shoulders exposed the sleekest of muscles as he held out his hand
to be wrapped, and I continued to analyze Ayden as a machine, which
was what he had turned himself into. His strong shoulders angled
into his muscular back. Even the smallest of muscles were built
into a powerful device. Ayden’s slender waist was corded with
strength along his sides, and his lean, hard abdomen provided the
shield from his opponents’ fists. He had constructed a finely-tuned
instrument that was built for throwing punches and resisting impact
from others’ power. He was a modern day warrior. The logical side
of my brain understood that fully, but my heart whispered another
story.

Brandy’s hand softly rubbed my back, and I
jumped in place, startling us both.

“I know the feeling,” Brandy whispered, and
I rested my head on her shoulder. As his sister, she probably did
understand more than most—the teetering between nightmare and
reality that wouldn’t end until he stepped out of the ring.

Derek tossed the tape in his bag and nodded.
“We’re golden.”

Ayden flashed a look at Mason, and I knew we
were getting painfully close to the event. I lifted my head off of
Brandy and let out a quiet sigh. Prior to finding out about Ayden’s
opponent, I was purely excited that this fight was possibly going
to be his last. I actually dreamed about how we’d all be here,
cheering him on. He’d win and then take a bow, and we’d all be off
to a celebration dinner.

Now I tried to focus on him surviving, and I
cursed myself for allowing my thoughts to venture there.

Derek smeared some Vaseline around Ayden’s
mouth and cheeks, and I walked over to the window and peered down
into the crowd. Besides the obvious, there was something different
in the air. The electricity from the crowd wasn’t running in the
right direction, and the realization scared me to death. I wondered
if that was what Ayden noticed. I watched as people waved more cash
in the air as they placed their final bets, and my heart plummeted.
There was no way out.

I had to keep it together. I couldn’t let
Ayden see the fear in me, not even the slightest tremor.

Behind me, Jason and Aaron were giving Ayden
some last minute advice, which had them all laughing, and I heard
Brandy tell her brother she loved him, giving him a big hug.

“We’ll meet you outside the door,” Derek
instructed, as he gathered the group and led them out of the room
to give Ayden some privacy.

I didn’t need to turn around to know Ayden
was directly behind me. I was frozen in place and time. He slid his
arms around my waist, resting them on my belly, and he nuzzled his
chin into the crook of my neck, the whiskers tickling me as he
hugged me tightly.

“Thank you for always being there for me,”
he whispered. “I don’t think anyone else would be.”

I rested my hands on his and took in a deep
breath.

“I know it’s what you love to do.” My voice
caught in my throat.

“It’ll be over before you know it,” he
whispered.

“It will and you’ll be the victor.” I nodded
my head as if for reassurance, feeling the tears well in my
eyes.

He gave me a soft kiss on my neck and let
out a deep breath. “It’s time.”

“I know.” My eyes were focused on the crowd
below. “Do you feel that?”

He rubbed my stomach and shook his head.

“Not that.” The building was vibrating.

Within seconds more of the crowd began
stomping their feet in unison as if they were demanding their
fighters enter the ring. As the building shook, the feeling that
spread over me felt visceral and daunting. This wasn’t like any
other fight. The steady beat got louder, and hands went into the
air, stirring the restless air between the spectators. Chanting
that had begun slowly became louder with each passing second.

A knock on the door, followed by Derek
sticking in his head, told me it really was time. I turned to face
Ayden, and he rested his forehead on mine.

“Get to him first,” I whispered, and Ayden
shook his head, swiping a kiss along my cheek before leaving the
room.

I wanted to give him time to get down the
stairs before I left. I needed to regroup. Seeing the unconcerned
expressions on the men below made my worst nightmares seem like
child’s play. I heard the door click shut down the stairs and took
in a deep breath.

Everything was going to be fine.

“Aaron’s got our area reserved downstairs,”
Brandy said softly from behind. “Jason will walk us through the
crowd.”

I gave a slight nod and turned to see the
same look of fear running through her gaze.

“We’ll get through this, and then we’ll both
beat him up for putting us through this,” Brandy vowed.

I half-laughed as Brandy clutched my hand
and led me out of the room to where Jason and Gabby were waiting.
There was nothing about this fight that was similar to any of the
others we’d been to. Gabby wasn’t chatty. Jason wasn’t offering
anecdotal humor. We were all silent as if we were about to head
into the lion’s den of things you wished you could change.

We walked down the stairs and pushed open
the door to find the chanting almost deafening, and the thunderous
stomps even louder than moments before as the spectators waited for
the main attraction. We weren’t even in the room where the
tournament was being held and the noise was earsplitting. Jason
opened the metal doors and a blast of warm air hit me. The room was
so packed, it didn’t matter that the building had no heat.

I scanned the crowd, seeing nothing but
heads bobbing, hands waving, and rowdy patrons yelling for the
match to begin. Jason began clearing the way through the aisle that
had been closed in by gawkers. My heart hammered in my chest as
Jason pushed a couple raucous individuals out of the way and led us
to where Aaron was waiting. We were right next to the ring. I
skimmed the room, hoping to get a glimpse of where Ayden or his
opponent would be coming from, but the crowd was so dense it was
impossible to tell.

It wasn’t until a man climbed into the ring
with a microphone that the audience fell silent. I scouted the room
for the ring girls that were at every fight and saw none.

“Two undisputed champions going head to
head, knuckle to knuckle. No gloves in this match, only taped
hands. We’ve got Ayden Rhodes…”

The crowd burst into a round of boos and
jeers, interrupting the announcer, and my heart fell to the ground.
This had never happened. Ever. I glanced at Brandy whose eyes were
locked on Aaron, hoping for some hint he couldn’t give.

Aaron and Jason stared straight ahead, not
making eye contact with any of us, which told me that something was
definitely wrong.

The heckling stopped, and the announcer
continued by introducing Viktor, Ayden’s opponent, and the crowd
immediately erupted into cheers. I glanced around us and saw the
ravenous eyes of individuals waiting for nothing more than to claim
their winnings.

Music exploded from the speakers as the MC
extolled Viktor. I looked around the room until I saw a door open
and a massive figure appeared across the room. He seemed to be a
good head taller than most of the crowd. The spectators parted
immediately as he made his way down the aisle toward the ring. The
fighter’s head was shaved, and his body looked like he’d stolen it
from the
Jolly Green Giant
as he lumbered toward the square
in front of us.

I saw brute force behind his shoulders, but
I saw a lack of quickness. Ayden had both qualities. He was not
only quick but, also, strong. I took in a deep breath, watching him
climb between the ropes, and I prayed that his fist would never
connect with Ayden. The electronic music continued blaring through
the speakers as the MC announced Ayden’s entrance. A loud mix of
cheers and jeers could be heard around the room, and my chest
tightened. It killed me to hear to the negativity, and I couldn’t
even imagine what it had done to Ayden. My hope was that he didn’t
hear them.

To my right, doors swung open, and Ayden
took a step into the room. His stare was focused. He looked
intimidating and determined. Watching him stride down the aisle
took my breath away. He was elegant, demanding, and controlled. He
was a machine.

I watched him climb into the ring, and
Brandy squeezed my shoulder and didn’t let go as Derek and Mason
started giving him instructions as the MC read the rules. My pulse
quickened as Ayden’s gaze connected briefly with mine before
looking across the ring.

Before the beginning bell even chimed I saw
Ayden’s opponent charge at him, and I knew this was unlike any
other fight I’d ever witnessed.

Ayden lunged from his stool in an instant,
his fists in the air. He’d anticipated his opponent’s preemptive
attack as if he’d planned it himself. Dodging from Viktor’s left
hook, Ayden swung his fist into the abdomen of his opponent. The
sound of his fist hitting his opponent’s flesh was a welcome
one.

The glint in Ayden’s eyes was focused as he
dodged an uppercut and threw a jab back at his opponent, knocking
the man’s chin to the left. Anger flashed through Viktor’s eyes as
he returned a fist into Ayden’s stomach. The sweat sprayed onto the
mat as the crowd went crazy with the contact, and my stomach
knotted with every new swing.

I gasped as Ayden’s opponent repeated his
move and landed another punch into Ayden’s side, more liquid
spraying toward the crowd. Ayden didn’t even wince as the man’s
fist moved away. Ayden’s feet shuffled around the ring waiting for
his opponent to come to him.

My heart raced as I watched these two men
maintain their distance, their control. The cheers from the crowd
quickly turned to hungry cries for more blood, more sweat. Ayden’s
opponent drove a punch through the air, and I held my breath as I
saw his fist miss Ayden’s chin by less than an inch.

Ayden didn’t let the close call distract
him. He bobbed his head and plunged his fist directly into the
unguarded side of the other fighter. Ayden’s right fist smacked
beneath his opponent’s ribcage, and he let out a wheeze as Ayden
swung his left fist to land a powerful crunch to Viktor’s cheek.
His skin split, and his head lolled to the side as he took a step
backward to gain balance, but Ayden didn’t miss a beat.

Utilizing the split second advantage, he
rammed his left hand into the jaw of his opponent, flooring him
almost immediately. I knew better than to think this was the end.
His opponent’s eyes were still open, cagily looking around as he
thrashed his legs on the mat attempting to get back up. The
majority of the crowd began chanting “Viktor” into the air, which
overshadowed Ayden’s cheers.

Warily, I scanned the crowd and saw
something I’d never seen before: a place full of people who
genuinely seemed to hate the man still standing inside the ring,
Ayden. My hands got clammy as I watched them demand that Viktor get
back up. Crawling to the ropes, he hung on each and pulled and
steadied himself upward.

After a few more seconds Viktor stood up and
straightened his back, focusing on Ayden. Disdain and hatred ran
through his gaze as he glared at Ayden and motioned with his two
fingers to come forward. Ayden didn’t take the bait. Instead he
took two steps back, and Viktor came zooming through the ring, his
fist crunching into Ayden’s stomach. The power behind the throw
would’ve done most in, but Ayden’s abdomen clenched, blocking the
brute force behind Viktor’s punch.