Kissing the Canvas (Fighting For Love Book 3) (8 page)

GRAYSON

The setting of this fight couldn’t be any more poetic. The organizers wanted to go for something dramatic for the state championship, so they’d gone all out on creating a setting that would be talked about. They had decided to use a disused warehouse by the water, and they’d filled it with lights and props to make it look even more horrific. To Grayson, it looks like the kind of places that he used to fight in, kind of like the one where he killed a man.

But he can’t think about that now. As he hears the announcer say his name, he walks through the tunnel, putting on his game face and raising his hands. West walks behind him, scanning the crowd, looking out for Morrison and Adriana. Out of the corner of his eye Grayson can see Willow and Tommy at opposite ends, moving through the crowd, on red alert for Adriana.

“Good luck, Grayson.” West bows his head as he says the words, so that Grayson won’t catch the look of fear in his eyes. However, it’s too late for that. Now, all that matters is getting into the ring and doing what needs to be done.

The announcer raises his arm, exciting the crowd, but Grayson isn’t listening. He’s focused on the crowd, but there are too many people and too much noise. It’s an assault on the senses, making it impossible to find the one person whom he’s looking for.

The bell rings, and for the first time, Grayson takes in the sight of Dexter, ‘The Destroyer.’ They’re equally matched in terms of height and weight. Grayson has studied the way Dexter moves, how he fights, and the submissions that he uses. But he forces that knowledge out of his head; it’s no good to him. He’s not here to win. He’s here to string the fight out until the third round and then let Dexter take him down.

The first punch blind-sides him, as Dexter’s fist smashes into his face. Grayson had been looking out into the crowd, desperately searching for Adriana. He hadn’t been paying attention to what was going on in the ring. He focuses back on Dexter to see him frowning at Grayson in confusion. They’ve sparred together enough times before for Dexter to know when Grayson isn’t giving his all.

Grayson swings a roundhouse, connecting with Dexter’s side and knocking the wind out of him. A roar goes up from the crowd at the action, and he feels himself getting pumped by all the adrenaline in the place.
But no
, he reminds himself,
this isn’t about giving the crowd what they want.
He has to measure his punches, take more care and, above all, take more hits.
He steels himself not to block a kick from Dexter and feels the full weight of the man go crashing into his knee, his eyes blurring from the pain. That’s when he sees her. Towards the back, standing in between Morrison and a man that looks like one of his typical goons, is Adriana. Tears are streaming down her face.

ADRIANA

Adriana covers her hand with her mouth, trying to force the tears back as she watches Grayson getting pummeled. The only thing worse than seeing him get hurt is knowing that she’s the reason for it.

“Grayson come on. Fight back.” She says the words under her breath, already having been warned about drawing attention to herself. But, as if Grayson has heard her, his head snaps up, and he looks straight at her.

In that moment, she feels like all the love that she has for him goes rushing into her heart, filling her up. She watches him as he takes another hit from Dexter, his eyes never leaving hers. She shakes her head at him, trying to make him understand that she doesn’t want this to happen to him. The bell rings, and Grayson wipes away the blood from a cut above his eye as he heads back to his corner. He looks up at her, pain in his eyes, but not for himself for her.

She wants to run to him, tend to his wounds, and tell him that he doesn’t need to do this, not for her. She wants to tell him that she loves him, and that she doesn’t care about what happened at the fight all those years ago. She knows the kind of man that he is. She knows that whatever happened in the ring that night…there was a reason for it. She knows Grayson, and she knows he’s not a killer.

She tries to squirm out of Mr. Elliott’s hold but his hand on her arm is too tight. He squeezes her bicep hard, making her cry out and the gun that Morrison is holding to her ribs digs in a little more.

“You move, you die. Remember that, my dear.” Morrison’s words come out through gritted teeth, as he looks at her like a benign father figure. Anyone watching them would probably have thought that he was a friend.

Adriana would like to think that he wouldn’t shoot her in a crowd full of people with so many witnesses, but she doesn’t plan on putting that theory to the test. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a flash of red hair. Willow is a few rows down, looking at her and looking dangerously like she’s about to burst into tears. Adriana shakes her head, hoping that the slight movement has been seen by her friend but gone unnoticed by the men either side of her. Willow can’t raise the alarm—not yet, not when there’s so much still hanging in the balance.

The bell rings again, and Adriana fixes her full attention back onto the ring and the two men circling each other.

GRAYSON

Grayson feints at Dexter half-heartedly, lowering his guard and allowing another gut punch to land, doubling over and giving Dexter the opportunity to deliver an uppercut to his chin. Grayson tastes blood and spits it out onto the floor of the ring. They’re halfway through the second round, and he needs to start taking more hits if a knockout in the third round is going to be believable. But as he drops his blocks and softens his own punches, he notices that something isn’t right.

Dexter frowns at him, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. “Where the fuck is your game, Gray?” He speaks loudly enough for only Grayson to hear him. “Are you really that pussy-whipped? I mean it’s a nice piece of pussy, but if it’s enough for you to lose your mind over then I guess I really need to try it.” Dexter gives him a wolfish smile, and Grayson tries to keep a lid on his anger. If he lets himself go, then there’s no way he can control the outcome of this fight in the way that he needs to.

Dexter seems to realize that Grayson isn’t giving his all in the fight, and he’s looking at him suspiciously. He continues to try to goad him, calling him a pussy, a wannabe, and whatever else he can come up with, but it doesn’t have any effect.

Grayson looks back up to where Adriana is standing, her hands raised as if she’s ready to cover her face, as if she doesn’t want to see Grayson get hit again. Dexter follows Grayson’s gaze and smiles when he sees Adriana, nodding at her and blowing her a kiss.

Grayson knows that Dexter is doing it just to piss him off.
Mission accomplished
, he thinks, as he delivers a solid punch to the side of Dexter’s head.

“That’s more like it.” Dexter smiles at him through bloody teeth. It wasn’t fun for him, knowing that Grayson had been holding back. It probably wounded his pride to think that Grayson was letting him off easy.

Grayson reminds himself to hold back. Adriana is depending on him, and he can’t let her down.

“Looks like that’s the way to get your head back in the game, Gray.” Dexter flicks his eyes over again towards Adriana’s direction. “So, tell me Grayson, have you had her in that sweet little ass of hers, yet? I bet she’s so tight, but I guess I’ll find out soon.”

That’s when Grayson loses all control. Every rational thought in his brain is removed and replaced by anger and action. He can’t stop himself; he explodes. He punches through Dexter’s guard, hammering into his abs, getting in as many body blows as he can. Dexter doubles over caught off guard by how much strength Grayson has left. He tries to get in a few more punches, but Grayson goes through him like a freight train. It’s only in the moment that his fist connects with Dexter’s temple that Grayson realizes what’s about to happen, and he wants to take it all back.

Dexter’s body falls to the floor, his arms and legs splayed out around him, like a snow angel. The referee calls it: “TKO!” Grayson’s hand is lifted in victory, and the crowd is cheering like he’s never heard before. However, he’s still in a daze that’s slowly clearing. He’s won the fight, but he’s not happy about it.

ADRIANA

She sees Dexter go down and hit the mats, hard. She raises her arms, whooping and hollering, happy beyond belief that Grayson has won and that, above all, she doesn’t have to see him getting beaten to within an inch of his life. However, her mood changes abruptly, as the gun is prodded hard into her side. Grayson has won, but she knows what that means for her.

“Grayson! Grayson!” she yells as loudly as she can, but her voice is lost in the crowd. They are going completely wild because they’re about to witness the crowning of a new state champion. Everyone is on their feet, and they’re blocking Grayson’s view of her.

Mr. Elliott yanks her hard, pulling her along the row and towards an exit at the back. She tries to become deadweight, making it harder for him to force her to move, but he doesn’t break stride. He just lifts her up and carries her in a fireman’s lift. She kicks out and screams, but the crowd around her doesn’t pay any attention, probably figuring that she’s being carried off by security for being hysterical.

She does everything she can to slow him down, but it’s not enough. She knows that once they get outside, she doesn’t have any chance. Once she’s outside, there aren’t any witnesses to see what they do to her.

GRAYSON

He doesn’t care that he’s just won the biggest fight of his life. All he cares about is that he’s just sealed Adriana’s fate. His eyes dart to where she had been sitting, only to find that the crowd is completely obstructing her from view. He has to get to her—now.

Grayson jumps out of the ring and tries to make his way through the crowd as fast as he can, but they’re slowing him down.

“Punisher, we love you!”

“Punisher, sign my butt!”

He ignores all of them, sweeping people out of his way, as he catches sight of Adriana on Morrison’s goon’s shoulder, heading towards the exit. Grayson knows that Morrison has lost a lot of money on the fight. He had been betting on Grayson to lose, but Grayson hadn’t fulfilled his end of the bargain. That means that Morrison isn’t likely to hold up his end. He won’t think twice about killing Adriana.

Grayson takes the stairs three at a time, rushing after them as fast as he can, cursing anyone who gets in his way. He barrels through the exit, skidding to a halt, as he takes in the scene. Morrison and his goon obviously imagined that Grayson would come after Adriana. They have her wedged in-between them, with Morrison’s gun in the foreground, making sure that Grayson can’t miss it.

“Let her go, Morris. We can work this out.” Grayson doesn’t even know what it is that he’s saying. All he’s thinking about is that he has to keep Morrison talking. If he’s talking, then he won’t be shooting.

The door behind him bangs closed again and Grayson feels rather than sees Tommy’s presence just to the side of him. “I told you I’d have your back, G.”

But the presence of another fighter has gotten Morrison all jumpy. Grayson can see his hand on the gun shaking. That’s the last thing they need…for the gun to go off by mistake, especially when it’s trained in the general direction of Adriana’s gut.

“Back off! Back off!” Morrison’s voice comes out half-strangled. “Get back or I’ll kill her right in front of you.” He clicks the safety off, emphasizing the point, and Grayson feels the closest thing to paralytic fear that he’s ever experienced in his life.

He focuses his attention on Adriana, not on the gun that’s pressed into her side. She smiles at him sadly, and that’s when he sees her split lip and the bruising to the side of her face. He feels his stomach clench at the knowledge that these men have hurt her, and he wasn’t there to protect her.

“Walk away, Grayson.” Her voice sounds confident, as if that’s really what she wants. “It’s over and it’s okay.” She smiles at him encouragingly, and his heart feels like it’s being squeezed into a fist. After everything that’s happened, everything that she’s been through, she’s still trying to tell him that he’s off the hook—for all of it. He may have just been announced the new state champion, but she was the strong one in the way that really mattered.

“I can’t do that, Adrie.” He doesn’t take his eyes off of her, afraid that if he does that it’ll be the last time he sees her. “I got you into this and I’m going to get you out.” He ignores Morrison’s sarcastic laugh at his words.

“That’s all very heartwarming, but we really must be going now.” Morrison pulls Adriana further away from Grayson, towards the street behind them and the car that’s waiting for them with the engine running. Grayson takes a step towards them, but Morrison shakes his head, looking meaningfully at the gun. “Kid, don’t tempt me.”

Grayson has run out of options; there’s nothing that he can do except watch as she’s dragged away.
Exactly, Fletcher
, he thinks,
there’s nothing that you can do, but Adriana can do something.

“Remember what I taught you, Adrie.” He shouts the words out to her, hoping that she’ll understand what he’s telling her.

She frowns at him, confused, and he thinks that he’s lost her, that there’s nothing more that can be done. He knows that when they get her onto the main street she is going to disappear and he won’t be able to find her. But then her frown clears, and he sees the light of understanding sparkle in her eyes.

What happens next occurs so quickly it’s hard to take it in. Morrison continues to drag Adriana back, but abruptly she plants her feet, throwing Morrison off balance and sending the gun skittering along the ground. Then, she executes the hip flip that Grayson had taught her on the goon, rolling him to the floor like a pro and slamming him into the ground, hard.

Grayson and Tommy move as one, rushing towards the two men. Tommy pins the goon down, using all his force to dominate him. As Morrison sees how the tide is turning, he decides to cut his losses and starts running towards the street, but he’s nowhere near fast enough. Grayson tackles him from behind, sending Morrison crashing to the ground, crying out in pain as his face hits the concrete.

“You fuck! You broke my fucking nose!” Morrison whines like a little bitch, as he tries to slow the flow of blood that’s rushing out of his nose like a tidal wave.

“I’m going to break more than that, Morris. Your nose is the least of your problems.” Grayson flips the man over, raising his fist, ready to smash Morrison’s head against the concrete.

Grayson sees the exact moment that realization dawns on Morrison. The fear in his eyes is palpable. “Come on, Grayson. Don’t be that way. You know I wouldn’t really have hurt her.”

Grayson shakes his head at the sniveling man underneath him. “It looks like you already have, Morrison.” Grayson looks over at Adriana, who’s standing with her back to the wall, watching them both.

“That wasn’t me. That was Mr. Elliott.” Morrison gives up his comrade in arms so quickly Grayson’s surprised it doesn’t make his head spin. “Kid, don’t hurt me. You’re not a killer.” Morrison holds his hands up in front of his face, looking as pathetic as any man whom Grayson has ever seen.

Grayson feels the conflict playing out inside of him. There’s nothing that he wants more right now than to let out all the anger that Morrison has made him feel over the years. He wants to make Morrison feel the fear and the pain that he put Adriana through.

“Grayson, don’t.” Adriana’s voice is quiet, but it carries over the noise in his head.

He takes in the plea in her green eyes and realizes that no matter how much he wants to hurt Morrison there’s something else that he wants more. He wants to be the man whom Adriana needs him to be, the man whom he knows he can be for her. That’s more important than any thought of revenge or selfish need of his own.

He looks down at Morrison and releases him in disgust. “I’m not going to hurt you, Morris, not physically at least. But you and your little friend here are going to go away for a very long time, a lifetime if I have anything to do with it.”

Grayson is vaguely aware of the sound of sirens as he walks towards Adriana, enveloping her in his arms. They hold onto each other, clutching each other so tight that it’s impossible to tell where one of them ends and the other begins.