Learning to Live

Chapter 45

The fight was on a Sunday evening. I already had appointments scheduled that day, and not every one of them could be postponed, so I had to work until later in the afternoon.

Hunter had to go ahead of me. He promised I would be able to get into the club if I just give them my name.

I didn't see Antonio again. Hunter must've banned him from coming to our house, even when the other coaches kept coming and going to the house gym. I appreciated the gesture. I never liked Antonio to begin with, and what he did just made my opinion of him worse. I was glad he wasn't going to get anywhere near our space again.

After I wrapped up everything I needed to do for the day, I sent my assistants home while I changed my clothes to close up for the day.

My bladder screamed. I'd been holding it in the entire afternoon because I wanted to finish up as early as possible. But I couldn't any longer.

I was in the examination room, about to go to the bathroom, when I heard a rattle and a crash outside. What the...?

I really needed to pee. But the noise was too close. Frowning, I opened the door, but couldn't get a step outside. I caught a flash of broken glass before an unfamiliar man shoved me inside the examination room. I stumbled back, disoriented.

The man was dressed in a black winter jacket and a black cap shadowing his features. He reached inside his pocket.

And pulled out a gun.

I think I peed a little.

I froze, my mind going blank for a fraction of a second before all possible scenarios exploded in my head. Thieves? But in the middle of the day? It'd never happened before, and this was a relatively safe neighborhood since there was a police station literally one block away.

"Hands up," the guy said. He raised his head, and his sharp blue eyes came to sight. He had a thick mustache that dripped down the sides of his chin with no beard.

Instinct took over, and I put my hands up. My heart was beating so hard, I could barely hear what he said. He pointed to the chair near the counter with his gun. "Sit down."

I sat down.

Calm down. Taking a deep breath, I said, "the money is in there," I nodded towards the door separating my office from the examination room. There was a very small sum. Most clients paid using their credit cards.

Mustache grinned and leaned against the examination table. "I'm not here for the money, darling," he said, his southern accent thick.

My stomach rose to my throat. Not money. My mind immediately went to the only other thing a man would want out of a woman. I crossed my arms.

"And what are you here for?" I asked with more courage than I felt.

"We're here to keep you occupied until the fight is over," Mustache said.

What? The fight?

"What fight?" I asked, even though there was only one fight I had to attend at the moment.

Mustache chuckled.

"Between Jamison and Cullen," Mustache said. He leaned forward. He was half a room away from me, and I appreciated the distance. "Your boyfriend is going to beat Cullen's ass, if you don't mind my language. And Cullen knows it. So he had to get a leverage over Jamison."

The picture cleared up. "And that leverage is me?" I asked.

"Exactly," Mustache said. "No hard feelings, darling. It's just business. We're going to have a little call with Jamison in a little bit, so he knows we have you."