Page 93 of The Two Halves of My Heart

Mikey paced the floor of his office, and with every step, I worried that I might have played my hand too soon. Fuck, I hadn’t even known I had a hand until I’d met the guy.

“Deal. Her name is on the door. But be warned, I won’t forget this. I’m not a man to cross.”

His stare should have been threatening, but all I saw were those eyes of Grace’s, and I knew his weak spot. This guy was supposed to have a reputation, but a mere promise of his long-lost daughter and I’d secured my success.

“I’m not here to cross you. I want you to make me the biggest fighter in your ring. That’s all.” And to show him I was serious, I offered him my hand for the second time. And this time he took it.

“Have you lost your fucking mind, Maddison?” Leo grabbed my shoulder once we were clear of The Venue. “Grace hates you fighting, and you’ve got to get her to come to London in a trap to see her father? Mate, even for you, that’s low.”

“Shut up, Leo. You don’t know shit. And you certainly don’t know what Grace will do for me. She was begging me not to go through with this fight, so I know she’ll come if it means a possibility of getting through to me.”

He took a step away and looked me over. I knew he had something else to say. “You know, I preferred it when you were just another guy, scrapping for fights and happy to work his way up. I don’t know what changed, man, but you need to take a hard look at yourself before you do something you can’t come back from.”

“If you have a problem, then fuck off. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone, and I’m fucking tired of being told differently.” I turned away, so angry that after everything, he was coming at me with this.

The rage boiled through me from the pit of my stomach, like acid burning to escape. All I needed to do was keep myself under control until later. Because then, I’d need everything I had to win this fight, regardless of any deal I’d made with Mikey fucking Kenner.

We stood as opponents on either side of the decision I’d made. Well, screw it. It was his choice. I made a phone call and then grabbed my stuff, ready to meet back here and get ready. Zuri would be here then. He had my back. If Leo wimped out on me, so be it, he’d be just another name on the list. The fuck you, look what I’ve done despite you, list.

Leo shook his head and turned away. The hurt of that shocked me. I hadn’t been expecting to feel that kick to the gut on top of everything else. The only person that had managed to put a dent in my feelings was Grace. She’d owned my heart for so long, that when she finally surrendered to her feelings it unlocked a part of me that had laid dormant, waiting. But then the cracks had emerged, my heart breaking slowly with every fight and step apart until she finally shattered it with her rejection.

I dug my phone out and saw the photo of her appear on the screen as it rang out. The girl I fell in love with and the woman who’d loved me back.

“Maddison?” The surprise in her voice sent a shard of pain through my chest. I thought we were done with all this, but apparently not.

“Hey. Yeah, I just wanted to speak to you. You know, before tonight.”

“The fight. Have you changed your mind? You don’t have to do it, Mads.” Her desperation grabbed me through the phone.

I paused, thinking this fucked-up plan through for the first time.

“Maddison?” There was a thread of hope to her voice, but it was because she thought I was undecided. If she’d known what I was really conflicted about, maybe that would finish us for good. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe I needed to do what Oliver had done and rid myself of Grace forever. A Jiminy Cricket sized conscience, sitting on my shoulder, told me that might be better than the path I was currently on, but that conscience wasn’t loud enough.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. Can I see you?”

“I’m… where are you?” she asked, her voice all squeaky.

“London. I know, you’d have to find a way to come here, but there’s time. Your name’s on the door.”

“Wait, for the fight?” she asked.

“Yeah. You know I always want you there. And I know you don’t want to be there, but it’s different tonight. I’ll text you the details. We’ll talk.”

“Talk? Before the fight?”

“Sure. Come to The Venue. I’ll meet you, and we can talk.”

It was her time to pause. “Can’t we talk somewhere else? Before?” At least she was being smart about this.

“Think about it. I know it’s a lot to ask, especially after what I said the other night. I was drunk. And you broke my heart.” For some reason, I couldn’t stop with the hurtful words.

“Well, you broke mine as well, Mads. And you continue to.” She hung up.

“Fuck!” Now I had to wait and hope that she would show, otherwise I’d have made an enemy of Mikey Kenner before I’d even set foot in his ring.

The bar I found was around the corner from The Venue. Not the ideal place to hang out before a fight, but in the last few months, my training had consisted of getting too drunk to care. One beer wasn’t going to hurt.

I nursed it, thinking over all the actions that had led me to here, and I wondered what could have changed the course of events to stop them from leading here. Was it all down to my brotherly feud with Oliver? Surely, that was just normal angst—until you added Grace to the equation. She hadn’t intended to come between us, and it was funny how neither of us blamed her for what happened, but somewhere along the line, the rift between us grew too big, or at least it did for me. Grace calmed us and made things tolerable, but it had been my place to show Oliver how much better I was in all the ways I could because he’d have done the same to me.

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