Page 5 of Fight for Forever

Brooke holds my forearm and squeezes it, then turns her head. I expect to see Jenna when my gaze follows hers. But that isn’t who I see.

Standing at the back of the courtroom, dressed in a smart shirt and dark jeans, is the last person I ever expected to see here.

Joey ‘The Slayer’ Ferguson.

Chapter Three

My mind is a mess of emotion I never expected to feel. Anger. Too tame a word. Rage. That doesn’t feel enough? The desperate need to rip someone’s head off, only slightly better. Fear. I can’t bear the thought of her suffering. Sadness. At the way she looks when she realizes I’m paying for her bail, like she can’t believe someone stepped up for her.

After speaking to Jenna to find out what is happening, I know there isn’t a lot I can do. Pay her bail to get her out of that fucking place? Hell yes. I’d have paid treble what they demanded because she does not deserve to be punished.

As they wrap up the arraignment, I slip out of the courtroom. The plan was to get in and out, pay, and leave before she saw me. The only person who knows what I did is Megan’s lawyer. I’ve never met her, but she is friends with Megan and Jenna.

Like a fucking fool, I didn’t leave. I went inside to watch, to make sure they didn’t lock her away.

My head is still spinning. Her face. Her beautiful face. It shouldn’t look the way one of my opponents does after a five-round fight, when I’ve pounded it to meat.

A man who lays a hand on a woman deserves everything that prick got. I’m only pissed she is the one who did it. If I could, I’d bring that fucker back to life and beat him to death. Slowly, over a long period, just to give him half of the suffering he put Megan through.

I understand it isn’t my place. We talk when she is at the gym, we’ve shared a drink at the vending machines and chatted for a while. All surface stuff because she hid something beneath her façade, she isn’t willing to share with someone like me.

She’s suffered from violence for a long time. I do violence for a living. It’s understandable she is wary. I could have been pissed about people being scared of me. No matter what my job entails, I keep that shit in the ring. Hell, I don’t even get in fights out of the ring with people who deserve it. Fighting is my job, it doesn’t define who I am as a man.

But I get it where she is concerned. And for all of Sam’s rules, if I thought I had a chance, I would have asked her out.

In my lifetime, I’ve known people who’ve gone to jail. People who should be behind bars and people who received a harsher sentence than they deserved. All of them committed the crime and I’m a firm believer you should pay for any crimes you commit.

Killing your abuser? Not a fucking chance.

I’m halfway down the courthouse steps when my name is called. My heart pounds in my chest, in time with the beat in my head. I turn and relief runs through me. It’s not her.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“She doesn’t deserve to be in that courtroom,” I tell Jenna, then get a look at her face and the splint around her fingers and my heart hurts even more. I read the stories as soon as I hung up on Sam.

I devoured everything I could about what happened. Jenna being in a relationship with the lead singer of a famous rock band meant the press was going crazy.

She fought him off, she kept him away from Megan. The press didn’t report the full details because they didn’t know them. Like how Megan ended up with a gun in her hands, but without a doubt, Jenna is a huge part of the reason Megan is still alive.

“Reckon our training worked out for you,” I mock punch her shoulder.

“Don’t downplay what you just did.”

My jaw grinds and I look away. It’s on the tip of her tongue to ask why I did it. Problem is, I’m not sure how to explain it, even to myself.

“I’ll get it back when they drop the charges,” I say, looking at the grid locked traffic, the people hurrying along the sidewalks. All going about their usual daily business, none the wiser about the turmoil churning in my stomach.

Jenna touches my sleeve and I look down at her hand. “You’re a good man, Joey.”

“When it counts,” I mutter, then look her in the eye. “And she counts.”

Before she can say anything, I turn and blend into the crowds, walking away. I don’t need thanks for doing the right thing. I am able to help, and I will. The charges will be dropped, or I’ll usemyfame and standing to wreak havoc on the court system.

I head to the gym, because the only place I need to be right now is somewhere I can beat the shit out of something. Wishing with every fiber of my being it’s that sick piece of shit who thought he had the right to hither.

Three weeks after I paid to make sure she was not locked up, I hear from the court that my money is to be returned.

I avoid discussing Megan’s case and my part in it with anyone. Not that people at the gym know I put up her bail. Jenna hasn’t been back to the gym, Megan hasn’t either. But Jenna has reachedout and kept me up to date via text. I rarely respond, but she sees the read receipts.

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