Page 134 of With Wine Comes War

I grabbed the gold cross from my bag, held it in my hand, closed my eyes and just said, “God Help Me” then put it back in my bag. I don’t know if there is a God right now but what the hell could it hurt.

***

ROMAN

I pulled into the parking lot of the MMA studio, and it was packed. There were news trucks and cars everywhere. What a fucking circus.At least no one would know I was even there. I pushed through a crowd of people and stayed on the back wall. I could see the ring from here. I could see Harrison and Edward, in the corner talking to Alex who was already in the ring. She looked really calm. Maybe I missed the fight, and she already won. I’m not that damn lucky though. I saw Matt and Jack talking to an older gentleman, I didn’t know, and I could see Grant and Mr. Santoro with Shay and the other people from the real estate office. I didn’t see her father anywhere, or her brother Patrick, either. Didn’t seem like those two would have the stomach for this. Hell, I didn’t have the stomach for this.

The crowd in here was unreal. Who did this? Who would want to expose this kind of archaic behavior? It had to be Tanner. Only someone like him would want to prove what a piece of shit he was in the spotlight like this. Right as I was thinking that, someone bumped my arm. I looked to see Marcus Ellington had stopped next to me to chat.

Oh wonderful, this ought to be fun.

He muttered with a nasty smirk on his face, “You and your family have been nothing but a pain in our family’s ass for as long as I can remember. I look forward to watching my brother beat the shit out of your girlfriend for the whole world to see.”

My family has been a pain in your ass? That’s some bullshit considering I didn't even know about you until now.

“Interesting. First of all, I never even knew you existed until this year. Second, everything that happened to your family was of your own doing and third, I don’t have a girlfriend.” I said while looking past him trying to keep watch on Alex.

His laughter was not of the funny variety, “Ahhh maybe she needed a real man and she’s hoping my brother manhandles her in there.”

Maybe there’s going to be two fights here today.

I mimicked his laughter and responded, “Personally, I hope she kicks the living shit out of him. My bet’s on the girl. Wanna make a wager?” Baiting crazy people isn’t really the best idea. He had an evil gleam in his eyes and turned to face me.

“What might that be?” A wager with the devil sounds like a really bad idea, but I feel like this is the season for making bad decisions.

“She wins, you retire and get the hell out of my city.” He laughed a more than sinister laugh. I mean, who the hell is this guy and his family anyway? Can’t just be a disgruntled deceased ex employee’s kid or even just a corrupt politician. This has to go deeper than that.

“I know my brother. I’ll take that bet. But when Tanner wins, you retire, and King Construction closes for good. And by win I mean my brother does permanent damage.”

You mean permanent damage to Alex? I might kill this guy.

My heart was hammering, and my blood was pumping but I put my hand out and said, “You’ve got a deal.” We shook hands and I’m sure my grip let him know I was coming for him next. He took a voice recorder out of his pocket and held it up in front of me.

“I have it on tape. Looking forward to never working with you again.” I smiled knowing he would either doctor that recording or he was going to have to let the world hear how he hoped his brother permanently damaged a woman in a fight.

“Same.”

Come on Alex. Now I feel sick. What the fuck did I just do? I’m sure the plan all along was to try and hurt Alex and now I’ve given him more reason to do just that.

***

ALEX

As I was getting ready to walk out, Bruce stopped me at the door.

He held my shoulders and I felt like Rocky. He instructed me, “Put your blinders on right now. It’s packed out there. It’s loud, it’s obnoxious and not everyone is rooting for you. They aren’t important. The only person you’re doing this for is you. Whatever noble reasons you have for doing this is great, but right now it’s all about you and getting the job done. Nothing else matters.” I took a deep breath, bobbing my head. I pushed all the other thoughts out of my mind and let all my rage and anger for what Tanner and his brother have done totally consume me. My body was shaking so badly on the inside that I almost didn’t think I’d be able to go out there. Then I remembered to get control and focus and a calm like before a storm, came over me and I knew I was ready.

Bruce walked out with me. He was right about needing blinders though. This place was filled wall to wall with people and cameras flashing. I know I wanted it to be a circus, but I guess I didn’t think it would be this bad. I focused on just getting to the ring. I saw Tanner outside the ring talking to his people with a damn smile on his face. He just knew he had this in the bag. I can’t wait to prove his ass wrong. I smiled when I saw Harrison and Edward by my corner talking to Raphael. I was still in my sweats when I got in the ring and went straight over to my corner. It was literally my corner because I used a Sharpy to carve initials there the first time I got laid out in that corner. The thought was humorous, but I couldn't use that to myadvantage in here.

Edward reached out his hand and I grabbed it immediately. He smiled and said, “That is one dumb dude over there. Make sure everyone else knows it too.”

I laughed and Harrison said, “Who created this zoo?”

I smiled acknowledging that it was me.

He said, “You better fucking win then!” while shaking his head. I nodded, but I couldn’t talk right now. My only thoughts were about what I was planning to do in the ring— this fight was between me and Tanner.

Raphael climbed into the ring and whispered in my ear, “I’ll let you punch me in the face next time we spar, if you win.”

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