Chapter 21

twenty-one

. . .

Romeo

Demi and I took Cutler to Demi’s grandparents’ house, and the kid rode a horse on his own like he was a fucking jockey.

River

You mean Beefcake?

My bad.

Nash

Thanks for doing that. He loves those fucking horses now. Are you still running out there?

Yeah. Demi has me racing her while she’s on a goddamn horse and taunts me when she stays just a few feet ahead of me.

Kingston

Love that girl. She knows how to push you. Should we have her get the RoD tattoo?

Hayes

I don’t see Beans rocking a RoD tattoo. Not her style. But I think it’s tattooed on her soul, if I’m being honest.

Kingston

Damn. Hayes just went deep again.

I’d be lyingif I didn’t admit that it meant something to me that they loved my girl so fiercely. I’d never dated anyone they even remotely liked. Demi had become one of us.

Hayes

What can I say? I can go deep when necessary. What happened with Lionel at the bar?

River

Fucking Lionel. Jenna Tate is suing him because she slipped on some sort of slime or slush or some shit behind the bar. All he had to do was pay her medical bill. It was a work accident. But his stubborn ass let this turn into a shit show.

That sounds about right. Lionel likes to see how far he can push things. Is he going to have to pay a lot?

River

He’ll probably end up paying twice as much as it would have cost him if he’d just taken care of shit when it happened. If she wants to push things, she could probably own the damn place at the end of the day. But he’s still complaining about the whole thing and continues to try to fight it.

We’d been friends with the Whiskey Falls bar owner for a long time, and he’d gone to River to represent him in the ridiculous lawsuit that should never have gone this far.

Kingston

Jenna Tate is hot.

River

Where the fuck did that come from? We’re talking about the lawsuit, not how hot she is, dicknut.

Kingston

Hey, I call it as I see it.

Hayes

Jenna Tate has got to be in her mid-forties. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Kingston

Hey, I love me a hot cougar! I do not discriminate. Age is just a number.

Nash

Get your ass back to work, you fucking horndog.

Kingston

Ball breaker. <middle finger emoji>

River

Are we meeting at Whiskey Falls tonight?

I’ll meet you there after my workout.

They all replied with a thumbs-up emoji, and I got back to work. I was drowning in paperwork, as the long workouts were taking a toll, and I was exhausted. I was thankful that Pinky had stepped up at the gym, and we’d brought on Dallas Johnson to help with training some of the fighters. I wasn’t training anyone now, as the countdown was on. I had less than four weeks until the fight, and I still had a lot of work to do.

I spent the next two hours paying bills and ordering some new equipment for the gym. We’d grown in size a lot since I’d started training for the fight; everyone wanted to work out at Knockout now.

I grabbed my bag and headed across the alley to meet Joey. I glanced at my phone, realizing I hadn’t heard from Demi in a little bit, which wasn’t the norm, but it probably meant that she’d been slammed this afternoon. Using the empty space next to her coffee shop for my second workout had been really helpful. There were no distractions there. And Joey and Butch could focus on kicking my ass with no audience, aside from my girlfriend and the guys when they came by to cheer me on.

There was a car that I didn’t recognize parked out front, and for whatever reason, alarm bells were going off. You didn’t see a lot of Bentleys in Magnolia Falls because the people here weren’t pretentious pricks.

I glanced inside and saw Oscar Daily standing near the counter, studying a man who had his back to me. Peyton was standing beside Demi, her shoulders stiff, and when I took in the expression on Demi’s face, I fucking knew.

I didn’t know how, but that was all it took.

I pulled the door open and dropped my bag and charged the asshole.

“Is this the fucking guy?” I shouted. Demi’s eyes were wide, but she gave me the slightest nod.

“Who the fuck are you?” the prick asked, but I was already on him. I wrapped my arm around his throat and pulled tight against his windpipe.

“I’m your worst fucking nightmare!” I shouted as I dragged him backward toward the entrance.

I shoved him out the front door as he screamed like a little bitch. “Do you have any fucking clue who I am?”

The balls on this asshole.

And as I took him in, I had a flashback of all those years ago in The Daily Market when he and Slade vandalized the store.

“That’s the reason you’re out here, dickhead. I know exactly who the fuck you are. And you were warned to stay away from her. And you should be warned to stay the fuck away from me.”

People were gathering around now, as the commotion had obviously drawn attention. Demi, Peyton, and Oscar were standing beside me.

“The fuck, D? This is your boyfriend? This fucking little pansy-ass fighter?” He pushed to his feet and brushed off his navy suit.

“Fuck you, Ronny,” Demi spewed. It was hot as hell seeing her stand up to the asshole. “He’s also the guy you let take the fall for what you did all those years ago. Your secrets are catching up with you.”

“I don’t have a clue what the fuck you’re talking about. I came here to talk some sense into you. You made something big out of something little. It was no big deal. And now you’ve caused a lot of problems for both of our families. Are you happy about this? Our grandfathers have been friends for fifty-some years, and now they aren’t speaking.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket as he waited for her to respond.

“Yeah, I’d say I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.” She pushed her shoulders back and glared at him. “And I didn’t make something big out of what happened. I should have reported you and gone public when it happened months ago.”

“Fuck you, D!” he shouted, and I noticed that people had their phones out now and appeared to be filming the altercation. But I sure as shit wasn’t going to let him talk to her that way. I wanted to put his face through the front window, but I knew guys like this. He’d end up the victim in the situation. His money and his family’s power had already cost me in the past.

I moved closer, standing several inches taller than him. “No one cares who your daddy is here, Ronny. You were an asshole years ago, and you’re an asshole today. You like to take advantage of women, don’t you, you piece of shit? You were warned not to come near her.”

“I will fucking destroy you,” he hissed. “You have no idea who you’re messing with.”

“You don’t fucking step one foot in her shop, do you hear me? Not one foot, you sick fuck.”

Sirens sounded in the distance as they closed in.

“I called the police,” Peyton said.

Oscar looked rattled, and Demi looked—angry.

The police car rolled up, and every once in a while, a blind squirrel finds a nut because Brett Rogers stepped out of his police car and moved to stand between me and Ronny the douchebag.

“What’s going on, Romeo?”

“This guy isn’t allowed to be here. He’s been warned.”

“You not supposed to be here?” Brett asked, just as River came jogging over from across the street. He must have heard something. He was that guy.

He always just showed up when you needed him.

“She doesn’t have a fucking thing on me. Do you know who Senator Waterstone is, Officer Dipshit?” Ronny spewed. “That would be my grandfather, and you’re going to be in some deep shit if you don’t arrest this son of a bitch for putting his hands on me.”

“We may not have paperwork filed, but Ronny knows he isn’t supposed to come near me.” Demi tipped her chin up. “He knows what he did. That’s why he’s here. He wants me to lie for him. It’s what everyone does for him.”

“Call her father. He’s with my father now, and they’re trying to figure this shit out. Do you really think her father would be having dinner with mine if he thought I was a risk to his daughter?” He smirked.

“You piece of shit,” I hissed.

“I want this man arrested. He assaulted me,” Ronny said. “And didn’t your father spend time behind bars? That’s right, you did, too, back in the day. I guess it runs in the family.”

Brett glanced around at the locals, who were watching this all go down. “Well, did anyone here see Romeo assault the senator’s charming grandson?”

Oscar spoke first. “I’ve been here the whole time, and Romeo has been nothing but friendly since he came in to get his coffee. This senator’s grandson started the argument.”

River barked out a laugh and nodded.

“Yes. That’s exactly what happened,” Janelle said. She owned the flower shop, Sweet Magnolia, and I did a double-take of the hat she was wearing that read:

I’m just here for the Magnolia Falls Golden Boy.

“I’m the one who called the police, and I called before Romeo even showed up. Demi was scared of this guy the minute he walked through the door.” Peyton crossed her arms over her chest.

“This is bullshit. A bunch of small-town hicks defending their white-trash fighter. Are you kidding me right now, D? Are you seriously with this guy?”

“Like I told you the night you tried to attack me,” she said, stepping forward and looking him directly in the eyes. “Stay the fuck away from me, Ronny. You just made this whole thing public, so you only have yourself to blame.”

“I wonder what your father will think of you involving your fucking garbage boyfriend in family business?”

The way that he was looking at her, the evil I saw in his eyes—I couldn’t stand here and not do something for one minute longer. He wasn’t scared enough.

My job wasn’t done.

“Hey, Brett, I think everything is fine here. But Janelle seems shaken up. Maybe you could walk her back to the shop?”

Ronny’s eyes gaped between me and Brett.

“Yeah. It’s my duty as Officer Dipshit to make sure the locals feel safe.” He held his arm up, and Janelle chuckled and wrapped her hand around his elbow, and they walked away. “Come on, everyone. Show’s over.”

The few locals who’d been standing there turned and walked away, and Oscar looked over at me and nodded before leaving with the group.

Understanding reached Ronny’s gaze, and he made a run for it, but I was faster. I grabbed him, pulling him around to the alley and shoving him hard into the brick wall. He cried out, but he didn’t fight back, just as I’d figured he’d do.

He liked to beat up on people smaller than him.

Women in particular.

River was right there beside me. Like he always was.

“River, do you recognize this prick?” I held my forearm against his throat.

“This is the prick who framed us all those years ago,” he said, leaning close to his face and looking him in the eyes. “But we survived that shit. But now, you’ve messed with Romeo’s girl. She’s one of us, and we just won’t allow that, will we, brother?”

“We will not. You think you can take advantage of women? You think anyone gives a shit about who your grandfather is here?” I leaned close to his ear.

Now it was River’s turn. “You need to understand something. We don’t give a shit about prison, nor are we afraid of a good fight, so I’d suggest you get your fucking ass out of this town and stay the fuck away from Demi Crawford, or we will haunt your fucking nightmares. I will spend my days making your life a living hell. Do you hear me?”

River was an intimidating dude. His arms were covered in tats, his eyes were hard, and he never backed down.

I felt the same rage as he did. I wanted to beat the shit out of Ronny, but I heard Demi’s voice call out behind me, and she was begging me to let him leave.

River’s hand squeezed my shoulder.

“He gets the message. Don’t give him anything to come back on you. We know where to find him, don’t we? And after that little scene you just caused goes public, women all over will find out exactly who you are.” River smirked.

I took a step back and shoved him toward the sidewalk, and the little fucker ran to his car. He glanced over at Demi but didn’t say a word. I waited until he drove off.

“You all right?” I asked her, as she stepped into my arms.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I can’t believe my dad is with his father right now. I thought he was trying to fix our family.” She sniffed.

“You can’t trust that dude, Beans. He could be making that shit up,” River said, shocking the shit out of me as he tried to make her feel better about her father.

“He’s right,” I said after we stepped inside. “Don’t base your feelings for your father off that guy. I wouldn’t trust a word he says.”

“Well, a lot of people just witnessed that argument, so Ronny just made all this public by showing up here. And that’s not going to sit well with him or his family.”

“Not our problem,” I said.

I stayed with her until she locked up, and we made our way over to meet Joey for practice.

And in the hours I was working out, a shitstorm had started.

The viral video was now national news.

And between Leo and Ronny, I was all everyone was talking about.