Chapter 5

five

. . .

Romeo

It had been a fucking week.Leo had upped his game by going on every major network that was willing to allow him to blast his message on every sports program and all over social media. The dude had a wide reach, and I’d heard about it everywhere I went.

My brother, Lincoln, his wife, Brinkley, and River had all met me at the gym today so we could come up with a plan. After a lot of thought, I’d made my decision to take the fight. At the end of the day, it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I’d need someone to negotiate the terms on my behalf and I was thankful that River was an attorney. This wasn’t the first time his career choice had come in handy for our group of friends.

But everything about this fight was different.

My past fights weren’t for big payouts, or purses in boxer lingo. Hell, this fight probably shouldn’t be because I hadn’t fought in a few years. But Leo was a big name in the boxing world, and for whatever fucked-up reason, he’d pulled me into this three-ring circus.

River would handle the contract for me, and Brinkley would break the story, as her magazine had agreed to let her interview me. She’d break the news this week and publish her interview with me next month.

This was all really happening.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“You sure you want to do this?” Lincoln asked. “This is your last chance to back out.”

“I don’t want to be in the middle of this shit show, but I don’t see a way out. I’m happy to fight; I would just prefer to fight someone who didn’t want the whole world watching.”

Lincoln smirked. “You’re already in it, brother. I see your face on my screen every time I look at my phone now. This guy is not going away. I don’t give a shit about any of the media stuff; I just need to know that you won’t get hurt.”

“I start training full time this week. I’ve got a long way to go before I step into that ring.”

“We’re asking for the fight to be in May. It’ll give him three solid months to prepare. Leo is so desperate to fight Romeo that I think we can call the shots. I’m also increasing the terms. I’m asking for a million dollars for showing up. Three million if you beat the fucker. I meet with their legal team in an hour, so we should know by the end of the day if this is happening,” River said. I’d intentionally picked early May because I knew that I’d need that long if I wanted to be in top shape. It would mean long days in the gym and grueling workouts. No booze. No partying. A strict diet. The whole nine yards. If I was doing this, I was going all in.

Lincoln would also be in his off-season, and he wanted to be ringside with me. It was important to him that he be there, and it was important to me to have him in my corner.

“You think they’ll go for that?” I asked.

“I think they’d do just about anything to get you in the ring at this point. I’ll negotiate the contract and make sure it works in your favor, or we walk,” he said.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around that kind of money. I was a no-name a few weeks ago, but Leo had put my name in the media, and now it was all anyone was talking about.

“I’ll make the announcement as soon as they accept the terms,” Brinkley said. “And I’ll fly back here next week to shadow you on your workouts and ask you all the burning questions everyone wants to know.”

Lincoln barked out a laugh as he elbowed me. “He’ll love that.”

“Well, he loves me, so he’ll deal with it. We need to show the world who Romeo is. They’re going to fall in love with you, just like we did.”

“Easy now.” River quirked a brow. “That’s a bit much. I tolerate him at best.”

“Yeah, Romeo might need to lose a little of that broody-asshole attitude.” Lincoln smirked at me.

“Takes one to know one,” Brinkley said as she leaned over and kissed my brother’s cheek before turning her attention back to me. “You’re fine. Be yourself. When people try to put on a show, it doesn’t work. Leo looks like an asshole, so it won’t be hard to be the good guy.”

“I don’t give a shit about being the good guy. I just want to shut this guy up, put my head down, and do the work, then get in the ring and go the distance. And if I can avoid getting my head smashed in, that would be even better.”

“You’ve got this. And we’ll all be right there supporting you, all right?” my brother said.

I nodded. Was I actually agreeing to this? To putting my life under a microscope for the next three months? I hadn’t told my mother, my grandmother, or my sister that I’d made my decision yet. They were all against it, and this wouldn’t go over well. I was waiting to see if Leo’s camp would accept the terms first, to get everyone on the same page before I sat down to talk to them.

“I know it.” I clapped Lincoln on the shoulder and hugged them both goodbye. They were heading back to Cottonwood Cove, and I was happy they’d come to talk through all of this with me.

After they left and River went back to his office to make the call, I spent the next few hours watching films of Leo’s most recent fights. I took notes on his right hook and the way that he was consistently tired by round eight on the rare fights where he hadn’t knocked his opponents out early on. My first step would be not going down in the first three rounds, which was what happened in most of his fights. The longer I stayed on my feet, the better. The fight would be twelve rounds, three minutes each round. Thirty-six minutes of suffering if I could go the distance. Leo could take a hit. The dude wasn’t as fast as me, but he was built like a tank, and he could weather a good beating. I had stamina on my side, and if I trained right, I could go twelve rounds in a fight—but I’d never fought anyone of Leo’s caliber or strength.

I had a lot of training to do, and I’d be preparing for the fight of my life. Once River negotiated terms with Leo’s team, they’d speak to the promoters about the location, the date, and the details.

The negotiations could go on for hours or even days. I found it hard to believe they’d agree to what River was asking for, considering I hadn’t fought in a few years. Most people would guess I’d go down in round one, which wouldn’t make for a good show. But maybe no one cared about the show.

After all, it was the Leo show when he fought.

No one knew much about me other than I’d fought one professional fight, my father had collapsed ringside at my second fight, and I’d walked away from the sport.

They didn’t know that this would become my priority.

My soul purpose.

I couldn’t control what Leo did in that ring, but I could control what I did to prepare for it.

And I would go into that fight in the best shape of my life and put up the best fight possible.

That much I was certain of.

My phone rang, and I saw River’s face on the screen.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“They agreed to everything, brother. They’ll meet with the promoters tomorrow, but they feel confident they’ll go for it. They need someone to have that belt with Gunner being out of the game, and Leo has brought a shit ton of attention to this fight already.”

“All right. Looks like we’re doing this.”

“It sure as fuck does. Buckle up, Golden Boy. Training starts now.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I ended the call and called Joey, my trainer, and gave him an update. I had things lined up and ready to go so that we could start once this was officially happening.

It was late, and the gym was dark now. I locked up and made my way outside before the sound of shouting had me turning quickly to see a guy run out of the front door of the coffee shop. He had a mask over his face, and I shouted for him to stop, which, of course, he didn’t do. He ran down the alley, and I had to make a quick decision if I should follow him or make sure no one inside was hurt.

I knew Demi Crawford lived there, and my instinct had me sprinting toward the entrance of Magnolia Beans. My feet crunched over the glass from where he’d obviously shattered the front door. I heard a whimper from inside but couldn’t see anything and climbed through the opening.

“Hello!” I shouted. “Demi, are you in here?”

More whimpering sounded as I reached for the light and flipped the switch, allowing me to see her sitting on the floor with her back against the counter. She was wearing a T-shirt with nothing else, and her bare legs were folded in front of her. Her eyes were puffy, and she quickly swiped away the tears. I bent down to meet her gaze.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, reaching for my phone to call the police.

“I’m not hurt. Please put your phone away.” Her voice was quiet, and it was impossible to miss the devastation in her tone.

“We need to call the police. That dude just took off down the alley.” I reached for her hand and helped pull her to her feet.

“Romeo. Put your phone away,” she commanded, catching me by surprise. Her hand was bleeding, and I set my phone on the counter before turning around to search for a paper towel.

“You’re fucking bleeding, and your business just got broken into. Why the fuck are we not calling the police?” I wrapped my hand around her wrist and pulled her over to the sink. Cold water poured over the palm of her hand, and I used my thumb to see how deep the cut was.

“It’s just from a piece of glass that made its way over here. No one hurt me.”

What the fuck was her deal? She’d just been robbed, and she wasn’t pissed or scared? I mean, she acted like her feelings were hurt, but that wasn’t a logical reaction after some dude broke into your business and could have done whatever the fuck he wanted to do to her.

I turned off the water and dried off her wound before holding her hand close to me and pulling a sliver of glass out of her palm. She didn’t even wince. Hell, when I had to pull a splinter out of Kingston’s foot last summer down by the lake, the dude had acted like a theatrical little bitch.

But this girl was stoic as hell.

“You’ve got two minutes to tell me why we aren’t calling the police, or I’m making the call.” I looked up to see a first aid box on the wall and pulled it down. I took out the bottle of wound wash and sprayed it over her cut before using the gauze to wrap it up. My gaze met hers, and I raised a brow. “You’re down to one minute.”

She just stared at me. Eyes hard. I turned and reached for my phone.

“Stop. Please don’t call the police. I know who it was.”

“You know who robbed you?”

“I do.”

“Well, that makes things really easy for the police officers if they know who they’re looking for.”

A tear ran down her cheek, and for whatever fucking reason, my chest squeezed.

Her eyes were tired, and I could see the sadness there, and it did something to me.

I scrubbed a hand down my face and reached for a tissue and handed it to her.

“I won’t tell them who it was, so there’s no need to call,” she whispered.

This shit was pissing me off. Even if she was trying to pretend that she wasn’t hurt or upset, I wasn’t okay with letting some fucker get away with shattering her window and breaking into the place.

“Where the fuck is your alarm, anyway? Are you telling me you don’t have one, and you live above this fucking coffee shop?”

She glared at me. “I have a fucking alarm, Romeo. I turned it off. I told you that I knew who it was, so I obviously wasn’t scared.”

“You turned off the alarm?” I repeated her words, my tone dry and laced with irritation.

“Did I stutter?” She pushed her shoulders back and tipped up her chin.

Like I was the fucking enemy.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on here. I’m just the dude who came over here to make sure you weren’t beaten up or—” I shook my head with frustration. “Or violated or something.”

Her eyes widened. “You thought I was violated?”

“Is this a fucking joke to you? Listen, I have a business next door. I’m not okay with some fucking asshole breaking into buildings on our street and not reporting it. I don’t have the kind of money that you have, so I don’t have some fancy alarm to warn me that someone is breaking in. And I sure as shit am not okay with the fact that you turned off the alarm and let him run off with God knows how much money, nor do I think any of the businesses on this street will be okay when I let them know what went down here tonight.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I had no intention of telling any other business owners, because I wasn’t a social guy, and I didn’t get involved in other people’s business.

But she was pissing me the fuck off.

Her bottom lip trembled, and I had to look away because I preferred when she was holding her own against me, not looking like a damsel in distress with her pouty fucking lips and those sexy-as-shit doe eyes of hers. Of course, my gaze landed on her bare legs that I couldn’t seem to turn away from.

“He won’t break into any other businesses. Please, don’t say anything. Can’t we just say that it was a teenager who threw a rock through my door? I’ll pay for the glass, and no one needs to know anything more. I wouldn’t be okay with it if I thought he’d do this to anyone else. Trust me, he won’t. I’m not a monster.” She swiped at her tears, and I reached for some more tissue and handed it to her.

Fuck me. I didn’t need this shit. Not to mention the fact that she was a fucking Crawford, and now I was mixed up in her shitstorm.

“You have two options, and you aren’t going to like either of them.”

“You really love this, don’t you? Sticking it to me when you don’t even know why you hate me.”

“Funny you should say that, because right now, I hate you for allowing some fucker to break into your place and letting him get away with it. That’s not how this works. So, we either call the police and report this, or you tell me who it was, and I’ll decide if we should call the police.”

“You’re such a power-hungry asshole,” she said, as she paced in a little circle in front of me. When she came to a stop and crossed her arms over her chest, her T-shirt pulled up the slightest bit, exposing more of her lean, tanned thighs. I felt like a creep as my eyes climbed her legs once again and moved slowly up her body before her gaze locked with mine.

“Call me what you want. That’s the deal.”

“And if I don’t take either option?”

“Then I call the police, and I tell them that you let the guy run off and refused to report it. You know how the people in Magnolia Falls are when it comes to crime. This will be the talk of the town. No one’s coming to get a coffee from a business owner who supports criminal behavior.” I was being a dick now, and it was difficult not to laugh at the way she was gaping at me.

She sighed. Her eyes fell to my mouth for a moment before they flickered back up to meet mine. And then she spoke, her voice low. “It was my brother.”

“Slade? I thought he was in some fancy rehab somewhere. He’s here, in Magnolia Falls?”

“He’s not supposed to be. I thought he was in Boston. But he never left after I saw him last week. He’s using again,” she said, her words shaking as the tears rolled faster down her cheeks. Hell, I knew this kind of pain. I’d grown up with an addict. I’d watched what it did to my mother and my sister. I knew what it was like to love someone who chose addiction over family. “I’m asking you not to report it, Romeo. My family has been through a lot. My parents don’t know he’s here right now. He said he needed the money to get back to Boston, and he’d go back into the program. He had a relapse.”

“You buy that?” I asked. I hated the dude. But I could see that she loved him, because it was impossible to miss the pain written all over her face.

It was a pain that was familiar to me.

“I don’t know the answer to that. But the minute I give up on him, he’ll have no one. He broke in to steal money because he was too ashamed to tell me that he was using again.”

“He had a mask on when he ran down the alley. How do you know it was him?”

“Because he pulled it off and told me to go back upstairs. And when I screamed at him, he admitted he needed the money to get back to rehab. So, I opened the register and threw it at him. He pulled his mask back into place and took off with the money.”

I squeezed the back of my neck because I didn’t know what the hell to do with this information. River would love it, because he’d love to see that fucker get charged with something after all the shit he’d pulled, and honestly, so would I.

But seeing her so tormented and knowing what that felt like had me wavering.

“All right. I won’t say anything. But next time this happens, you’d be wise to stay in your apartment with the door locked and let the alarm go off. If he can’t get in and out of here before the cops come, then he’s a shit fucking criminal because you know how fucking slow they are,” I said. Her lips twitched a bit, and I could tell she was fighting a smile. “Demi, if he’s using, he’s dangerous. Addiction always wins when it’s coursing through someone’s veins.”

I knew he had an opioid problem. Hell, the whole town knew. The Crawfords did their best to keep the issue hidden, but he’d had a reputation all over town for being high more often than not.

“Thank you. You don’t have to stay. I’m fine now.” She tugged at the hem of her T-shirt as if she just realized that it was all that she had on.

I nodded. “I’ll wait. Are you going to head to your parents’ house?”

“No. I’m staying here.”

“The fuck you are.”

And just like that, we were going at it again.

She may have won the first battle, but she wouldn’t win this one.