Breaking Travis (The West Series Book 5) (12 page)

“Come with me.” Randy grabbed her arm again. She jerked it away.

“There’s no need to be rude.” She glared up at him and he dropped his arm and nodded.

“Fine. This way.” He motioned for her to follow him. They walked around the building and entered the back door.

The room was brightly lit. They walked down a long hallway and when Randy opened a door, she saw Travis sitting on a bench, having his hands taped.

When he saw her, he frowned and stood. “What’s this about?”

“We thought it would be helpful if your lady friend joined us tonight.”

“I don’t want her here.” He sat back down and nodded to have the man finish taping up his fists. She was shocked at Travis’ attitude. He’d dismissed her like it was the most natural thing for her to be kidnapped and dragged into the dessert.

“She stays,” Randy said, pushing her a step further into the room. She almost fell when her heel snagged on the floor. Travis was up quickly, gathering her in his arms.

“Sorry about this,” he whispered to her.

She nodded and held onto him. He made sure she was steady on her feet and then moved closer to Randy.

“Regardless of what happens tonight, this is the last time I’ll fight for you.” He stood his ground.

“You’re finished when I say you are. Besides, there’s a little matter of the money you owe me.”

“I offered you the money on the ride over here.” She stepped forward, only to be pushed behind Travis. “He doesn’t want the money,” she said to his back.

Travis looked at Randy. “I mean it. This is the last time.” Randy laughed and waved him away. “Holly sits where I can see her and we leave together.”

Randy looked at her. “Such a pretty little thing. Much prettier than the blonde you brought along last time.”

Holly’s stomach dropped with the knowledge that Travis had brought Savannah to a fight. Why hadn’t he wanted her to come along? She kept her eyes focused on Travis’ back as the men argued. When Travis turned back around and pulled her next to him as he sat to have his other hand taped, she could feel him vibrating with anger.

When they walked from the room, he pulled her close and whispered. “No matter what happens, stay put in your chair. Don’t move from it. I mean it, Holly. Not until I come and get you.”

She nodded as they walked into a large room filled with people cheering. The cage was bigger than she’d imagined it would be. They looked so much smaller on TV. He walked her over to a corner chair and sat her down.

“Stay here.” He leaned down and before he kissed her quickly, he said, “I’m sorry you were dragged into this.”

She watched him step into the cage and the crowd went wild, chanting his name over and over.

She sat there in her fancy red dress with her sexy black heels and wished to be anywhere but there. She closed her eyes and felt her stomach turn. Why had she wanted to come along tonight?

When the cheering died down, she opened her eyes and finally saw Travis’ opponent. He was built a lot like Travis, but had bigger muscles and a long scar running down the left side of his face. She felt herself shiver in the overly hot room. Wrapping her arms around herself, she watched the events unfold, holding her breath. She just knew that Travis wouldn’t win this fight. Not when so much was on the line.

When the fighting began, she couldn’t even blink. The two men circled around until Travis threw the first punch, then the other man was on him and they were falling to the mat. She stood up and gasped as everyone around her stood to cheer. Her hands covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream as she watched Travis roll around on the floor, trying to get the upper hand with the larger man.

Just when it looked like he’d finally gotten the man into a hold, he would outmaneuver him and Travis would have to fling himself around again and start all over. He managed to get in a few punches just before the man used his elbow to knock Travis loose. When Travis fell backwards, the other man was on him, holding him down and hitting him over and over again in the face.

She closed her eyes and looked away, trying to focus on anything other than what was happening a few feet from her. She heard bones crunch, heard blood splatter as fists hit skin. When she turned back around, she was shocked to see Travis on top of the other man, jabbing him over and over. The man’s face was turning red as Travis held him in a choke hold, twisting around so he wouldn’t get knocked off again.

Just when she thought it would end, the man wiggled free, rolled over, and stood up. Travis jumped to his feet and dodged the first blow, which was aimed at his head, barely dodging the second one and taking a third blow in the gut.

Bending down, he hugged the man until they fell back to the mat together with Travis on top. All the TV fights couldn’t have prepared her for what she was seeing, what she was feeling as she watched Travis receive and deliver blow after blow.

Finally, Travis was able to move around again and get the larger man in a choke hold again. When the other man’s face started turning red, he tapped Travis on the head and Travis backed off.

Blood dripped from the side of Travis’ left eye, and his eye looked swollen as the referee held up his arm, signaling his win.

Instantly, Travis’ eyes locked on hers. She felt her knees go weak as she sank back down into her chair. She sat there as the crowd cheered for him and then quieted back down, and then they all stood and started cheering the next fight. Still she sat there and waited for Travis.

When he finally came for her, he had changed into his street clothes. He had a small white bandaged over the cut on his left eye.

“Let’s go,” he said, pulling her towards the door. When they stepped outside, Randy and two other large men were standing there waiting for them. Sheer terror ran through her body.

“Let it go, Randy,” Travis said, pushing her behind him.

“You know I can’t do that. Not after the haul you just proved you could bring in.”

“I’m done,” Travis said, taking a step closer. “You’re done. This is all over.”

“It’s over when I say it is,” Randy yelled. “I made you. You owe me.” The man took a step towards him and pulled a gun out of his jacket. “We’ll just go for a long ride in the dessert.” He looked over at Holly and she knew what he was threatening. “Then maybe you’ll change your mind.”

Just then there was a flood of lights, blinding them all. The whole dirt parking lot was filled as people shouted. Travis pushed her back inside the door just as the first shot sounded. His body covered hers as they fell to the ground. People ran past them, screaming, as Travis rolled them and finally stood up and pushed her against the corner, shielding her from the crowd.

“Should we be running?” she yelled over the loud noise.

“No, not this time.” He looked down at her. “I’m real sorry about this.”

She reached up and took his face in her hands. “It’s okay. I won enough money tonight to bail us out.” She smiled.

He laughed and shook his head. “We won’t need it.”

“Oh?” She watched as a flood of police officers stormed into the dark room.

“Nope.” He turned and grabbed her hand. Then they walked towards the officers who were cuffing a group of college-aged kids. “Where’s Martin?” he asked one of them who looked at him and then nodded towards the front door. “Outside.” The man went back to cuffing the men.

“Travis?” She looked up at him.

“It’s okay. He’s the cop that saved my life, remember?”

She nodded. “But, I don’t…”

He shook his head. “I’ll explain later.”

M
uch later they sat in the back of a police car as they traveled back down the highway towards their hotel. She still had questions after long hours of giving their statements to Detective Martin.

Finally, they were released and sent back to their hotel room. When they walked into the lobby, he took her hand in his and they rode the elevator in silence.

When they stepped into the room, he pulled her close and hugged her. “I know you have a lot of questions, but I think we both deserve a long hot shower first.”

She pulled back and looked down at her ruined red dress and nodded.

“What a shame.” He looked at her dress. “I think this was my favorite.” He took her hand as she slipped out of her heels and followed him up the stairs. She noticed that the sun was just coming up.

“So much for spending the day seeing a show,” he said, nodding to the sunrise. “We’ll be lucky if we get enough sleep before our flight tonight.”

Her head ached and when he peeled her dress from her, she leaned her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

When they stepped into the warm spray, he groaned and held his head under the water. She noticed a few bruises had already popped up over his ribs, not to mention that his left eye was almost completely swollen shut now.

He pulled her close and held still under the warm spray. “I’m sorry about tonight.”

She shook her head. “I think I get it. Why you didn’t want me to come tonight.” She pulled back and looked up at him.

“Oh?” He pushed her wet hair from her face.

She nodded. “You knew the police were going to raid the place.”

He laughed. “You could say that. I told them where it was, when it was. They’d known about the fights for a while, but could never catch up to them. I just wish they’d had better timing and had gotten there before I went into the cage.” He touched his eye then shook his head and dumped some shampoo over their heads and began to scrub. “I called Martin last week, after you suggested it. I walked into the police station this morning after I ditched the men Randy had trailing me. I’m sorry they saw us together.” He shook his head. “Now they’ll have him for attempted murder.” He stopped and pulled her closer. “God!”

She rested her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of him holding her. Then he pulled back and said, “You must be exhausted.” She nodded, looking into his dark eyes.

“Let’s get you dried off.” He helped rinse the soap from her hair, then flipped off the shower and grabbed the towel.

She stood there motionless as he dried her off and walked her into the bedroom. “So,” she started to say as he handed her one of his shirts to put on to sleep in, “you won’t be going to jail?”

He stopped and looked at her. “No. I’ll have to come back and testify, but no.” He shook his head. “I’m free to go home tomorrow.”

She liked the sound of that. Home. She crawled into bed next to him and snuggled down and fell asleep listening to his heart beat.

When she woke, she was alone. She frowned at the pillow, expecting a note, but there wasn’t one. Rolling out of bed, she went to the restroom and dressed quickly. When she looked at the time, she realized she had less than an hour before they needed to leave for the airport.

When she walked out into the living room, her bags tucked under her arms, she was shocked to see Travis sitting at a table that was fully stocked with wonderful smelling food.

“I thought we’d have one last meal here.” He stood up and walked over to take her bags.

“It looks and smells wonderful.” She sat down at the table overlooking the busy street below them.

“I thought…” She shook her head, realizing she’d been a fool. Of course he wouldn’t have left her in Vegas.

He tilted his head and looked at her. She knew she had to say something. “I thought we wouldn’t have time to eat. This is a wonderful surprise.”

She looked down at the blueberry pancakes and smiled. “Mmm, my favorite,” she said, digging in. “I had forgotten that I went without dinner last night. I had planned on treating myself to a big meal.” She bit into the sweetness and sighed.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to see a show.” He frowned down at his food.

“Well, it kind of was a show last night.” He looked up as she reached over and took his hand. “How does the eye feel?” She nodded to his face.

He reached up and touched it and, then smiled. “Not bad. He hit like a girl. At least it doesn’t hurt as bad as when you punched me.” She laughed.

The flight back to Texas seemed quicker than the flight to Vegas had. She didn’t think she was still tired, after having slept most of the day away, but when Travis woke her before they landed, she realized she was still exhausted.

“I never realized that being kidnapped and being in a raid could be so tiring.” She smiled and helped him carry her bags to his car.

“Yeah, it takes a lot of out a person.”

“I think I could sleep the rest of the day away. Well, maybe after a quick stop at Mama’s for some fried food.”

He laughed. “You know, that does sound good.”

“Oh, right. You’re a free man now. No more training.” She clapped her hands. “Oh! I almost forgot. I’m a rich woman now.”

“Oh?” He looked over at her.

She nodded. “I won big last night before Randy and his goons came along.”

He turned out of the airport parking lot and smiled over at her. “How much did you win?”