Hard Love: A Bad Boy Fighter Romance (5 page)

After Nathan won,
Emma didn’t have much relief. She watched as Moretti cheered, but across the ring
from her, Nick was glaring at Nathan before turning his gaze toward her. She
could see the fury in his eyes. And even if nobody there knew it except those
involved, his pride had been hurt even further by it having happened publicly.

That was when she
saw Nick motion for his men to grab Nathan as he was scrambling to get out of
the ring. Emma felt like she was about to be sick, not knowing what to do or
how to save him, but Nathan scrambled away from Nick’s side without noticing to
climb through the ropes and out of the ring past Moretti. Emma immediately took
off to follow him into the locker room, not noticing that two of Nick’s men
went after her.

All she heard over
the cheers of the crowd was Laura creaming.
 
“Hey! Where the hell are you going? We have to pay out the bets!”

Emma wasn’t going
to stop for the bets or for anything else. She had to escape with Nathan
immediately.

Emma saw him
fighting his way through a crowd of happy men who were congratulating him with
slaps on the back. A handful even tried to take photos but Nathan was pushing
past them. He had to get out of there and he had to do it fast. It was just as
Emma successfully fought her way through the crowd to get closer to Nathan that
she saw one of Nick’s men grab hold of him.

 
Her heart stopped. She stopped walking. They
were so close to being free…

This couldn’t be
happening. Once again, she saw no escape from the situation. She knew Nick was
capable of having Nathan killed right then and there if it really came down to
it. All that mattered was Nick getting his way in the end.
  

Much to her
surprise she saw Nathan swing around and punch the man who had taken hold of
him. That one punch alone was enough to lay the man out on the floor cold. The
crowd around them cheered and laughed at what had just happened, making Emma
happy to be surrounded by so many people for the first time ever. Nathan pumped
his fist in the air to play the part, grinning and cheering right along with
them.

She hated the way his
swollen eye looked, but not as much as she hated the idea of how much pain he
was in. She even wondered how much he could see by that point. Emma continued
to push through the crowd toward Nathan. She looked back over her shoulder to
see Nick glaring at them as they seemingly managed to escape.

When Emma finally
reached Nathan, he immediately grabbed her hand and tugged her close to him.
They stormed straight past the locker room and slammed open a door that lead
into a little hallway, out of sight from the crowd. Nathan took a quick glance
around to make sure nobody was tailing them and then kicked open a door that
lead out to an alley instead of turning back around and heading into the locker
room. Emma hoped the sound of the alley door banging open hadn’t attracted
anybody, especially not one of Nick’s men.

It was out there
in the alley that she saw there was an escape motorcycle waiting for them. She
had no clue whose idea it was or how it had gotten there, but it didn’t matter.
All that mattered was that it was their way out of here to get to the moving
truck and finally be in the clear. The two of them had taken just one step
toward it when a man came out of nowhere and grabbed Nathan by the arm.

Emma quickly
ducked for cover behind a dumpster, cursing when she nearly knocked over a
broken 2x4 that would have instantly given away where she was. She was unsure
if there were more men around them at that moment or if the one man had seen
her duck behind the dumpster, but she knew it was best to keep a low profile as
Nathan struggled against the man.

But when another
man ran past the dumpster behind which she was hiding and pointed a gun
point-blank at Nathan, she knew she had to do something to help or risk losing
him forever. In an instant she grabbed the 2x4 and, without a second thought,
swung it around with all the power she could muster. The wood smashed over the
man’s head, forcing him to hit the ground unconscious.

The man holding
Nathan was so shocked by her sudden attack that he didn’t notice when Nathan clocked
him across the face. Nathan looked up at Emma with a shocked smile. He stood up
and reached out for her hand, pulling her into a tight embrace. They both knew
they didn’t really have much time, but couldn’t resist a quick moment together.
The ordeal had been risky and frightening.

He let her go and
they both immediately jumped onto the motorcycle. Nathan wasted no time turning
it on and driving off, the tires burning rubber and the motorcycle screeching
into the night.

Whether or not
they were being followed by Nick’s men at that point, she didn’t know. She figured
it would be a while before Nick’s other men found out the two of them had
escaped and alerted their boss. By that time, the two of them would be out of
the city in a vehicle that wasn’t being searched for.
 

Emma clutched
tightly onto Nathan as she looked back in the direction of the warehouse; home
to The Ring. The entire building was disappearing in the distance. For the
first time in as long as she could remember, Emma felt a great sense of relief
wash over her. The more physical distance they put between themselves and The
Ring, the further away they got from that lifestyle. It was finally happening;
she was finally leaving it behind.

She tightened her
grip on Nathan even more. He was still with her. She hadn’t had to leave him
behind along with the underground fighting life. She had been able to pull him
out of that mess right along with her– only it seemed more like
he
had pulled
her
out by that point. Not once had he stopped protecting her or
assuring everything would be okay.

As she rested her
head against his shoulder and the two of them drove toward their moving truck,
she realized that maybe it was finally true. Maybe everything really would be
okay now, if not better. It seemed they had successfully escaped Nick thanks to
a deal with none other than Alex Moretti.

They had more than
enough money to live comfortably for quite some time and they had everything
they needed with them– most importantly each other. It was like a dream come
true, only her dream would have never had the fight component to begin with.

But, then again,
who would Nathan be if not a fighter at heart? She shut her eyes and enjoyed
the feeling of the cool night air whipping at her face.

It made her think
of California and its ocean breeze.

Sooner rather than
later she’d be enjoying it with the man she loved.

The End

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Kurt walked into the house he once called home
and looked around. Not much had changed. It had been over a year since he even
set foot in it and now he had two weeks to spend there. He shifted his weight
from one foot to the other as the uncertainty of spending that amount of time
in his parents’ house hit him. After looking around one more time he heaved the
bag of his belongings over his shoulder and headed upstairs to his old bedroom.

It had been a long time since he’d visited his
parents’ house; longer since he had stayed there, and even longer since he
lived there. At 27 years old his last memories as a 17-year-old still living
with mom and dad in that house were already starting to grow a bit fuzzy. He
had moved out shortly before his eighteenth birthday with a buddy of his before
finally branching out two years later and moving away from town. He wouldn’t
return until almost four years later after earning his degree in Political
Science.

It wasn’t until about his 24th birthday that he
decided to join the army. He had visited his parents for all of three days when
he already felt a pull to get going. It wasn’t that he had a bad experience
living there. He got along with his parents just fine. It was just that he
always had more of a spirit of independence and he couldn’t stand the feeling
of being cooped up. That was why he broke free from the nest at the first
opportunity he had. His mother, with watery eyes, had hugged him tight and
wished him the best of luck.

Now in his 27th year of life and a successful
Corporal in the Army, he had taken his first big leave to visit his parents.
His mother was overjoyed by the news and his father, a man of few words,
offered a very short statement of happiness at seeing his son after many years.
Kurt understood his father, John. John had never hurt Kurt or made him feel
like his childhood or life lacked a father in any way.

John just wasn’t exactly an emotionally charged
man with much to say. Kurt had observed it from a young age and developed an
admiration for his father that was quite unique. His mother, on the other hand,
was quite vocal and obvious when it came to her feelings. Kurt had always found
it funny how his mom and dad ended up together. They were the perfect example
that opposites did indeed attract but, at their core, they shared important
values and found harmony that way.

Kurt opened up his old bedroom door and was met
with a shock. It was completely transformed. It was no longer the room from his
teenage years. It didn’t have all his old posters on the wall or clothes
lingering in the closet. None of his old trinkets were sitting atop the
shelves. Even the carpet and color of the walls were different. He dropped the
heavy bag to the floor and looked around. It was transformed into quite a
lovely guest room. Just as he took his first step inside to look more closely,
he heard the front door of the house open downstairs.

“Kurt, honey?” It was his mother calling out to
him, wondering if he had already arrived. He listened intently, but there were
no sounds to indicate his father was with her. He stepped out of the bedroom
and walked to the top of the stairs. His mother’s eyes shined with pure joy and
she immediately bounded up the stairs to pull him into a tight hug.

 
“Oh,
Kurt,” she mumbled into his shoulder. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around
his small mother. She was very short and had a small frame which made Kurt look
gigantic beside her.

 
“I’ve
miss you so much,” she said as she pulled away from the hug. She reached up and
cupped his cheeks. He could almost hear the cooing noise she wanted to make,
but it never came. She finally let go and asked, “Did you see the bedroom yet?”

“What is going on in there?” He asked in
surprise.

It was obvious it had been completely
remodeled, but he wanted all the details. He could only assume it had been his
mother’s idea to update his old bedroom. She led him over to it and confirmed
it was her idea. She said she wanted a more grown-up place for her son to stay
now that he would be in her house for the first time in years. She had tried to
do it with what he would like in mind.

“Although,” she said rather quietly, “I can’t
say I’m entirely sure I know what this son likes.”

“What do you mean by
this
son, mom?” Kurt draped his arm over his mother’s frail
shoulders and squeezed as his eyes looked over every detail of the room.

“You’re a mature young man now, Kurt. You’ve
been gone for so long, too. I don’t know how your tastes have changed.”

Something about what his mother said broke his
heart. He knew she supported his every move and was happy to see him living his
own life, but he rarely stopped to think about what that really entailed. It wasn’t
as simple as being away from his old home and his parents; he was so far
removed that they were also missing out on how he was changing over time. There
were little things they didn’t know about him and he knew that made his mother
sad.

 
“I love
it, mom.” His voice was soft in the way he only ever spoke to her. Nobody else
got to hear him speak like that. It was only his mother who moved him enough to
speak so softly.

Once Kurt was settled into his room and
everything was unpacked he headed downstairs to find his mom had already made a
delicious vegetable stew and some dinner rolls. She asked all about his life on
the Army base and if he had made good friends out there. She, of course, asked
if he had a girlfriend. He knew she meant no harm. She just wanted to know all
about her son’s life.

Once they were done eating he insisted on
cleaning up the kitchen while she relaxed on the couch in the living room and
watched television. It was right around the time he finished cleaning up that
his father got home and greeted him. They all went to the living room and
watched a short movie together before his dad went to bed.

That was when his mother turned to look at him
with a look in her eye that meant something new was headed his way. It didn’t
look like anything bad so he wasn’t nervous.

“Kurt, honey,” she started off before scooting
closer to him on the couch. “I prepared a little something for your arrival
tomorrow night. Just a little party. Oh, honey, it’s just been so long since
you’ve been here!”