SHOOT: A Novel (25 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

Also by Kristen Flowers

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