Stand Of Honor (4 page)

Melanie shrugged to herself
, who cared. It wouldn’t be much longer before she could shove that smirk down her throat.

Melanie allowed herself sometime in the sauna and stayed longer than normal.
It was dark and she assumed everyone else had left for the day. After she had enough of the warmth, she went into one of the dressing rooms to change into her street clothes. She liked the locker room; it had definitely been designed for women. So many typical gyms had curtains or doors that didn’t provide much privacy when changing; it always felt like someone was going to walk in on you. This locker room, though, had nice sized changing areas with doors that actually locked.

As she sat down to put her socks on, she heard some people enter the room.

“Nice work, Tobias.” It was Macey’s voice.

Melanie rolled her eyes
; she couldn’t stand her irritating voice.

“It’s taken me a while, but the stupid girl actually thinks I’m helping her,” Tobias replied.

Melanie stilled,
wondering whom they were talking about as Tobias continued, “It’s been a bitch attempting to change her technique without her realizing what I’ve been trying to do. She was actually pretty good, at least she
was
.”

When they
went silent for the moment, it sounded like they were kissing. She thought she heard a moan from Macey. Melanie honestly had no idea they were involved with each other.

“Tobias…”
Macey’s moan became louder.

“That’s it
, Macey. Get wet for me,” Tobias commanded.

Melanie started to get up to let them know they were not alone
, however as she started to open the door, she heard Macey’s voice again.

“I can’t wait for Nick to watch his little sister get her ass beat when she has her first fight
.” Macey sounded pleased. “Tobias, I’m going to thank you in ways you’ve never dreamed were possible.”

“I don’t know about that
, Macey. I have some very specific fantasies concerning you and that mouth of yours.”

Melanie almost made a sound when she realized they were talking about her.

Tobias gave an ugly laugh.
“I’ll keep working with her—she’s going to go into her first fight with no idea of what she’s walking into. Her moves won’t get her past the first round.” Melanie heard them kissing again. “She was damn good, just too hesitant on the offensive. It was easy to convince her that she was doing it wrong. With the way I’ve made her do all those moves incorrectly, she won’t know what’s coming in the cage.” Tobias sounded so proud of how he’d been sabotaging Melanie all this time while taking her money to train her.

“Nick has always worshipped his sister.
I can’t wait to see his face when she gets her face beat in and hopefully a few broken bones. That will teach him for the way he treated me,” Macey declared. “Tobias, I want your dick right now.”

Melanie could tell from the coldness in
Macey’s voice that she wanted Tobias’s dick like she wanted a toothache.

Melanie was in shock.
For the last two years, she had spent every extra penny she had and every bit of extra time in this gym for absolutely nothing. Just because of some bitter girl that had made a play for Nick.

Nick never tried to lead any woman on
; he was always open about his career coming first. However, it didn’t stop countless women from trying to be the one to catch him. Melanie had not been given the impression that Macey had been one of those women. Nick would never go for a catty bitch like Macey. She wondered what had really happened between the two of them. It must have been bad for Macey to go after Melanie for revenge.

She finished getting dressed
, slamming open the dressing room door. She was satisfied as she watched them both jump. Macey was sitting on the counter with her red sports bra pushed up around her neck and nothing else on. Tobias was standing between her legs, which were straddled around his waist. His shorts were partially pulled down and his dick was inside Macey. They both scurried to cover themselves.

Melanie wanted to kill her,
yet she knew she wasn’t ready to take Macey on yet. She also wanted to take on Tobias, but couldn’t do anything at the moment. She would find the right time, though.

“You
’re a low life, piece of shit, Macey. All this because of my brother? You got to be fucking kidding me?!” Melanie looked at Tobias. “And you, you’ve been taking my money for the past two years. I’m going to destroy your reputation as a trainer. You better start looking for a new line of work. When I’m done, you’ll be lucky to find a job. I want my money back.” She confronted them both, uncaring about Tobias’s limp noodle of a dick or the view of Macey’s cunt.

“You can’t prove shit. I’ll just say
it’s sour grapes because I dropped you. Everyone in the gym knows what I think of your fighting skills.” Now that his dick was covered, Tobias’s confidence was returning.

Melanie turned back to Macey.
“I’ll see you in the cage.” Now wasn’t the time to let her temper get the best of her. Tobias was right, she couldn’t prove a thing.

Macey laughed
, seeing the realization on Melanie’s face. “You can’t beat me, you stupid bitch.” She composed herself quickly, not wanting Macey to see her words had hit home. “I’ll be glad to beat the living shit out of you, if the league even lets you fight me. You’re not anywhere near as good as me and never will be. I’ll take you on anytime,” Macey gloated, not in the least afraid of meeting her in the cage.

“Oh, you’ll see me in the cage.
I’m going to take your title,” Melanie stated, determined to do whatever it took to bring the woman down.

Melanie saw Macey hesitate slightly before she replied
, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Chapter 6

Zane was punishing the heavy bag in the back corner of the gym.
It had been about a month since that night at the club and he had done a fairly good job of pushing the memories out of his head. Right now, he was a having a flashback and needed to vent. Since none of the wannabes in the club could hold their own with him, he had to let out his frustration on the bag. Some of the guys were watching him alternate between punches and kicks. Ty was watching him, too.

“
Hey, Zane, if you need to blow off some steam, I’m game.”

Zane paused
, picking up the towel he had laid down. Wiping the sweat from his face and chest, he chose his words carefully. “Next time, Ty. Work on taking a hit from Lane without stepping back, then I’ll let you pretend to be my punching bag.”

Ty grinned
, not offended. “I’ll take you up on that. You said yourself, I’m getting better.”

Zane liked Ty
. What wasn’t there to like? He worked hard, took his training seriously, and was constantly working to improve himself. He reminded Zane a lot of himself. He deserved the break Zane had given him on his training fees and the free rent, but if he slacked off, Zane wouldn’t hesitate to throw him out. Ty knew that, it was what kept him in line.

W
ithout some sort of control, Ty was a train wreck waiting to happen. He could be bad-tempered and easily lost control, and if he wasn’t careful, it would lead to his irrevocably hurting someone inside or outside the cage. Ty was aware, however, that he had to stay out of trouble to hold on to his spot.

“Hey
, Zane, someone is here to see you,” Linc yelled across the gym.

Lincoln had been with Zane since he
’d opened the gym. He was a hell of trainer and had fought for years himself. He had retired from the cage several years ago, but like Zane, wanted to stay with the sport in some capacity.

Zane did one last spin
before kicking the bag, then headed to the front of the gym. As he walked towards the front door, he noticed all the guys had stopped and were staring ahead. He wondered what had grabbed their attention. Moving closer, he sucked in his breath.
It was her
. He made sure his face didn’t portray any emotions as he continued his approach.

“Hi
, Zane, can we talk?” Melanie asked. She was hot in her work out gear with her long hair pulled into a loose ponytail. He could see the anxiety in her green eyes and wondered what had brought her to his gym.

“Follow me.”

Melanie
trailed behind him to his office at the back of the gym, and as she walked through the facility, Zane noticed the men couldn’t take their eyes off her. She was wearing tight, black pants with a hot pink, tight tank that showed every single curve on her body.

“Get back to work,” he yelled to the gawkers.
They all slowly turned away after getting one more, long look.

Zane walked into his office and shut the door behind Melanie.
He then walked behind his desk and waited for her to start talking.

He was surprised to see her
as well as curious about what would force her into his gym. He bet from the look on her face it hadn’t been easy.

He had finally gotten over the guilt of touching Nick’s sister,
justifying it by telling himself he hadn’t known who she was at the time. He was an expert at easing his conscience when he fucked up.

Melanie stood there for a moment before speaking.
“Zane, what happened the other night… that wasn’t me. I had a rough week and one too many shots of tequila.”

“That’s certainly
one way to begin a conversation; let a man know the only reason you were like a bitch in heat was because you were in a fucked up mood and drunk,” Zane snapped at her. If she was there because she didn’t want Nicholas to know about their make-out session, all she had to do was ask. Her attempt of excusing her behavior was just pissing him off.

“I didn’t mean it like that
, asshole! I told you I wasn’t myself that night,” Melanie snapped back. “I saw you and something about you drew me to you. I guess I subconsciously recognized you. I don’t know…”

Zane just stared at her
before coming around the desk and walking slowly towards her until she backed herself up against the door. “So what are you doing here?” he asked in a soft, seductive tone. He placed his hands on the door, locking her into place between his arms. “You want more? Are you having another bad week and need someone to fuck?”

He was staring into her eyes
, his lips almost touching hers. He wanted her. His nights had been spent thinking of her and now she was standing in his gym. Zane wasn’t about to let her escape twice.

Melanie shoved at him, but he didn’t move an inch.
“Fuck off, Zane. I’m here because I want you to train me,” Melanie breathlessly replied.

He stepped back.
“What?” He definitely hadn’t expected that for her reason of showing up.

“I found out that the trainer at the gym was working with Macey Richards to screw up every technique I knew.
Tobias had been telling me the wrong adjustments to make to my moves so that I would lose my first fight,” she rushed out the words. It was obvious she was trying to gather her senses. “I also found out that Tobias was sharing my strategies with Macey. They knew I had been watching Nick and Dad all those years and were trying to learn what I knew. I wasted almost two years for nothing. I want to take Macey on and beat her in the cage.” As she became heated and flushed with anger as she spoke, it made her look even sexier than she already did.

“What does Macey have against you?”
Macey was currently undefeated. Tobias, he was ambivalent towards. He was the fighter that had benefited from Zane being banned, while Faye and her gambling habit had been the one responsible for his downfall.

“She’s another whore that was after Nick.
Apparently, something happened between them and she wants to get back at him by watching me get beat up in the cage. She believed that was the best way to get her revenge against Nick. I know it sounds crazy, but I heard them talking in the locker room.”

“I don’t think it sounds crazy. There is a lot of money involved in MMA fighting. The sport has become more popular over the last several years.
If Macey keeps fighting the way she is, she’ll get offered some serious cash,” Zane replied, leaning back against his desk.

He could see how upset Melanie was over the situation.
He also recognized that their plan was a pretty damn good way to get even with Nick. Everyone knew how close Melanie and Nick had been ever since they’d lost their mother. He still believed it had to do more with trying to hold Melanie back than revenge against Nick, though. If Melanie had half of her brother’s talent along with a good coach, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Seems like Macey had taken care of that problem.

“Why are you coming to me?
What about Rex and Nick?”

Zane couldn’t understand why she
had been training with Tobias in the first place. Tobias had created a decent living from his fights, but he never really fought against opponents that were much of a challenge, which was why he had never climbed any higher in the ranks. After winning by default, Tobias was only able to hang onto the title briefly. He had slowly slid backwards in the rankings, eventually switching to coaching before he lost his chance to make any money out of fighting at all. Who wanted to be trained by a loser?