Undefeated

by C. D. Gill

  Xander nodded. He really wanted to go back to bed though.

  “Run with me?”

  She didn’t smile. There wasn’t a hint of her usual lighthearted banter. She wasn’t the kind of girl who required someone with her at all times. Whatever bothered her was significant. Gesturing for her to stay put, he grabbed shorts and a t-shirt and dressed in the bathroom. Three minutes later, they were stretching at the end of the driveway.

  She said nothing, but covertly checked their surroundings before setting out at a moderate jog. Did she think Grant would be back to finish what he started? Xander matched her pace from concrete to gravel and fell in line behind her as they wound through muddy trails between the trees. Her endurance was impressive despite her occasional stumbles. Thirty minutes later they slowed to a walk in a large meadow.

  Gia dropped to her knees breathing deeply and spent the next ten minutes making yoga look easy. When she ambled toward the path, Xander joined her. He was no Lucy replacement but trust didn’t happen by accident. He was terribly out of practice with talking about feelings and stuff.

  “Want to talk about what happened last night?”

  She sighed and scrubbed her face with her hands. “Of course, you saw.”

  “And heard.” Xander paused. “I hope you broke his fingers. He deserved at least that.”

  “Yeah, a mechanic with broken fingers.” She made a face. “I should have driven myself last night, so there’d be no misunderstanding at the end of the night.”

  This was way out of his comfort zone. Xander shifted his feet and swallowed hard. “Did you make him promises?” He didn’t really want to know if she had.

  Gia grunted. “Not at all. In fact, I was annoyed with him half the night and worried about something on the way home. I don’t know where he got the idea that I was a prime candidate for a doorstep pat down.”

  Xander closed his eyes. He should have gone down there and bashed the guy’s head in. “I don’t think he’ll make the mistake of messing with you again.”

  “I hope not.”

  He set his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. “Are you worried about him coming after you? Is that why we’re out here this morning burning off the stress?”

  Gia glanced around as she wiped her forehead on her sleeve. “No, I’m not worried about Grant.”

  “But you’re worried about someone finding you out here alone.” Xander ducked his head to catch her gaze. She nodded. “Who?”

  Gia didn’t answer.

  “Gia, you have to trust me or I can’t have your back when you need it.”

  “Fine.” She huffed. “My ex-boyfriend, Bronc. I’m afraid with that article in the paper that he’ll come after me now. He’s not a good person, Xander, and he’s part of the reason for a lot of the cautions I take today. This is going to sound crazy.” Gia grimaced. “Last night Grant took me to the museum for an orchestra concert after dinner. When we were leaving, someone touched me on my lower back and brushed his thumb in an arc. That was Bronc’s signature touch for me, his way of claiming me in front of other men. I didn’t look back to see who it was. I ran straight for the bathroom.”

  “It could have been Grant, though?”

  Gia shrugged, her expression tortured. “I’m ridiculous, I know.”

  “It’s smart to be cautious.” Xander motioned to the path in front of them. They started the run back. “Is there anyone you can call to find out his whereabouts?”

  “That would mean involving my parents, Xander.”

  “You’d rather live in paranoia for who knows how long than ask your parents for help?” He’d been willing to trade non-vital organs for his parents’ help and they weren’t even worth a fifth of what Gia’s parents were.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Don’t hesitate too long. If he’s in town, it won’t be hard to find you.”

  At that, Gia sprinted the rest of the way. He lengthened his stride. The burn in his lungs and muscles felt so good. The sweat poured off him in rivulets as they went their separate ways in the driveway. Showered and dressed thirty minutes later, he strode into the kitchen ready for something to eat.

  “Lucy texted and said she’s got breakfast ready for us and something for you. You okay with that?” Thank God Gia’s smirk was back. He’d rather have the warrior than the worrier any day.

  He tilted his head. “I like when Lucy feeds me.”

  Gia made a strangled noise as she grabbed her purse and keys and paused at the door. “Don’t push me, Reinerman. Things get ugly when I crack.”

  “You don’t scare me. My ego can survive you.” Maybe.

  Instead of a response, she disappeared into the garage and backed her car out. Xander jumped in the passenger side.

  “What does Bronc look like?” Xander said.

  “Average height. Brown hair. Tan skin. And white teeth.”

  “Someone who looks like me?”

  “Yes, except you’re taller and better looking.”

  A zing of happiness shot through him. “When I showed up in town, did you think I could have been him?”

  “Bronc’s not the kind of man who sits on the ‘Happy to Chat’ bench waiting for someone to find him. He doesn’t waste his time. He gets what he wants.”

  “Sounds like the kind of guy I need to help me find who set me up.”

  Gia whipped her head around and gaped at Xander. Her jaw snapped shut as she shook her head. “Xander, he’s not the guy that would help you find him. He’s the kind of guy who would have set you up.”

  Xander withheld all poorly timed jokes about her life choices that sprung to mind as they parked in front of Mother Hen. Her comment gave him a twisted sense of hope that maybe she still knew someone in the inner circle of her past life that could help him find the answers he longed for. But with the way she was acting at the moment, Xander doubted she’d contact them for him.

  “You think I’m handsomer than Bronc?”

  Gia laughed and opened the door to the bakery. “You’re always fishing, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, especially after the last five years of being starved of attention.”

  Lucy skipped around the counter, threw her arms around Gia, and winked at Xander. “I’d be happy to pay more attention to you, if you’d let me.”

  “Good morning, Lucy.” Gia hugged Lucy. “Speaking of attention, have you seen Tucker lately?”

  Lucy waved Gia off with a flick of her wrist as she straightened the chairs. “I see Tucker almost every other day. He’s a dead end. He never asks me out or even tells me I look nice. You mistake his love of my muffins for an infatuation with me.”

  “It seemed like more than your muffins that he liked when he told me about you,” Xander said.

  With a curious smile, Lucy paused. “Yeah? He talked about me?”

  Xander nodded. How far could he go without breaking the man code? “He said seeing you was the best part of his week.”

  “It’s a sign, Lucy. One of these days he’s going to get the nerve to order himself an entree of Lucy to stay with his muffins and coffee. You’ll see,” Gia said.

  The hope in Lucy’s eyes vanished with a loud hmph. “Like that will ever happen. Come to the back so we can eat without being disturbed.”

  Lucy had set stools around one of her steel preparation tables. A bowl of scrambled eggs, a plate of cinnamon rolls, a side of hash browns, and a fruit salad crowded one corner. The girls caught up on each other’s lives. Most of the chattering and cackling came from Lucy, however. Gia was smart to keep Lucy distanced from her current drama.

  Xander was happy to eat without a word and savor the gift of warm, real food, a stark contrast from the meals slopped onto his plastic tray in prison. And far less suspicious. A hand waved in front of his eyes. Xander blinked and focused on Gia’s expectant face.

  “Lucy said she walked in this morning to an envelope shoved under her door with your name on it.” Gia motioned to Lucy standing next to Xander with an
outstretched envelope in her hand.

  Who knew he was in Golden besides his parents and his reintegration officer? Xander grabbed the envelope from her fingers and stared at the handwriting. That chicken scratch he’d be able to identify anywhere. Excusing himself, Xander strode across the kitchen and could feel the girls staring holes into his back. Locking himself in the bathroom, he jammed his finger under the envelope seal. A small piece of torn paper was inside with “meet today at Hayden Green Park @ 10:30 AM” scrawled on it.

  Linc asked to meet with him. A chill rippled down his spine. Someone from his family wanted to see him. For that, he’d do anything. Xander tossed the envelope into the trash and shoved the scrap of paper into his back pocket. After a moment spent collecting himself, he unlocked the door and marched into the kitchen.

  Empty.

  He cut a cinnamon roll in half and stuffed it into his mouth before peeking through the window. Gia stood in front of the coffee machine, but all he could see of Lucy was her lower half. The rest of her bent over the counter. Gia caught him peeking and motioned him to stay where he was. She joined him in the kitchen a few seconds later with a huge grin on her face.

  “Tucker came in this morning and is asking Lucy on a date!” Gia let out a squeak. “He’s finally gotten the nerve after three years of pining over her. I might have gave him a verbal nudge.”

  Xander angled himself in the door window to see how Tucker was holding up. “How long has he been asking her? It shouldn’t take that long.”

  Gia grabbed his arm, pulling him from the door. Her skin felt warm and soft against him. “Let’s sneak out the back door. We’ve got work to do.”

  He followed her outside in to the back alley and stopped. “Gia, I have someone to meet at Hayden Green Park at 10:30.”

  She checked her watch. “That’s in twenty minutes. Was that in your note?” They strolled to the front of the building.

  Xander flicked up his eyebrows.

  “Is the person dangerous?” Her question hovered between offensive yet sweet. She was the only one who cared if he existed at this point in his life.

  “Are you worried?”

  Gia bit at her lip. “Are you going to need more backup than I can provide?”

  “He isn’t dangerous.” Xander stared out the car window at the world of people who had their lives together.

  In the park’s parking lot, Gia maneuvered into a space with a clear view of the whole playground. Xander admired her strategy. “I’ll wait here for you.”

  Xander opened his door and stepped out.

  Gia rolled down the window. “Also, it’d help me breathe better if you stayed in sight of the car. The cops will have questions if they find your body in the woods and I was the last one to see you. I know you can handle yourself.” The ‘but’ hung in the air between them. The creases on her forehead betrayed her otherwise indifferent expression.

  He offered her a thumbs up and plopped onto an empty bench yards away with his back facing her. His stomach was a twisted raging knot of nerves. His first glimpse of family in five years would have a personal audience. Runners’ feet pounding on the path had him flinching until he covered his face with his hands and listened. The slow crunch of gravel got louder and stopped next to him. Dare he hope that it was actually Lincoln? Or had Gia invaded the moment?

  Dropping his hands, he turned his head catching an old man mid-sit and offered him a nod. A hand slapped his opposite shoulder hard. He followed the arm up to a tan face topped with dark floppy hair.

  His little brother.

  “Let’s walk.”

  Xander jumped to his feet and followed Linc away from the bench.

  “Linc, I’m so glad to see you. I missed you.”

  Linc threw a lopsided grin in his direction. “I missed you too, bro.” His eyes shifted around. “We have to keep walking though.”

  Xander twisted to examine the area for people watching but kept pace with him. “Are we at risk here?”

  “We’re always in danger of being seen. Surely after five years, you haven’t forgotten a lifetime of looking over your shoulder, Alex.” He barked out a laugh. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell Quinn that I could meet you. No one could know that we were meeting.”

  Xander cleared his throat, his heart ripping a little further. This version of Lincoln concerned him—shifty-eyed, suspicious, overly cautious. Was he on drugs? “Why can no one know, Linc? I served my time. I’m clear.”

  “Because even with you behind bars, I’ve still had to do a drug test every six months. Owners and managers have a long memory when it comes to violations. And I’ve been really careful to avoid anything that could get me benched. Word is I could be recruited to the majors this year and you know how much I’ve worked for this. But you also shouldn’t be out on the streets on your own.”

  Linc had worked tirelessly to get into the hockey pros since he was a kid. The ice was Linc’s second home. They both had laser focus to getting international attention in their jobs. Only Xander had been sidelined before his debut. Xander grabbed Linc’s arm. “Linc, why are Mom and Dad avoiding me?”

  Linc sighed. “The hard truth is that your situation has embarrassed them and Dad is hoping it will all disappear and people will forget.”

  “I’ve tarnished their name.” Dad coached high schoolers and was head of as many committees as he could fit in to a week.

  He shrugged. “You know how important it is to them that they look like they have it together. In Dad’s mind, there’s no coming back from your departure from morals and virtue.”

  Dad had always been quick to squash any behavior from his children that hinted at him not having complete and utter control. “They still don’t believe I’m not guilty.”

  “I believe you, and so do the girls.” Linc scrubbed his face with his hand. The sag in his shoulders gave the appearance of exhaustion. “Don’t give up on us yet. We’re trying to figure out how to navigate this all without starting a family war. Wait until things settle a bit and then we’ll gradually ease you in.”

  It wasn’t fair that his siblings had to choose between their parents or him. He wasn’t a criminal and his official prison sentence didn’t make him guiltier. Dad had spent a few fruitless weeks trying to convince him to admit his guilt and take ownership of his failures like a man, sending him articles of other people who had recovered from their big problems. As if pleading guilty would restore his sullied name. And when Xander insisted on his innocence, Dad (and by nature of their marriage, Mom) left him alone with a parting shot of “where did we go so wrong with you?” and a threat to disown him from the family. He’d seen them hold grudges before, but didn’t truly believe them capable of turning their backs on their own son.

  Looking back, he was a fool for not seeing that.

  Linc stopped and pulled Xander into a tight hug. The physical touch rocked him to his core, the first familiar touch in far too long. “It’s so good to have you on the outside again. I need to get going. A friend of mine in law enforcement checked on you for me from time to time. Jerry’s pet. That’s you, right?”

  The words slammed into him like ten-ton punch to the chest. “Jerry was my cellmate inside. Nothing more. His reputation kept the other guys from messing with me until he died.”

  “Then you went into solitary.” Lincoln’s words weren’t a question. They were a solemn statement.

  His throat tightened. The fear that had driven him to request solitary and the shame that accompanied it he’d planned on carrying to his grave. “I had so many death threats before Jerry’s body got taken to the morgue. For nothing. For looking like the easiest prey on the block. It was the most solid insurance plan I had to make it out of there alive and even then, it wasn’t much.”

  “Solitary was like cornering you and making the kill easier.” Lincoln stated the words so calmly, meeting Xander’s eye. “Get the help you need. If you can’t pay for therapy, send the bills to me. Don’t let whatever conman sent you to prison tak
e away the rest of your life, too.”

  Xander nodded as icicles crescendoed in his chest. No, not now. Not here.

  Linc shoved his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Here’s a copy of the key to the storage shed in Mom and Dad’s backyard where your stuff is. The boxes are all labeled with your name. I checked. Stop in sometime while they are working so you don’t give them a heart attack when they see someone taking stuff from their property.”

  Or maybe he’d stop by and force them to see him so they could at least acknowledge he was alive. He exhaled. If he wanted a chance at seeing his parents, it was better to play by the rules and let them warm up to the idea of him being around again. “Thanks. This means a lot.”

  Lincoln squeezed his arm and smiled. “See you again soon. I love you, man.” He strolled further into the park in the opposite direction of the cars but stopped short with a sparkle in his eyes. “She’s beautiful, by the way. I’ll bet she’s got an amazing personality to go with it. You sure do move fast. Don’t mess it up.”

  Chapter 10

  Tense and ready to charge with her weapon drawn were the mere beginnings of the storm brewing inside Gia when Xander’s park meeting showed up and, like a mysterious pied piper, led him further into the trees out of her line of sight. Her suggestion of staying near the car had clearly not stuck with him whatsoever. She wouldn’t go tromping through the trees to save him if he’d willingly walked away.

  He was a grown man.

  Who’d survived prison.

  Her frustration simmered as she stared at their shapes disappearing down the path. Similar coloring, same broad shoulders, and long strides. If they were related, why the secret note for a meeting instead of a pick-up?

  Seven minutes went by.

  Did Xander expect her to sit and wait in the car, blind to his wellbeing? Gia checked her watch—eight minutes. Apparently, that’s exactly what he expected. Seven more minutes was all he’d get before she wandered down the path to stretch her legs with her Glock 42 giving her a nice back massage. At minute thirteen, Xander reappeared alone with his hands stuffed in his pockets staring at the ground as he strolled toward the car. Stopping next to the passenger door, he leaned his back against it. The guy she’d assumed was his brother was nowhere to be seen.