SHOOT: A Novel
Page 22
It was during the third round that Nathan put his fists up and looked Tiger dead in the eye. Despite how beat up he was he didn’t back down one bit. He made a movement as if to throw a punch toward Tiger’s face, but switched it up last second and caught him in the stomach with a punishing blow.
Tiger stumbled back into the ropes. Emma could hear him wheeze and pant with pain. Immediately, he lunged forward to get to Nathan, but he dodged out of the way at the very last second, sending the Tiger flying forward into the ropes on the other side. As soon as he turned around, Nathan delivered a lightning fast punch square in the middle of Tiger’s face.
He looked completely disoriented and Nathan took full advantage of it. His swollen eyes, the blood still running out from his mouth, none of it could stop him. He swung his arm up and caught Tiger right under the chin before finishing him off with another punch across the jaw.
Tiger crumpled down to the floor. A wet slap echoed against the walls and over the loud cheering of the crowd when his body hit the canvas. The referee immediately ran over and started counting.
He didn’t get back up.
Chapter six
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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