Mercy's Fight

by T L Gray

  Barely fazed, the yuppie tycoon squatted down until his eyes met Marcus’s hateful ones. “Ms. Covington is my fiancé, and today is kind of an important day for us.”

  I was stunned into silence, the chill turning quickly into raging heat inching up my neck.

  “There ain’t no ring on her finger!” Marcus’s hostile but practical words calmed me a little.

  I took a deep breath, needing to regain some control. The man was crazy, obviously, and I wasn’t sixteen anymore. My days of uncontrollable rage were over.

  When the man smiled, I felt sure a sparkle came off his excessively white, capped teeth. “You’re right, sport. A problem that will be rectified today.”

  The ringing in my ears began just as my hands started to ball. I pictured grabbing him by his Armani suit and shaking the life out him. Instead, I folded my arms, with fists clenched, and reminded myself that Grace would never lie to me.

  The clicking sound across the floor both eased my racing heart and elevated my pulse. Deliberately, I unclenched my fists before I could use them on something, or someone.

  I met her eyes.

  “You ready?” she began before noticing the tension thick around her.

  At the sound of her voice, the man stood, but I didn’t watch him. Instead, my eyes stayed glued on the one person who could destroy me. Her expression said it all as she looked between Armani guy and me—guilt, unmistakable guilt.

  “Gracie Belle . . .” His words were etched with longing, and then he wrapped his arms around her. “Baby, I missed you.”

  And just like that . . . the tight grip I had on my rage snapped.

  Chapter 32

  * * *

  GRACE

  NO, NO, NO! OH, PLEASE GOD, NO! This couldn’t be happening. But it was. Stewart and Matt were standing just a few feet apart, and the look of murder on Matt’s face was enough to send a punch right to my gut.

  My brain finally making contact with my body, I eased out of Stewart’s firm embrace. “What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice low enough to keep others from hearing it. We were already creating a scene, and I heard the gym grow silent around me.

  His shoulders slumped, signaling surprise that somehow I wasn’t about to welcome him back with open arms. The nerve!

  “It’s August twenty-fifth, Gracie. I had to see you.”

  Our supposed wedding day.

  Until then the date hadn’t registered on me, not even once. Feeling slightly less furious at my former fiancé, I truly looked at him for the first time. He was tall, bronzed, and very nearly beautiful, but some of the sparkle was gone from his eyes. He also looked tired and thin, as if he’d dropped weight since I saw him last.

  I pointed to my office. “Can you wait for me in there? I just need a minute.”

  He nodded and went to step past me, but stopped to lean in and whisper, “You look beautiful, by the way,” before softly pressing his lips to my cheek.

  I didn’t watch him leave but kept my eyes on Matt, who was watching the exchange with a mixture of hurt, anger, and betrayal. I understood that look; I had felt it myself not too long ago. But this was different.

  Stepping near him, I cringed when he deliberately stepped back, keeping a safe arm’s length from me. “I can explain.”

  “Let’s hope so.” His words were harsh, cold, and felt like daggers ripping at my skin.

  I turned to see Stewart walking toward my office, then slowly faced Matt again. “I just need ten minutes. Can you please give me ten minutes?”

  “I don’t know. Are you engaged?”

  My eyes pleading, I shook my head. “No . . . but I used to be.”

  His voice was low and furious. “How long ago?”

  I didn’t want to tell him like this. The tension was too high and he was already starting to doubt me. I could see it on his face. “It doesn’t matter.” I looked around at the small audience that had gathered, and lowered my voice. “Please, I can explain everything but not here.”

  He glanced toward my office as Stewart disappeared. “Somehow I doubt that.” I stood motionless, not sure what to do or say. “Well go on. Your fiancé waits.” The sarcasm didn’t mask the anger or the hurt.

  “Ex-fiancé,” I shot back before walking away. We’d get past this. He’d listen to me and would understand why I kept the sad saga from him. Our relationship was stronger than this misunderstanding. I felt certain of it.

  Taking a calming breath, I stepped into my office and shut the door. Stewart was standing and looking around the small space. “I can see it, Gracie. This place fits you.”

  “You should have called.”

  He dropped onto the couch, tugging at his tie. “Would you have answered?”

  “No, probably not.”

  Stewart watched me, keeping a mild, negotiating smile on his face. “Your father told me that Sam offered you New York. That’s incredible. Not that I’m surprised. You’ve always been a ball of determination.”

  The sadness in his voice resonated, and it was hard to stay angry with the man I’d known intimately and believed I loved for so many years. Allowing us this closure, I sat in the chair across from him on the couch. “Sam offered, but I didn’t accept the position yet.”

  He nodded, sucking in a chuckle. “But you will. Sam has a way of getting what he wants. Even you.”

  I dismissed his last comment, unwilling to fall back into an argument we had beat to death. Like Matt, Stewart wasn’t comfortable with Sam’s closeness to our family, and he was always making comments about Sam’s intentions. If only he knew how many times Sam had comforted me and reassured me when Stewart let me down. Stewart should thank him a million times over. I suddenly felt guilty for having been so snotty to Sam lately. He really was a good friend. A little pushy recently, but still.

  Stewart’s hand on my knee brought me screeching back to the present. I subtly adjusted my position so his hand would fall away.

  “Is this why you came? To ask me about New York?”

  “I told you. I needed to see you today.” He took my hands in his. “You’d be waiting for me in a gorgeous white gown right now if I hadn’t screwed everything up.” He fell to his knees in front of me, moving closer. “Please, Gracie, give me another chance. I’ll never hurt you again, I promise. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I’m lost without you, Gracie Belle.”

  I felt trapped by his pleading gaze. This behavior wasn’t like him. He was usually so pressed and polished. Despite the compassion flowing through me, though, I couldn’t find one ounce of the love I once thought I felt for him. “Stewart, please don’t do this. My mind has not changed.”

  He hung his head and moved back to the couch. “I wish I knew how you did it.”

  “What?”

  “How you fell out of love with me so fast.” The way he said those words, as if somehow he was the victim in all this, as if I’d been the one to cheat repeatedly, lit a fire in my gut.

  I stood, inflamed. “Seeing your fiancé in the arms of your best friend tends to speed up the process.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. They made me sound bitter, and I wasn’t anymore. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”

  “No, Gracie, don’t apologize,” he demanded, standing, too. “I want you to yell at me, to do something that shows you actually cared for me at all. You’ve been nothing but cold emptiness since that night, and I can hardly stand it!” He gripped my arms, forcing me to look at him. “Nine years, Gracie! I have loved you for nine years. And yes, I messed up, but I swear, I never will again.” He searched my eyes, begging. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel anything.”

  Tears swarmed my eyes as I looked at the man I had been ready to spend my life with only five months ago. I couldn’t explain it, and no one seemed to believe me when I tried, but I just didn’t love him. “I’m sorry,” was all I could choke out.

  He lowered his forehead against mine and squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t accept it’s over.”

 
; I eased away from him. “I really do wish you the best, Stewart.” I pulled at the door, unwilling to spend any more time with him. There was another man who needed my comfort and reassurance. A man whose love had shown me exactly what I’d been missing all those years.

  Stewart met my dismissal with a curt nod and stormed through the door without another word. Knowing his wordless exit was probably more about his bruised pride than his bruised heart, I didn’t allow myself to feel guilty. Instead, I grabbed my keys, shut the door, and looked around the gym for Matt. Spotting Marcus in the TV room, I hurried over to him.

  Before a word left my mouth, he spat out, “He left.”

  Keeping my voice calm, I stepped closer. “Do you know where he went?”

  “Where do you think he went? To punch something.” The disgust on his face was as clear as his contempt for me.

  I didn’t have time to change his opinion or even explain myself. I just shot out of there as fast as I could and headed straight for Matt’s gym. Sentimentality washed over me as I dashed toward the front doors. That first night seemed so long ago. We were strangers back then, and now? Now I couldn’t picture my life without him.

  A teenage boy with dark blond hair and squeezable cheeks eyed me suspiciously as I approached the desk.

  “Yeah, uh, this gym isn’t really coed. There’s a fancy fitness center just a few minutes from here.” I would have laughed at his discomfort if not for the urgency I felt surging through me.

  “I’m looking for Matt Holloway. Is he here?”

  The kid didn’t commit with words, but I saw his eyes glance quickly toward a hallway across the room.

  “Thank you,” I muttered before heading that way.

  “You can’t go back there.”

  His calls fell on deaf ears as I followed the sound of pounding rock music. The thick door muffled the lyrics, but the bass vibrated in my chest. Finding the courage I needed, I tugged at the door only to be blasted by the volume and a heavy scent of sweat. Everything about the room in front of me screamed rage and aggression.

  The door shut behind me, but the man beating repeatedly on the bag in front of him never once looked my direction. I’d never seen Matt without his shirt on before and found I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the muscles that rippled every time he landed a powerful punch.

  Tattoos that stayed hidden under his clothing were now visible. The pattern of chaos stretched up his arm, across his shoulder, and ended with claws along his neck. The nails were designed to look as if they were tearing into his flesh. Knowing why he had chosen that design made my heart break for the young boy he had been, until he turned and I clearly saw the cross on his chest. The word Marcie etched across the center.

  Every pattern, every picture that stood against the surface of his tan skin told a story, and I realized that I knew the meaning behind every one of them. I knew him.

  He spotted me and stopped cold. The wall I had met with the first time we ever spoke was back in place, cracking my confidence a little. He pulled off his gloves and wiped his face and arms with a towel before turning off the noise blaring from the stereo.

  “You left,” I squeaked out, trying to apply some volume to my voice.

  He nodded and picked up his phone before turning his cold, hard eyes to me. “It’s amazing what you can learn from Googling a New York princess. I should have done it months ago and saved myself a lot of pain.”

  I caught the phone he tossed my way and glared at the engagement announcement for Stewart and me from over a year ago. My mother had written the story for the paper, so the article detailed our long love affair through time and distance. My stomach turned.

  “Is that what you needed to talk to me about so urgently tonight, Duchess? Or did you just plan on lying to me indefinitely?”

  I flinched at the use of the nickname he hadn’t uttered since we became a couple. From him it wasn’t an endearing term, but a reminder that he saw me as a cold, snobby socialite.

  Setting the phone down carefully, I started to walk toward him. His hand shot up, halting me. “Nope. You don’t get to touch me. Not anymore. Any closer and this conversation is over.”

  I didn’t recognize this person, those cruel, accusing eyes. The hard set of his jaw and the defensiveness of his stance. I wanted my Matt back, the one who looked at me with adoring eyes, who would slay a dragon for me if I asked him to.

  Tears filled my eyes at the loss. “I never lied to you. I just didn’t tell you everything. I knew you would think the worst of me, that you would assume . . .”

  “Assume what?” he yelled, his cold calm wavering. “That you decided to go slummin’ for a while so you could win back your precious Prince Charming? That coming here was nothing more than a daddy’s girl trying to prove herself?”

  I was shaking my head as he screamed at me, tears pouring down my cheeks now. “You know that’s not true, Matt. You know me better than that!”

  “I don’t know anything about you, a fact you have made certain of.” He backed away, even though I hadn’t moved, and stood next to the bag. “So you were engaged. For how long? Exactly why did this fairy-tale romance between you two end?”

  His voice was calmer, but I could still sense the temper boiling right beneath the surface, just waiting for release. “We broke up in March after I caught him with my best friend.”

  Matt shook his head. Each word dripped with venom when he replied, “The falling out you mentioned. How very vague of you. I guess that explains your sudden need to take a job hundreds of miles away.”

  The timing condemned me, and no matter what I could say to him, it wouldn’t change the fact that I had ended a long, serious relationship only two months before I met him. He crossed his arms, still staring at me with contempt. “What else? What else haven’t you told me? Since you seem to think lying only comes with a direct question, I’m asking now.”

  I began to step forward, needing so much to be near him, but the warning glare stopped me once again. Hugging myself, I tried to find some comfort as the pit in my stomach grew. “Sam offered me a promotion when he brought the numbers for the banquet. He wants me to go back to New York and run both centers from there.”

  I flinched as Matt slammed his fist into the bag twice before dropping his head to it with a frustrated curse. The air was thick, and thundered with a tension that seemed to get heavier and heavier. I felt helpless, lost. He was hurting right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything about it.

  “Go to New York, Grace.” His defeated words echoed through the silence. “Go home to your dream job and the love of your life.”

  “Matt, please, don’t be like this!”

  “What do you want from me?” His calm was completely gone, the hurt in his eyes so extreme that I felt sobs fill my chest. “I gave you everything. I ripped out my heart and laid it open for you just so you could tear it to shreds! I should have trusted my gut, should have never let you in.”

  I rushed to him, the tears choking me now, and grabbed his arm. “Don’t say that! I love you! I don’t want New York or Stewart. It’s always been you. I’m sorry I was afraid. I’m sorry I ever hesitated.”

  He went rigid at my touch, his body shaking with emotion. Very carefully, as if he would break me by making contact, he removed my hand and then stepped away. His voice, laced with ice, was matched by his cold, dark stare. “Don’t you dare say those words to me now. They mean nothing. You loved another man enough to accept his ring and then lied to me about it. Whatever excuses you come up with don’t matter. I won’t let myself feel like this ever again.”

  I stared at his bare back as he pushed through the door, never stopping. My legs wobbled as I slid to the ground, sure of only one thing. He’d never come back.

  Chapter 33

  * * *

  MATT

  It had been three days, and I couldn’t avoid the center forever. Marcus’s ability to understand had a limit and would soon turn to a sense of abandonment if I wasn’t careful.
Pulling my legs over the side of the bed, I wondered why I still felt so exhausted. I’d been sleeping more these past few days than I had in months, finding that it made the time go by quicker, made the pain in my chest less noticeable.

  Sam’s words filled my head as they had every day since I met Grace’s fiancé. “Growing pains.” Well, at least his actions made sense now. I shook my head. To think I was worried about Sam’s intentions. Little did I know Grace had someone waiting in the wings until she found her way back home. That trip would probably happen sooner rather than later.

  I pressed my fingers to my eyes and then let them drop. I should feel relieved that she’d be out of my life for good. But somehow I just felt numb.

  The day went on with me going through the motions. The nuances of my life were so conditioned that I could exist in a mechanical state with everyone unaware of the hollowness I felt. Well, everyone except Bruce, but he honored my request not to ask and left me alone in my brooding.

  Grace called several times, and despite my mind telling me not to, I listened to every one of her pleading messages. At least they gave me the full story. Total disclosure seemed to be her approach, although too little too late. Truthfully, I reasoned, she was probably right that it wouldn’t have mattered. Knowing everything just made all my hesitations more justified. Had I known, I would have never let myself fall so hard. Would have never let myself believe we had a future when we were so absolutely different. I was a phase, and now we were over. Plain and simple.

  Dread filled my chest as I rode to the center. I looked toward the metal doors. I could do this. I could be cordial and professional when I saw her. Taking a few deep breaths, I swung my bike over to park it and locked my gear before trudging slowly up the stairs.

  Noise echoed around me the minute I entered, reminding me that nothing had really changed. Sneakers squeaked across the gym floor, followed by the sounds of bouncing balls and kids yelling at their teammates. I spotted Marcus and walked his way, attempting to put a smile on my face. He was sitting on the bleachers, which seemed odd. Usually if he could have a ball in his hand, he did.