Beautiful Disaster (30 page)

The men from the corners took another step forward.

“I can get your money, Benny,” I giggled nervously. “I won eighty-nine hundred in six hours.”

“So are you saying you'll bring me eighty-nine hundred in six more hours?” Benny smiled his devilish grin.

“The deadline isn't until midnight tomorrow,” Travis said, glancing behind us and then watching the approaching shadow men.

“W–what are you doing, Benny?” I asked, my posture rigid.

“Mick called me tonight. He said you're taking care of his debt.”

“I'm doing him a favor. I don't owe you any money.” I said sternly, my survival instincts kicking in.

Benny leaned both of his fat, stubby elbows onto his desk. “I'm considering teaching Mick a lesson, and I'm curious just how lucky you are, kiddo.”

Travis shot out of his chair, pulling me with him. He jerked me behind him, backing up toward the door.

“Josiah is outside the door, young man. Where exactly do you think you're going to escape to?”

I was wrong. When I was thinking about persuading Benny to see reason, I should have anticipated Mick's will to survive and Benny's penchant for retribution.

“Travis,” I warned, watching Benny's henchmen approach us.

Travis pushed me behind him a few feet and stood tall. “I hope you know, Benny, that when I take out your men, I mean no disrespect. But I'm in love with this girl, and I can't let you hurt her.”

Benny burst into a loud cackle. “I gotta hand it to you, son. You've got the biggest balls of anyone that's come through those doors. I'll prepare you for what you're about to get. The rather large fella to your right is David, and if he can't take you out with his fists, he's going to use that knife in his holster. The man to your left is Dane, and he's my best fighter. He's got a fight tomorrow, as a matter of fact, and he's never lost. Mind you don't hurt your hands, Dane. I've got a lot of money riding on you.”

Dane smiled at Travis with wild, amused eyes. “Yes, sir.”

“Benny, stop! I can get you the money!” I cried.

“Oh no … this is going get interesting very fast,” Benny chuckled, settling back into his seat.

David rushed Travis and my hands flew up to my mouth. The man was strong but clumsy and slow. Before David could swing or reach for his knife, Travis incapacitated him, shoving David's face straight down into his knee. When Travis threw a punch, he wasted no time, throwing every bit of strength he had into the man's face. Two punches and an elbow later, David was lying on the floor in a bloody heap.

Benny's head fell back, laughing hysterically and pounding his desk with the delight of a child watching Saturday morning cartoons. “Well, go on, Dane. He didn't scare you, did he?”

Dane approached Travis more carefully, with the focus and precision of a professional fighter. His fist flew at Travis's face with incredible speed, but Travis dodged, ramming his shoulder into Dane at full force. They fell against Benny's desk, and then Dane grabbed Travis with both arms, hurling him to the ground. They scuffled on the floor for a moment, and then Dane gained ground, positioning himself to get in a few punches on Travis while he was trapped beneath him on the floor. I covered my face, unable to watch.

I heard a cry of pain, and then I looked up to see Travis hovering over Dane, holding him by his shaggy hair, jabbing punch after punch into the side of his head. Dane's face rammed into the front of Benny's desk with each blow, and then he scrambled to his feet, disorientated and bleeding.

Travis watched him for a moment, and then attacked again, grunting with every strike, once again
using the full force of his strength. Dane dodged once and landed his knuckles to Travis's jaw.

Travis smiled and held up his finger. “That's your one.”

I couldn't believe my ears. Travis had let Benny's thug hit him. He was enjoying himself. I had never seen Travis fight without constraint; it was a bit frightening to see him unleash everything he had on these trained killers and have the upper hand. Until that moment, I hadn't realized just what Travis was capable of.

With Benny's disturbing laughter in the background, Travis finished Dane off, landing his elbow in the center of Dane's face, knocking him out before he hit the ground. I followed his body as it bounced once on Benny's imported rug.

“Amazing, young man! Simply amazing!” Benny said, clapping with delight.

Travis pulled me behind him as Josiah filled the doorway with his massive frame.

“Should I take care of this, sir?”

“No! No, no … ,” Benny said, still giddy with the impromptu performance. “What is your name?”

Travis was still breathing hard. “Travis Maddox,” he said, wiping Dane and David's blood off of his hands and onto his jeans.

“Travis Maddox, I believe you can help your little girlfriend out.”

“How's that?” Travis puffed.

“Dane was supposed to fight tomorrow night. I had a lot of cash riding on him, and it doesn't look like Dane will be fit to win a fight anytime soon. I suggest you take his place, make my bankroll for me,
and I'll forgive the remaining fifty-one hundred of Mick's debt.”

Travis turned to me. “Pigeon?”

“Are you all right?” I asked, wiping the blood from his face. I bit my lip, feeling my face crumple with a combination of fear and relief.

Travis smiled. “It's not my blood, baby. Don't cry.”

Benny stood. “I'm a busy man, son. Pass or play?”

“I'll do it,” Travis said. “Give me the when and where and I'll be there.”

“You'll be fighting Brock McMann. He's no wallflower. He was barred from the UFC last year.”

Travis was unaffected. “Just tell me where I need to be.”

Benny's shark's grin spread across his face. “I like you, Travis. I think we'll be good friends.”

“I doubt it,” Travis said. He opened the door for me and sustained a protective stance until we cleared the front door.

“Jesus Christ!” America cried upon seeing the splattered blood covering Travis's clothing. “Are you guys okay?” She grabbed my shoulders and scanned my face.

“I'm okay. Just another day at the office. For both of us,” I said, wiping my eyes.

Travis grabbed my hand and we rushed to the hotel with Shepley and America close behind. Not many paid attention to Travis's appearance. He was covered in blood and only the occasional out-of-towner seemed to notice.

“What in the hell happened in there?” Shepley finally asked.

Travis stripped down to his Skivvies and disappeared into the bathroom. The shower turned on and America handed me a box of tissues.

“I'm fine, Mare.”

She sighed and pushed the box at me once again. “You're not fine.”

“This is not my first rodeo with Benny,” I said. My muscles were sore from twenty-four hours of stress-induced tension.

“It's your first time to watch Travis go apeshit on someone,” Shepley said. “I've seen it once before. It's not pretty.”

“What happened?” America insisted.

“Mick called Benny. Passed accountability on to me.”

“I'm gonna kill him! I'm going to kill that sorry son of a bitch!” America shouted.

“He's not holding me responsible, but he was going to teach Mick a lesson for sending his daughter to pay off his debt. He called two of his damned dogs on us, and Travis took them out. Both of them. In under five minutes.”

“So Benny let you go?” America asked.

Travis appeared from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, the only evidence of his scuffle a small red mark on his cheekbone below his right eye. “One of the guys I knocked out had a fight tomorrow night. I'm taking his place and in return Benny will forgive the last five K Mick owes.”

America stood up. “This is ridiculous! Why are we helping Mick, Abby? He threw you to the wolves! I'm going to kill him!”

“Not if I kill him first,” Travis seethed.

“Get in line,” I said.

“So you're fighting tomorrow?” Shepley asked.

“At a place called Zero's. Six o'clock. It's Brock McMann, Shep.”

Shepley shook his head. “No way. No fucking way, Trav. The guy's a maniac!”

“Yeah,” Travis said, “but he's not fighting for his girl, is he?” Travis cradled me in his arms, kissing the top of my hair. “You okay, Pigeon?”

“This is wrong. This is wrong on so many levels. I don't know which one to talk you out of first.”

“Did you not see me tonight? I'm going to be fine. I've seen Brock fight before. He's tough, but not unbeatable.”

“I don't want you to do this, Trav.”

“Well, I don't want you to go to dinner with your ex-boyfriend tomorrow night. I guess we both have to do something unpleasant to save your good-for-nothing father.”

I had seen it before. Vegas changed people, creating monsters and broken men. It was easy to let the lights and stolen dreams seep into your blood. I had seen the energized, invincible look on Travis's face many times growing up, and the only cure was a plane ride home.

· · ·

Jesse frowned when I looked at my watch again.

“You have somewhere to be, Cookie?” Jesse asked.

“Please stop calling me that, Jesse. I hate it.”

“I hated it when you left, too. Didn't stop you.”

“This is a tired, worn-out conversation. Let's just have dinner, okay?”

“Okay, let's talk about your new man. What's his name? Travis?” I nodded. “What are you doing with that tattooed psychopath? He looks like a reject from the Manson Family.”

“Be nice, Jesse, or I'm walking out of here.”

“I can't get over how different you look. I can't get over that you're sitting in front of me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Get over it.”

“There she is,” Jesse said. “The girl I remember.”

I looked down at my watch. “Travis's fight is in twenty minutes. I better go.”

“We still have dessert coming.”

“I can't, Jess. I don't want him worrying if I'm going to show up. It's important.”

His shoulders fell. “I know. I miss the days when I was important.”

I rested my hand on his. “We were just kids. That was a lifetime ago.”

“When did we grow up? You being here is a sign, Abby. I thought I'd never see you again and here you sit. Stay with me.”

I shook my head slowly, hesitant to hurt my oldest friend. “I love him, Jess.”

His disappointment shadowed the small grin on his face. “Then you'd better go.”

I kissed his cheek and fled the restaurant, catching a taxi.

“Where you headed?” The cab driver asked.

“Zero's.”

The cabby turned to look at me, giving me a once over. “You sure?”

“I'm sure! Go!” I said, tossing cash over the seat.

Travis finally broke through the crowd with Benny's hand on his shoulder, whispering in his ear. Travis nodded and replied. My blood ran cold as I watched him be so friendly to the man that had threatened us less than twenty-four hours before. Travis basked in the applause and congratulations of his triumph as the crowd roared. He walked taller, his smile was wider, and when he reached me, he planted a quick kiss on my mouth.

I could taste the salty sweat mixed with the coppery taste of blood on his lips. He had won the fight, but not without a few battle wounds of his own.

“What was that about?” I asked, watching Benny laugh with his cohorts.

“I'll tell you later. We have a lot to talk about,” he said with a broad grin.

A man patted Travis on the back.

“Thanks,” Travis said, turning to him and shaking his outstretched hand.

“Looking forward to seeing another match of yours, son,” the man said, handing him a bottle of beer. “That was incredible.”

“C'mon, Pidge.” He took a sip of his beer, swished it around in his mouth and then spit, the amber liquid on the ground tinged with blood. He weaved through the crowd, taking in a deep breath when we made it to the sidewalk outside. He kissed me once and then led me down the Strip, his steps quick and purposeful.

In the elevator of our hotel, he pushed me against the mirrored wall, grabbed my leg and pulled it up in a quick motion against his hip. His mouth crashed into mine, and I felt the hand under my knee slide up my thigh and pull up my skirt.

“Travis, there's a camera in here,” I said against his lips.

“I don't give a fuck,” he chuckled. “I'm celebrating.”

I pushed him away. “We can celebrate in the room,” I said, wiping my mouth and looking down at my hand, seeing streaks of crimson.

“What's wrong with you, Pigeon? You won, I won, we paid off Mick's debt and I just got the offer of a lifetime.”

The elevator opened and I stood in place as Travis stepped out into the hall. “What kind of offer?” I asked.

Travis reached out his hand, but I ignored it. My eyes narrowed, already knowing what he would say.

He sighed. “I told you, we'll talk about it later.”

“Let's talk about it now.”

He leaned in and pulled me by the wrist into the hallway and then lifted me off the floor into his arms.

“I am going to make enough money to replace what Mick took from you, to pay for the rest of your tuition, pay off my bike, and buy you a new car,” he said, sliding the card key in and out of its slot. He pushed open the door and set me on my feet. “And that's just the beginning!”

“And how exactly are you going to do that?” My chest tightened and my hands began to tremble.

He took my face in his hands, ecstatic. “Benny is going to let me fight here in Vegas. Six figures a fight, Pidge. Six figures a fight!”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, blocking out the excitement in his eyes. “What did you say to Benny?” Travis lifted my chin and I opened my eyes, afraid he had already signed a contract.