Page 46 of Strike
“This is yours?” she asked, looking around.
“This is mine.”
The loft-style apartment was unique for Melbourne, the brick feature walls and industrial-style windows were a feature of the original building. It was a renovated warehouse some developer had converted into five separate two bed, two bath, open-plan living, and small outdoor terrace apartments. Below us were lock-up garages and a two-minute walk to Brunswick Street.
“When I got back to Melbourne, I was crashing on couches,” I said, watching her wander through the place, her fingers brushing over the furniture I’d gotten some stylist to choose for me. “I was skint…and broken.”
“Then how…” She stopped by the leather couch, her hands gripping the back.
“Cage fighting.”
She glanced at me. “You earn that kind of money there?”
I nodded.
She snorted and shook her head. “And here I am doing it the hard way.”
“The honest way,” I said firmly. “If I could, I would be doing the same thing, but I’m stuck.”
“Right…” She didn’t say it, but it was written all over her face.No one wanted to hire a guy accused of bashing a woman regardless of guilt.
“Can I get you a drink?” I asked lamely.
“No. I think you had better start explaining.” She rounded the back of the couch and sat gingerly on one end. “I can’t… I’m not sure how this is going to go. I can’t promise you…”
“I know,” I murmured. “I get it, Callie. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want, but…I want this. I want you.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she patted the couch beside her. “Then tell me all about it. Tell me why I should believe you and not them.”
Her words cut, and I almost fell back into old habits. It was easier to walk away and marinate in my own misery than to stand up and fight. Not with my fists but with my words. My heart had been closed for business for a long time, and I wasn’t quite sure how to use it anymore. I wanted to…it was just… It was rusty as fuck.
Sitting beside her, I tossed my phone and keys onto the coffee table. Shucking off my jacket, I lay it over the arm of the couch and nursed my broken arm in my lap.
“I started out fighting at The Underground,” I began.
“What’s that?”
“It’s where I fight now. It’s this warehouse in Abbotsford. The whole thing is illegal, from the bar, the betting, the fighting, and a great deal of other shit that no one talks about. A fighter can make good money there. Hundreds of thousands, even millions.”
Callie’s eyes widened. “But it’s criminal?”
“No rules. No accountability,” I replied with a nod. “I had a talent for fighting, and when an opportunity came up to train for an opening in the UFC in America, I took it. Money was great, but I wanted fame. I wanted to be in the big leagues so bad I did everything in my power to get there.Anything.”
“Anything?” She swallowed hard.
“I double-crossed, I cheated people out of money at The Underground, I bragged, I…” I ran my good hand over my face. “Lori was my ex. I cheated on her.”
Callie visibly stiffened.
“I’m not proud of it,” I went on. “I regret treating her the way I did, but she’s happy now. She moved on with this guy Hamish. He fights at The Underground, too.” I lifted my left arm. “I used to think he hated my guts. Well, he did, but he took me to the hospital.” I shrugged.
“It sounds like… People don’t like you very much.”
“They don’t. I didn’t give anyone a reason to think otherwise. I thought it would be easier if everyone went on hating me. If no one got close, then I couldn’t drag them down with me. I never thought it was possible to be dragged up.”
“Tell me about the woman,” she said.
“I was naive,” I said, gritting my teeth. “When I first got to the States, I smashed my qualifier and was set to be the next big thing. People were all over me, offering me endorsements, money, cars, inviting me to parties, offering me drugs… Women wanted me, guys wanted to be mates… I realized too late it was all empty. They wanted to get in on the ground floor. You know what I mean? Ride me all the way to the top, sucking me dry like a pack of leeches. That woman, that ring girl…she was the biggest leech of all.” I glanced away, the memory of the cops knocking at my door clear as day. “We went out for a couple of weeks…” I glanced at Callie. “Do you really want to hear all this?”
