Page 103 of Keep Your Guard Up
“Enough,” I growled, holding a hand up to her as she approached.
She froze in her spot.
I turned to where Randy was sitting, clearly enjoying the moments he didn’t have to use extra energy.
“I’ll see you in the ring.” I turned back towards Talia. Those piercing, ice-blue eyes had an avalanche tumbling down a hill inside of them. Collapse of the world she knew, of the control she’d thought she had. Fear and panic at the nightmares she’d built collapsing around her evident on her face.
“And you?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it.
“I’ll see you in court.”
This room was too loud, so I went where I knew it would be quiet.
Straight to Sunny.
Chapter 57
Mari
All I could hear was my pounding heart, and his voice.
“My name is Chance Riordan. And I’m a victim of domestic violence.”
He’d done it. He’dactuallydone it.
Pride and shock swelled through every inch of my body. That familiar fire burned brightly in my hand, the one that was safely intertwined in mine.
Al, Dylan, and JJ had quietly followed Chance off the stage after his confession. We’d all but sprinted to the underground carpark, eager to beat the rush of reporters and fans.
“Hang on, Chan,” Dylan had called when Chance was holding the door of Reggie open for me. JJ slid into the back of Al’s little Corolla, and I wondered how Dylan would fit in there too.
Before I could ponder it anymore, Dylan pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug.
“Thank you,” he whispered in my ear.
~
The four-hour drive back from Darlington Harbour was silent, but Chance’s hand stayed firmly on my thigh the entire time. His jaw was locked so tight I was surprised the bones weren’t whining. I knew why, of course. His phone had also remained silent, but that silence wasn’t comfortable. It was like that false sense of calm before a storm hit. Before disaster struck.
The sun was proudly shining when we passed the rusty old red and white sign that read, ‘Welcome to Soggla’. There were some new fresh cracks in the paint. Chips had fallen off on the tail end of the ‘a’. Soon it would read, ‘Welcome to Sogglo’.
But then something strange happened. The streets, the birds, hell even nature, all seemed to pause for us. The stretches of road that usually had scattered cars parked—empty. The tiny excuse of a carpark for Rusty’s was bare, not even a magpie or pigeon lingering nearby. Even the wind that usually swept through the eucalyptus and gum trees in the park halted.
Chance’s grip faltered at my thigh and that stormy gaze scanned the roads, looking for that missing normalcy. Anything—a car, a butterfly, a person. Anything.
We rounded the corner, heading straight towards the gym. I lurched forward when Chance slammed on the breaks. My seatbelt dug snuggly into the corner of my neck.
“What the fuck?” he muttered.
Long orange barricades had been placed over the road, fencing off any cars from driving through. On the other side, the street was crammed full of vehicles. A metallic sign glistened in thesun, rust coating the edges since it probably hadn’t been dragged out for at least a few decades.
‘Event in Progress’ it read.
“Do you know anything about this?” That wary, annoyed tick in Chance’s jaw was more noticeable with all the weight he’d dropped being so close to the fight.
“No idea.”
