Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As the champ, Nico had won many fights. He knew what it felt like. The adrenaline was unmatched. The hard training, the dieting, studying the opponents moves, . . . it all came to a head the moment that victory came into place.
At this moment, though, something was wrong.
Very wrong. It felt like a fog lifted from his mind, and he could finally see what went on around him.
Davies, the man he had just been in the ring with, stood in front of him with a strong arm across Nico’s chest. Nico’s first instinct was to swing on him because he thought they were still in the ring, but he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.
“Back up, man. Back up!” Davies shouted.
Nico blinked slowly and stumbled back into the arms of someone else.
“I got you, champ. Listen to me.” The arms turned him around, and he looked into the worried eyes of Gramps.
Chaos ensued around him, and something in him clicked. “Remedie. Where’s Remedie?”
He looked around frantically, but Gramps pulled his attention once again.
“Listen to me, damnit. She’s right over there with Ree.
” Nico glanced to his left and saw Remedie tucked in Tyree’s arms while Isla crowded around them.
His first instinct was to go to her. His mind was still foggy, but he knew something was wrong with her.
Gramps gripped Nico tighter and forced him to focus.
“I need you to take Remedie home and stay ya ass there until I call. Do you understand?”
Nico shook his head. “What the hell happened?”
In his heart, he knew. There had only been two other times he felt like this. What he couldn’t remember was why. When he blacked out, only pieces would come to him, and that normally took days.
Gramps only looked at him somberly before nodding slightly. That was all the answer Nico needed. His heart dropped, but confusion still settled in him. If Davies was the one to pull him away from the fight, then who did he just . . .
“Do as I say. Go home. I’ll get a hold of the people necessary to clean this shit up. You gon’ be okay, champ,” Gramps assured.
Nico could trust Gramps with his life, but there was no way he could get away with murder for a third time. Thoughts of taking Remedie and going on the run swarmed his mind as he looked at the man who was like a father to him. “You sure?”
Gramps nodded once. “Go. Now. I’ll call you.”
Nico turned and pushed his way through the chaotic crowd.
He realized everyone was trapped inside, probably on Gramps’s orders.
It was like that the last two times as well.
Whatever they did with everyone there after Nico left, he didn’t know.
He never asked. All he knew was his murderous secrets never came out.
“Cookie . . .” For the second time in minutes, his heart dropped. The tears in her eyes rocked him, but the way she looked at him, like he was a monster, had him rethinking his entire existence. “Baby, come here.”
He spoke softly, hoping she could hear him over all the noise. She must have because she left Tyree’s arms and leaned into him. Relief washed over him. At least she wasn’t afraid of him. That was something he couldn’t live with.
“You gotta get out of here, bro. We gotta clean this shit up,” Tyree said.
Nico nodded and looked at Isla. “You good?”
“Yeah,” she muttered, avoiding his eyes. “Thank you for keeping my friend safe.”
Something clicked inside him. He got a flash of a man with his hand around Remedie’s neck. He clenched his jaw. “Always.”
“She’s gonna stay here and help out. We need to keep these people in order. Go out the back door toward the car,” Tyree advised.
Nico didn’t waste any more time talking.
He kept his head down and walked toward the ring with Remedie clenched to his side.
He caught a flash of a body on the floor.
There was a wide circle around it, as if nobody wanted to be associated with the dead man in the room.
When Nico saw his face, his mind flashed again. Zayden.
“Mothafucka,” he spat as he hurried them toward the back door. He grabbed his duffel bag and pushed the door open.
Once outside in the cool air, Remedie pulled away from him. By the time Nico looked down at her, she was already bent over and throwing up. He had to take a step back so it didn’t get on his shoes.
“Bae, you good?” Despite his racing thoughts, he would always take the time to make sure Remedie was okay.
When she finished, he watched as she wiped her mouth and then her tears as she straightened. “Upset stomach.”
Her words were so soft, they broke his heart.
He felt bad because he knew she didn’t like boxing.
She didn’t want to see him in his element.
His ego couldn’t take that. He wanted his baby everywhere he went.
Instead of listening to her, he pushed, like he always did.
Nico always got what he wanted, and look where that got him this time.
He helped her into the car and quickly got in himself.
When they were a good distance from the warehouse, Nico glanced at her.
He felt like he needed to say something to her.
To apologize or to comfort her, but he saw that she leaned against the window, away from him, with her eyes closed.
She was a light sleeper, so he knew she wasn’t asleep, but it was clear she didn’t want to talk. For once, he didn’t push.
The ride home was silent and happened in a blur.
Nico’s mind was all over the place, and his heart raced.
As he pulled into his driveway, his thoughts drifted to his love for boxing but how it could be detrimental to his livelihood.
He felt like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders as he got out of the car and went to open Remedie’s door.
Her eyes were open now, and she let him help her out of the car.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
He held her waist as they walked to the front door. When they were inside, she stepped out of his embrace. Nico noticed she avoided his eyes as she took her shoes off.
“Baby . . .” Nico let his sentence trail off because he wasn’t sure what to say. How was he supposed to face his actions? He wasn’t sorry for what he did. Judging by the marks around her neck, the nigga would have killed her if he hadn’t stepped in.
“Nico, I can’t talk about this tonight.” She walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek.
Her voice was low and raspy. She tried to clear her throat and then winced as if it hurt.
His jaw clenched. She looked into his eyes briefly before standing on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek. “I love you, but I need a minute.”
The pain in her voice pissed him off. It was a reminder of what that bum had done to her. It was a reminder of his own actions. He realized his anger wasn’t all the way under control at the moment, and it was probably best they didn’t talk that night.
“Just promise you ain’t gon’ leave me because of this shit.
” It was probably the most vulnerable thing he had ever said.
He couldn’t care about sounding like a bitch or like he was begging for her to stay with him.
If Remedie left him, he wasn’t sure how he could move on.
There was a before Remedie, but he would be damned if there would ever be an after Remedie.
She looked down at the floor for a few seconds before she looked up at him again. “I promise.”
Those two words gave him just enough security to make it through the night without speaking any further.
“Go ahead and take the shower in the master bath. I’ll shower in one of the guest rooms, and then maybe we can watch a movie—”
“I’m actually going to sleep in my old room tonight.” She said it so gently. He could tell she tried hard to let him down tenderly, but he could feel his heart crack at the thought of not being able to sleep up under her tonight.
He breathed in heavily and held in everything he wanted to say. Instead, he brushed her curls behind her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “Whatever you want, cookie.”
And he meant it. He would do anything for her.
It didn’t matter that a big part of him was worried the police would kick in his door and arrest him at any second.
It didn’t matter that small flashes of memory would plague him for the next several days.
It didn’t matter that he felt like he needed to find a new profession in order to save his relationship and his life.
All that mattered was that Remedie was comfortable.
She brushed some more tears away and turned toward the stairs.
He watched her go with a heavy heart. Once she was upstairs, he finally dropped his duffel bag and moved toward the kitchen.
Since he couldn’t be up under Remedie, all he wanted to do was shower, get in bed, and wait for Gramps’s call.
First, though, he wanted to make sure Remedie was good for the night.
He might not be a chef like her, but he knew a good home remedy for an upset stomach.
He went into the fridge and got a ginger ale.
After he poured it into a glass with ice, he went to the snack pantry and placed some assorted crackers on a plate.
He took his time making her a cup of tea with honey and lemon for her sore throat, and then he grabbed a bottle of water and some Tums before making his way upstairs.
He pushed her door open and was glad that she was already in the shower.
If he laid eyes on her again tonight, he didn’t think he could respect her wishes.
He placed the items on the nightstand before walking out of her room and into his own.
The shower he took was long and much needed. He scrubbed himself as if he was trying to scrub everything that had happened that night away. By the time he crawled into bed, his skin felt raw.
He flipped through the channels on the TV, not really settling on anything. His phone rang, startling him. Once glance let him know it was Gramps. His heartbeat kicked up as he answered the phone. “Hello?”
“You good, champ?”
“Could be better, Gramps. Please tell me that nigga wasn’t choking my girl.”
“’Fraid he was. We got it all cleaned up. I still say you lie low for a couple of days. We gotta work on that temper of yours.”
Nico didn’t have the heart to tell Gramps that he had been thinking about hanging up his gloves. He knew that wouldn’t fix his temper, but beating niggas up for a living definitely didn’t help. He had a lot to think about.
“How did you manage to clean this shit up this time?”
“Same as the last two times. Karma’s crew handled it. You’re her biggest money maker in this underground boxing shit. She ain’t about to let that shit go, but her crew sent us with a warning. We gotta get this shit under control.”
His answer was always vague like that. Of course, Nico had heard of Karma, but nobody knew who she was for real. The fact that she was so invested in him felt weird to him, like he owed someone or something.
He sighed. “Aight, look, let me know if anything changes. If I gotta run, I will. I ain’t goin’ down for a murder charge.”
“That ain’t gon’ happen on my watch. Get some rest. I’ma check in tomorrow.”
“Night, old man, and aye, thank you.”
Gramps responded with a grunt before hanging up. Nico tossed his phone to the side and mentally started counting down the moments until morning hit. He planned on climbing right into Remedie’s bed as soon as he got up in the morning.