Chapter 19
NINETEEN
HARMONY
After the wedding and the run-in with not-so-drunk but still crazy Veronica Catalano in their apartment building, things between Crois and Harmony were moving rather quickly.
Like the old steam train at the museum in her home town.
It took a bit for the train to get going, but once it did, it felt like it managed to cover ground.
They made the most out of what time they could cobble together.
With Pilar on her honeymoon, someone, and by someone, they didn’t mean Kate, had put Crois on some kind of schedule that made him a floating officer. He was filing in spots at three different precincts around Center City.
No matter what Kate did or said, they couldn’t fix it.
And Crois was still working out and training for the charity boxing matches.
He sometimes came back to the apartment building and barely had time for a hug and a kiss before falling into bed, but it was those moments that Harmony felt meant the most.
The fact that he chose to see her when he was so near to dropping down in exhaustion, that showed how much she meant to him.
And he was becoming just as dear to her.
She’d already put in for some vacation time after the charity boxing match. Kate had worked with her to find a way to get Crois off at the same time so Harmony could surprised him with a trip somewhere.
Harmony hadn’t figured that out yet.
She was still getting used to that bossy thing.
She blushed remembering what being bossy had gotten her so far.
A lot of kissing and some fun with her hands, exploring… well, exploring.
“Hey, you’re Crois’ woman, right?”
Harmony turned her head to look in the direction of the voice.
And older man wearing a thick cardigan and a knit cap was walking toward her. He gave her a once over.
“Never thought that Crois would settle on one. He always seemed to… bounce around too much.”
The older man walked around her in a circle and looked her over.
“I don’t get more interesting,” she explained. “I’m just what you see.”
The man stopped and met her gaze.
A moment later he smiled. “Now, I get it.”
Harmony felt her molars grinding together, so much so that she swore she could almost hear it. “Get what?”
“He isn’t with you because of anything stupid, you know. Crois sees in you all that’s really important.”
Harmony felt like his words put her a little off balance.
She’d expected something silly or… chauvinistic.
Instead, this guy who spent most of his life teaching men to beat the living shit out of each other was either profound or a romantic at heart.
“An EMT,” he grinned. “Let’s hope that he doesn’t need you to stitch him back together tonight.”
With that, he walked away, chuckling to himself.
When he was nearly to the back door of the warehouse, he called over his shoulder. “Come on. I’ll show you the way to the locker room. You can give your man a kiss before Pitts messes up his pretty face.”
Shaking her head, Harmony rushed after the older man determined to take advantage of that very opportunity.
She just hoped that Crois wouldn’t need her skills after the fight, but if he did, she’d be there.
CROIS
Standing in the locker room, waiting for his cue to enter the boxing venue, Crois caught sight of the back of his robe that his trainer had given him to wear.
The robe was made of Royal Blue Satin and the back of it had letters embroidered in shining white silk spelling out ST. CYR.
For a moment he remembered the way Harmony’s voice sounded when she sighed the word Saint while they were kissing. The more she did it the more she was able to put the right accent into her voice and made it sound more like sin.
He heard someone clear his throat and he turned to look at the other man.
It was David, his trainer who was watching him with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“Careful, boy.” He chuckled. “You keep thinking about your woman and you’re gonna put on more of a show than people paid for.”
Crois reached down and adjusted his dick in his boxing trunks.
“How did you know what I was thinking about, old man.”
David’s mouth was shaped into a smirk. “I got this old by living. I know what that silly smile on your face means. Besides,” he folded his arms across his chest, “I saw your woman outside. Pretty thing.”
Crois smiled at the mention of Harmony. “She’s beautiful.”
David nodded. “True ‘nuff. The best thing about her is that I bet she doesn’t think it and she won’t take shit from you.”
Crois agreed. “You sound like you know her pretty well.”
David shook his head. “Naw, son. But I know you. Same difference.”
“Okay. Okay. Where did you take her?”
David pointed at the door that lead out to the main venue in the converted warehouse. “I took her out and set her up by the ropes.”
Crois was happy to hear that.
When he’d asked Harmony to be in his corner literally, she’d balked at first.
She didn’t want to see him hurt.
He’d gone and done something stupid, promising her that he wouldn’t let Pitts give him more than a few glancing blows.
He had a feeling that Harmony knew that he was bullshitting her, but she was still willing to show up and be there for him.
That’s what David had likely picked up on.
The crowd on the main floor of the venue started to cheer and Crois said a quick prayer.
Pitts was likely making his way to the ring from the other dressing room. The crowd was well divided between Police and Fire along with other curious onlookers.
David nodded. “You should know that they took in a record amount in ticket sales for this fight.”
Crois smiled. “That’s why I’m doing it.”
David continued. “Good. Now, before they call you out, I need to remind you… again that this is going to be a good clean fight.”
Crois nodded. “That’s what I’m planning on. I doubt that Pitts would do anything underhanded. He’s a good man.”
David shrugged. “He’s got a right hook like a-”
“Brick.” Crois filled in the gap. “I know you saw him train.”
David cleared his throat and looked away. “Now, don’t let this go to your head, boy. You haven’t had a lot of training time. I don’t understand why PD wants you to represent them but won’t give you the time to ready yourself.”
Crois bit back the words he wanted to say.
Since he’d arrested Veronica Catalano her uncle seemed to have pulled every string he could to make life difficult.
Apparently, he didn’t care how big an ass Crois would make of himself as long as he managed to make points on his grudge.
It was up to Crois to make time for training and he had.
Harmony had been more than understanding.
After this charity fight was over, he had plans to take her somewhere for a week and let her boss him around as much as she wanted.
He didn’t suffer in the least when she bossed him.
He enjoyed the shit out of it when she went in for kissed.
Even better when her hands went roaming over different parts of his body.
The more he put the ball in her court to do what she wanted the more they both enjoyed what happened.
It was the best kind of win win situation for the two of them.
He wanted to give her some uninterrupted time and hopefully they could get to the point where he could tell her that he loved her without making her uncomfortable.
A knock on the door turned both of their heads. One of the officials poked his head in and gave them both a nod. “Let’s go!”
Crois tapped his boxing gloves together and the door was pulled open.
The crowd outside cheered as the announcer introduced him.
As he moved down the aisle he could see firefighters and police in the crowd. Even the firefighters were cheering for him. When things were a fundraiser, sportsmanship generally won out.
Right before he got to the ring he saw Harmony standing in his corner.
She was smiling, but the smile was tight, her complexion even more pale than normal.
He didn’t think it was the heavy duty lights that washed her out.
Crois knew that she was afraid of the possible damage that he might take. The fact that she came anyway to be there for him, meant the world.
He wouldn’t have blamed her for begging off. She was a healer and he was bout to put himself in the way of another man’s fists.
David climbed up the steps to the ring and held the ropes open for Crois.
This was the moment of truth for Crois.
He knew he could fight.
He was just worried that he’d trip over the rope with his long feet in his boots and end up faceplanting in the ring. He ducked under the top and stood up, relieved that he’d made it safely inside.
He turned around, waving his upraised gloves to egg on the crowd.
The cheers got louder and he turned to see Harmony standing in his corner of the ring.
As the announcer went over some of the details of the match, Crois moved to his corner and Harmony got up on the edge of the ring. She reached into the ring an undid his belt. She helped him shrug off the robe, dropping the satin garment over her arm.
“You better not get hurt,” she grumbled at him. “I’ll patch you up but I won’t like it.”
“Noted.” He smiled at her and then she surprised him.
Harmony leaned in and kissed him full on the lips.
The crowd surrounding the ring went CRAZY!
Cheers.
Whistles.
Whoops and hollers, too!
Harmony backed off and stepped back down to the floor just David leaned in to give him a last minute instruction.
“Keep your guard up. Swing when you can hit that meathead. And… and try not to get hurt. I’m afraid of your woman.”
Crois reached out and set his glove on David’s shoulder.
His trainer turned around and Crois smiled at him. “Me, too.”
David nodded. “I knew you were smart.”
HARMONY
Harmony felt like there was danger in every shadow around the room and with the lights set up for the boxing match, there were plenty of shadows.
The first round already had her shaking with nerves.
Crois and Hank had traded blows which left her shaken.
Harmony knew Hank from the firehouse and she’d seen him work out in the weight room at the fire house.
She knew first hand how strong he was.
He wasn’t pulling punches either.
When he managed to land a hit on Crois he did it like he meant it, which she knew was going to be the case.
She’d been fooling herself to think that the men would make this more of a show than an athletic event.
Wishful thinking.
A second round came and went and Harmony found herself crouched in Crois’ corner cleaning blood off of his face.
There was a laceration on his forehead and there was the making of a bruise on his cheekbone that was going to hurt like a… son of a gun after this fight was over.
There was a moment when she considered asking him to just bow out, but she kept her mouth shut while she was dabbing the blood off his face.
The only thing she told him before the third round started was that, “You owe me, Saint.”
His hard expression softened then and he gave her a grin. “If i wasn’t going to bleed on you, honey, I’d kiss you senseless right now.”
Then he held the rope up for her to slip out of the ring and down to the ground.
On the ground, David put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Breathe in and out,” he told her. “He’s doing good.”
She nodded, but couldn’t say a word.
“You can kick his ass for scaring you later on.”
She nodded again, her arms stretched down at her sides and her fingers curled up into her palms.
The round felt like it was taking forever.
Harmony wanted to pull on her hair and turn away.
Neither fighter was landing much of anything, but her nerves were shot.
The clock above the ring was ticking away and she hoped it would end with both men putting on a good show for the crowd, but then something happened in ring.
It looked like Hank dropped an arm down giving Crois an opening.
And Crois didn’t let the opportunity pass him by.
He threw a punch that hit Hank’s chin and lifted it up and back.
There had to be a name for it, but Harmony couldn’t seem to make her mind work at the moment.
It felt like the whole crowd held its breath as Hank staggered back a couple of steps and went down.
Harmony felt David clap his hand down on her shoulders.
She heard him say… something but her mind couldn’t process it.
The speakers above their heads flared to life and Harmony found herself feeling faint.
The referee inside the ring stepped into the middle and picked up one of Crois’s arms and lifted it up into the air.
Harmony turned to look at David and the older man waved her forward.
“Go, woman! Our boy won! Go and give him a hug!”
Harmony clambered up into the ring and climbed through the ropes.
Crois seemed to sense her coming and turned.
Joy washed over her and she went a little crazy.
Harmony jumped when she was a couple of steps away from Crois and he caught her in mid-air.
She wrapped her arms and legs around Crois and hugged him tight. “You won! You won!”
Crois spun her around, looking at her instead of the crowd.
“Yeah, honey,” he grinned at her. “I won because you’re here.”
She grabbed hold of the sides of his face and kissed him.
Hard.
Then she pulled back and grinned at him from ear to ear. “And I won,” she told him, “because I have you in my life, butthead.”
Her somewhat affectionate term had him laughing even more.
He slowed down and started to put her down on the surface of the ring.
Someone shouted above the crowd and instead of Crois letting her go, he tightened his hold on her dropped them both down to the floor of the ring.
Ow.
When she realized that her head had hit the floor of the ring, she wasn’t angry.
Crois wouldn’t hurt her on purpose.
She knew that.
It was the next moment that she understood what was going on.
“Gun!” “Shit!” “Take her down!”
The crowd was going wild for another reason.
Someone had shot a gun in the warehouse.
And Crois had protected her.
Harmony lifted her hands and pushed on his shoulders. “I’m fine. You can get up.”
She would likely have a knot on the back of her head, but that was all.
“Harm…” his voice was thick. Heavy. “Give me a minute.”
Her mind slowed down then.
The same analytic brain she used on scene kicked into gear.
“Crois?”
Her hands moved over his chest and then around to his back.
She stopped short when her hands touched something slick and wet on his back.
It wasn’t sweat. She’d wiped enough sweat off his body between rounds.
She knew what it was without seeing it on her hands.
It was blood.