THE DAY OF the Fury Fights exhibition match, Tito and Orville escorted Bella to the event. They would stand in as her cornermen. Kyle had called and told them he’d be late—he’d been held up by a call from the national manager of the UFF gyms.
“That can’t be good news,” Tito said nervously as they browsed the vendors’ displays at the MMA convention. The two-day event took place in an arena complex outside of New Orleans and drew a few thousand MMA enthusiasts. “Maybe we should’ve brought résumés to hand out.”
“I’m sure it’s the usual money matters,” Orville said. “Kyle’ll pull through. He always does.”
Bella saw the worry lurking in his eyes, though. He glanced at her and gave her a reassuring smile. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She tried to narrow her thoughts down on her opponent, Betty Heimer. The match wasn’t for another two hours, but she had to be weighed and checked by the doctor, then she’d need time to warm up.
Stupidly, all she could think about was why Kyle was late and whether he’d even show up for her fight. She shouldn’t care about having him here—this was only an exhibition. But he was her coach. She wanted to prove that she’d gained skills despite all the distractions and drama around them. She wanted to show him she was serious about her fighting career.
After taking a stroll around the convention, Bella signed in and was directed to the “locker room.” Two bikini-clad girls applying a fog of hairspray and a couple of random employees occupied the washroom.
“Bella Fiore?” A woman in her mid-thirties with tightly bunned dirty-blond hair waved at her and gave a grim smile. “I’m Betty Heimer.”
She blinked. Oh, crap. Bella brightened her smile and nodded, but they didn’t shake hands. They’d tap gloves in the cage. That was where she’d really meet her. “Hi, Betty. Nice to meet you.”
“Guess they didn’t figure we’d need separate rooms,” she said on a nervous laugh.
“Guess not.” She could be polite and respectful, but she didn’t want to get too friendly with a woman whose face she’d bust up shortly.
Betty scratched her nose. “I’ll let you get changed. Good luck to you.”
“You, too.”
Slowly, Bella stripped out of her street wear, pulling on her rash guard and trunks. She turned and faced the corner of the locker room, trying to drown out the background noises, the flushing of the toilets and the cage girls’ inane chatter. Meditating helped her find her center, to bury all the softest and most vulnerable parts of her psyche while donning her mental armor.
But as she sat there, trying hard to push the world out, thoughts of Kyle pushed in. She thought she’d put aside her personal feelings. After all, he’d made it clear his curiosity had been satisfied. Still, that kiss lingered like a ghost on her lips, and while that night shouldn’t have meant anything, she couldn’t help replaying it over and over.
Angry at herself for caring so much, she hastily wrapped her hands, put on her hoodie and running shoes and stepped out. Tito and Orville took her to a curtained-off area padded with rubber mats that served as a green room. Her fight with Heimer was fourth on the card, so she warmed up while they waited. Every time someone stuck their head in, her hopes shot up. But it was never Kyle.
“Head in the game, Twilight,” Orville barked when she glanced over her shoulder yet again.
Bella scowled. “Y’know, it used to be my name meant beautiful.” She threw a hard right hook at the mitts Orville held, making him grunt.
“You’ll be lucky if the name doesn’t stick,” Tito commented. “You ought to pick something.”
“How about ‘the Beast,’” Orville suggested, and got a hard left jab he nearly didn’t catch.
“Too cliché.” Tito rubbed his chin. “Maybe ‘the Babe’?”
“‘The Brat’!”
“How about ‘Bella Bootylicious Fiore’?”
“Will you two shut up?” Bella laughed finally. “You’re messing up my mojo!”
Orville tsked. “Oh, this isn’t good. She’s laughing, Tito.”
“Nerves,” he agreed solemnly, and tickled her in the ribs, sending her into another fit of giggles. She punched him hard in the arm, and he hissed and rubbed his shoulder. “There you go. She just needs to loosen up.”
“You’ll do all right, Bella.” Orville looked toward the entryway again, and his mouth tightened. “He’ll be here soon.”
* * *
KYLE CIRCLED THE parking lot a third time, tires squealing, but it was no use. The place was packed. He checked the clock again and swore—why had Vinny called right when he was about to leave? The guy had the worst timing. But he’d absolutely insisted on going over the marketing plans Kyle had sent him, saying it’d only take a minute—it had taken forty. It might have gone on for another forty except that a real emergency had interrupted the call: a client had dropped a dumbbell on his foot, and Kyle had to drive him to the hospital. He dreaded the paperwork to come.
He ended up parking two blocks away from the stadium and jogging to the entrance. Inside, he could hear the crowd shouting and hooting. It took an interminable five minutes to get through backstage security.
“I’m sorry, you’re with who?” the bald security guard asked.
“Bella Fiore,” Kyle shouted again over the audience’s catcalls.
The beefy man scowled at his list. “Is she one of the ring girls?”
“She’s fighting Betty Heimer,” he said impatiently.
“Oh, you mean the chick fight. That’s happening right now.”
“What?” He couldn’t see past the partitions. The place wasn’t as big as he thought it’d be, but the stands were packed. The guard stopped him as he started toward the cage.
“I need you to sign in and get a badge,” he said.
“I have to get in there right now.” He deked around the guard and hurried through the maze of partitions. Finally, heart pounding, he joined Tito and Orville in their corner.
Tito barely glanced at him. “About time,” he bit out. “We’re two minutes into the first round.”
Bella bounced on the balls of her feet, bobbing and weaving and keeping in constant motion. Kyle recognized Wayne’s techniques in action. Betty Heimer moved more slowly, conserving her energy, testing Bella with strikes she easily dodged. She was circling, waiting for an opening. Her face was fixed in pure concentration.
“C’mon, Bella,” he shouted, beating his palm against the edge of the mat. “Keep it grounded. Don’t tire yourself out.”
The moment the words were past his lips, everything fell apart. Bella looked away from Heimer—a rookie mistake. She met his eye as her feet shifted into a staggered stance, preparing for a wrestling takedown, leaving her guard wide-open.
It seemed to happen in slow motion. In the split second it took for Bella to transition her footing, Betty slid forward and walloped her with a right hook.
Bella’s eyes blanked, her mouth guard protruding from her lips.
She hit the floor with a resounding boom and didn’t get up. And Kyle knew without a doubt it was his fault.
* * *
“BELLA. BELLA, CAN you hear me?”
The world shifted and spun around her. She heard people talking, but the voices faded in and out between the strange ringing and hooting sounds.
A man was kneeling next to her, snapping his fingers, calling her name. She felt as though she were trying to swim to the surface of a murky lake in the dark.
“Bella.” Kyle’s voice cut through her stupor. Her eyes snapped open, and she remembered.
The fight. She’d lost. She’d been knocked out, and she’d barely started that first round....
She pushed herself up, realized she was still in the cage. “I’m fine.” Pain shafted through her head and a wave of dizziness rolled through her. Someone checked her eyes, asked her questions, then stood back.
“You’ll be all right. Don’t get up too quick.”
“Yeah.” She staggered to her feet and shook herself off. If she was going to lose, she was going to do it gracefully. The announcer declared Betty Heimer the winner and raised her hand. The crowd’s mild applause and boos sank into Bella, who focused on keeping herself from swaying.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Betty said in her ear as they hugged.
“It’ll take a lot more to kill me.” Bella forced a smile. “Congratulations.”
Betty clapped her on the back and left, but she looked far from satisfied. Bella wouldn’t be happy about a victory like that, either. It seemed more like a fluke than an actual win.
She was still in a daze as her corner ferried her off to the doctor’s examination room. The physician, a middle-aged woman, made her lie down as she checked her over. Kyle, Tito, Orville and some official crowded into the tight space, looking grim.
“Don’t move,” the doctor ordered her sternly. “I have to make sure you haven’t suffered any major effects apart from a concussion.”
“I’m fine, Doc.”
“Don’t argue with her.” Kyle sounded angry. “She needs to do a full exam. It’s the rules.”
Bella heaved a sigh and stared at the ceiling. Cristo, she wasn’t a fragile little bird. The only thing that hurt was her pride. How could she have made such an amateur mistake? She’d shut out the booing and catcalls, she’d closed off her mind to everything, even her corner’s cheers. But the moment Kyle had walked in...
Her skin erupted in goose bumps and she shivered.
“Are you cold?” Kyle asked, then barked, “Someone get her a blanket.”
“Will you leave me alone?” she snapped, eyes burning. “I’m fine. I don’t need a blanket. I don’t need anything.” She could feel heat radiating off her cheeks. She was humiliated.
With a quiet, steady voice, the doctor ordered, “Gentlemen, please wait outside. I need to see my patient privately.”
They stumped out in silence. The physician carefully checked her face. “That’s going to be a hell of a shiner.”
Bella didn’t say anything. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
“On the upside,” the doctor added, “at least this won’t count toward your record.”
But it did, she thought bleakly, hugging herself. Bella had lost more than an exhibition match. She’d lost everyone’s respect.