“Please, it’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Without waiting for his response, she came back to the center.
“What’s your name, sugar?” he asked.
“Tabitha … Skull.” It seemed only right to use her club’s name.
Stepping back from Melanie, she watched as the other woman raised her fists.
What are you doing? This is fucking crazy. You’re not a kid in high school anymore. You shouldn’t be on this mat. There’s no way you’re going to win this. Slapping around Miss Andrea isn’t winning a fight.
Melanie came at her.
She dodged the first fist, and the second. She spun and made Melanie chase her.
You’re a mother. You should be setting a better example.
Tabitha grunted as Melanie struck out, hitting her in the gut and then slamming her fist against her cheek. That was so going to bruise tomorrow. Rather than go down, Tabitha stepped back.
“There’s no fight in you. Come on, end this, it’s going to be a bloodbath,” Melanie said.
Tabitha stayed where she was. Another couple of punches, one to her chest, the other to her stomach. She got slapped around the back of the head and her hair was tugged.
She got away, facing off against Melanie, who she had yet to hit.
You’re better than this. You’re not him. He left. Simon left and he’s enjoying beating the crap out of people for fun. He killed someone and left to get his shit together. It has been five years. Five years and he’s still not here. He’s gone. He’s gone and he’s not coming back.
In her mind, she saw her husband. The man she was supposed to be with. He’d promised her forever, but it had been lies. Every single part of their life had been lies. He hadn’t stuck around. All he’d done was what he wanted to do.
Melanie swiped at her. This time, she blocked her arms and swung. She connected with Melanie’s jaw. It was a hard hit, making the woman stumble.
The pain. The anger, it washed over her like rain, pouring out of every single pore and nerve ending.
Simon could go and live his life while she had to wait around, always waiting around, but no more. She wasn’t going to take his shit again, or ever.
Over and over, she lashed back, hitting Melanie, taking the woman by surprise by the sheer force. She slammed her fist, once, twice, a third time, and she went down. Stepping back, she waited.
Melanie got back up.
The crowd was going wild, but Tabitha didn’t care.
She hit back. Melanie hit her.
Pushing out the rage and pain, she just unleashed hell, and her opponent took it.
Finally, after what felt like an hour, the ref called it a draw. There was no winner, but she and Melanie were both bleeding, panting for breath.
Her dress was torn in a couple of places but she didn’t care because she’d never felt so alive.
The last five years, without Simon, she’d been dying inside. The only saving grace for her was her son.
“You know, you are one hell of a fighter,” Melanie said. “It was an honor to fight against you.” She held her hand out and Tabitha took it. “Until next time.”
She didn’t agree. Climbing out of the ring, she went to Niles, who looked ready to vomit. “I called your parents.”
And just then, Tiny walked in and from the look on his face, she was well and truly fucked.Chapter Four“Are you fucking insane?” Tiny asked, pacing the length of The Skulls’ clubhouse. In the corner, she spotted Devil. She hadn’t realized he’d turned up in Fort Wills. Did that mean another family get-together was happening or was this about Simon?
They all had a tendency to meddle where they didn’t belong and she was sick of it, and sick of them.
“Tiny,” Eva said, going to his side.
He shook her off. “Niles is a nice guy.”
“Yep, he is a nice guy. You shouldn’t be blaming him for what happened.”
“I’m not blaming him. I’m blaming you.”
Sandy stood in front of her, patching up her face. “You took a couple of good hits.”
“The woman I faced was a damn good fighter.” She smiled at the other woman and winced.
“Yes, a damn good fighter and this is going to sting for a couple of days. I don’t know what you’re going to tell Nathan.”
“I fell down or something. He doesn’t need to worry. There’s nothing he needs to deal with. He’s just a kid.” In the past few hours, the aches had started up. Her knuckles were split and bruised. She also had nice discoloration on her stomach and chest. Melanie had even kicked her a couple of times for good measure.
It had been fun.
There, she said it.
“I don’t know what the trouble is. Niles and I, it’s never going to happen. We’re not going to be anything other than friends. Especially now, I feel like he’s a little tattler. There was nothing to worry about.”