Chapter 19
Charli
I stand in the salon, working on this girl’s hair. She told me her name is Bri and that her twin brother is Bobby, from The Dragons and is good friends with Xander. I’m pretty sure I met the guy the other night at the fight but there were a lot of people and a lot of alcohol, either way, the girl seems nice and has been telling me all about her boyfriend Carter who apparently is ace in bed, though, I’m sure she doesn’t truly understand the meaning of a man being ace in bed until she’s been with Xander, but, that’s never going to happen..
I love when a client is happy to chat away, even if it is the boring sort of chatter. It beats standing here with a client for half-an-hour in complete silence. It gets real awkward, real fast.
The last few days, I feel as though I’ve been living in bliss. Living with Xander and starting our lives together, on top of the general loving life at the moment with the salon and Micky’s, then of course, Xander is like a whole new person since getting out from under his parents hold, he suddenly isn’t so broody, which don’t get me wrong, his broody side was damn sexy but the playful, carefree one is even better.
After finishing a wash and blow dry on Brianna’s hair, I send her off feeling as fresh as a daisy with also a clubbing date scheduled for Saturday night with her and her best friend Cassie, who is apparently Jaxon’s girlfriend. Come to think of it, I think I have seen them at Micky’s and they were most likely at that game I went to, though, I was pretty damn pre-occupied with the sexy slice of heaven I had my eyes locked on.
Xander has his final fight in two days and I have to admit, I am a terrified wreck. I know he will do great, he is mentally and physically ready and without a doubt, I know he could take it out but I can’t help but wonder how far ‘Pitt Bull’ is going to take it before Xander gets through with the winning hit.
I have watched as many of ‘Pitt Bull’s’ recent fights as possible to find out what areas he is lacking in but to be honest, I really don’t know what I’m looking for. I’m sure the boys at Rebels Advocate have been studying up on ‘Pitt Bull’ to give Xander his best chance but when it comes down to it, ‘Pitt Bull’ fights dirty, he is brutal and terrifying and that scares the living crap out of me and leaves me wondering, if Xander is going to be quick enough to evade ‘Pitt Bull’s’ advances? Or, is ‘Pitt Bull’ going to play dirty and beat Xander to a pulp before he has a chance to come through? All I know is that there is a lot of money on the line and when money comes in to play, people change.
I know Xander has the skill and the will to beat him but I hope he can stay true to himself, win the fight without fighting dirty and leave the competition with his head held high. I’m afraid that he will never forgive himself if he played by ‘Pitt Bull’s’ rules and caused actual harm.
I head out the back of the salon, when Gina comes out of her office, looking down at her IPad and bumps straight into me. The IPad goes flying and I stumble around, desperately trying to catch it before it cracks on the tiles.
“Oh my goodness,” Gina exclaims as I finally get purchase on the IPad. “I’m so sorry, dear. I’ve been so caught up doing this silly order.”
“Its fine,” I say, handing the IPad back with a beaming smile.
“How’s it going out there?” she questions.
“Good,” I say. “Zara’s in the middle of a colour, there are two style cuts and I just finished my wash and blow dry.”
“Oh, excellent. What’s your schedule like now?”
“My next client isn’t due for thirty minutes, so I was just going to get some cleaning done,” I explain.
“Don’t be silly,” she says. “Go take your lunch break, I’ll get Steph to clean after her client. You’ve been working off your feet.”
I give her a grateful smile just as my stomach starts to growl. Excellent timing. “Thanks,” I say, ducking into the staff area and grabbing my bag. “I’ll head down to the café, can I get you anything?”
Her eyes lighten in excitement and I already know what she is going to say. “A coffee would be great.”
“No problem,” I laugh as I sling my bag over my shoulder. I make my way out of the salon and down the road to fill my stomach. I order a sandwich and Gina’s coffee and play a game on my phone while I wait.
My order is ready in record timing and I sit at the outdoor table to annihilate my lunch.
Not wanting Gina’s coffee to get cold, I start heading back a little early. The streets are quiet but there is a nice breeze, so I enjoy the walk and work on relaxing my body and arms for my afternoon filled with clients. They never tell you about all the negative things that go along with your dream job but for a hairdresser that would be sore arms after doing multiple blow dry’s a day, oh and of course there is the occasional shitty client but so far I haven’t had to deal with that.
I’m completely lost in my own world as I make my way back to the salon when a black van comes screeching to a stop beside me. My eyes widen in shock before my body starts to react. What the hell is going on? The door slides open and a very familiar man comes hurtling out onto the pathway and straight for me.
Holy shit. It’s ‘Pit Bull’ and the fact that he is here before me could only be bad news.
I throw Gina’s coffee right at his face and I start to run. I hardly make it two steps before he is on me. I try to scream but a hand slaps down over my mouth as another circles my waist and quickly lifts me off the ground.
He rushes back to the van and climbs in the side door before tossing me to the ground and slamming the door closed.
I try to get myself up but he is on me once again. “Nice to see you again,” he says with a wicked grin as the driver takes off, making me slide to the back of the van. My arms fling out, trying to save myself but it’s no use, my balance is completely thrown and I slam my back into the metal backdoors.
‘Pit Bull’ is on his feet, crouching in the small space and making his way to me. I start screaming and kicking my legs out, trying to keep the bastard away. What the hell does he want from me? The answer comes hurtling into my mind. How can I be so stupid? It’s clear as day. The fucker wants to use me as leverage against Xander in the fight. Wants him to throw the fight or forfeit, the pathetic bastard.
He continues making his way towards me which really, doesn’t take long in this cramped space and reaches out for my bag. I hold onto it with everything I’ve got but his strength against mine, has me pulled up off the floor dangling from the straps of my bag. He kicks me once in the ribs and I scream out as I drop back to the van’s floor and latch onto my aching ribs. He smirks at my display but quickly disregards me as he pours the contents of my bag out on the floor and finds my phone. He smirks at me once again, like this is some kind of game to him while he stomps down on my phone, smashing it to pieces before handing it to the driver who tosses it out the window.
What the fuck?
I manage to get myself into a sitting position but still have to hold onto the side of my ribs. “He’s going to kill you for this,” I say, not needing to clarify who ‘he’ is.
“Let the fucker come,” he scoffs.
It becomes pretty damn obvious that he is scared of Xander, I mean, if he thought he could win, he wouldn’t have gone to these lengths. He would have just shown up to the fight and taken him out. But no, here I am, being held as leverage so he can get what he wants.
I don’t know what possesses me to do it but the rage and fury circling my body has my tongue loosening up. “You’re fucking chicken shit,” I practically laugh at the loser.
He storms forward and grabs me around the scuff of my shirt, hoisting me up before slamming the back of my head against the blacked out windows. “What the fuck did you say?” he roars.
“You heard me,” I spit. “You’re nothing but chicken shit. You’re a loser. You’re scared he is going to kick your ass and you’d be right. He will, especially now.”
He lets out a terrifying growl and slams me against the window once again, this time managing to make my head spin. If there ever was a time to thank my step-mum, it’d be now, if not for her regular beatings, I probably would have passed out on the first hit, I probably would have already pissed my pants as well. But not now. Not with this bastard.
“I ain’t scared of shit,” he says, lowering his tone, trying to invoke a little more fear in me but I’m too angry, too riled up.
“Bullshit,” I yell back at him. “If you weren’t scared, you would have faced him like a man, instead you’re pulling this shit.”
His hand moves from the scuff of my shift and slides up to my neck before giving it a squeeze. Holy shit. I can’t breathe.
I try desperately to gasp for breath but his hold is too tight. He grins at me for long, painful seconds before clenching harder around my neck and using his hold to throw me across the van. I gasp for air the moment my body slams into the opposite side of the van. Pain shoots through my body but at least this time I have the sense to stay still and quiet.
“Still think I’m scared?” he taunts as he presses his heavy boot against my wrist and crushes the bones with ease.
I scream out in pain with tears instantly springing from my eyes. How the hell am I going to get out of here?
He waits until most of my screams have been swallowed by my sobs. “That fucker is going to be annihilated in that ring and I’m going to make sure of it,” he says with a promise in his eyes before his hand turns into a fist and comes hurtling towards my face.
The last thing I see is a twisted grin before my world disappears.