"You seem to be doing an okay job so far. You landed me, didn't you?"
Marie giggled and pushed him away. "That's quite the ego you got there, Connelly," she said.
"Hey, I earned this ego."
She shook her head and watched as he ran out in front of her and then swooped Cate up into his arms and lifted her about his head. She squealed in delight and spread her arms as they played airplane and he carried around the fountain one last time.
"You should go to this school, Mommy," Cate said breathlessly as Axel set her down on the pavements. "I like it here."
"Thank you, sweetie, I'm going to think about it," Marie said. They began a long slow walk back to the car. She could do this. She knew that now. She could go to this school and get great grades and then go out and have a career. No more asking anyone for money. No more being dependent on the whims of some man.
So why did she feel this uncomfortable drop in her stomach? It felt like she was standing at the edge of a cliff and peering down. This could be so dangerous. And was it just her imagination, or were people staring at her? It seemed every person she passed had a cellphone out and pointed her way. The kid with the skateboard lounging on a bench, an old woman standing for the bus. They went from passive to dangerous with the smallest of gestures.
She still couldn't quite believe he hadn't found her yet. So, maybe that meant she was safe. Maybe the cliff she was standing on wasn't that high. Maybe there was no danger. What if she put her life on hold forever only to discover Austin had forgotten about her almost immediately?
The not knowing was getting to her. She had no answers for where Austin was or what he was thinking. She had no idea what he was planning, only guesses. In her mind these ideas spun out to dangerous ends where everyone she met was a plant from Austin and they were all watching her and reporting her movements back. It was a dangerous road to tread down – go too far and she would be too scared to even leave the house.
She wouldn't know what the line was until she crossed it. That was the problem. Any one thing could lead Austin to her. So she was stuck doing nothing. But she didn't like doing nothing. She had a job and a new boyfriend and she wanted more. She wanted a degree and a career and everything life had to offer. It would happen eventually; she couldn't hide from Austin forever. She would have to take one step and then another and hope for best each time. It was nerve wracking, but it was the only way forward.
Chapter Thirty-One
He knocked Rafael out in two rounds. The other man sat up from the mat with his eyes crossed and Axel helped him up. He was feeling great. He was at his physical and mental peak. He wished the fight was that day. He was ready for it. He was ready to meet Castellano in the ring and take him out. It would be his greatest fight to date.
Axel had spent all day in training and he could have gone another couple of hours. Not that he wasn't tired and sore, he was, but it was the good kind of tired and sore. His body had gone through a punishing hell and come out stronger on the other side. He was ready for more. He was ready to push himself even further and get even stronger.
He could spend the entire night at the gym and Marie would understand. She would smile knowingly and with a light kiss tell him to go knock 'em dead. She got it. She understood how important this was to him. She wasn't threatened by it. She was perfect in almost every way.
From here he would head to nationals. It would be nothing but huge arenas and well-publicized fights. He could hire additional trainers, not that he was planning on getting rid of Hayden, but something about Hayden's reaction to Marie wasn't sitting right with Axel. It was like he refused to change his mind on Marie. They had the long-standing rule about dating and Axel had broken it, sure, but look how much better he was. Hayden refused to recognize it. He still stuck to his guns that this relationship was a bad idea.
Almost every conversation between the two men began with Hayden demanding to know if Axel had broken it off with Marie. Every time Axel responded with no and Hayden would sigh dramatically and shake his head. Then the lecture would begin. It was like Hayden was refusing to see the truth that was right in front of him: being with Marie was only making Axel stronger, not weaker.
After Axel's massage was complete and he was freshly showered, he headed out. He was spending the night with Marie. She was going to make him dinner and then they would put Cate to bed and then have the entire night with each other.
"Axel, a word?" Hayden asked.
Axel whipped around and saw his trainer standing in the doorway to the office. He walked back inside and Axel followed. He owed Hayden that much. They had come up together; they had done everything together. But Axel was beginning to think that he had outgrown his old trainer.
Axel sat down in the couch in the office and Hayden leaned against his desk and stared down.
"You still with Marie?" Hayden asked. His voice was low, but he stared at Axel when he asked the question. His eyes were boring into Axel's and he had an intense look on his face Axel couldn't recall ever seeing before.
"Yes, and I hope you notice I'm fighting better than ever. I know you're unhappy about it, but I think we need to change the rule about dating during training. All training programs need to grow and change as the athlete grows. This is just a small change. Everything else can stay the same, but this one thing needs to change."
"Let's talk about Olivia," Hayden said.
"What's there to talk about? I was green when I dated Olivia. I was a wet behind the ears twenty-one-year-old. I had no idea what I was doing-"
"You met her a month before a regional championship, your biggest fight to date," Hayden interrupted. "You fell head over heels. I remember you coming to me and telling me all about her. She was beautiful and smart and charming. Blonde hair and blue eyes and nothing but curves for you to hold onto. You were smitten with her. You promised me things would be the same. Then you start missing practices because you were hung over. You were out late last night with Olivia. Olivia wanted to check out the local club and you were too sick to come to training. She was just using you to get into the best bars and clubs around town. Then the night before the championship, the night before, she gets into a fight with you, complains you're not paying enough attention to her. She breaks it off with you and you're devastated. You were slated to win that fight and you got knocked out in the first round. It was embarrassing and it took two years for your career to recover. Two years and that was just a regional championship. This is the Northeastern Belt that's up for grabs. You fuck this up and your career could be over."
Axel let him speak. He wanted to interrupt a dozen times, but he could tell the other man had been practicing his speech and Axel decided it would be better to let him let it all out. Memories of Olivia came flooding back to him. God she had been gorgeous and a real firecracker in the sack. And Hayden was right: she had Axel wrapped around her little finger. She said jump and he asked how high. He was desperate to please her. Looking back, he was embarrassed at his younger self. He had no idea what he was getting himself into with Olivia. Now he would see a girl like that coming and he would avoid her like the plague. He stared at the wall behind Hayden's head and listened until, finally, it was his turn to speak.
"I don't deny that Olivia was a huge mistake. I can see that now. But Marie is not Olivia. She's better than that. She would never ask me to compromise my career. It's not fair to blame Marie for what Olivia did. And I would remind you that I haven't missed a single practice. I haven't been out partying or coming in hung over. I've told you, it's different this time. I'm different. I'm more mature now and I think you would trust me on this."
"You really choosing this girl over me? I've been with you since you were fifteen years old, Axel. This isn't your career; it's our career. What happens to you happens to me, too. I've given up everything for you-"
"What have you given up?" Axel demanded as he stood. "Because from my vantage point it looks like I gave you a job and a purpose. You had nothing before you started training me. You have a job because of me; you help run this gym because I own it. I'm hearing a lot about sacrifice on your end and nothing about the things my success has brought you."
"So that's how it's gonna be? Now suddenly I'm just a leech hanging off you? I'm the one who got up at five in the morning so I could have everything ready when you woke at six. I'm the one who's there right beside you when you're training. You don't drink, neither do I. You don't see any women, neither do I. I thought we were in this together. Now I see otherwise."