Axel:A Bad Boy Romance(32)

"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."