“Hey, what’s up, bro?”
“I’m at Dad’s house. I found him passed out at the gym this morning. He’s in bed, but I don’t want to leave him alone. I have a training session, but I could cancel if you don’t—”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Melanie hung up on him.
It didn’t take long for her to show up; she only lived about fifteen minutes away.
“He okay?” she asked as soon as she walked in the door.
“I think so. He’s pretty out of it.” Nick picked his keys up from the table.
“When he wakes up, you two need to talk. He feels guilty he’s not protecting you the way Mom would have wanted and for not making her quit her job.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Melanie gave him a quick hug. “Maybe he’ll still be drunk enough to listen.”
“If not, there some whiskey in the kitchen,” Nick told her on the way out.
Nick drove back to the gym, checking the time. It would be close, but he should be there in time to meet Jeff.
He got there, quickly changed, and started going through some warm up drills until Jeff arrived.
“Hey, Jeff. Thanks for coming.” Nick walked to shake Jeff’s hand.
“Hi, Nick. I’m looking forward to helping you get your title back. I’ve been watching your tapes, and I have some ideas to help,” Jeff responded with enthusiasm.
“Great. That’s why you’re here.” Nick was hoping the additional coaching would give him the edge he needed.
They spent the next several hours working on various moves. In all honesty, Nick was so used to winning he had believed it wouldn’t be difficult to move up a weight class, but it didn’t take long for him to realize how wrong he had been. Jeff was able to pick out Nick’s weakness easily, and with him being at a slight weight disadvantage, Nick would have to make up for it with much faster movements.
He was exhausted when the session was over. He thanked Jeff and told him he would see him tomorrow. Nick was going to be working with him daily until the fight next week.
He showered, trying not to think of Ria now that he couldn’t shift his attention to his training. He almost called her, but didn’t want to place any pressure on her. Maybe he should wait and see if she called him.
God, he felt like he was a kid again, not knowing how to approach a girl. Finally deciding to leave it up to her, he dressed.
His mind should be on the fight next week, but the championship wasn’t the ultimate prize. Ria was. Without her, none of it mattered.
* * *
Ria went by her mother’s house to drop some groceries off the next day after work. Her mother had never gotten her driver’s license, and she was actually taking lessons now. She was proud of her mother for wanting to take charge of her life after so many years.
Ria ate dinner, watching as her mother put away the groceries.
“How do you like your new job?”
“A lot. I’m actually going to start school again next semester and finish my chemistry degree.”
“That would make me so happy. Neither one of your brothers did well in school.”
Ria was shocked her mother had brought them up.
“Are you still seeing the same man you were before I left?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It didn’t work out,” Ria mumbled, not wanting to talk about Nicholas. She felt guilty for sleeping with the man who’d killed Matthew and could have stopped Alejandro’s murder.
Her mother sighed, coming to sit down at the table. “What’s wrong, Ariel? Why is my baby so unhappy?”
“I know how Matthew died and who killed him,” Ria broke and told her mother.
“And how do you know this?” she asked.
“The man I was dating did it,” Ria said, ashamed. “He told me.”
“I didn’t know you were seeing Nicholas Brooks.” Her mother sighed softly. “I wish you would talk to me more about your life, Ariel. I want to be a part of it now that I’m feeling better.”
“What? How did you know it was Nicholas?” Ria sputtered.
“Matthew killed his mother.”
“Did you know all along?” Ria was in complete disbelief.
“No, I didn’t know. A young man came to visit me a couple of months ago. He came to apologize and explained what happened all those years ago. He said he would do what was needed to give me peace of mind and would not try to deny his actions,” her mother explained. “He offered to turn himself in to the police.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ria asked.
“I didn’t want to take away the fond memories you had of your brothers,” her mother said. “Truthfully, neither one were good men.”