Star-Crossed(98)
It was good for a fighter to see both sides. He’d delivered plenty. He supposed it was his time to see what it felt like, and this was off the record. The fight with Clay was a technical knockout, but Romeo had still got to his feet afterward—this time he wasn’t so lucky.
He slid down the cage to his knees, and suddenly the onslaught stopped. Clay was pulling Wyatt back, struggling with him, yelling something Romeo couldn’t hear because the whooshing sound of his heartbeat vibrating in his head drowned it out.
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He never got to see how the two best friends’ fight ended, because the world faded from fuzzy gray to black.
Romeo never felt himself hit the mat.
253
Chapter Seventeen
“Can they take my house if I do this?”
“No,” Jules assured Jack Harrington, who was tense and stressed as he sat facing her across her desk. “We’ll make sure they won’t take your house, but we’ll have to go over a list of other assets you have.”
“That damn business partner of mine.” He sighed. “Took off with everything.
That’s what I get for trusting a city boy.”
“I’m sorry.” Jules gave him a sad smile. “But a lot of people look at bankruptcy as starting over. You’ve learned from your mistakes. Second time’s the charm. Did you take the class required yet?”
“Not yet.”
Jules fought back the urge to groan out loud. “You have to take the class, Jack. It’s required. We can’t proceed till you do.”
“Maybe this is a mistake?”
Jules did groan then. She’d had this same meeting with Jack four times. She searched for inner strength before she finally asked, “Do you want to go over everything again? See if there’s some other solution?”
“If it ain’t too much trouble?” Jack leaned down, reaching into the box of papers he’d brought with him. “I was thinking if I could get a second job doing repair work for the railroad.”
“In Mercy? That’s a long commute for a second job.”
“Bobby said he could get me on the night shift,” Jack went on. “You know they pay fifteen percent more for graveyard workers.”
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“And they got a union . Good benefits. A pension. Maybe you ought to consider making it your first job and cutting back hours at the scrap yard.”
“Y’think?”
“Absolutely,” Jules said as she started looking over his papers. “Can you get on full-time?”
“They’re looking for people, and I’m more than qualified.”
“Well, Jack, your biggest loan’s with Garnet Mutual. Maybe if we talk to Phil—”
“I just don’t wanna stiff on that bill.” Jack shook his head. “Ain’t right. I don’t care if I got to work three jobs. I’m gonna do right by Phil ’cause he gave me that money—”
“It’s the bank’s money. Phil’s just the manager, and he knows what happened with your business partner.”
“But he trusted me and—”
Alaine peeked her head in, wincing at the interruption. “Jules, you got a phone call on line two.”
“Take a message.”
“It’s Clay,” she said, looking hesitant. “He says it’s urgent.”
“I’m sorry, Jack.” Jules picked up the phone and pushed the button for line two.
“I’m with a client, Clay.”
“Yeah,” Clay started, sounding like he was choosing his words with care. “Wyatt told me not to call, but I thought ya might wanna know Tommy just took Romeo down to Mercy General.”
“What?” Jules heart jolted. “What happened?”
“It was a fighting injury. I mean, he ain’t gonna die, but you’re always going on
’bout liability. I figured better safe than sorry and—”
“What kinda injury?” Jules asked, the icy wave of fear making her nauseated.
“Well.” Clay sighed, still giving the impression that he was looking for the right words before he finally settled on, “He sorta fell into Wyatt’s fist—repeatedly.”
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“Excuse me?”
“I thought Romeo’d fight back, but the asshole just sorta stood there after a few minutes. That’s the craziest shit I ever seen. If I’d known he was gonna play punching bag, I’d have stepped in sooner.” Clay sounded mystified. “And Wyatt’s lost his sporting nature, ’cause damned if he didn’t beat him until he blacked out. Whole darn Cellar’s talking ’bout it.”
“Hell.” Jules grabbed her purse out of the drawer. She looked to Alaine, who was standing at the doorway. “I have to go. Romeo’s in the hospital.”