She didn’t even realize how bad she was wheezing, until the clerk behind the counter asked her if she was okay. Her inhaler may as well have been empty for all it was helping. Shaking her head, she managed to get across that, no, she wasn’t okay, not at all. Her inability to catch her breath now was so bad that it was really beginning to scare her.
Then it happened. Abel went down with an enormous thud, his head bouncing off the canvas. She stared wide-eyed as she clutched her chest gasping for air, but even the straw like trickle of air she’d been able to inhale earlier was gone now. The clerk’s alarmed face was the last thing she saw before everything went black.
Chapter 20
“Snap the fuck out of it, Ayala, or you’re gonna lose this shit!” Noah barked from the sidelines as Abel got back on his feet. “You’re better than this. Damn it!”
Staring at McKinley, Abel shook his head, desperately trying to clear it, and worked on his footwork until he got his rhythm back. Focus, God damn it! Being dropped for the first time in his career really snapped Abel out of it, and he was almost grateful because he hadn’t been thinking straight at all. He was close to losing the fight of his life against this guy—the guy he wanted nothing more than to bury. But he had to be smart because Noah was right: McKinley didn’t have a thing on him.
With steady, well-thought-out jabs, he finally landed a couple of good ones. For the first time since he’d left Nellie’s side, he actually smirked. The fear he saw in McKinley’s eyes suddenly was all it took. No wonder they’d gone to such lengths to get in his head. It was all they could count on.
“Do it again!” McKinley’s brother was yelling from the sidelines, sounding a bit too frantic now. “Finish him!”
Nellie had gone out with Sam weeks ago, and they waited to release the photos until the day of the fight? It all made sense now. Their dirty work had almost paid off, but McKinley finishing Abel? Not happening.
Slowly and steadily, Abel worked in a few more jabs, rattling McKinley and his stupid brother, who for once had gone quiet. The bell rang, and they each went back to their corners.
“All right,” Noah said, pulling out Abel’s mouth piece and spraying some water in his mouth. “So that’s what it took to knock some sense into you? Fine, I’ll take it. Just don’t let it happen again, and keep up what you’re doing now. It’s just a matter of time, Abel.”
“Any word on Nellie?”
Noah frowned, shaking his head. “Maybe, I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to ask anyone, and I haven’t seen Andy.”
Abel looked over at McKinley’s corner. His brother wasn’t smiling so smugly anymore. The guy had witnessed the power behind Abel’s punch firsthand. Yeah. Be worried, you little pussy, because it’s coming.
The bell rang and both fighters were on their feet again. Slow and steady. Just like he’d always fought and won. This time it was McKinley who was swinging and missing the sloppy jabs. Abel easily dodged them, landing a few in between.
McKinley was slowing down—getting tired. Abel was biding his time. Patiently, he waited as McKinley began to wear himself out. Then Abel let him have it with a couple of combinations back to back. The crowd went wild, adding to the adrenaline already pumping through Abel, and then he saw his moment. Abel wailed on him like he’d wanted to all night, landing punch after punch until the perfect one knocked McKinley’s lights out. He fell back, both gloves in the air. His eyes rolled back and it was over.
The place got so loud that he couldn’t even hear the ref counting down, but McKinley was out. There was no doubt about it. Within seconds, Abel was surrounded by the guys, and two of his bigger security guys picked him up. The entire place was going crazy as Abel was handed the belt. He lifted it over his head, overwhelmed with emotion.
It was a bittersweet moment for Abel. As much as he wanted to revel in it, thoughts of Nellie inundated him. Luckily, with Felix doing the ringside commentary on the fight for HBO and doing the in-ring after-fight interview, Abel had made sure to tell him to keep it short.
Halfway through the interview, Abel noticed that Andy was back, so the moment he was done with the interview, he went straight to him. “Did you find her?”
“Yeah, but I got there just in time to see her jump in a cab,” Andy shook his head. “I tried calling her, but it went straight to her voicemail. My guess is she’s probably hiding out somewhere from the paparazzi. If they got a hold of her number, and you know how easy that can be, she probably turned it off.”
Abel frowned. His only consolation now for the shit McKinley was putting Nellie through was the image of him going down the way he did. For a minute there it looked as if he may have had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
The first thing he checked was his phone when he got back to the locker room, and his heart flipped when he saw a text from her. He clicked on it, instantly hoping she’d tell him where she was and that she wasn’t too upset.
I love you, and I’m so sorry about all of this. You have to believe me when I say I had no idea. I really didn’t. Call me as soon as you can!
Checking the time on the text, he knew that she’d sent it just before the fight started. He hit speed dial immediately, feeling even more irritated with fucking McKinley. Of course, he hadn’t questioned it even for a second. But Andy had been right about one thing. His call had gone directly to voicemail, which meant her phone was either dead or she’d turned it off. His money was on the latter, so he left a message, hoping she was checking them periodically.
“Baby, don’t worry about all that shit they’re saying. You don’t need to hide if that’s what you’re doing, not from me anyway. I don’t care about any of it, and I promise you that I didn’t believe it. Not even for a moment when I saw the story did I think you knew who he was. Call me as soon as possible. I’ll come get you wherever you are.”
The celebration in the locker room went on a bit longer than Abel wanted it to. He was itching to get back to the suite to look for any clues. Maybe she’d left a note or something that might hint to where she’d be.
He got a moment alone with Roni and Noah to ask Roni about something that was really beginning to worry him. “How often does Nellie have asthma attacks?”
Roni’s forehead pinched. “She hasn’t had one in a while, not that I know of anyway. Wait. The day she got back from that brunch she did wheeze a little and asked me to bring her inhaler into the bathroom. But it was nothing compared to some of the attacks she’s had in the past. Why?” she began digging in her purse, looking a little worried herself now. “You still haven’t heard from her?”
“Just a text she sent before the fight, saying she was sorry.”
He kept the I-love-you part to himself because like Nellie that was all his, but he waited anxiously for Roni to go through her phone. “I hope you and Noah are not upset with me.” Roni covered her mouth after reading the text out loud. “She really thinks we’re all mad at her about this. Anxiety triggers her attacks. The last attack she had that was so bad she ended up in the hospital was when she freaked out about something. I was with her. It was awful.”
Feeling the icy fear race through his veins, Abel remembered her attack that morning. “She had one this morning in my suite. It scared the hell outta me.”
Roni’s eyes went wide. “Was it because of the scandal?”
Abel began to shake his head then stopped, remembering something. “It was right after she’d read a text from her assistant, Emily.”
“Did she say what it was about?” Roni asked, her fingers already tapping on her phone.
“No. I forgot all about it once she started hyperventilating, and she didn’t say why, just said her asthma had been acting up.”
“You have Emily’s number?” Noah asked Roni.
Roni nodded, the phone already at her ear. “Emily, hi, this is Roni, Nellie’s friend.”
Andy came over just then and began to ask Abel something. Abel slammed a hard hand against Andy’s chest to shut him u
p as he continued to listen to Roni.”
“No, no, honey. No one is upset with you. We don’t even know if was your text that triggered the attack. She’s sort of missing right now. No one’s heard from her, and she missed Abel’s fight, so we’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Can you forward me the message you sent her.” Roni closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. “I see.” She nodded then looked up at Abel with an expression that said she had bad news. “Well, forward it to me anyway, please.”
She hung up, frowning. “Emily did message her this morning to let her know that she was watching the coverage of her and Sam and to let her know she could call her if she needed to vent.”
Feeling the blow to his bottomed-out stomach, Abel remembered something else that gave him hope that she might not be too upset about this—upset enough to end up in the hospital. “But she was fine after,” Abel said, trying to make sense of it all. “Later in the day she was even laughing.”
Roni stared at him, looking as lost as he felt. He checked his phone for the millionth time, but there was nothing.
“She was, uh,” Andy cleared his throat, “wheezing pretty badly when I talked to her earlier.
Abel narrowed his eyes on Andy, feeling his insides heat. “I thought you said you didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”
“Shit,” Roni said, reading something on her phone, then showed Abel.
He read the text that Emily had forwarded to Roni, and he knew why Roni would be even more worried now. The text didn’t make it clear what the story was about, only that it was about her and Sam and all over the news. If that had been enough to trigger such an attack, Abel could only imagine what happened when she saw the real story—when she found out Sam was McKinley’s brother.
Grabbing Andy by the shirt, Abel glared at him. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you talked to her?”
“Because I hardly got to,” Andy’s eyes bulged wildly as his hand tried hopelessly to undo Abel’s tightening grasp on his shirt. “She just said she had to go, but didn’t say where. I didn’t want to upset you before the fight!”
“You should’ve said something, Andy!” Roni yelled at him now. “Especially if she didn’t look well. Her asthma can get really bad.”
“I didn’t know!” Andy’s voice went high-pitched as Abel’s grasp on him moved up closer to his throat. “I figured there was nothing Abel could do at that point, so I didn’t want to upset him.”
With his other hand, Abel squeezed Andy’s throat. “I swear to God, you worthless piece of shit—”
“Abel, calm down!” Noah tugged at Abel’s hand, but he only squeezed harder, and then Hector was his other side.
“Dude, you’re gonna fucking kill him!” Hector pulled at his hand now, and Abel finally let go, leaving Andy gasping and coughing.
“Where is she!” Abel demanded.
“I don—” Andy coughed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. She didn’t say. All she said was that she had to go.”
Abel pointed to one of his security guys. “Get him the fuck out of here before I do kill him. Call the hospitals,” he said to Roni who was already on her phone, looking as frantic as he felt.
“I’m going back to the suite,” he said, rushing past everyone.
“I’ll go with you,” Hector said.
“Take security with you,” he heard Noah urge.
Visions of Nellie lying unconscious somewhere assaulted him, and he practically sprinted. His mom’s words came to him as he ran down the corridor toward the opening that went out into the casino. With his heart nearly punching at his chest, he cursed his mother’s words now. When all of this started happening for him: taking over the gym; winning fight after fight; then ultimately his ultimate dream come true, a chance at the title, she’d sat him down and told him to always remember that the most important things in life couldn’t be bought. She told him that while she didn’t believe as some people did that money was the root of all evil, she knew it couldn’t fix everything either. There were some things that even money couldn’t fix.
Did she always have to be right? Feeling the knot at his throat and his eyes begin to blur, he hated that Hector was right behind him. If got bad news about Nellie, he already knew he was going to fucking lose it. She’d nearly gone white that morning. He should’ve never left her. Damn it! He should’ve gone with his gut and forced her to leave with him earlier when he’d wanted to.
Kicking the door open, he pushed through the crowd even as some of them called out his name or stared at him, stunned. Within seconds, he was surrounded by his entourage, which he barked at to move faster. He broke out into a sprint again when they got to the private corridor that led to his elevator.
“Wait up,” Hector called out, and Abel could hear his brother running behind him.
The damn elevator didn’t move fast enough. He explained briefly to Hector what was going on and how he was hoping to find a clue to where she’d gone in his suite. Then he ran out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Rushing through every room in his suite, he began to feel like maybe he, too, was going to start hyperventilating any minute now.
“Calm down, dude.” Hector said as they both ran into the front room again. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything here that’s gonna help us. She’s probably somewhere, hiding out from the press.” Abel must’ve looked as terrified as he felt because Hector stared at him, looking very concerned. “Just relax. Shit.” He looked around toward the bar. “Have a shot, Abel. You’re freaking out on me.”
Normally Abel would say “hell no” to the shot. But the way he felt now, he needed it badly. “Pour me one,” he said before double checking the rooms again.
Feeling completely helpless now because he had no idea what to do next, he called Noah. “What happened with the hospitals?”
“She’s not been admitted to anything local. Roni’s expanding her calls to further hospitals.”
Abel took the shot that Hector handed him as he reached the bar area. “Well, she’s not here.” Both knots in his stomach and throat were growing with every moment that passed. “I don’t know what else to do, Noah.”
“Maybe she is just hiding out, man. Just give it a couple of hours.”
Hours? Was he nuts? He took the shot, wincing as it went down his throat. “Damn,” his face soured instantly. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Hector laughed. “It was in one of the fancier bottles at the bar.”
Abel told Noah to call him back, and the pacing began. He dared not turn on the television and watch all the stuff that would remind him of what could’ve triggered another one of Nellie’s attacks.
“You want another shot?” Hector offered.
Shaking his head, Abel pulled out his phone to check it again. He felt guilty that he had yet another call from his mom that he’d ignored. He figured this was as good a time as any to call her back. It might take his mind off things, and it would certainly kill some time because she’d for sure keep him on the phone for a while. But mostly, he needed his mom right now. He was so fucking scared that he hoped hearing her voice would somehow soothe the ache in his heart. There was no explaining it, but as much as Noah and Hector seemed certain she was okay, something in his heart feared the worst.
Deep inside, he knew there was something wrong—really wrong. He didn’t know what it was, but if he didn’t get a grip, he might start slamming his fists into walls in a desperate need to calm himself.
Hector spent his time on the phone with Charlee while Abel talked to their mom. The call was somewhat calming, except for having to explain about the scandal. He hated talking about it, but when he’d told his mom about not knowing where she was and about her asthma attack that morning, he had to leave the room because he thought he might break down, and he didn’t want to do it in front of Hector.
“I just have this really bad feeling, Ma . . .” He couldn’t go on because he was so choked up.
“Okay, Mijo, let’s pray,” s
he said, immediately with conviction. “Why not? I’ve done more praying today than I have my whole life. God and I have a direct line now.”
Abel smiled weakly and listened as his mother prayed for Nellie, her future daughter-in-law, to be fine. She assured Abel that everything would be okay and made him promise that he would think positively. “Always positive, Abel. The way I did today, even after you were knocked down. Okay,” she admitted, “so I turned off the TV, and for one moment of weakness, I screamed, jumping up and down, clutching my heart, so close to crying, but then I remembered. Positive. And I prayed some more and look how everything worked out.”
He’d just gotten off the phone with his mom and had splashed some water on his face when he turned off the faucet and heard Noah’s voice in the front room. He rushed out, his heart once again beating against his chest. Any ounce of hope that he had good news was gone the moment both Hector and Noah turned to look at him grimly. “She’s in a hospital in Henderson. It took this long to track her down because she was under another name. Somehow Roni thought to check under her married name. It suddenly came to her that Nellie might not want to check in under her name because of the scandal.”
That gave Abel some hope. “So she checked herself in.” Already grabbing his keys and wallet, he turned back to Noah. “She wasn’t rushed there? How is she?”
Noah shook his head. “Nah, she was rushed. They didn’t want to give us a whole lot over the phone. But they did say she was rushed there by ambulance and she’s not conscious.”
Feeling his heart and stomach sink all at once, he blinked hard, willing the same tears from earlier—tears he hadn’t felt since his dad died—to go away. Hector clapped a hand on Abel’s shoulder. “Let’s go, brother. There’s a car downstairs, waiting to take us to the hospital.”
It had been a long time ago since the day his mom told him his dad had died, but Abel couldn’t remember feeling this agonized in his life, not even then. He was the last one to slide into the limo, but as soon as he got in next to Roni, she hugged him, crying against his shoulder, and he would be eternally grateful for that moment. While his tears were silent compared to hers, he could at least let them out as he hid his face in her hair. “I’m so scared,” he whispered in her ear.