The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(32)

“Coffee,” she suggested.

“Si, por favor. I don’t have any, though. I drank all mine.”

“I brought some over.”

“I’m gonna pay you back for this,” he said as he gestured to the stove. “My head feels like it’s gonna explode. I couldn’t cook right now to save my life, but I can cook. I’ll cook for you when I get better.”

“I don’t know too many fellas who cook,” she said as she worked at making coffee.

“I cook okay. I’ll get my mother to send me a care package from Miami. You ever have mofongo?”

“No. Sounds horrifying.”

“Picky. I told you, all gringos are picky.”

“Is gringos an insult?”

He shook his head. “No. That’s what you are.”

“It sounds like an insult.”

“It’s not.”

“I don’t go around saying, You’re Latino; that means you’re a thug.”

“I am a thug,” he reminded her.

“That seems like a stereotype. I’m pretty sure it’s politically incorrect.”

Chuito laughed at her, surprised once again at just how distracting it was to be around her. He almost felt normal as he asked, “You try to be politically correct?”

“Why don’t you?”

“’Cause I’m a Latino thug, and I don’t have to be.” He held up his hands with a smile. “It’s one of the rare joys about my station in life.”

Alaine laughed. “No one in this town is gonna know what to do with a fella like you.”

“Good thing I plan to talk to as few people in this town as possible. I wasn’t even supposed to be talking to you. If Jules finds out you slept in my bed last night, she’s gonna smoke my ass and put me out of my misery. Let’s tell her.”

“Let’s not,” Alaine said as she turned back to him with another smile. “Then I’ll never get another neighbor. Unless they find some other fighter who needs a place to stay.”

Chuito considered that, feeling something uncomfortable roll in his stomach. Not jealousy, but something much more dangerous. The thought of another fighter in such close quarters with this pretty gringa, who was so f*cking naive and trusting she crawled into bed with a gangster like it was a sleepover, made him more than a little irrational. He realized right then, if anyone hurt this woman, he was going to get scary in a way this town couldn’t handle.

He was attracted to her. He’d have to be blind not to be, but it was more than that. Like he told her last night, he felt very protective where she was concerned. It was a strange sensation, because he hadn’t come across a woman who churned that up in him.

Still, it was there, and he couldn’t deny it to himself…or her.

“I’m not gonna go anywhere,” he promised her. “The only fighter you’ll have to deal with is me.”

He was going to get clean and stay clean. He knew it in his bones, and it wasn’t just about prison anymore. Or a fighting career.

It was about making sure Alaine wasn’t lonely.

Right then, she became his one and only reason for living in the backward hick town of Garnet.

Chuito had a cause now, something to bleed for.

And that was all he needed to stay.

At least for now.





Chapter Thirteen


Garnet County


March 2011

“Ladies and gentlemen, the main event of the evening! Five rounds in the UFC Light-Heavyweight division. Scoring this fight, our three octagon side judges are Jason Petry, Chris Panel, and Tom Haggerling. When the action begins, the referee in charge of the octagon, Mister David Laural.”

Alaine took a deep breath as she watched the ref bow on her small television. They broadcast the fights at Hal’s Diner in town, but she wanted to watch it alone.

It wasn’t the first of Chuito’s fights she’d watched on television, alone in her apartment, with her breath trapped in her chest the entire time, but it was the first title fight.

This one really mattered.

This was the one he had been training day and night for. The one he had nursed bruises for. The one that had him waking up with more than one nightmare over the past month.

He wanted this title so badly.

For his family.

For his future.

And Alaine thought she wanted it more than him, as if that was possible. She wanted a reason for him to stay here, and a title belt would certainly give him an excuse to keep doing what he was doing.

The payday alone was enough, because that was apparently not something Chuito had spent much time thinking about until he got his UFC contract. The money. The insane, crazy amount of money that he made doing this.

The payday for losing a title fight was insane.

For winning?

It’d be enough to retire, and Chuito wasn’t anywhere near retirement age. He was one of the youngest fighters in the UFC. Alaine hadn’t honestly considered the money either, because Wyatt and Clay weren’t ones to put on airs.

She had nearly fallen off her chair when Chuito confessed to her just how much it was. This money would take care of his family. It’d give his cousin a reason to stay out of gang life, something that Alaine knew Chuito worried about since Marcos had been paroled.