Nikki took a cab to the mansion to get more of her personal belongings. Carson was working over, as usual. Walking in the bedroom she saw Mercedes going through her walk-in closet.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing in my room? Don’t you have your snooty rich parents to go mooch off of?”

Mercedes turned around with one of Nikki’s favorite dresses in her hands. She looked in the mirror modeling it for herself, seeming way too pleased with her own beauty. The definition of vanity was this vapid woman. Full of botox and silicone, nothing more laid beneath the surface.

“Carson said I can find something to wear tonight to the country club. My stuff is in storage. We’re having dinner.” Mercedes continued going through Nikki’s closet.

"You have five seconds to get out of my room. My stuff and this room are off-limits, and so is my husband.” Nikki grabbed a dress from her hand.

“You know Carson will never be over me. You might as well get used to it.”

“As long as he’s my husband, that is none of your concern. Go back to the guest house before I kick your ass all over this room.”

Nikki looked down seeing her favorite heels on the woman’s feet. She leaned down pulling the Louboutin heels off her.

“These are mine!”

“Fine. Why are you here anyway? Go play with the rats in your apartment where you belong,” Mercedes said with a smug tone.

Mercedes laughed as she walked out grabbing another dress as she went. It wasn’t worth the fight. Nikki hated that dress anyway. It was one Carson chose and forced her to wear. Nikki packed up as much as she could carry. Most of her things were already moved out.

Exiting the house, placing her bags on the curb, Carson pulled up. Getting out of the Range Rover he walked over pretending to care about the fact his wife seemed so upset. He looked around to see if anyone was watching.

“Nikki, baby. You don’t have to do that.”

“You don’t have to hurt me either but you do. Carson, what is happening to us? We used to be so happy.”

He walked over slowly looking her over. A small part of him felt bad for his wife. A very small part. Looking back at the house he smiled seeing Mercedes in the window waving. Nikki noticed and flopped down on the curb to wait for the taxi, pouting. Her lip quivering as she tried to hold back tears.

“Just go to her. She's what you want anyway.”

He looked back at the woman on the ground who was once his world. He felt nothing.

“Give me the jewelry box.”

“What?" Her eyes flew up to his, seeking any hope.

He couldn’t bear to look at her. Those sad eyes were full of hurt. But, it didn't stop him from poking one more jab at her already wounded heart. “You won’t be needing that while you live in that apartment. It’s too expensive to be brought to the projects.”

“Carson, you gave me this for our anniversary when we went to Hawaii. It has the pearls you gave me.” She teared up.

It was the last time she remembered him being nice to her in a very long time. The trip was meant to be a new start.

“I know. I don’t want you to take it to the pawnshop like some street trash.”

He yanked the box from her grip. Nikki struggled to hold on.

“No Carson. Please! Not this. It’s our special box. Our memories.”

He pulled as hard as he could, ripping it from her grip. She fell down crying covering her face and sobbing in hysterics. Carson looked around the street once more, seeing neighbors watching them from their windows.

“Stop, your making a scene. Get up. Stop acting like a fool. Here’s your taxi. I will bring the rest of your things to work tomorrow. Give me your house key.”

“Carson Dumont! No! Why?”

“Until you get your head right, I don’t think you should be allowed in my house.”

He reached out to take them from her purse and threw it back at her. She stood and grabbed them from his hand throwing them across the street.

“Choke on them, you bastard!”

“I have dinner plans. Get your things and go. I don’t want the neighbors talking.”

***

A couple of days later was her day off work. She was thrilled to be away from the office and Carson’s narcissistic attitude. Everyone saw him as a saint, but he was far from it. The Carson she knew behind closed doors had become a monster.

After the night at the mansion, she felt like she was done trying to fix things. They were in marriage counseling for a while. Carson would end up coming home telling her what she could and couldn’t say at meetings, so it became pointless. All he cared about was how he looked to people.

Walking through town, she noticed that the old boxing training center was opening back up. She hadn’t been past it in some time. She didn’t have much need to be on this side of town before her separation.

Curious, Nikki ran across the street looking in the window seeing someone had been painting. Reece walked through a door in the back of the room drinking a beer. He had paint smeared across his clothes and looked in deep thought. He was looking at the boxing gloves mural on the wall rubbing his chin.

She couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. She always had been attracted to blondes, and he had the most beautiful smile and blue eyes she had ever seen. She heard so many bad stories about Reece being a bully. Coming from Carson, she wasn’t sure if it was the whole story or just jealousy of his skill in the ring. Maybe the whole story she was told was a lie?

She bumped into the studio’s window with her purse on accident. Quickly, Reece looked over his shoulder to see who was there. He started walking to the front door squinting his eyes to see who was there.

Nikki waved with a smile as his eyes adjusted to the light. His eyes went dark and angry the closer he got to the door. Throwing open the door he looked absolutely furious.

“Dumont got you checking up on me? Get the hell out of here!”

He grabbed her arm pushing her away from the building.

“No. Reese. Wait. He doesn’t know I’m here." He loosened his grip and she looked up at him with big doe eyes. "I saw you’re opening the boxing studio back up and wanted to stop by and say hi. It’s a good chance to tell you that the deductible on your car is going to be taken care of. I charged it to our petty cash account for your trouble. I didn’t have a number for you. Carson was lowballing the amount of the repair but I fixed it so you can get everything back to how it was. I was just heading across the street to the diner when I saw you.” She smiled sweetly.

She seemed sincere but Carson was known to be sneaky. This was his wife after all. How could he trust his rival's wife?

Nikki turned to leave. “Well, congrats on the new business. I’ll be going.”

Reece relaxed. He knew he was going to regret it but...

“Geez. Wait... Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to be rude. Thanks for telling me about the car. I really need that cash to get it fixed. It’s my baby. It used to be my dad’s car.”

Still, in a grumpy mood, he stepped back away from her to assess if she was telling the truth.

“No problem. When you come to get the check, ask for me. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of. The autobody shop across the street from our office are good friends. I put in a referral so you can get the best price. Edward is a great repairman.” She looked back at the building. “I see your painting a mural in there. I use to be an artist. Your boxing gloves with the fighters silhouette in the background is cool. Did you paint the original?”

Reece looked back at the wall.

“Nope. It was here when I trained. My old boxing coach painted it. I bought the place from him. It was a little run down. Not sure what I’m doing. I can’t draw a stick figure.”

“I could help. I’m not doing anything else today.”

She peeked in the window shading the glare with her hand. Her perky demeanor was annoying but nice.

He crossed his arms over his chest seeming a little reluctant. “Sure your hubby would approve?”

“Right now, I could give a shit less what he approves of.”

She teared up thinking about a few nights before. Looking away so Reece couldn’t see she wiped her eyes.

“Humm? Well, I could use some help. I have a smock in back.”

Reece figured he might as well accept the offer. He could barely paint the walls more-less a mural. He was raised as a high-class kid with a silver spoon in his mouth. Since the book about his past came out, he was living a low key existence with the bare minimum to get by. He never liked his old high society past. All he wanted to do was fight in the ring and have a happy simple life.

Menial task was something he had to learn on his own since he left his fancy home on the river. After his last fight, Reece had a string of bad financial luck. He was far too proud to ask for help from his wealthy family. He didn’t want their trust fund money. He could do it on his own. His boxing gym was a way to get his life back on track and build a future on his own.

“I would love to help. Want to grab lunch first? I could use a lunch buddy." Nikki flashed her eyelashes with an innocent smile. Nikki perked up waving back and forth on her tiptoes playfully. "Please? I haven't painted in ages and it would be fun."

“You are really pressing your luck here, sweetheart. Dumont finds you here he will flip. I don’t want to have to kick his ass again. He got lucky one time at the Golden Gloves match. I kicked his ass many times before that. Except when he had some of his goons fight for him.”

Reece was a little annoyed with the women. Not because she was so damn perky or even that she was there. It was the fact he found her so irresistible and he was not the type to hook up with a married woman. He had never broken that rule and he wouldn’t start now.

“I know. I heard. Right Hook Gym, right? They called you the Hooks. The boxers here were known as the toughest in the business. Until the owner retired a few years back. That’s what this place used to be, right? Carson had his dad open another gym and hired a trainer from California because Carson couldn’t cut it here. Trust me. I know.” She rolled her eyes.

She hadn’t forgotten about the bullying she had heard about had been rampant in this place. Reece didn’t seem the bullying type. But, then again, she had been wrong about Carson too.

Nikki bit her lip. “I’ve heard that crap for five years. I am not worried about him. I owe you for the way he acted the other day.”

Reece huffed looking around for a way out. Seeing her sweet smile and big eyes shining back at him made him melt. She broke him. What would it hurt? It’s just a mural... right?

“You seem nice. How did Carson land someone as hot and sweet as you?”

“Like everyone else that kisses his ass. He laid on the fake charm.” She shrugged.

Reece could tell something wasn’t right. A happy wife doesn’t talk this way. There had to be a story there.

“All right. I’ll do lunch if you are sure you can fix my mural.”

“Great, I’ll buy.”

At lunch, Reese’s charming side kicked in. He wasn’t sure if it was she was his type or the thought of pissing off Carson gave him some sick joy.

“So, pretty lady. Why are you following me around?”

“I just saw your gym and was curious. I also feel bad for the way he acted. And, your car. It’s a classic, so I wanted to help. I like older cars. It was all Mercedes’ fault and he keeps taking up for her.”

She looked over the menu biting her lip. Carson always ordered for her so she wasn’t accustomed to making her own choices.

“You do understand Carson and I are basically sworn enemies, right? He is not going to be happy your helping me. The money for the car or the painting. This little lunch could start a war. May mean trouble around the Dumont house.”

Reece drank from his glass still being very aloof. He wanted answers and was going to pour on the charm to get it.

“Well, since he decided to move that whore Mercedes in my house, he lost any right to say who I talk to.”

Nikki ordered her food feeling good she could choose what she wanted for once.

“Ugg. Mercedes. She’s living with you?” Reece frowned.

The evil woman who was the core of his past problems. Mercedes.

“He moved her in. Blonde homewrecking bimbo that acts like little miss perfect. I know she’s the one you two hate each other over. Trust me. You dodged a bullet with that bitch. She’s a gold-digging tramp.”

Reece almost spat out his drink. It was part of Carson Dumont's tell-all book that was left out. Mercedes was the reason they had a feud. She cheated on Reese and pretended to still love him to get info on their training before the big fight.

“You know about that?”

“I know she had you beat up the night before the match. Carson doesn’t tell people about it. But I know she was the one who was behind it. He doesn’t ever let me forget the precious Mercedes. How he won the tournament and her heart. It makes me sick. I hate hearing how great she is, and how much I am not as good as her. How she would do anything to please her man.

She came to our place about a month ago and gave some sob story about needing a place to stay. I guess her boyfriend dumped her. She’s moving back to Kentucky. He moved her in. I moved out. I’m not living with his ex. It’s one hundred kinds of fucked-up.”

“So you’re separated?”

Nikki swirled her straw in her drink with a sigh. “Have been for months now. I just didn’t move out until she came around. I can’t prove it, but they are probably cheating on me. I think he has before with our old secretary.”

“Sorry to hear that. That’s not right for him to do. You’re the first person outside of my friends that have ever said that Carson does anything wrong.”

Reece was skeptical. It seemed too perfect for anyone to bad mouth the great Carson Dumont.

“Well, he fooled me at first. Until we were married a couple of years and started to show his true colors. He’s not the person I thought he was. Anyway. I don’t want to talk about him. I think it’s cool your opening the gym back up. It’s a legend around here.”

“Yeah. I hope to bring it back to its former glory. My trainer, Mick, use to own it. He’s a great man. Carson’s trainer did a lot to cheat to win. His coach was known for illegal betting and used his fighters to make money. A lot of guys got hurt because of that guy.” Reece shook his head to say it was a huge disappointment.

“Fighting in the ring should mean something. Not hurting people for a quick buck. I looked up to him for years too. He was my trainer before I met Mick. When I moved here, the Right Hook trainers showed me how to control my anger and fight for what’s right. I was a hothead when I first came. I was angry because my parents moved from LA and I got in a lot of trouble. Mick and the gym helped me to have a new start. I want to give the gym the respect it deserves. It changed my life”

“Carson told me about how his trainer had him and his team attack you because you cost him a bet. He actually felt bad. He said you two were cool for a while. What happened to you two after that?”

Nikki only ever heard the parts that made Carson look good.

“I thought it was over. He went on a boxing tour in Europe with his gym. He came back to acting like a prick again. I guess he won something over there and got cocky about it, thinking he was untouchable. Mercedes dumped him for some college guy not long after. So, he just got back to starting shit with me. I was over Mercedes by then. Dumont thought I wanted her back. I didn’t of course. That ship has sailed. I hate to talk shit about your man, but he’s a dick.”

Nikki almost choked her drink laughing. “You’re telling me? I am the one married to the jerk. This Mercedes thing is hard. I feel like I have to work on my marriage but I can’t justify it either. Especially with her there.”

“No one deserves that, Nikki. If he was a real man he would be the one sitting here with you trying to keep it together. Not you venting to a stranger you just met.” He reached over touching her hand to comfort her. “Real men don’t do that."

“Sorry for laying my problems on you. I don’t have friends here to talk to. I’m from Ohio. The only people I know are all his douchebag friends. They think he does no wrong. Thanks for listening though. You don’t seem like such a bad guy after all.”

“No problem. Let’s go to work on the mural and stop talking about him. I have had enough of Dumont for a lifetime."

"Sounds good. Let’s roll!"