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Chapter 20

"Snap the fk out of it, Ayala, or you’re gonna lose this shit!" Noah barked froot back on his feet "You’re better than this Da at McKinley, Abel shook his head, desperately trying to clear it, and worked on his footwork until he got his rhyth dropped for the first time in his career really snapped Abel out of it, and he was alht at all He was close to losing the fight of his life against this guy--the guy he wanted nothing ht: McKinley didn’t have a thing on hiht-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 fro a bit too frantic now "Finish hio, and they waited to release the photos until the day of the fight? It all made sense now Their dirty work had al

Slowly and steadily, Abel worked in a fewMcKinley 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’ssome 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 ti 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 suy had witnessed the power behind Abel’s punch firsthand Yeah Be worried, you little puy, because it’s coain Slow and steady Just like he’d always fought and won This ti the sloppy jabs Abel easily dodged theetting tired Abel was biding his tian to wear himself out Then Abel let him have it with a couple of co to the adrenaline already puh Abel, and then he saw his ht, 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 hi crazy as Abel was handed the belt He lifted it over his head, overwhelmed with emotion

It was a bittersweet hts of Nellie inundated hiside coht interview, Abel had h the interview, Abel noticed that Andy was back, so the ht to hiot there just in time to see her ju her, but it went straight to her voice out soot a hold of her number, and you kno 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 i down the way he did For a minute there it looked as if heon 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 fro 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 Callthe tiht started He hit speed dial i 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 Hisshe 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 kneho he was Call et you wherever you are"

The celebration in the locker roo to get back to the suite to look for any clues Maybe she’d left a note or soht hint to where she’d be