Free Battered Not Broken by Ranae Rose Page A

summer.”
    Ally didn’t say anything to break the dead hush that had fallen over the shop. Not even the sound of scissor blades or a hair dryer invaded the silence.
    Just a couple feet to Ally’s right, her mother was cutting hair. Or at least, she had been. Ally didn’t have to look to know she’d fallen perfectly still, frozen by Inés’ brash claim.
    Looking at Inés’ hand and the diamond that was weighing it down like an anchor made Ally feel nauseous. Especially when she imagined how Manny had financed the flamboyant piece of jewelry. “Wow, this is sudden.” She let a little acid creep into her voice. Inés changed boyfriends like most women changed underwear and everyone in the shop knew it.
    “I’ll make sure you and Maria get a wedding invitation,” Inés purred, wriggling her fingers.
    Ally held her tongue, willing it not to release the select curse words that were whirling through her mind. “The usual?” She held up the bottle of bright red polish and looked Inés in the eyes.
    Inés’ smirk stretched into a smile as fake as her eyelashes. “You know what I like, Alexandra. Be careful to file all my nails to the same length. Last time you filed a few too low. I don’t want to spend Manny’s hard-earned money on a botched job.”
    At that moment, Ally would have given the last few dollars in her checking account not to have to do Inés’ manicure. Being passably polite to her involved way too much tongue-biting. And sometimes, it was downright impossible. “I’m sure you’d enjoy spending his money no matter what.” Ally leveled a flat look in Inés’s direction, meeting her eyes.
    The silence inside the shop was deafening.
    Then Inés smiled, her heavily-glossed lips curling into a mirthless expression. “Money makes the world go round, Alexandra. Some of us get it by fighting in cages like animals, and some of us do things right and find a man.”
    Ally fought in a ring, not a cage, and the idea of gold-digging made her want to vomit. But Inés probably already knew all that. “Right.”
    With restraint she usually only called upon during a fighting match or sparring round, Ally reached for Inés’ hand. A deep pit seemed to open up inside her when she imagined her brother’s hand touching the same fingers. Had Manny known Inés would come to the salon and rub the news of the engagement in her and Maria’s faces?
    Probably.
    So much for the unspoken rule the Rivera household – or what was left of it – operated under, the one that forbade the mention of Ally’s estranged brother. As Ally removed the week-old red polish from Inés’ nails, she could feel her mother’s gaze. Later that day, for the first time in a long time, they’d talk about Manny. She was sure of it.
     
* * * * *
 
    Ally wasn’t surprised when Ryan won his last match of the night. He’d done it with a chokehold – one that had had his opponent tapping out so hard his hand probably still hurt from the impact against the mat. The man had been the third one Ryan had beaten that night.
    Ally had watched him fight from her seat in the audience – another full crowd. She’d taken a chair next to the girlfriend of one of the other Knockout members. The young woman’s emotions had been painted clearly across her face when her boyfriend had fought, her every worry and moment of satisfaction displayed for the world to see.
    Did Ally look the same way when Ryan fought? Her emotions were definitely wrapped up in his every match – sent soaring or plunging with his every strike, his every movement. When he took a hit, it hurt to watch, not least of all because she knew exactly how it felt. When he won, she could feel herself glowing on the inside. And just like the past weekend, he’d met her gaze after every match.
    After watching him walk away from his first fight victorious, there would have been nothing to hinder her happiness if it hadn’t been for that day’s earlier events at the salon. She’d hated to