24

In the limo, Gage wasn’t fully trusting in this recent change in her. He watched her intently as Isis looked out the window at the passing cars. Something was up, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

“What’s the deal, Isis? Two days ago, you begged me to let you out of Justice. Now you're being overly nice and offering to help me in other areas of work too. What gives?” He leaned back with a frown while tapping on the door’s armrest.

“I just had a lot of time to think. I can be a handful, I know. I also know I was rude the other night. You were trying to say something nice, and I wasn’t willing to listen. I apologize. I didn’t mean any of that. I was just hurting.” She stopped there, not seeing much point in bringing up the fact they were attracted to one another.

“You think that is enough for me to fall for you? Sweetheart, you’re not that good. You assume all I care about is money, women, and partying. You know not one damn thing about who I am. You thought I was going to fall in love with you? You are a damn fool.”

Gage’s words hurt, saying it as much as it hurt her hearing it. Looking into her eyes, he knew it cut deep. His voice softened, and he reached over, touching her cheek with the back of his hand.

“Oh, baby. I didn’t mean that. What the hell is wrong with me? I just keep saying the wrong thing. Damn, Isis. I’m so sorry. Why can’t you just let me have some control? Submit just a little.”

She didn’t say a word. She saw in his eyes and knew he didn’t mean those harsh words. The limo pulled up to the arena they were going to be at for a house show later that night, and he helped her from the limo.

She whispered, “I’m trying.”

“What?”

“Oh... nothing,” letting out a breath of frustration.

***

The rest of the day, Isis did everything from running errands to even pressing Gage's suit for the night. Back at the hotel, she stood in his room, finishing up a few things he asked her to do. To test her, Gage asked her to sit at his feet and watch TV while he ate. Annoyed by the request, she still did it without question. He did ask her to submit just a little. Remembering Jacob’s words, she sucked up her pride and went with it.

After he finished eating, Gage told her to go get ready for the show, leaving Isis eating dinner alone in her room. He wanted her at his side all night and made a point of telling her so. She needed to make sure she was attentive to him; exiting the limo, at the show, and in the ring. He had a feud going with Breaker Steel and the less conflict with Isis would make it easier to focus on fighting the ring.

Breaker was a man backstage who always tried flirting with her when the Justice crew was not around. He was an overly beefed-up bodybuilder with an equally large ego. Isis loved bodybuilders, but Breaker was at the point of the grotesque. Gage was controlling, but Breaker was just a brute of a man with a crude attitude. Isis found the man creepy and secretly wanted Gage to get the best of him.

Isis had slipped on a long sleeve black mini dress with gold beading from the boutique to match Gage’s ring gear that night. If she wanted to be his queen, she needed to look like it and set the mood.

Stepping to his side before heading to the ring, he looked over with a smile, noticing the effort she took to escort him.

“You look stunning in the dress. I said that you deserve to look like a queen. Nice touch matching my gear,” he said with a playful wink. “If you play your cards right, I’ll talk to Davis about letting you in your first match soon.”

Excitedly, her eyes lit up. “You mean it?”

“Um-Hmm. You’ve worked for it.”

It was at least a step forward, and the night was seeming to go well. She was glad to escort Gage to the ring but needed to avoid any contact with the Breaker during the match. She knew the man was vile and would use her as a ploy to distract Gage.

They entered the ring with boos all around the arena for Gage’s heel persona. To him, it was music to his ears. He loved playing a heel, and the jeers fueled the adrenaline to put on a good show.

Halfway through the match, an unplanned chin shot from his opponent had hit Gage with a blinding blow. The hit stunning Gage momentarily, and he assumed it was just an accident.

As he shook it off, Breaker took time to taunt Isis. Jumping from the ring, the man pinned Isis between the announcer's table and his hard body. Gage glanced up, finding the sacred look in Isis’ eyes and the lustful one in Breakers'.

Cyrus had warned her of men like Breaker in IWX. He was clearly the neanderthal she always thought he was.

The man grazed his hands over her arms and down to her backside as Isis struggled to push away. Breaker looked at Gage, noticing his look for jealousy burning through him. Breaker laughed it off as if it was some joke. It had been clear to everyone backstage that Gage was more than interested in Isis. At least to everyone except her. This was his shot to push Gage to the brink of insanity.

Breaker grabbed Isis and forced a kiss on her lips, hard. She struggled under his weight to push him away as the stench of protein shakes and cigarettes wafted over her lips, making her stomach turn.

Gage jumped from the ring onto Breaker’s back, knocking Isis free of the hold. As Breaker was flailing about, trying to get up from the floor, Gage went to check on Isis.

“Baby, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m Fine. GAGE! WATCH OUT!”

Before he knew what was happening, Breaker hit Gage in the face with the ring bell. A loud ringing echoed through his ears as Isis screamed for security to help him. This was not part of the script, and she knew it. Seeing Gage’s eyes roll back in his head was mortifying. The fans screamed after seeing Isis was in a panic.

Breaker and Gage hated each other from the day they met, and this match was a nightmare waiting to happen. It was Breaker who had an affair with Gage’s ex-wife that caused the feud from the start.

Breaker rubbed his shaved head with a devilish grin and headed back for Isis.

“Come on, princess. You know you want me. Gage isn’t half the man I am. If he couldn’t please a woman like Summer, he sure can’t make a goddess like you happy. You need a real man.”

He went to grab her, and Isis went in a fight-or-flight mode. Wraith’s words about her bullies ringing in her ears. “Fight, baby girl. Fight!”

Isis looked up, finding Wraith and Cyrus running down the ramp and Gage bloody on the ground, struggling to make his way to his feet.

She finally found the goddess spirit deep within and fought. Isis was short and Breaker towered over her, which made their height difference and advantage for her next move. She hit him hard in the nuts and big bad Breaker fell to his knees like a sack of potatoes, grabbing his groin. He went to grab for her, and Isis roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking him to the floor.

Gage had rolled up, wiping the blood from his temple as the Doom brothers reached them. By now, the rest of Justice was also standing by her side, checking on Gage. It shocked all the men, including Breaker, of her bold stance. She stood up for herself, and her cousins couldn’t have been prouder.

Breaker stood from the floor, and she went over, kicking him once more between the legs for good measure. A deep groan escaped the man as the crowd burst into fits of laughter. Breaker was never a fan favorite, and most everyone backstage disliked him.

Gage stood on shaking legs to get to Isis. Leaning his arm over her shoulder, he stood laughing at Breaker, watching him crying in pain at his feet.

“Damn woman. Remind me to never make you mad.”

Isis gave a half-smile. “He hurt you. I was just doing my job. Being by your side.”

The rest of the week was more of the same. Gage was still mad about what happened at the gym. Her standing up for him ringside made a world of difference. He was seeing she was trying to be more submissive and supportive of him, and to him that meant everything. Gage still didn’t feel Isis was being real with him since she occasionally would butt heads over the simplest things, but it was a start.