Beau's Redemption Read online

  Beau’s Redemption

  My Brother’s Keeper Series

  Blue Saffire

  Writing as

  Royal Blue

  Contents

  Beau’s Redemption

  Words From Blue

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Thank You

  Other books by Royal Blue

  Beau’s Redemption

  Beau’s Redemption

  My Brother’s Keeper Series

  Blue Saffire writing as Royal Blue

  Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.

  Bay Shore, New York

  Copyright © 2019 by Royal Blue.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Royal Blue /Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.

  PO BOX 5253

  Bay Shore, New York 11706

  www.AuthorRoyalBlue.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Ordering Information:

  Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the address above.

  Beau’s Redemption/ Blue Saffire writing as Royal Blue . -- 2nd ed.

  Words From Blue

  You will always arrive where you need to be when you need to be.

  ―Royal Blue

  Preface

  Broken

  Beau

  The crowd has fallen completely silent. Moments ago they were all screaming for blood. They were cheering for us to tear each other apart. No… correction. They were screaming for me to tear apart my opponent.

  None of them understand how wrong this fight is. It never should’ve been. I never would’ve signed up for this. I didn’t know I had until it was too late.

  Now, I’ve lost everything. I drop to my knees beside the lifeless body at my feet. I never should’ve stepped into this ring.

  I don’t care who’s watching. I scoop his lifeless body up as I sob. I did this. In just one blow, I destroyed everything I love.

  Everything starts to spin; the crowd starts to laugh and mock me. They jeer, relishing my loss. I look down at my hands and blood covers them. Roman’s body is no longer in my grasp. I see nothing but blood and darkness before me.

  I look around and everyone’s pointing at me. I can feel their accusations. This is on me, all on me. I should have hung my gloves up and let this fight go. I knew Roman wasn’t ready to step in the ring with me.

  I knew this would end badly.

  “I’ve told you before, I’ll tell you again. You have to trust your gut, son.” My father’s voice pierces the air, but I can’t see his face.

  Pain and loss consume me. I feel it deep within my bones. This hollow feeling threatens to pull me under.

  “Why?” I bellow out. My throat burns, stripped raw.

  Gasping, I sit up in my bed, soaked in sweat, tangled in drenched sheets. It’s the same dream every time. The same damn nightmare.

  “Fuck.” I rub at my tired eyes.

  The dreams have been coming more often in the last few months. I’ve tried to ignore them, but they just won’t quit. It’s been so long since it’s been this bad.

  I look over at my phone on the nightstand. I should call my sister, Emma, but I don’t want to bother her with this. Wiping a hand across my forehead, I try to focus and clear my mind.

  “Fuck,” I mutter again. “A shower. That’ll help.”

  At least I hope it will. I need some fucking sleep. I can’t keep going like this. Six years and I’m still trying to keep my head above water.

  I know I’m in survival mode. I’ve been this way since…. I close my eyes against the memories. The nightmare isn’t so far from the truth.

  God, please just let things be some type of normal again.

  Angel

  “Shit.” I grunt as I pace the tight space in my brother’s guest room. “I can’t do this.” I run a hand through my hair. Andres means well. He doesn’t want to see me living on the streets, but this isn’t working.

  I can’t breathe. This bedroom is like a cage. I need to be in the open. I need more space. Too bad I can’t afford a fancy apartment to spread out in. I can barely keep a job, and my benefits aren’t doing much to help me live in the heart of New York City.

  “Fuck.” I grab my bag and start to throw clothes inside.

  I’d rather roam the streets. Andres will never understand. I’ve tried to explain it to him, but he will never know what it’s like to live in my head. My mind isn’t the same as it used to be. I’m not the man my brother used to know.

  I’m grateful that he wants me safe and has offered me a place, but I can’t stay here. It’s making my skin itch. I need to see my surroundings at all times…. I just can’t be confined like this.

  I pull on my shirt and toss my bag over my shoulder. I’ll stop by Andres’s work tomorrow or something. This won’t be the first time I’ve had to get away. We’ve tried this before. It never lasts long, not that I don’t want it to.

  God, do I want to be normal again.

  I just can’t keep going like this. I’m tired, I’m just barely holding on, and I’d love to finally have a good night’s sleep. At this point, I feel like I’m fighting for my life and my sanity.

  It just won’t be happening here. Not tonight. Not in this tight room.

  Chapter 1

  Crush

  Beau

  “Looking great, Josh. Just watch that left,” I drawl as I walk through the gym.

  “Got it, Beau,” Josh huffs out, continuing to pound through his workout at the heavy bag.

  I get to the front desk, grabbing a clipboard to look over the day’s schedule. A glance at the clock tells me my favorite part of the day is about
to begin. The hiss of the doors opening followed by the sound of passing cars and a stream of voices and laughter confirms the time.

  I turn to watch as a group of kids from Savanna’s House, the orphanage, walk into the gym. That place has become my brother and best friend’s pride and joy. The happiness and well-being of these kids means everything to Kyle. Secretly, it’s the one project I’m most proud of. We did the right thing by these kids.

  My sister brings up the rear of the group. It’s Emma’s turn to bring them down to the gym every Tuesday and Friday. When her eyes dance around the gym, I chuckle to myself.

  I know exactly why she so graciously volunteered to be their twice-a-week chaperone. My sister has a big crush on one of my trainers. Andres has been with me for two years now. He broke his collarbone in an MMA match and decided to become a trainer after.

  He was a great fighter. The break just didn’t seem like it was ever going to heal right. When he came here, he blended into the family. Still, I think my sister wants to make him a bigger part of our lives.

  I chuckle again and shake my head as I saunter over to where she stands staring at Andres’s back. Tugging at a strand of her long dark hair, I grab her attention. Those bright gray eyes that are so much like mine swing my way.

  “You’re going to cause one of my fighters to slip in that puddle if you don’t stop your drooling,” I tease.

  “Shut up, Beau,” she hisses and pouts.

  After wrapping an arm around her shoulder, I give a gentle squeeze. I love my little sister. We’ve been through a ton of ups and downs, but we know we can count on each other. I’d give my life for her happiness. “I’ve never seen you shy about a thing in your life. What’s it about him that has you twisted up in knots?”

  “Ugh, really? Am I that obvious? Maybe I should stop coming so often. I could switch out with Andy,” she rambles nervously.

  It’s cute. A hint of her Southern accent flares up. Daddy used to tease that she’d be the one to become a true New Yorker. My smile wobbles a little as thoughts of my father creep in.

  “You own the place. You’re welcomed here anytime you want,” I reply as I nudge those feelings back.

  “I’m part owner, and we both know you do all the work to keep this place going. It’s your life blood,” she says, looking at me with those sad eyes.

  I know what she’s thinking. I know that look like the back of my hand. I’m not in a good place to think or talk about why I won’t get back in the ring to do more than train a few fighters and some kids.

  Speaking of kids, I turn to the group and give them a once-over. I don’t discriminate. Boys and girls alike have entered this gym, and we train them just the same. That goes for the group of kids that signed up to come down here from the orphanage.

  My focus falls on Mason. My nephew. Well, technically he’s Kyle’s nephew, but since Kyle is my adopted brother, Mas is my nephew in my book. I dare anyone to say differently.

  My lips twitch with a smile as I see what has Mason’s concentration. Or should I say who. Billy.

  Her little sad almond-shaped brown eyes and pretty brown face have captured Mason’s attention in full. She’s a tough little girl. Billy is the epitome of why we started Savanna’s House. She needed a safe place in her life. Her short eight years have made her a little fighter. The kids call her a tomboy, but all I see is a little girl who says what she feels and does what comes naturally to her.

  “Yo, Andres. I’m here,” Billy calls, ignoring everyone else.

  You would think she owns the place. She’s taken a liking to Andres. Her hard shell started to crack when I introduced her to boxing. However, the day Andres took her and the others into the cage to talk about mixed martial arts, her face lit up like never before.

  “I just love her,” Emma says beside me. “I want a home and family for all of the kids, but I really want something special for her.”

  “Yeah, you and Mas both,” I say, nodding to our nephew who follows Billy at a distance.

  Mason’s not going to join her lesson. He’s there to protect. It’s been interesting to watch this new development. Mason is now eight, but his perception of others is profound. I truly believe he sees Billy’s vulnerability that she tries to hide from others. He wants to be her friend and protector.

  “So it’s not just me?” Emma giggles. “Look at him.”

  “Nope, not just you at all. I’ve been watching.”

  Mason picks up a rope a few feet from where Billy and Andres stand. He starts to jump rope as he keeps an eye on his friend. At least Mason wants to be friends. Billy hasn’t been very receptive of any of the friendships she’s been offered by the other kids.

  “Remember when Kyle was just like her?” Emma asks.

  “Yeah.” I nod. “I was sure we were going to bump heads forever.”

  “It didn’t take long for him to warm up to us. I think she’ll come around too,” Emma muses.

  “Not too sure about that one.” I snort and turn to look at Emma. “You hanging around to wait?”

  “Yeah.” She nods. “I’m going to hit the weight room. Why not take advantage of the free membership?”

  “Sure, just so happens Fridays are the days Andres takes Billy into the weight room.”

  “It’s Friday?” she says and strolls away.

  I shake my head and turn my attention to the kids who are waiting on me. As I watch them talk among themselves, flexing their muscles and shadow boxing, a surge of energy hits me. I may be sleep-deprived, but I’m making it through the day. These guys are going to help me sprint through my afternoon.

  “All right, guys.” I clap my hands together. “You know the deal. Drills.”

  I laugh at the mix of groans, mumbles, and cheers. I was the same way when I was their age. Eventually it all becomes a part of breathing. Like Emma said. This place is in my life’s blood. I can see it will be the same for a few of these guys as well.

  Angel

  Soaked to the bone, I’ve been pacing in front of the back door to the gym Andres works in. It’s pouring. Rain has been falling in sheets, beating down around me, but I haven’t committed to calling on my brother yet again.

  “Make a choice, Angel,” I chide myself.

  I need an actual shower and something other than a street dog to eat. I didn’t want to come to him. It’s been a week since I left his place in the middle of the night.

  I know I said I’d come check in with him, but the texts he sent me the next morning left me feeling like I needed to give him time. I know he’s getting fed up with this. I’m getting tired of it.

  We’re twenty-eight. Life should be shaping itself into something that promises a future by now. I think in Andres’s head, because we’re identical, we should have the same life. He was so pissed with me when I joined the Marines. In high school, all Andres could talk about was going pro in the ring. Boxing and MMA were his life.

  “We’re going to take them by storm, hermano,” he would say with that gleam in his eyes.

  “Yeah, sure we will.”

  That was always my reply. I wanted to box, but I didn’t want to make a career out of it like our father had after marrying our mom. I wanted to be a Marine like Papi. That was what I admired most about our dad.

  I thought being a Marine would prove I was a man. Yeah, I’m good with my hands, but to be a hero? I thought being a hero would take that look out of Papi’s eyes.

  I shake my head and bounce on my toes. I’m not going to fall down that rabbit hole. I’m out of money until next week, and I lost the key to Andres’s apartment. He’s going to have a baby about that one. I’ll pay for new locks when my check comes in.

  “Coño,” I mumble, hitting send on my phone. I purse my lips at the device. It was a “gift” from Andres. More like he made me promise to take it so he’d at least be able to always keep in contact with me. I’m not mad that he wants to keep tabs. I’m furious that he spent so much to do so.

  I don’t know how long I’m st
anding there before the back door opens and Andres pops his head out. He looks just like me. Long dark hair, whiskey-brown eyes, and full lips that give us the biggest smile when we choose to show it. We both take after Papi.

  Although our red-clay skin is a mix of our Puerto Rican mother and half-African-American, half-Puerto-Rican dad. Angel and Andres: we look just alike, but we’re like night and day. My mother calls me the defiant twin.

  “Get in here, man,” Andres grumbles.

  I look up at the sky that has opened with no mercy. Lightning flashes, and something inside me shifts as I blink through the raindrops. It’s my instinct to challenge what’s before me.

  I ball my fists and head into the gym as my brother opens the door wider. The warmth of the place massages my bones and seeps into my muscles as soon as I step inside. I drop my duffel bag to my side and turn to my brother.

  He has that look on his face. The one that I hate seeing. Like his big brother failed him. I’m older by an entire ten minutes, but at the moment, he makes me feel like I’m younger by ten years.