Chapter 3 - Three Minutes That Changed Everything
Dominic Castellano had been hit harder before.
Professional heavyweights had split his lip. Leo had dropped him during sparring years ago. He had fought in alleys, warehouses, and private gyms where nobody bothered keeping score.
But none of those moments felt like this.
Because nobody in the room had expected Clara Hayes to put him on the canvas.
Especially Dominic.
“One forty-eight,” Clara repeated.
Dominic rose fully and rolled his neck.
Leo stepped back toward the ropes.
“Keep it clean.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Stop talking.”
Clara lifted her gloves.
“You should listen to your trainer.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“You enjoy provoking people?”
“Only people who deserve it.”
He moved forward.
This time, there was no reckless charge.
Dominic jabbed carefully.
Clara slipped to her right.
He feinted a second jab, then drove a left hook toward her body.
Clara blocked most of it, but the force still pushed her backward.
Dominic noticed.
“So you can feel punches.”
Clara reset.
“I was wondering when you’d land one.”
His eyes narrowed.
He attacked again.
Jab.
Jab.
Right hand.
Clara blocked the first, slipped the second, but the right clipped the side of her guard.
She stepped away.
Dominic followed instead of rushing.
Leo nodded slightly.
“Better.”
Dominic ignored him.
Clara watched his shoulders.
His breathing.
His feet.
He was adjusting.
That made him more dangerous.
“You’re not just some rich guy who bought gloves,” she said.
Dominic almost smiled.
“Disappointed?”
“No.”
She shifted left.
“Relieved.”
“Why?”
Clara fired a jab.
Dominic blocked it.
“Because now I don’t have to feel guilty.”
She followed with a hook to the body.
Dominic caught it on his elbow.
Then his right hand shot forward.
Clara leaned away just enough.
The glove missed her chin by an inch.
Marco exhaled.
“This is insane.”
Leo never looked away from the ring.
“No.”
“What?”
Leo folded his arms.
“This is boxing.”
Clara stepped inside Dominic’s reach and landed two quick punches to his torso.
Dominic answered with a short uppercut.
Clara twisted away, but the glove caught her shoulder.
She moved out.
Dominic followed.
“Still enjoying yourself?”
“More than last night.”
“Good.”
He cut the ring off.
Clara found herself near the ropes.
Dominic stepped closer.
For the first time, his size became a real problem.
His shoulders blocked her exit.
He worked the body.
One punch hit her forearm.
A second landed against her ribs.
Clara grunted.
Dominic heard it.
“There.”
He drove another punch toward the body.
Clara trapped his arm, pivoted, and spun away from the ropes.
Dominic turned.
She was already waiting.
POP.
Her jab struck his face.
POP.
Another.
Then a right hand landed against his chest.
Dominic stepped back.
“You’re annoying.”
Clara smiled faintly.
“You challenged me.”
“How long were you planning to keep saying that?”
“For about another minute.”
Leo checked the clock.
“Fifty-nine seconds!”
Dominic heard him.
So did Clara.
Dominic’s expression changed.
Fifty-nine seconds.
If she survived, he owed her fifty thousand dollars.
The money meant nothing.
Losing did.
He increased the pressure.
Clara recognized it immediately.
“Here we go,” she whispered.
Dominic attacked.
His jab forced her backward.
The right hand slammed into her gloves.
The hook to the body landed.
Clara inhaled sharply.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Thirty seconds!” Leo shouted.
Dominic threw another combination.
Clara blocked high.
He went low.
She absorbed it.
For the first time that night, her legs slowed.
Dominic saw it.
He pressed forward.
“You wanted the money?”
Clara covered.
“Earn it.”
He threw a right.
She slipped.
Left hook.
She ducked.
Another right.
This one landed against her glove hard enough to knock it against her cheek.
“Twenty seconds!”
Dominic stepped in.
Clara was against the ropes again.
Marco shouted, “Boss!”
Dominic ignored him.
He wanted the finish.
Clara saw the right hand coming.
Everything slowed.
The shoulder turning.
The hip rotating.
The weight transferring.
She remembered another ring.
Philadelphia.
A screaming crowd.
A man shouting from outside the ropes.
Finish her!
Clara’s eyes sharpened.
Dominic launched the punch.
Clara slipped left.
His fist missed.
She countered.
Left hook.
Dominic’s head turned.
Right cross.
His guard broke.
Clara stepped inside.
Then stopped herself.
She could have thrown the third punch.
She didn’t.
Dominic realized it.
Their eyes met.
“Five seconds!” Leo shouted.
Dominic raised his gloves.
Clara stepped backward.
Three.
Two.
One.
DING.
The bell echoed through the basement.
Nobody moved.
Clara lowered her gloves.
“Three minutes.”
Dominic stared at her.
Sweat ran down his temple.
His lower lip had a small cut.
Clara was breathing harder, one arm pressed briefly against her ribs.
Leo entered the ring.
“It’s over.”
Dominic looked at Clara.
“You stopped.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“You had another punch.”
Clara removed her mouthguard.
“The bell was coming.”
“Not yet.”
“I didn’t need it.”
Dominic took a step toward her.
“You could’ve hit me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Clara looked straight at him.
“Because I came for fifty thousand dollars.”
She pulled off one glove.
“Not your funeral.”
Marco coughed to hide a laugh.
Dominic slowly turned his head toward him.
Marco looked at the floor.
Leo removed Clara’s other glove.
“You okay?”
“My ribs will be purple tomorrow.”
“Anything broken?”
“No.”
Leo nodded toward Dominic.
“What about his ego?”
Clara glanced at Dominic.
“That might require surgery.”
This time Marco failed completely.
He laughed.
Dominic looked at him.
Marco immediately became serious.
“Sorry.”
Dominic climbed out of the ring.
He walked toward the black duffel.
Clara followed.
He lifted it.
For a moment, she wondered whether he would keep his word.
Instead, Dominic placed the bag directly into her hands.
“Count it.”
“I already did.”
“You didn’t trust me before.”
“I still don’t.”
Dominic smiled.
“Good.”
Clara unzipped the bag briefly.
The money was there.
She closed it.
“Then we’re done.”
Dominic leaned against the bench.
“No.”
Clara looked up.
“No?”
“I want an answer.”
“You got your fight.”
“I want your name.”
“I told you.”
“Your full name.”
She hesitated.
Dominic noticed.
“Clara what?”
She picked up her jacket.
“Hayes.”
Leo froze.
The reaction was small.
But Clara saw it.
So did Dominic.
Leo stared at her.
“Clara Hayes?”
She stopped.
Dominic looked between them.
“You know her?”
Leo stepped closer.
“You fought in Philadelphia.”
Clara said nothing.
Leo’s eyes widened.
“Oh, my God.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
Leo ignored him.
“The South Street warehouse circuit.”
Clara’s expression hardened.
“That was a long time ago.”
Leo pointed toward her.
“You’re Red Hayes.”
Marco looked confused.
“Who?”
Leo turned toward Dominic.
“You seriously don’t know?”
“I generally don’t memorize underground female boxing records.”
Leo looked back at Clara.
“You disappeared.”
Clara picked up her gym bag.
“Yes.”
“After the Mercer fight.”
Her hand stopped.
“Don’t.”
Leo realized immediately that he had crossed a line.
Dominic stepped forward.
“What happened in the Mercer fight?”
Clara looked at him.
“That has nothing to do with you.”
“You’re working in one of my clubs under a name connected to an underground fighting circuit.”
“It’s my real name.”
“And someone like you suddenly decides to serve drinks?”
Clara’s eyes narrowed.
“Someone like me?”
“A fighter.”
“Former fighter.”
Dominic studied her.
“People don’t become former fighters at twenty-six without a reason.”
Clara lifted the money bag.
“Goodnight, Castellano.”
She turned toward the elevator.
Dominic spoke behind her.
“Somebody looking for you?”
Clara stopped.
The entire room went quiet.
Dominic had found something.
Not the answer.
But the nerve beneath it.
Clara turned slowly.
“You ask too many questions.”
“It’s why I’m alive.”
“And arrogance is why someone will eventually fix that.”
She pressed the elevator button.
Dominic walked toward her.
“You’re hiding.”
Clara faced him.
“That’s not your concern.”
“It became my concern when you walked into my club.”
“No.”
The elevator doors opened.
She stepped inside.
“It became interesting to you.”
Dominic said nothing.
Clara looked at him through the closing doors.
“Learn the difference.”
The doors shut.
Dominic remained standing there.
Marco approached.
“Want me to follow her?”
“No.”
Leo looked surprised.
Dominic turned to him.
“But I want everything you know about Clara Hayes.”
Leo sighed.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Tonight.”
“She told you to stay out of it.”
Dominic picked up a towel.
“That sounded more like a challenge.”
Leo stared at him.
“You really learned nothing in that ring, did you?”
Dominic wiped the blood from his lip.
“I learned plenty.”
He looked toward the elevator.
“For example…”
A slow smile appeared.
“…my waitress once had a name that frightened fighters in Philadelphia.”
And upstairs, unaware of the conversation, Clara stepped onto the sidewalk carrying fifty thousand dollars.
She had survived Dominic Castellano.
What she didn’t know was that someone across the street had just taken her photograph.
The man lowered his phone.
He looked at the image.
Clara’s face was unmistakable.
He made a call.
A voice answered.
“Yeah?”
The man watched Clara climb into a taxi.
“I found her.”
A pause.
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
Another pause.
Then the voice on the other end laughed.
“After three years?”
“Three years.”
“Don’t touch her.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor wants her alive.”
The call ended.
May you like
The taxi disappeared into traffic.
And the past Clara had spent three years escaping had finally found her.
