Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57707 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57707 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
When he yells, there’s a twitch to it, an oh, like this feeling of falling is unfamiliar to him. That’s when a surge rushes into me. He thought he was going to mess me up. He didn’t even consider I’d grab him and ragdoll him.
Once, on an operation, they gave us modafinil because we’d been up for thirty-two hours straight. I thought that was the most wired I could ever be.
Then I hear, through the piercing noise of the crowd, a female voice raised, “Let go of her!”
Something primal snaps in me. I have to end the fight.
“Oh, fuck!” the kid yells as I land on top of him and start raining down strikes on his head, bouncing it from canvas, before he panics and turns onto his stomach. I quickly slide my hand around his blood-slick throat, choking him until he starts tapping and begging me to let him go.
When I stand up, somebody enters the cage, holding a worn-looking med kit. I turn away in disgust as the kid sits up, looking disoriented. I’m surprised when he cocks a grin at me. “Thanks for choking me. You could’ve beat my face in.”
“Look in the mirror. I did.”
“Could’ve been worse,” he says, spitting blood.
“It can always be worse.”
I walk over to the edge the cage, looking up at Raffie and his little gang. Maya sits off to the side, her arms over her middle.
“Good shit, T! I told everyone!”
“What was that I heard? Somebody was yelling let go? A woman?” I call up to Raffie.
“It’s nothing,” the sleazeball sitting next to Maya says.
“The fuck you say to me?” I growl. “I’m talking to Rafeal Trentini, motherfucker.”
Too much adrenaline is coursing through me.
Raffie calls down over the mayhem. “Relax, brother! You’ve still got the Mystery Box event—”
He cuts off when I grab the cage and scale the wall, then hop over and scale the balcony area. The crowd stares as I shimmy around and slip through a gap in the fence. Raffie stares up at me, mouth falling open, several other men cringing away even as they try to look tough.
“What happened?” I growl.
“We said it’s nothing,” the sleazebag insists.
“Shut up, man,” the man next to him snaps.
“Are you giving her trouble?” I snap, gesturing at Maya. It’s hard to even look at her. I want to take her out of this ugly, fucked-up place. She doesn’t belong here. She doesn’t need to see me like this.
“She’s just not as friendly as she pretended to be. That’s all!” the man snaps.
I walk around the table, standing over him, my hands curling into fists, the leather of the cheap gloves making a cracking sound. “Leave.”
He looks around, scoffing.
“Fucking leave,” I growl. “That’s the last time I’ll tell you.”
“You heard him,” Raffie yells after a pause. “Get the fuck outta here. He needs to focus on his next fight!”
Slowly, the man stands. I expect some blustering, but he’s sobered up suddenly. “You think I give a shit about two drunk bitches, motherfucker?”
He’s not wrong about the drunk part. Maya is smiling strangely. A more poetic man might call it enchanting, but that was the sort of bullshit Vanessa said. She’s not even present. Maybe Maya popped a party pill or something. Empty martini and cocktail glasses cover the table.
So he’s not wrong about that, but calling Maya a bitch? Crack! My glove connects with the underside of his jaw, violently closing his mouth. “Fh-huk! Bit my fuggin … Motherfugger!”
Blood spills from his mouth, but then Raffie starts laughing, and so does the fuck’s so called-friend. He even says, “You heard him, bro. Go home and sober up.”
“Tell dem to sopper up!” He quickly walks away, rushing for the door, like he thinks I’ll clatter him again. Maya looks blankly up at me momentarily, then rubs her eyes. She looks so gorgeous but so lost. Before I can say anything, though, Raffie’s got his hand on my shoulder. “Save some of that aggression for the Mystery Box, T. Come on, be reasonable. One more fight, and …” He leans in and says, “Two hundred and fifty K.”
Holy fuck. That could completely change my life. That could keep the home running for a year, at least.
“For the winner,” I say. “What does the loser get?”
“Just the ten K. Split.”
“I have to split my money with them?” I ask, confused.
“No, split between them.”
“Them, who?”
Raffie pats me on the back with a wink. “You’ll see. You need to get changed and cleaned up.”
“Make sure they drink some water,” I say, talking to the young, slick man sitting at Maya’s friend’s side. He, at least, hasn’t been pawing at her all night. “I get partying, but—”
“Sir, they haven’t partied, not really. Riley had a few drinks. Maya only had water.”
“Wait, what?” I walk over to Maya, kneeling down, struggling not to … feel. Fuck. Not here. Not ever. But she’s a young woman in need, and I’m not always a monster. “Maya.”