Page 59 of If You Fight

Floyd smoothed his greasy comb-over against his head and sighed again. “I might be able to make some calls. I don’t know. I can’t promise anything. It would be a pretty far haul, though, because you’d have to get beyond the long arm of Robert Erickson, and that’s no easy task.”

His reference to the long arm of Robert made me smile. At one time, that’s how I thought of myself as I acted like the muscle to enforce his demands on all those people I threatened for him.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re smiling about, son. This has disaster written all over it. What do you plan to do when he finds out? Because it’s not an if situation but a when thing. He will find out, and when he does, God help you. I know what he’ll do to me, but he seems to have a special place in his heart for you and when you do this, you’re betraying him. I just want you to be honest with yourself.”

Nodding, I knew he was trying to look out for me, but that didn’t matter now. All that mattered was finding enough money to get Serena, the baby, and me away from her father. Whatever I had to risk meant nothing.

“It’ll be fine, Floyd. Just find me some fights, okay? I’ll make it worth your while, and I promise if anything happens and he finds out, I’ll take the blame. I won’t even mention you.”

Floyd rolled his eyes. “Like he won’t know. He’s not stupid, son.”

I walked around him and the possessed chair to find a sheet of paper and pen in the desk to write down the number of the phone Serena and I used back when she lived with Oliver. Handing it to him, I said, “Call me at this number only. Nobody knows about this one. As long as it’s not on a night when I’m fighting for him, I’ll be there wherever I have to go.”

He scanned the number and then looked up at me with concern in his eyes. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Ryder? I mean, she’s beautiful. I get it. And she’s crazy in love with you. That’s clear. But she’s Robert Erickson’s daughter.”

“I have to do this. Just help me, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know. Take care of yourself, son.”

I shook his hand and before I turned to leave, I said, “Thanks, Floyd. I won’t forget this.”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes again. “Let’s hope the two of us live long enough to forget all of this.”

***

With my newjob fighting for Robert again, I didn’t know if that meant I got a reprieve from having to check in with him each morning. I hadn’t before I left to meet with Floyd, and by the time I got back to the estate it was nearly one in the afternoon. Dreading having to talk to Robert but unsure if I didn’t that something worse would happen, I walked to his office and hoped I’d find it empty.

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on my side and I saw him sitting at his desk staring vacantly at his laptop. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for anything he could throw at me and knocked on his door.

He looked over toward me with that same blank expression he’d worn while he stared at his computer, and for a few moments, he said nothing. Finally, he waved me in and said, “Just the man I want to see today.”

I couldn’t help but think that was a complete lie. After the fight last night, he’d been less than thrilled, probably because he put a nice chunk of money down on a bet against me. Part of me liked the idea of him losing big like that, but another part knew I’d end up paying for it in the end.

Taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, I worked to remain calm and look as casual as possible. Not that any of that mattered much. Whatever he felt toward me wasn’t going to change just because I looked relaxed in front of him. It very well might make him all the more eager to torment me.

As long it was just me he wanted to torture, I could handle it.

“So how about that fight last night? I don’t know, son. You have the magic touch, it seems, even after all this time,” he said as his mouth spread into that all-too-familiar and terrifying crocodile grin.

My mind hurriedly wavered between cockiness and humility in the answer I had to give. I wanted to brag because I’d won a fight against the guy he put me up against after two years away from that world and three short weeks of training. I should have been able to brag, but something told me humility might be a better route with Robert now.

“I don’t know about the magic touch,” I said, not even convincing myself with that. “He gave me a good run for my money, but I guess I was just luckier than he was last night.”

Robert’s smile faded, and he squinted angrily across the desk at me. “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, son. I don’t believe this humble pie act for one second. That fighter I met that night who was cocky as all hell is really the person you are, so don’t bother to pretend you’re someone else for me. I know better.”

I shrugged, still unsure what he wanted from me. “Well, it wasn’t an easy fight, and that’s not being anything but truthful. He kicked my ass around that ring for a long time before I got the best of him.”

Pursing his lips, he tilted his head left and right. “Now that we can agree on. He certainly did have your number for a majority of the fight. I’m afraid Serena didn’t take you getting beaten up as well as I had hoped. She always was a bit delicate.”

The idea of Serena as delicate almost made me laugh out loud. He had no idea how strong she could be when she wanted to. I would have thought her having me take care of Oliver after what he did to her proof of her strength, but Robert seemed to have forgotten that already.

“The Pit is no place for someone like her. I hope we can agree on that,” I said and stared directly into his dark eyes to let him know I didn’t appreciate what he’d done with that stunt bringing her there. That it hadn’t worked was beside the point.

He remained silent for a long moment, his gaze fixed on mine, and then as if none of what we’d just said interested him, he announced, “I intend on having you fight from now on. I wasn’t sure of my decision until last night, but after watching you, I think your talents are best served with fighting.”

If he thought what he said should bother me, he had underestimated me and overestimated how much I liked working for him as his muscle. At least when I fought I could respect myself. It wasn’t the best thing for me, but it was a hell of a lot better than threatening people on a daily basis.

That shit sucked the soul of me.

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