Page 3 of The Billionaire Babe

“But what fun would that be?” Marcus says with a sly glint in his eyes. “I don’t know how you do it.” He looks me up and down. My top half is naked, my skin glistening with sweat running down my abs, and my eyes thin in his direction.

“Do what?” I spit out, wishing he would leave already.

“Go without sex for so long.” I breathe out slowly as I flex my fist.

“Because he is committed and a fucking fitness freak and a goddamn professional,” Brady speaks up for me. I spot Cody out of the corner of my eye, watching closely. He’s ready to step in if needed.

Boxing is about fitness, but also mental toughness. “I box better with blue balls,” I tell him, a smirk coming to my lips. It has been about two months since I touched a woman, and I am on the edge. But that’s what I need, an edge. No other boxer I know takes fights as seriously as I do, and I one hundred percent know that staying celibate during my training gets me the advantage in all my fights. That is why I am undefeated. That is why I am the underground champion.

“A hell of a lot more mental strength than me. I like pussy too much. Way too fucking much,” Marcus says with a chuckle.

“About time you fucked off now.” Cody, my other best friend, enters the conversation, and the three of us stand side by side. Our arms crossed in front of our chests, we look like the security team we are.

“Ahh, if it isn’t the Big, Bad Baltimore Boys all trying to be intimidating,” Marcus teases as he throws a cigarette into his mouth. I step forward then, right into his space, and push my shoulders back, arms lowered to my sides. I have had enough. He needs to leave.

“Fine. Just take Rago down in round three when you meet in a few weeks, and I will leave you the fuck alone.” Marcus has rigged the fights since I started. I nod to him in understanding, because if he wins, then I win. He lines my pockets well, and I desperately need the money. Besides, I know that I can make this fight last as long as I need to. I watch him retreat, his ill-fitting suit jacket flapping around him comically from the gym’s fans as he walks backward to the door.

“Fuck off and don’t come back,” Brady yells to him, and I hear sniggers from the other men around the gym. We are all cut from the same cloth here. Grew up with nothing, and still don’t have much. But I am trying to change. That’s why I started Fortress with Brady and Cody. Our new security company is only a few months old, but we’re building. I just need it to build faster so I can get out of the ring and into a normal life.

“I hate that fucker,” Cody mumbles, walking back over to the young kid he was training.

“You and me both,” I say as I head back to the bag and try to refocus.

“You should just tell him to fuck off,” Brady says, holding the bag for me again as I start to punch, my momentum now lost.

“I plan to. Just a few more fights. We need the money. Fortress has to bring in a few more clients before I can retire,” I explain, not that he doesn’t already know. We talk about this constantly. Our budget is tight, so my fight winnings and any profit we make go straight back into hiring more men and getting the business up and running. We pay our team fairly, all the while trying to get more gigs. It is a balancing act. One that has a time limit.

“Jimmy has us down for Club Vine on Saturday night,” Brady says, and I nod.

“Club Vine, where the ladies are fine!” Cody yells out, and we scoff a laugh. Jimmy’s slogan is so chauvinistic, but also very fucking catchy.

Club Vine, Baltimore’s newest nightclub, is owned by Jimmy Sallon, an old school friend of ours who made a few dollars on a gamble and then invested in a club. He has done a good job too, fitting out an old warehouse and accepting our security contract immediately. It has only been open a few weeks, so the nights are slow. We are all hoping attendance increases and the club is a success, for Jimmy and for Fortress.

“Let’s just hope we can get a few more clubs. Our boys are sick of hanging out at the local mall already.” Manhandling shoplifting kids is not where I want Fortress to be focused, but it pays the bills. I feel bad every time I pick up a kid because that was me once upon a time. I had a mother who didn’t give a shit, never had any idea who my father was, and there was never enough money for food. I stole my way through my teenage years until I found boxing, which became my only survival.

“We need to go premium,” Brady says, and I stop punching to look at him.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Cody asks from where he is training next to us. I squint at Brady like he has lost his mind.

“Just thinking, we should do the top end of town. You know, art galleries, luxury goods, the Porsche dealership. That kind of shit.” I raise an eyebrow. That is the kind of money we could only dream of. And dreams don’t pay my fucking bills. I hit the bag again, frustrated that at my age I still need to use my body to bring in a fucking paycheck.

“We are not exactly premium people, Brady,” I deadpan, not sure I have ever heard him say a full sentence without a swear word.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Cody says, walking up to us, and I look at him sharply.

“Let’s just focus on Club Vine, the mall, and getting this fucking fight done, and then we can look at the next steps.” Now I am in a bad mood. Money problems combined with a visit from Marcus is not ideal. But one feeds the other. I need Marcus, because without him, I have no fight. Without this fight, I have no money. Without the money, I have no Fortress and no way out of this cycle of trying to get on my feet and failing. Every. Single. Time.

Marcus always tries to throw his weight around, get everyone to see him as a boss. Loves all us big guys to cower to him. I call it small dick syndrome. It does nothing but piss me off, and now I feel sorry for any patrons at Club Vine tonight because I know I will take my anger out on them.

I hear the door open and Levi walks in. The kid is full of attitude. Turned up here one day out of the blue, and it was like looking in a mirror. So I train him. Give him a way to get out his aggression and give him someone to talk to. Since then, a few other kids come in like the one Cody was just working with. Brady has a few he trains as well.

We know we aren’t premium people. We have done some crazy, fucked-up, and illegal things in our time. But we are trying to make amends, and if helping a kid like Levi eases my conscience, then so be it.

3

VALERIE

“I swear, this is the most fun I have had in a long time. Thank you for bringing me out,” I tell the girls as we get back to our private lounge in the VIP area. I’m hot from dancing but feeling good.

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