Page 14 of King

“Just dandy,” I replied, full of sarcasm. I cupped my nose loosely. “I need to get out of here.” I snatched the towel from the bench next to me and held it against my nose. I pulled it from my face to check for more blood. It had been pissing out from the time he’d cracked me, but it seemed to be slowing. I let my head hang for the blood to drain. The white towel was almost red, all but a few patches. I found a white spot and dabbed it against my nose, thankfully, apart from a few spots now, it had slowed down. I stood up from the bench, towering over Rico. “How’s the other guy?”

“Don’t worry about him, he’s a big boy, he knew what he was getting himself into.”

“What the fuck does that mean, Rico?” My voice rose.

“Nothing. He’s a fucking illegal fighter, and we don’t exactly play by the book in here, do we?” I pushed my hands out to the side and waited for him divulge. “His guys took him out. He didn’t look good, that’s all.”

Fuck!

“Was he breathing?”

“Yeah, I think so, fuck me, King. Who fucking cares?” I stared at him for a long minute and shook my head,

“I’m not in the business to kill someone, Rico.”Panic settled in my gut and my pulse raced as I paced. I wasn’t that kind of person.

“Hey,” he stepped in front of me and pointed his finger in my chest, stopping me in my tracks. “He knew what he was getting into, like every fucker does in this game. It’s not my fucking problem.”

I looked between his finger and then him. I stood taller than him by about two inches. Two inches might not have been that much, but I was wider and stronger than him. I used my frame and my weight to push forward. “Get your fucking finger off me, before I fucking snap it off.” His finger dropped from my chest and he backed off. “I tell you now, Richard,’ I said his full name with disgust, “if I have any fucking backlash from this, I’ll come looking for you.” Shoving his shoulder, I let him know I wasn’t fucking happy with him. “Are you listening?” he quickly agreed and visibly recoiled.

“Money?” I questioned grumpily. His thrust his hand out in front of him with a wad of notes tucked inside his fingers. “How much?” I asked as I shoved the towel under my arm so I could flick through the money.

“Twenty-five hundred.” His eyes focussed on the cash in my hand as I checked through it. “It’s all there.” Rico grinned nervously.

My chin lifted and my eyes narrowed. “I’m trusting you, Rico.”

“Hey, would I do that to you?”

“I dunno Rico, you haven’t got any morals so who the fuck knows.”I told him as I dropped the money into my bag.

Ethan’s phone pinged; I watched him check it before sliding it back into his pocket. “Phoenix is here.”

“Get out of my fucking face.” I growled as I pushed past Rico. As I headed towards the door and out into the hallway, the two guys entered.

“Mr Campbell.” Rico said suddenly not looking so cocksure of himself. “Have you met King?”

“We have.”

“I’ll leave you guys to talk.” I watched as Rico left the room without looking back. I didn’t have time to question his quick departure though before the other two guys were stepping up to me.

“Jacob?” The suited guy said as he slipped his hands into his pockets and walked towards me. “We haven’t had a proper introduction, have we? I’m Lewis Campbell.” His hand darted out towards me and I took it. “That’s a nasty break, think you’ll be ready to fight again in a few days?” He says as he studied my nose. I didn’t like being under such close scrutiny so I turned my face away. Danny stood at my side while these guys were in here and listened to every minute of the conversation. I looked at him for guidance but got nothing.

I shrugged, “I’m not sure.”

“Okay, maybe this will change your mind.” He took my hand and slipped a roll inside, “five thousand now, five thousand after the fight.” I studied his face; he was serious.

“I don’t understand. If you’re friends with Rico, why is he letting you just step in and take over?”

“Let’s just say Rico knows what side his bread is buttered on. And there’re no friends in business, you’ll do well to remember that, kid.”

We shook hands again. “Get yourself cleaned up, have a couple of days to recoup. I think Rico already has a fight set up, but I’ll be in touch. We can take it from after that one.” Lewis said as he flicked his head towards the door of the cloakroom. Him and his sidekick left the room without so much as a goodbye, and I was left with my mouth hanging open and wondering who this guy really was.

With Liam and Lewis gone, I got my things together and pulled my bag onto my shoulder, and clapped hands with the bouncers at the door as I reached them. They held the door open for us as we passed. As I went into the adjoining corridor, I saw two guys obviously doing a drug deal. One guy lifted his chin to me. With a swift nod to him I carried on walking.

“Yo, I can help you out if you want some?” The fucking prick shouted out.

My face screwed up in disgust as I turned to look back at them, if there was one thing I wouldn’t do, it was drugs. I didn’t need to slide down that slippery slope. “Fuck off, scumbag.” After the little altercation with Rico, I wasn’t in the fucking mood to deal with another dickhead.

Swiftly, I turned away and carried on walking but I heard him answer. “You know where to find me.”

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