Page 88 of Fight

“Maybe a warehouse?” I ask. “We drove past some I noticed, and I saw bus stops so people could get there. I know nothing about the area, though.”

“Yep, that may work,” he mutters, pulling out his phone and shooting off a text. “I will absolutely forget to tell her if I don’t do it now. She says that Augustine sent her a list of places, but she didn’t think of a warehouse. There’s a couple on his list she won’t rule out. Thank you.”

“Anytime, I’m really impressed with the concept she’s building,” I say. “I’d like to offer the service pro bono if she doesn’t have anyone she’s working with yet.”

“There are a lot of people who don’t think she can pull it off,” he grumbles. “This would make her day if you called her later about it. Here’s her number.”

My phone lights up on the table with her phone number, and I thank him.

“Alright, I don’t know why I was so worried about telling you this,” I say, blowing out a breath.

“We’re really scary motherfuckers,” Tommy deadpans with a small smile. “Look, we need someone to help train up new fighters, so if you’re down to help with compensation, I’ll call it good.”

I know they’ll lose a lot of money when I retire without someone ready to fill in, so I agree eagerly.

“This last fight is a good one, and you can easily walk away with the money you’ll need to make your dream happen,” Jasper says.

“That’s what I was thinking. I figured I’d need to work a few more fights at least?—”

“Nah, we have a break after this one until we set up the next fight,” Jasper explains. “It’ll give you time to move, scout real estate, and continue to train newbies on the side. It’s a lot less time consuming than actually fighting. We can get some new blood in.”

This is all sounding better and better. Breaking out in a wide smile, I can feel myself relaxing. It’ll take a lot of hard work, but I’m used to that. Here’s to new dreams.

“My next hurtle is Corbin and making sure he doesn’t have a problem with me moving our operations here,” Tommy grunts, making a face.

Catching the waitress’s eye, he asks for the bill. She’s in motion, moving from table to table, but says she’ll be right back with it. Something tells me I’m going to enjoy living full time in Minneapolis, being nearer to Augustine and Cerenity, and building something new.

Now I just have to pitch my idea to Wren and Aisling after Tommy has his meeting. I’m going to need to go for a run in order to deal with all of this nervous energy, but I’m really excited for the future.

TOMMY

My strengths lie in my ability to keep my cool when it matters most. People tend to underestimate me because I allow myself to lose my temper enough that people think I’m a wild card. I’m really not, but that’s part of my point.

The only person who really knows me is Jasper, and as we pull into the parking garage at the warehouse, he gives me a sidelong glance as I put the truck into park.

“There’s no reason for Corbin to deny us this,” Jasper says softly. “We’re even planning to give back to the community through Gabriel, for fuck’s sake.”

Yeah, we’re both bastards enough to use Gabriel’s plan if we need to. I doubt he’ll mind if it helps us close the deal. It’s rare that a mafia boss will move his base of operations, because we’re creatures of habit.

However, alphas need to be where their omegas are. I can already feel myself getting twitchy because I haven’t seen Cerenity in hours.

It’s mystifying how a scent match works. At the foundation charity event, I kept catching glimpses of her as she moved through the room. She was confident, sexy, and gorgeous, but I was focused on other things. By the time I saw her again, the memory of her had faded a bit. I definitely felt very pulled to her, obsessed with finding out if fate was fucking with me.

God, she’s fun though.

“Let’s get on then,” I murmur as I watch Corbin step into the garage with Shaw, Everest, and Ambrose. Pack Mohan is flanking their leader with tight nods as they stand there, ready for anything.

Getting out of the truck, I have to admit Jasper and I aren’t much of a threat. While I have a gun at my back and my boot and Jas has a few weapons on his person, four against two still aren’t great odds.

“Hey,” I say as I shut the door and walk slowly toward them. “Thanks for meeting with us.”

Jasper meets me step for step until we’re standing in front of them and Corbin breaks into a wide smile.

“Why is Papa Smurf here instead of Tommy?” he teases me with a chuckle.

Snorting so loud I surprise myself, I shake my head. “Fuck, I keep forgetting it’s blue,” I gasp, leaning over as I laugh. “A pretty little omega with a sense of humor is torturing me.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good story,” Corbin says, a hint of the loss he had when his omega died reflected in his gaze as he jerks his head toward the door behind him.

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