Page 58 of Tandem

He laughed again, and this time, he tossed the phone at me. Which, by reflex, I grabbed without looking away from him, just in case he tried this distraction to get a cheap shot in. Only he didn’t, he just stood there leering at me with a big-ass smile.

“Don’t you wanna take a look at what I think is so funny, AJ?” he asked, his tone dripping with gleeful evil.

I glanced down at the still unlocked phone. Then, I pulled it up, still keeping him in focus until I saw the image on the phone. My attention went completely to the contents of the images.

Rosalie. He had photos of MY girl. But not just photos of her at her work or driving around, those were bad enough. As Iswiped, it got worse. I saw her lying on the ground, bleeding, in torn, dirty clothes, hair wet from the puddle she was curled up next to, and covered in fresh bruises.

I swiped, my mind slowly going blank as I saw another, then another photo. Some she was by herself in, others had a man pulling her head up by her hair as tears streamed down her face. Then my hand froze on a video. My thumb hovering over the play button, I hit it, and Rosalie’s sobs filled my ears, her begging them to stop, then hearing them beat her and her scream before the video cut. In another video, I pressed play. My hand shaking, I gripped the phone harder. I heard Rosalie before I saw her, begging, crying, asking me to help her. I stopped the video.

I lowered my hand to my side. He went for the one thing I didn’t think he would. Why did I think he wouldn’t hurt her? Because he wanted her for his prize? I should have known all he wanted was to use her in some way to get to me. My mind started to shut down, my anger building to take over every inch of my body. Everything slowly became black, and my body began to shake with fury.

“Don’t worry, she was still breathing when my men left her. Barely. And after this fight, I’ll be going right back to pick her up and use her in other ways. OR if you don’t throw this fight, my boys will be back with her, and I’ve already given them permission to finish having all the fun theyreallywanted to have with her.” He walked backward, his face menacing and lit up like a kid at Christmas.

I snapped. Clenching my fist, I crushed the phone in my hand before throwing it into the windshield of one of the parked cars, cracking the glass from the impact. He smirked and started walking back to his side, and I lunged at him. The crowd gasped as I charged. I almost grabbed him when I got yanked to the left.

I looked and saw T holding on to my arm with his big-ass hand. “Yo! Don’t make me disqualify you, man! You can’t beattacking mid-break. What’s wrong? What did he show you on that phone?”

“He’s fucking dead. Get a coffin ready, T,” I growled, glaring at him. I was going to kill him. Fuck the fight, fuck the money, fuck the title. I would kill him and every one of the men who hurt her. T grabbed my shoulder, and I looked at him, I was barely out of the darkness, so I started to tell him what he needed to do. I had zero doubts Jabari meant every word of what he said, and if that was true, Rosalie was still in danger.

“T, I need you to do something before you start this next round. You got contacts, I know you do. I need you to call the Cavaliers MC clubhouse, and tell them their VP’s sister is hurt bad in the alley by the customs. He needs to get there now before someone else does. He’ll know what I mean. GO!” I snapped at T. He dropped his hand and ran over to his girls. Grabbing his phone, he made the call and nodded at me.

It was done. Her brother would ride out with a full MC to get her. If they were fast enough, Jabari’s men wouldn't get back to her

She’d be safe.

Then everything faded away entirely, and the only thing I had in my head was to win this match and kill Jabari in the process.

CHAPTER 33

ROSALIE

One hour ago…

After delivering the last couple of cars I had to clean up the shop as Dad left before me, which had me moving faster than I ever had. At this pace, I was actually going to get to the fight early so I could kiss AJ good luck before he entered the ring, not that he needed it. I knew he would win again.

I turned off the main lights and headed for the door, locking both of them and double-checking, a habit by now. I turned and walked to the side alley of the customs. Since it was a busy day, Dad and I had parked over there to make room for all of the customers picking up and dropping off their cars today. Making my way to my car in the dimly lit side alley, I saw a figure standing in a dark hoodie by my car.

Then I heard it—footsteps, heavy and fast, approaching from behind. I twisted my head to look behind me and saw two men approaching. My body screamed at me to run and try to get past the figure in front of me, but before I could react, they were on me. Three men, including the one in front of me, closed in, their faces obscured mostly by their hoodies, hats, and masks. Panic started to set in, and I tried to scream, but my voice was stuck in my throat.

What did these guys want? Who were they?

The tallest one stepped closer. “Sup, baby. What’s your rush? I just got here.” His voice, I instantly knew, and it made my skin crawl. It was the voice of the man who came to the shop earlier today, the one who pressed me against the counter and ran his hands all over my body. Suddenly, my heart dropped to my stomach. It dawned on me that at the customs wasn’t the first time I saw one of these guys, either. The one to my left was wearing a hoodie, and I remembered seeing him cheering for the opponent AJ was facing during their last match.

“On your way to the fight, baby?” the guy in front asked. I turned back toward him. I had a terrible feeling. What they wanted was to get something on AJ to make him lose the fight tonight.

“He asked you a question, bitch, answer it,” the other one behind me snapped as he shoved me forward. I stumbled but regained my steps, but now I was only a couple of feet from the tall guy. I nodded, too terrified to deny it. He chuckled menacingly at me.

“Good… gooood…” He stretched out the last word as he moved closer. “We got a message for you. Well, more of a message for your little boyfriend, but you’re gonna help us deliver it." His lips curled into a sinister grin as the light hit his face slightly.

“W-what message?” I barely got out, my voice breaking. Without warning, he grabbed my arm with a crushing grip, making me wince in pain. The other two thugs closed in behind me. Tears welled in my eyes as I realized the severity of the situation.

These men weren’t here to have me tell AJ something; I was the message, and they were here to hurt me. I just didn’t know to what extent. Struggling, I tried to fight his grip, but he only squeezed tighter as he leaned in close, his hot breath on my face.

“You’re gonna help us tell AJ he needs to throw the rematch tonight, if he knows what’s good for him. And for you, you tiny little bitch.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I started to struggle harder when suddenly, he pinned me against the wall by my car.

“I-I’m not going to tell him that! He’s going to win! He’s not afraid of guys like you,” I whispered before my voice was lost again. With another menacing chuckle, he released his grip on my arm. Maybe he was going to let me go, knowing what I said was true.

“He might not be, but you should,” he sneered just as I began to relax slightly. One of the other men lunged at me, delivering a painful blow with his fist to my abdomen. The impact sent me reeling as I gasped for air, my vision swimming with tears as I stood there.

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