Page 34 of Unlucky You

“And he’ll make fifteen—possibly twenty—times that before I step out of the ring. He was too eager to pay me five. He can afford to pay that and more.”

“Can you?”

He tilted his head to the side and stared, silently communicating what he was asking. Would my body hold up?

“I’ve suffered worse. That’s how shit worked fighting in prison. Five, six fights back to back. You fight until you’re the last man standing. They don’t give a fuck about rules in there. I can handle it.”

“Yo, Grand, I don’t know…”

“You get fifteen percent of what I make. That’s almost four stacks.”

His face twisted. “I don’t want the gotdamn money. That’s not why I’m here. I want your ass to walk up outta here. Not you dragged out and tossed in the back somewhere for the cops to find and add to their cold case files.”

“Then you don’t have shit to worry about. I told you I’m good.”

Once I was in nothing but a pair of black shorts, I shoved everything into my backpack and tossed it to Tali. “Put the money in there and keep it close to your chest. When I’m done, we leave. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

We prepared to head back to the main area and I paused at the door. “If you see her, keep her with you.”

He frowned for a minute. “The photographer?”

“Yeah.”

He arched a brow, smiling like a fucking idiot.” You invited her?”

“No, she invited herself. If she shows, she’s with you.”

He laughed smugly and nodded. “Aight, I got her.”

I was on my way out the door when I glanced at him over my shoulder. “And keep your fucking hands to yourself.”

Tali bellowed a full-blown laugh. “Fam, I know better than to mess with your girl.”

I glared at him and pushed through the door because what else could I say? I was telling him to keep an eye on her which clarified that she meant something to me. The problem was, I had no clue what?

I stood on my word and refused to step foot in the ring until Rix handed over twenty-five grand. My goal was six months of this shit. If I could stack a decent amount of money, then the rest would be easy. I didn’t need much and if Walt took a chance on me again, I could survive off what I made working for him and still save. I would have to get a two-bedroom place so Raiden had his own room, but that could wait. Tonight was about putting an end to me risking my freedom by fighting here. With three fights, I would make what I’d planned on stacking over the next six months. After tonight, I wouldn’t be back. Raiden was too important for me to get caught up in some shit that would send me right back to prison.

When I dipped under the ropes for my first fight, I surveyed the crowd then fucking laughed. I was looking for her. I’d warned Saniya to stay away but wanted her here, or rather I wanted to see her. I couldn’t say I wanted her here. This shit was about to get bad.

While we waited on the ref, the guy I was fighting bounced on the balls of his feet. Unlike me, he had his wrists taped but per instructions his knuckles were bare. Rix wanted these fights to be as brutal and bloody as possible. Although his feet were bare like mine, he was also in formal boxing shorts and chewing on a mouth guard, which hung from the corner of his lips. He had the build of a professional boxer and had my six-one height by at least another two or three inches. If I had to guess, he wastrying to gain his footing in a professional setting, but needed the money so he used his skills to gain the advantage with illegal fights.

He wouldn’t win. Skill was just as much a hindrance as it was an asset. This guy would try to outsmart me and while he was overthinking with his technical training, I was going to knock him the fuck out. I would let him get in a few good hits first to bypass the first round but there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to win this match.

“Alright, gentlemen…” The ref began waving us to the center. “The rules are, there are no rules. Last man standing moves on to the next fight.” He smirked and looked right at me. I had no doubt that Rix had informed all his staff that I would be the last man standing. Thanks to the twenty-five grand Tali was currently in possession of, I would damn sure deliver so I could be done with this hellhole.

He lifted the mic and addressed the crowd. “For the first fight of the evening, we have Grand facing off with Jenson. If you haven’t placed your bets, do so now. You’ve got thirty seconds. Once your first bet is placed, you have until the end of the first round to change it. If we get a knockout before the end of the first round, your original bets stand.”

“Fighters, ready?”

He glanced my way. I lifted my chin and waited for Jenson to respond. He slammed a fist into his palm and sneered my way. The ref blew the whistle and hurried out of striking distance, just in time to avoid Jenson charging me.

The crowd cheered when I let him land a solid right uppercut to my left side but when he threw a left hook, I dodged it by a hair. He swung with so much force the miss sent him tumbling forward into the ropes, which pissed him off.

When he pushed off the ropes and rushed me again, I let him land three solid punches to my sides. Left, right, left. But thatwas all he was getting. The arena erupted in chaos with chants encouraging him. He ate that shit up, assuming he had the best of me. That was when he fucked up, his focus was on engaging the crowd and not fully watching me. So when he sent a right cross, which was intended to land on my jaw, I dipped back and caught him with an uppercut that sent him stumbling into the ropes.

This time I didn’t let him gain his footing. I crossed the ring, grabbed the sides of his head, and jerked him down at the same time I brought my knee up. The heavy bass of the music and the roar of the crowd prevented me from hearing the bones crack on impact but I felt it. When he threw his head back, a spray of blood shot from his nose. I advanced again and my fist met his jaw with a left hook. Jenson’s head snapped to the right, his eyes rolled back in his head, then he dropped.

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