Page 42 of Imperial: The Corvidae Family
I smiled slowly. “Yep.”
Yair shook his head. “This muthafucker is all sensitive and shit.”
Emir smiled but didn’t bother looking at his brother. “Nah, I’m not. When it counts, she only sees me.”
Kades moved past Emir and picked up the trash bag he’d just finished tying. “Yair’s fighting later,” he said casually. “You coming?”
Emir glanced at me before answering. “Yeah. We’re going.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, fighting?”
Emir’s eyes shifted to mine. “You’ll see.”
I raised a brow. “That’s not an answer.”
“You’ll just have to trust me.”
He had a way of dropping things in my lap, giving me just enough information to keep me intrigued but never enough toprepare me. And each time I acted like my brain didn’t work properly because I was always down.
Chapter
Ten
Emir.
Underground fights had a pulse.
The second we stepped inside, I felt it. The atmosphere was organized chaos and loud as hell. The base from the speakers barely drowned out the shouts from people throwing money on the next round and arguing over who their picks would be. The place was packed and the crowd was hyped like always. We barely made it through the entrance before I heard a familiar voice call out.
“Muthafuckin Corvidaes have graced us with their presence.” I grinned before I even turned to face him. Cannon, the owner, was already making his way toward us. His grin was cocky andhis eyes were low from whatever he was blazing when they bounced between me and Baylyn.
“Yair getting in the ring?”
“Yeah, you didn’t know?”
“Nah, I just pulled up. You know I don’t be here like that anymore. I wished I would have though. I would’ve raised the betting limits.”
“You’re already making enough off him.”
Cannon’s grin expanded. “Yeah, I am.” He glanced over to where Kades and Yair were standing near the ring. “Yair’s ass is gonna have ’em throwing crazy money on this fight.”
I looked toward my brother, watching as he stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders loose. Yair was focused, unbothered by the noise or the eyes watching. He was in his zone.
“He gonna win?”
“You really asking me that shit?”
Cannon laughed. “Fair enough.” He tipped his chin toward Baylyn, studying her. “And who the fuck is she?”
“With me. That’s all you need to worry about.”
Baylyn tensed at my side, but I kept my arm locked around her waist.
Cannon didn’t press. “Didn’t think I’d see the fucking day.”
He grinned at Baylyn one last time before he shook his head and walked off. I did another sweep to check in on my brothers. Kades stayed near the ring with Yair, like he always did before a fight. I led Baylyn toward the back, finding a spot along the wall where I could see the action without being in the thick of the crowd. She hesitated when I pulled her against me, her back flush with my chest, my arms looped around her waist, but she didn’t fight it.
“I hope he gets paid a lot for this. Look at them.” She cringed, glancing toward the ring where two men were beating the shit out of each other. They were both bloody and bruised.
