Page 23 of Rematch
As I came closer to the betting table, I noticed my men locked in a stare down with the hooded figure standing on the otherside of the table. “What’s the-” I started once I reached them. My sentence stopped when I caught sight of the poorly hidden face across from me. “What the hell did I tell you about coming back here?” I asked.
“Did you really think I gave a fuck about what you said?” he replied, challenging me with the same glare I was giving him.
Both Tysir and Wesley’s brows raced to their foreheads. Their eyes darted to me, curious, and fearful, about my next move.
As soon as the question left his lips, I grabbed a handful of the top of his hoodie, pulled it over his eyes and yanked his ass around the table.
“Hey!” He yelled as I dragged him away from the table. He tried to pry my fingers off of his hoodie. “Let me go, asshole!” When he couldn’t break my hold, he bowed his head down and wiggled himself out of the hoodie.
His head popped out from beneath the fabric and I grabbed him by the back of his neck. “You aren’t slick,” I told him.
He still squirmed in my grasp as I towed him towards the back door.
I kicked it open and flung him forward.
Unable to catch his balance, he stumbled over his feet and fell nearly face first onto the concrete.
“I’m not giving you another warning,” I told him. “Don’t come around here again.”
“Wait, wait,” he called as I began to close the door. He darted up off the ground and grabbed the side of the door, preventing me from closing it. “Maximiliano, please -”
Hearing my full name was more than enough for me to grip him by his shirt and toss him back again. “Don’tcall me that.”
He skirted back a few steps, but caught himself before he could fall on his ass. “Look, you have to let me fight.”
“I don’t have to do shit.”
“Please,” he said, his voice coated with desperation. “I really need the money.”
“For what?”
“Does it matter?”
“Hell yeah, the thing you’re putting your life on the line for matters.”
He averted his eyes. “My mom…she…we’ve always had trouble keeping up with the bills. She works a lot, but the paychecks are never enough. One of the crime lords who had a thing for her noticed and decided to step in to help us. He slipped my mom cash, so we could stay afloat for a few years. He even tried to play the step-dad role around holidays and came around with a shit ton of gifts. All he wanted was my mom’s affection. But when she set his ass in the friend-zone, all that ‘help’ suddenly turned into ‘debts.’ He won’t leave her alone until she pays him back. She’s already killing herself at two jobs. I’m just trying to help her get him out of our lives.”
“What about your trust fund money? Aren’t you eighteen? Shouldn’t you have access to that account now?”
“Trust fund?” He let out a dry laugh. “That bastard barely paid my mom child support.”
I frowned. An apology crawled up my throat, but he didn’t give me time to let it out.
“Look, I know you and Rafael don’t want me around. I get that. But, this is one of the quickest ways to earn some cash - to protect my mom.”
“And your mom knows about this?”
“Do I look stupid to you? Of course she doesn’t. She thinks I’m picking up extra shifts at my legitimate job.”
“She doesn’t ask about the bruises?”
“She’s used to seeing those. Fighting isn’t out of the norm for me.” He shook his head. “Why do I even have to explain myself to you? It’s not like you care.”
That’s not true. The thought surprised me as it raced through my mind. Before I saw Jayden in the ring, I didn’t care. In fact, I couldn’t carelessabout his existence. But, there was something about seeing him down there, so small yet unafraid to bear his teeth at the monster across from him, that made me want to throw myself in front of him. Bear my own on his behalf.
Maybe that’s what being a big brother is supposed to feel like. I’ve just been too jaded by my own feelings towards our father to embrace it.
“So, are you going to let me back in or what?” Jayden asked.
