Page 20 of The Air You Breathe

I pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry, but I just want your life to be as normal as possible and that’s away from his bullshit.”

“That's not fair, your life wasn’t normal, why should mine be?” she asked, muffled by my shirt.

“Because I didn’t have two older brothers who would murder anyone who fucked up my childhood,” I said, as I let her go.

She rolled her eyes at me. “You had Giovanni.”

“I didn’t know about Giovanni until I was almost done with high school. Now I gotta get going before I’m late.” I grabbed my bag and she followed me to the front door.

“Devlin, please be careful.” I glanced back to see her looking every bit the teenager she was. I knew when she used my full name, she was really worried.

“I will Ava, I’ll text you when I can, so you know I’m safe, and if I stay at Evan’s house.” I kissed her forehead, opened the front door and got into my Impala.

The drive to Misfits wasn’t too long from our home, it gave me enough time to get into the headspace I knew I was going to need for tonight. When I finally arrived, I entered through a side door like I was instructed, and Evan met me.

“Hey man, how's it going?” he asked, as he showed me where I was going to wait and prepare for the fight.

I shrugged, “I guess, ok. I don’t know what to expect and I hate that.”

“I’m sorry. I wish he would have run it through Giovanni and I before he put you on the spot, maybe we could have dissuaded him,” he said, looking sad. “He’s really becoming unpredictable, and it's getting hard for us to figure out what’s going to happen next.”

“It's not your fault, there is only so much you guys can do with that man,” I said, knowing they did a lot for Ava and me that we didn’t know about.

“Look, I’m going to be really honest with you. Lucio has put you up against a pretty decent fighter and I just want you to know that we had originally matched you up with a rookie,” Evan said, looking stressed out as he stopped in front of a small room.

“Let me guess, he said I could do it because I was his son?” I sneered.

“He also said the guy was a schmuck, but I think he was thinking of the wrong person.” He watched the hallway. “Look he’s trying to get a big payout for something he has in the works and he’s being irrational. You need to be prepared for this guy to come out swinging. He has no formal training but he’s a big guy and he packs a punch.”

I clenched my jaw, as my nerves got exponentially worse. “He has too much fucking faith in me. I’m not looking forward to hearing his disappointment.”

“Just be quick and don’t let your anger get the best of you.” He nodded and clapped my shoulder. “I know it's not the best room, but Lucio gave away all the bigger rooms. I have to go, text me if you need something.”

“Thanks, man,” I said opening the door and it looked like a fucking utility closet with a chair. I sat my bag down on it, flipping the switch to turn the lights on. I changed into a pair of shorts, leaving my shirt off. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing but I stretched, trying to loosen my muscles as much as I could.

The room was too small, so I walked the length of the hall a few times to keep my body warm, punching the air here and there feeling like an idiot.

“Hey Dev.” I turned around to see Candy in a skimpy outfit.

I grunted, not wanting to deal with her, and turned around to walk back to my cubby that made me feel like Harry Potter.

“Hey, are you fighting today?” She walked beside me and touched my shoulder. I pulled away from her regretting ever sleeping with her two years ago. Once she set her sights on Cal, Aiden and Nathan, she finally left me alone after months of telling her it wasn’t going to happen again.

“Come on Dev,” she purred, grabbing my arm. I pulled it out of her grasp quickly sneering at her.

“How many times do I have to tell you to fuck off, Candy? Don’t you fucking listen?”

“Oh, come one Dev, we had a great time together.” She tried to touch me again and I leveled her with a glare that had her hand stopping in mid-air.

“Look, I heard you were dumped by Cal and his friends but this,” I pointed at her and then me. “Isn’t going to happen.” I walked away and I was surprised when she didn’t follow me.

“One day Dev, you’ll wish you had taken me up on all my offers,” she yelled. “Once you realize your mistake, don’t come running back to me.”

I knew it was an empty threat, but my gut told me Candy was up to something, making me want to stay far away from her. She made me wonder if I should say something to the guys about her. I didn’t know why they kicked her to the curb, but they needed to make sure they left her there. That woman was a snake.

Once the girl in lingerie came for me everything felt like it was on fast forward. Lucio introduced me to a beautiful woman named Jane before my fight. He said that she would patch me up if I needed it. I looked at her belt with a whole bunch of supplies, for once grateful to Lucio. I knew it wasn’t because he cared, but because he had to protect his investment.

A blonde guy came with Jane but I paid no attention to him. I turned around to enter the cage to get this fight over with but I was definitely not prepared for it. He landed a powerful punch that left me disoriented.

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