ChapterTwenty-Eight
“Nothing,” I reply as Deity glares at me.
He shakes his head before leading us back to the elevator. The thick silence that followed us on the way up returns, only now it’s woven with an edge of hostility that wasn’t there before.
Perhaps Deity thinks I’m judging her. I’m not. She did what she had to do to help her team win. I respect that. I’ve never been one to look down on someone for using their body to pay their way. It’s her body, it’s her call. She could have said no just like I did. We’re not at risk of being kicked out and sent home because too many people will have paid a fortune to see the fight tonight. Perhaps if the stakes were higher, I’d have done the same.
We exit the elevator and head back to the waiting area.
“Please sit while I return Deity to her team.” Philip points at the sofa.
I sit and look up in time to see Deity staring at me.
“You keep your mouth shut, or I’ll knock your teeth out.”
I laugh. “Does it even matter? One of us won’t be walking away, so it’s kind of a moot point, don’t you think?”
She doesn’t reply. She flips me off and turns to follow Philip, who urges her to hurry up in that brash, dickish way of his.
I lean back with my eyes closed, ignoring the camera in the corner but refusing to look anything but bored in case Titus is watching me.
I’ve almost drifted off when Philip returns. It’s only years of training that stop me from jumping out of my skin.
“Let’s go. The fight starts in a couple of hours, and food will be delivered soon. You’ll need to fuel up for your fight.”
I climb to my feet and follow him back the way we came.
“How long have you worked here?”
He’s quiet for so long I assume he’s going to ignore me once more until he coughs to clear his throat and answers quietly.
“Ten years.”
“Wow, long time.”
He grunts as we cross the courtyard back down to the fighter’s area.
“Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?”
“That you’ll fire me when you win?”
“Oh, in a heartbeat. You’re a dick.”
His lips twitch, the move surprising us both.
“You didn’t sleep with him.” He doesn’t say who, but it’s not hard to figure out.
“Neither of us did.”
“But Deity did something, right? Before he got sick, he would have sex with the female fighters whether they wanted it or not. Now he can’t, so he gets his kicks by humiliating them. You didn’t do what he wanted. That would have angered him. He’ll try to humiliate you in another way.”
“I have thick skin. I can handle Titus.”
He whirls on me. “Don’t underestimate him. Sick or not, that man is evil.”
“Then why do you stay?”