“Who’s the lady?”
“She’s with me, man. Cashed up. She’s good for it.”
“You know we don’t like ladies in the club.”
“She’s cool, trust me.”
“Fine, but you can answer to Mick if somethin’ goes wrong.”
Danny shrugs. “Mick cleared it.”
Without another word, he pulls me through the door, and we step into a large room filled with people. It’s dark and smells moldy, like it hasn’t seen the light of day before. In the middle of the room is a massive fighting ring and surrounding it are big crowds of men, all of them drinking and yelling, even though nobody is in the ring yet. I swallow as my eyes dart around. Seeing Jagger fight, I don’t know how that’ll feel for me. My gaze moves to Mick standing on a large crate at the front of the room. He spots Danny and me, and his eyes narrow.
“Mick’s coming,” I say, calmly.
I need to get into my character again, otherwise Mick will become too suspicious.
Danny turns his head and watches as Mick shoves through the crowd. When he stops in front of us, he growls, “What the fuck, Daniel?”
Danny shrugs. “She’s with me.”
Mick narrows his eyes. “You made a bet for the fight, but I never said you could fuckin’ come here.”
“Yes, I did,” I say in my accent, “but you didn’t think I would stay away and let you rip me off, did you?”
He’s staring at me with rage and frustration. Jagger was meant to take me out; I’m sure by now he knows that I got away, but he probably also figured I would never come back after that. He was wrong.
“If you get hurt, it’s not my problem. These men, they don’t appreciate women bein’ in here.”
I shrug, and Mick gives me one last scathing look before going back to his crate. Danny pulls me toward the fighting ring and his hand remains wrapped firmly around my wrist as Mick announces the fight in a loud, booming voice that has everyone stopping.
“Welcome back everyone. Tonight, we have a good fight. One that is more than worth your time and money. We have Tiger from out west, he’s new here and has a lot of bets goin’ in his direction, I hear he’s good, I guess we’ll find out,” Mick pauses to let people cheer. “And, of course, you all know the other fighter, my main man Jagger. You know where my loyalty lies, but let’s see who comes out on top. Are you all ready?”
The crowd goes wild.
My head whips around, trying to see past the seas of tall men, and when I see him, my heart stops. The man fighting Jagger is tall, muscly, and fucking huge. I don’t care though; my eyes are glued on Jagger. He’s wearing a loose pair of cotton shorts and nothing else. He has bandages wrapped around his hands and his body is almost pulsing with anticipation.
His body is big, much bigger than before. It’s almost too big. I stare at his face for long moments and take him in. He has a fading black eye, a fresh scar runs down his temple and there’s another on his cheek. His messy black hair is all over the place and he looks like a wild animal. He’s hopping from foot to foot, just waiting to be let loose. My heart breaks a little, and the rage I felt for him earlier, simmers down a little.
I don’t know this man, and yet, at the same time, I do.
“Stop starin’ at him like a desperate broken-hearted woman,” Danny hisses. “You’re drawin’ attention to yourself.”
“Fuck off, Danny.”
He snorts. Asshole.
I watch as the two men step into the ring and bump fists. Then Mick stands between them and counts it down. Before I know it, fists are flying. I let out a gasp, but it’s drowned out by the deafening screams and cheers of the people around me. I watch Tiger slam a fist into Jagger’s face, sending him flying back into the rubber railings, which he bounces off as if it didn’t even hurt.
He takes two steps forward and lands a punch right onto Tiger’s mouth, and a loud crack can be heard. Tiger doubles over and Jagger takes the opportunity to upper cut his face, sending him stumbling upward and then backward. Tiger spits blood out of his mouth and manages to stay on his feet, lashing out and connecting with Jagger’s jaw once more. Before I can see his reaction, Jagger slams a fist into Tiger’s jaw. Tiger’s head spins to the side and spit and blood fly, landing on people standing close enough to get hit.
Jagger turns to his side and drops a power punch into Tiger’s right cheek. Tiger’s knees buckle and his back bends as he falls onto the floor. Blood pours from his nose and mouth. He’s out cold. Mick roars his victory and jumps into the ring to count it down. Tiger isn’t getting back up, so everyone cheers and roars over Jagger’s win. Mick takes Jagger’s hand and holds it up high, and everyone bellows so loudly I can’t hear myself think.