by Bella Jewel
“Damon, this is Blair. Teach her the basics.”
Damon turns his eyes to me, and they widen. “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?”
Roger turns to him with a disgusted expression. “Why would you think I’m kidding?”
“She’s tiny, a girl, and I’m not interested.”
Roger steps forward and glares at Damon. “She’s going to make me a lot of money, therefore you’ll get paid well. If you walk out, there will be no money for you and without money, you can’t take care of your wife.”
Damon flinches. “She’s just a fuckin’ girl.”
“She’s run with the best of them for years, she is tougher than she looks.”
“I’ll teach her the basics, Rex, but that’s it.”
Roger pats him on the back and he flinches. “Get on it then. Her first fight is in two days.”
Damon stares down at me, and with a defeated sigh says, “Get up.”
I get to my feet, staring at the huge, gorgeous man in front of me. Roger takes hold of my cuffs and leads me out of the room and back down to the large ring he’s got in his basement. He then uncuffs me and clicks his fingers. Six men appear and stand near each window and door in the room. I shake my head with a sigh. Roger turns to Damon.
“Four hours today. Same tomorrow.”
Then he turns and leaves the room. Damon gazes at me, his green eyes searching mine.
“What’s your name, darlin’?”
I tilt my head. “Huh?”
“You heard me.”
“My name is, um . . . Blair.”
He stares longer. “What’re you doin’ here, Blair?”
I hesitate and stare at the guys around. “I . . . well . . . I don’t have a choice.”
He sighs and rubs his head. “I’m sorry, Blair. I gotta do what I gotta do. The best I can do for you is give you a fighting chance.”
My eyes swell with tears. “I understand,” I croak.
His face softens but I see his jaw tic. He leans down close. “Is there someone I can get a message to?”
My heart swells with hope.
“Hey!” one of the men barks. “Back up.”
Damon stands straight before I can answer him. “Keep your knickers on,” he barks at him.
The guy glares at Damon, but eventually turns his focus away. Damon looks back to me and steps closer again, but not close enough to have a quiet conversation.
“For a girl, there are a few basics you need to know when it comes to defending yourself.”
I nod, swallowing my tears back.
“You’re tiny, but that can be an advantage. Anyone who says a fighter has to be huge is living in a fantasy. You have the chance to duck and hit those sensitive lower parts. You can duck away from a punch much easier than most. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders and whispers. “The contact, get it to me.”
I nod.
“Right, first things. Spread your legs a bit more. You want a good stance at all times, you can’t be losing your footing at a vital time.”
I spread my legs a little and he nods.
“You keep your fists up as much as you can unless, of course, you’re on the floor.”
He takes my fists and raises them in a fighter stance.
“If your opponent is bigger than you—which I imagine most will be—don’t let it put you off. Focus on what’s in front of you. If you can easily hit a stomach, or ribs, or, hell, a pelvis, then do it.”
I nod again, feeling my heart thudding.
“So,” he says, holding my fists in his large hands. “Most people are going to go straight for the face, it’s almost always the case. You see a fist, you duck. While you’re ducking, you go in for whatever you can. Remember this—it hurts just as much for a woman to get a fist to the junk as it does for a man. If you can get a hit there, go for it. The other sensitive place is the breasts—however, more often than not they’re taped. Doesn’t matter, though, I’d imagine it still hurts like a bastard.”
I cringe. It would.
“The next best place is the ribs. When you go for a rib jab, go direct. Don’t dance around it.”
He takes my fist and brings it to his ribcage. “Right here is the weakest part. Hit it hard and fast. Twice if you can.”
He raises my fist to his sternum. “Here is enough to put your opponent in a temporary pain haze. While they’re winded, you go in for anything else.”
He moves my hand to his throat. “Throat punch—works every time if you can get a clear shot. It will take the breath from their lungs and for a second it will feel like they can’t breathe. You hit hard and you make it good. Their hands will automatically go up to their throat—while they’re up it’s leaving the stomach, groin and legs free. Go for the groin over the stomach, which will cause them to double over. When they’re down, put a swift kick to the face to bring them down.”
I swallow and drop my head, sighing. “I can’t do this, I just . . . I can’t hurt someone else.”
“Listen to me,” he says, lifting my chin and forcing me to look at him. “These girls, they’re not going to hold back. The fights he’s got planned for you are a fight or die kind of situation. You can’t afford to be afraid.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this . . .”
“No one does,” he smiles weakly. “But you gotta do what you can to survive. No matter the situation.”
I nod and stand up straighter.
“Now, the most important thing in a fight is watching your opponent. Watch their body, watch the way their eyes focus and their arms flinch. Try to understand which way they’re going to hit. Sometimes it’s too fast and that’s impossible, but you never take your eyes off them.”
He lets my hand go and steps back.
“We’re going to do some basics. I’ll come at you—don’t worry, I won’t hit you—and you need to give me your best reaction.”
He launches his fist toward my face and I try desperately to remember what he said about that. I’m too slow—he bops my cheek softly.
“I can’t do this,” I panic. “I will die before I get a hit in.”
He looks me dead in the eye. “You’ll only die if you allow yourself to. You have to be angry, you have to be determined. Do you want to get out of here?”
I make a pained sound and whisper, “More than anything.”
“Then you fight and you fight with everything you are. Find it, girl, and use it.”
I nod and straighten my shoulders. “Again.”
He slowly swings his fist toward my face and I duck just in the last second, pushing my fist out until it hits his abdomen hard. He makes an oomphing sound and I groan as my knuckles ache. He’s got abs of steel. I don’t stop, though, when he brings a knee up and I duck to the side and swing around to his back, lifting my leg and shoving it into his hip, sending him stumbling forward. He spins around with a grin.
“Yes!”
I beam.
“Again.”
I’ll do it again. I’ll fight until all the breath leaves my body.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Dimitri
Fuck you, Hendrix,” I bark, slamming my fist into his desk.
He glares up at me. “Don’t take your temper out on me, boy. You want to make me pay, you do it after we’ve found her. You care about her at all, you’ll keep it the fuck together until she’s safe.”
I grind my jaw. “I care about her more than you, fucker.”
He stands, sliding around the desk and charging toward me. His hand lashes out when he reaches me, and connects with my jaw. I roar in pain and retaliate quickly, slamming my fist into his midsection. He bellows and takes two steps back, but I don’t give him a break. My fist swings around and hits him in the side of the head, causing his vision to blur. I know this, because I’ve been hit in the exact same location. He blinks and swings his fist, hitting me square in the ear. My hearing begins to fade and a loud, piercing squealing
sound takes its place.
I sink to the ground, and gather my bearings, before spinning around and launching toward his legs. He goes down hard, taking me with him. We land on the floor with a thump, growling and hissing, spitting curses. “You’re a no good son of a bitch,” I bellow. “You deserve to fucking pay for everything you did.”
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?” he roars. “Making me fucking pay?”
“I haven’t even begun to give you what it is you deserve.”
He flips me onto my back, pressing a hand to my throat. I gasp and struggle, launching my fist into his stomach. He stares down at me, eyes wild. “You’ve made my life a living fucking hell for this past month. You’re not even givin’ me a fuckin’ chance to speak.”
“There’s nothing to say,” I snarl. “You’re a no good piece of shit who ruined my life.”
“I didn’t fuckin’ ruin your life,” he barks, pressing his hand in harder. “If you listened for five seconds you would know that.”
“I gave you everything,” I roar. “Everything. I trusted you. I loved you. You gave me something when I had nothing and you let me down. You fuckin’ let me down.”
His eyes flash and he lets my neck go, leaning back. I lunge at him again, tackling him to the floor and driving another fist into his face.
“Stop it!”
I hear the sound of a female voice, but I don’t stop. I lift my body and bring it down over his, causing a loud oomph to leave his mouth. He brings his fists up and over my sides, hitting me furiously. I feel my ribs crack. Fuck. I rear my fist back and bring it down right over his groin. He roars, his face scrunching in pain. I’m panting and blood is filling my mouth. I look up and see his girl, Indi, gaping at us.
“What is wrong with you two?” she screams. “Jess is out there, God knows where, and you two are fighting.”
Hendrix glares at me, ignoring her. “Don’t you ever tell me you care more about that girl than me. You couldn’t possibly know her, in the short time you’ve had her, the way I know her. I was the one who found her half-naked, covered in blood and completely broken all those years ago. I put her back together. You know only what you see now.”
“No,” I grind out, clenching my fists. “I see what I am in her, and you’re right, I didn’t put her back together.” I stare down at my trembling fists for a second before looking back at him. “But she put me back together, and that’s a connection you will never understand.”
“I fuckin’ understand, more than you ever will.”
I snarl at him, raising my fist.
“Hit me again, boy, and it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Stop it!” Indi screams.
Once again we don’t listen.
Anger is filling my veins, making me wild. I lunge at him once more, but he’s quick, too quick. He rolls to the side, and by the time I reposition myself and turn, he’s got a gun pressed to my head. We’re both panting, both wild and angry.
“Do it,” I roar. “Take me out of your life like you always fuckin’ wanted to.”
“I never wanted you out of my life,” he growls. “But you won’t let me fuckin’ speak long enough to tell you what went down.”
“I don’t want to hear your fuckin’ lies!”
He presses the gun harder into my head. “You want me to take your head off?”
“What I want,” I snarl, “is to see you dead.”
“If you wanted me dead, Dimitri, you would have killed me by now.”
“Give me that fuckin’ gun, and we’ll see how this ends.”
Hendrix slowly removes the gun and hands it to me, causing my eyes to widen. He steps back, putting his arms out. Indi screams, but he puts a hand up, stopping her. “You want to kill me, Dimitri? Do it. It’s clear to me you’re never going to listen to what I have to say. You’re going to spend the rest of what is a perfectly good life chasing a man because you can’t get over your shit.”
Rage swarms through me, causing my head to pound. I lift the gun, blocking out Indi’s screams. My hand begins to tremble and sweat trickles down my forehead. This is what I’ve always wanted. I’ve always wanted to take his life. To make him pay for what he did. His eyes hold mine, his face expressionless.
I swallow, feeling like sirens are going off in my head.
“Well?” he rasps. “Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? Or did you want to make me pay first?”
“Please,” Indi sobs. “Don’t.”
I don’t look at her; I keep my eyes on him.
“Well, go on!” he roars so loudly it causes me to jerk. “You want to fuckin’ kill me then do it. Do it! You’re so sure you’re right; you’re so sure I fucked up your life. If you want to make me pay, here’s your chance. Take it now, boy, because if you walk away from here, you’ll never get it again.”
My vision blurs as emotion rips through my body. Just shoot him. End this. Be free.
“Don’t tell me you’ve come all this way to back down now?”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It’s all I can feel as my vision continues to blur.
“Well?” he roars.
“Shut up!” I snarl, closing my eyes and trying to rein in my emotions.
“I know Jess told you what went down,” he says, his voice like ice. “But I’m goin’ to repeat it. If you’re goin’ to shoot me, at least let me tell you what happened. Your momma was in bad shit. I became a pirate to try to fix that—I could do a lot out here that I couldn’t do on land. Illegal stuff. It didn’t work. When you got beaten because of her behavior, yes, I made her pay by getting her taken out. Her own son copped the punishment for her mistake. That wasn’t okay with me. When I came to the hospital, you hated me, despised me. It wasn’t fair that I was making it worse . . . so I left. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that was the worst thing I could ever have done. Your momma let you down, but what I did was so much worse.”
I flinch, struggling to breathe. I have no words, nothing. All the years I wanted to tell him how he fucked my life, but right now all I can do is shake, the gun trembling in my hands.
“I don’t expect forgiveness from you, Dimitri. I don’t expect you to understand or even try to. But if you’re goin’ to kill me, you need the fuckin’ truth. That’s the only thing I can give you that’s real. You’re my son, even if you don’t believe it anymore. And if I’m to die, I want to die with you knowin’ that I love you. Always have and always fuckin’ will.”
His words cause me to sway on my feet. They repeat over and over as the gun slips from my hand. He loves me. He loves me.
“Did you hear me, boy?” he says, his voice less harsh. “I said I love you.”
I look up at him and see that he means it, it’s written all over his face. It’s in that moment I know I can’t do it; I can’t take his life. There is more than one reason for that. The first being that now I’ve experienced emotion and loss with a woman, I know I can’t take that from Indi. The second is that I believe him. No matter the rage or hatred, I believe what he is saying is true.
In a raspy voice, I croak, “Why didn’t you come for me earlier? Why didn’t you fuckin’ try?”
He shakes his head, his eyes on mine. “Because I was an idiot. Because I fucked up. I can’t give you any more than that.”
I shake my head, trying to clear my vision.
“She loves you,” I whisper, my voice too shaky to use. “I don’t know why but she does, and . . . I care about her. I can’t do it, I can’t shoot you and risk the only good thing that’s come into my life in a long, long time.”
“You know . . .” he says. “She cares about you, too.”
I look up. “Then we need to find her.”
“I’m tryin’,” he says sincerely. “I really am.”
I gather myself and look up at him, “Someone took her, and there’s only one person who will know who that person was.”
Hendrix narrows his eyes. “Who?”
“Livvie.�
�
Jess
I wipe my face with a yellow colored washer and try to calm my panting. I’ve been fighting with Damon for three hours and I’m exhausted. He’s determined, though, and has pushed me even when I thought my body couldn’t go anymore. Now we’re standing having a rest and a drink. I haven’t taken my eyes off the guards, who have been watching us, making sure our conversations aren’t private.
I don’t know how I’m supposed to let him know about Dimitri if they won’t stop looking at me.
Suddenly, as if reading my mind, Damon spins around “accidentally” knocking his water all over me. I squeal and grip my shirt, fanning it, frantically trying to keep the freezing water off my skin. I take a step back and my shoe slips on the floor. Damon takes my arm as I go down and his mouth quickly goes past my ear. “A name.”
“Dimitri,” I say as he pulls me back upright.
His eyes flash and he stares at me for the longest moment. “Dimitri? As in undefeated fighter Dimitri?”
“Hey, get back to work,” one of the guarding men yells.
Damon steps back and lets me go, his eyes wide. I nod, letting him know that yes, that is the Dimitri I want. He narrows his gaze but gives me a nod to let me know he understands.
“I think we’re done here for the day,” he says, wiping his hands on a towel. “I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
I smile weakly. “Thank you.”
He smiles back. “Fight until you can’t breathe.”
I watch him turn and walk out, and I pray that he can get hold of Dimitri before I have to go back in the cage.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Jess
Rice, protein and vegetables,” Roger grunts, thrusting a tray of food at me. “Eat it all, you need to be strong.”
I glare at him, wanting so desperately to beat him. He has no idea of the hatred that swells in my belly every time I look at him. He returns my glare and leans down close.
“You’re so lucky I need you for money, otherwise you’d be on your back being fucked like the whore you are.”
My fists clench and I grind my jaw, but say nothing.
“You led me on all those years ago, you know that, don’t you? Coming in wearing only a towel.”