by T M Kelly
“Thank you. Good fight.” I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and touched my forehead against hers.
I stepped back and was quickly surrounded by Lily, Charlie, and Malik. “Oh my shit, I won.”
“Your armbar submission was amazing. I was fucking impressed,” Lily said and leaned in to hug me again.
Just as I was about to respond, the three men in hoodies I noticed earlier caught my attention again. I could see them from the corner of my eye. When I turned my head to see if they were real, all I saw was a crowd of people getting up from their seats or coming back to sit down.
“What’s wrong?” Malik said beside my ear.
“There are three figures in hoodies. Ray is one of them.”
“Are you sure about that, Jenny?” I gave him an annoyed look. “Right.” He threw his hands up. “Stay in here with Lily and Charlie.”
I watched as he ran down the steps and out of the octagon. “There’s another fight. We need to leave soon.” I looked around and noticed people slowly leaving the space. If I stepped out of the octagon, I knew my life could be in danger. Yet, I couldn’t hide out here all night. Charlie stepped in front of me and Lily went behind me. “Can we do this alone?”
“We have to,” Lily said beside my ear.
“If there are three men trying to trip you up”—Charlie leaned back closer to me—“that means all the agents are searching every square inch of the arena right now.”
“That leaves us.” Lily reached for my hand.
“And me,” Julian said from the bottom step. “We need to get you out of here.”
I stayed in the center of all three bodies. We moved slowly as we made our way out of the arena. People were screaming my name and reaching their hands out toward me. I waved and smiled as we passed each one. We managed to avoid looking suspicious. They looked like my bodyguards.
Right as we stepped into the back hallway, Julian was pulled to the side. Lily screamed his name but never moved away from me. “Keep moving,” Lily yelled.
I felt someone take my hand. At first I thought it was Charlie or Lily, and then I realized it was a male hand. I turned to find a man in a hoodie standing away from Lily but walking with us. He was just far enough away Lily had no clue he was even there.
“It’s him,” I said and pulled my hand away quickly.
“Fuck.” Charlie stopped, and I plowed into her. There was a man on a golf cart driving by at that moment. “We need you now,” Charlie said and stepped in front of the moving vehicle. “Thanks. Hop in ladies.”
“Ma’am,” the guy said. “I’m not supposed to have passengers.”
“You are today.” Lily patted his shoulder. “Take us to Jenny Andrews’s locker room immediately.”
“But—” The guy started to say.
“Drive,” Charlie barked and placed her foot over the guy’s and hit the gas pedal.
We didn’t speed off. It was more like a slow run. The golf cart helped, though, because there was a man in a hoodie struggling to weave in and out of the throng of people. The increased speed we were able to take helped to clear our distance from the guy.
“Was that your husband?” Lily said from beside me.
“I think so. It’s hard to tell.”
The golf cart stopped in front of my locker room and we piled out. I wondered if Ray was in the room already. Then Lily threw the door open and several Fight It Out fighters screamed my name. He couldn’t be in here.
“I’m going to check the bathroom.” Lily touched my arm. “Stay here with Charlie.”
“Are you okay?” Malik ran into the room and grabbed both my hands.
“Yeah, fine.” I looked around, waiting for Lily to come back. “Come with me.” I grabbed his hand and ran into the bathroom where I found Lily grappling with a man in a hoodie. “What the fuck?” Malik jumped forward and grabbed the guy around his waist and pulled him off of Lily. “Who the fuck is that? It’s not Ray.”
“The fucker was hiding behind the shower curtain,” Lily said as she tried to catch her breath.
“Is everyone okay—” Charlie and Journey stepped into the small space.
“We’re okay now,” I said and leaned against the wall. “Can someone tell me what is going on? I see three men wearing hoodies throughout the fight. Now this guy is here in my bathroom.” I walked up to the guy and fisted my hand in his jacket. “How much did my husband pay you?” The guy laughed and rolled his eyes. “I asked you a question.” I wrapped my hand around his neck. His eyes went wide and he grabbed onto my hand. “So, what was that? He gave you how much?”
The guy continued to struggle but I didn’t let up.
“Jenny, maybe you should take a break for a second,” Charlie said beside my ear.
“I asked him a question. He needs to answer it.”
“Fifty Gs,” the guy said as he tried to push my hand away.
Finally, I pulled my hand away. “Really?” I stepped away and sat down on the bench against the wall. “To wear the same clothes and hide out in my bathroom. There had to be a better reason?”
“He promised us a chance to fight with Spartacus.” The guy was bent over, holding his neck.
I burst out laughing. “Really? You’re a fighter?”
“Yeah.” He straightened up. “Why do you find that hard to believe?”
“Where do you fight now?” His body wasn’t built like a fighter. If he fought, where were the other hot spots to practice?
“Nesta Den,” he finally said.
“Shit.” I turned to find Journey in the doorway.
24
“What all did he tell you?” Journey said and sat down in a chair against the wall of my locker room.
“Just what I told you.” I paced back and forth in the center of the room. “Ray’s connected with a fighting group called Nesta Den?”
“Not a group, it’s an underground street fighting ring.”
“Wait, so street fighting is illegal?”
Journey stood and walked closer to me. “Jenny, this is the mob boss we were telling you about. They created Nesta Den.”
“How do you know that for sure?”
“It has Ella Nesta’s fingerprints all over it.”
“Does this mean my husband is deeper than we all originally thought?”
She lightly laughed. “Well, he’s deep, but being mixed up with an underground fighting ring is a bigger problem.”
“Why?” I really had no idea why it was such a problem. Some people didn’t have a chance to go to a gym and pay for training.
“The loser must die in the fight.”
“Wait.” I closed my eyes and thought about her words. “My husband is killing people?”
“We need to find out if he’s actually fighting. He may only take care of the finances.”
I wasn’t surprised. If it was easy for my husband to attempt to kill me. Taking someone’s life to win a fight would be easy for Ray. “We both know he wants to fight. Our history gives that away.”
“I need to go.” Journey stepped around me and headed for the door.
“Journey.” I waited until she turned around. “What now?”
“You go back to the guest house and wait.”
“And you?”
“Lincoln will be watching you. I need to find out where Nesta Den is located.”
I was unable to move as I watched her leave the locker room. My husband was a finance expert and now an associate for a mob. This was insane.
“Hey.” Malik touched my arm. “You okay?”
I turned on my heel. “Do I look okay?” He took a few steps back. “Why does Ray want me dead? What did I do?”
“You left him.”
It was three simple words, but they shot through me. I didn’t know how to process what he had just said to me. My husband thought he owned me. Now I was hiding out and he wanted to punish me.
“There were four men in hoodies.” I walked over and grabbed my gym bag. “We were only able to grab one?”
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“We think the other three pulled their hoodies off and blended into the crowd.”
“Even Ray?”
“Somehow he got away.” Malik reached down and grabbed my water bottle. “It’s possible someone on the inside helped him escape.”
“Someone on the inside?”
“He’s helping the Nesta mob, so they help him.”
“I need to get out of here. This is going to make my head explode.”
We were a few feet away from the door when someone knocked twice. Everyone in the room went silent. “Jenny,” the woman with short red hair said as she peeked her head inside. “Sorry to bother you. Mr. Green would like to speak with you. Do you have a moment?”
I turned to Malik. “Do I have a moment?”
“She can’t leave this room. Could he meet us in here?” Malik said and set some of my personal items on a table in the corner of the room. “That’s right, we haven’t been able to properly celebrate your win.”
I laughed. “My mind completely forgot about the fight.”
“You can’t forget about it when you’ll have another one soon,” Danny Green said and stepped inside the locker room. “Jenny, congratulations on the win.”
“Thank you.” I was seriously standing in front of the Danny Green.
He made his way around the room and said hello to everyone. “Who taught you the armbar?” He placed his hands in his pants pockets. “I was going to guess, Lily.”
“Ding ding ding,” Lily said from the other side of the room. “I may be up for a serious challenge if you ever sign with AFC.”
“Why’s that?” I had no idea what she was talking about.
“Because you’re in bantamweight class. That’s my division.” She winked.
“I don’t want to fight you.” The thought of fighting my friend made my stomach turn.
“It’s about championship belts. She has the title with AFC,” Danny said. “I want to talk more in depth about you fighting with Spartacus and possibly signing a contract.”
“Can we do it later?”
“Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?”
“I’m—” I almost told him the truth, but I held back. “There are some personal issues I need to tend to first.”
He turned to leave. “No rush. Well, personally I would like to get you on a fight card sooner rather than later.”
“I’ll contact you as soon as I can.”
“Sounds good. Congrats on the win. You have some serious power for a new fighter.”
“That means a lot, thank you, sir.” The moment the door closed behind Danny, I turned on my heel to face everyone in the room. The place erupted in cheers. I jumped into Malik’s arms and he spun me around. “He wants me to fight sooner rather than later.”
Malik put me down. “We’ll make sure that happens.”
“Don’t make promises.”
“Oh, I will make a promise and this one will be kept.”
The process to get me back to the guest house was exhausting. I had to ride in five different vehicles this time and switch out in obscure locations. Once I was finally back at the house, I immediately went to the bathroom to shower. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just needed a few minutes to myself.
My head was under the water when I felt warm arms wrap around my waist. I jumped and looked behind me. My first instinct was Ray had gotten into the guest house somehow. Then I saw Malik’s beautiful hazel eyes staring at me. “You know how to scare a woman.”
“Did I? I’m sorry.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” I placed my hands over his. “Are you sure we’re safe here?”
“This place is on lockdown. I honestly don’t know how anyone will get past security.”
I turned to face him. “You say that now.”
“It’s going to come back to bite me in the ass someday soon.”
“Let’s hope not.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “This place is set off the beaten path.”
“Plus, Julian uses a P.O. Box. There are no deliveries made to this address.”
“That’s why it’s so quiet here.” I moved my body side to side. His erection felt delicious rubbing back and forth on my skin.
“Are you starting something you know you can finish?”
“Oh, I can finish this over and over.” He burst out laughing and lifted my body up into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck to hold on tightly. Then I reached down and placed him perfectly inside me. Carefully I moved down over him until he was all the way inside me. I dropped my head against his. “This is a great way to celebrate a win. Should we make it our new tradition?”
“I could totally make this a tradition.” He bent and kissed the crook of my neck. Then he dragged his tongue all the way to my ear. He moved my body out slightly and then let me fall back against him. I cried out from the pleasure. There was something special about being with Malik. He took care of my needs first every time we had sex.
I moved my head away and leaned in to nibble on his ear. “I need it harder,” I whispered.
“Jenny,” he hissed.
“I need more.”
He never hesitated. My body was thrown up against the side of the shower and he started to move in and out at a faster rate. “Harder.” I moved his head to my one breasts.
“Is this a message?”
“Yup,” I said while trying to enjoy every sensation coursing through my body. He chuckled and dropped his head. The moment Malik wrapped his teeth around my nipple and bit down, I screamed. “Harder, Malik.” We were moving in and out at a faster rate while he nipped and sucked hard on my nipple. A few minutes later, I could feel the onset of an orgasm. When it ripped through my body, I thought I would be exhausted and want to stop. Instead, I surprised myself by making him continue.
“I don’t know how much longer I can hold on, Jenny.”
“Give me a few more minutes.” I was shocked when I felt the second orgasm surface. “Oh, my God, please don’t stop.”
He lifted his head and forced my face closer to him. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.” I started to help him with the fast movements while staring directly into his eyes. “Come for me one more time, Jenny.” I bent down and started to kiss him passionately. Our breathing was erratic and I could tell he was tiring out. I reached up and pinched my nipples forcing my orgasm to happen faster. “Stop, Jenny.” He bent his head and bit down hard.
That was it. It was all I needed to take me over the edge. Malik was right there with me. The moment it ended, I struggled to catch my breath. “Fuck.” I dropped my head to his chest.
“What got into you?” He squeezed my behind and kissed my temple. “I like this side of you.”
“You do, eh?” I kissed him lightly on the lips and the tip of his nose. “Maybe winning fights brings out two orgasms instead of one?”
“Then we need to get you signed with Spartacus ASAP.”
25
“We should get a kitten.” I snuggled against his side and lifted my head to face him. “Are we allowed to have animals here?”
“I honestly have no clue. Let’s ask Julian and Lily.” Malik brushed his fingers down the side of my face and moved my hair over my shoulder. “A kitten. You’re not into dogs?”
I didn’t have any animals growing up. My mom was allergic to almost everything and everyone. Then I met Ray. Animals were just never a part of my life. Being locked up in a house can change a lot of things. I found myself looking at kitten social pages almost daily just to make me smile. Something happened every time I opened a new photo. There was this little urge to have one of my own starting to blossom. “I’ve never had a cat or a dog.”
He leaned up on his elbow. “Then we should get both.”
“Both?” I giggled and sat up. “What if I don’t like one of them? Or what if they hate each other?”
“If we get two babies they can grow up together.”
I let my body fall back against the bed. “This was a shitty idea.”
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br /> He grabbed my hand and pulled me back up. “Why?”
“I can’t go pick the animal out.” The thought made me sad. I was ready to get out of this house. “What if we find one online and it’s not the perfect match when we meet the little sweetie?”
“I have an idea.” He jumped up and threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “Don’t move.” He pointed to me as he quickly left the room.
I had no idea what he was doing or how long he would take. It had been a few days since I talked to Anora, so I reached into the nightstand and grabbed the cellphone.
Me: Are you doing okay?
Anora: I guess.
Me: What’s wrong?
Anora: We’re at his place now. I’m locked in a bedroom day in and day out. There’s only so many shows you feel like watching.
Me: Any books there?
Anora: I’ve already devoured ten books.
Me: He doesn’t let you out of the room? Seems harsh.
Anora: He leaves for a small period of time. The room I’m in is down in the basement. It’s a hidden room that no one can find.
Me: Holy shit. The man has thought of everything.
Anora: You have no idea.
Me: Did you see I won the fight last night?
Anora: I found it on my phone. It wasn’t on my TV for some reason.
Me: That sucks. I’ll see if I can find a video to share with you.
Anora: Any sign of Ray at the fight?
Me: Yup, he had three men dress just like him. We were only able to grab one of the guys.
Anora: The man is fucking crazy.
Me: Yeah, he’s in deep.
Anora: He was someone who could be easily influenced by things. Remember the cruise he thought he signed up for, but it ended up being a total scam?
Me: Holy shit, I forgot about that. We were screwed out of five thousand dollars.
Anora: Exactly, and he was told he could double his money by paying that amount. Money talks. Maybe someone persuaded him with a sweet deal.
Me: And now you and I have to suffer.
Anora: You’re not suffering. That’s all me.
Me: Tell him to fucking let you roam the house for crying out loud. I’m so sorry I got you in this mess.