by G. Bailey
"Do the brothers know that?" I ask, wondering if they know Emilia is close to The Cage.
"No . . . Well, Luke does, but I would like it if you didn't say anything to the others," she tells me.
"I’m your friend, I’m not saying a word," I comment, and she smiles at me.
I pull the car out of their long drive and listen to Emilia’s directions to The Cage. I’m surprised that it isn’t that far away from town; it’s in the middle of a deserted road. The empty road pulls out into a packed carpark and a massive warehouse sits the back of it.
"This doesn’t look like The Cage," I say, commenting on how I expected it to be different.
"Make no mistake, Tilly, this place is as rough as it looks, and I need to be honest with you, you need to be quiet in there and let me speak," she tells me.
I watch in shock as she pulls her hoodie off, revealing the tattoos lining her arms and the small tank top she’s wearing that shows off her flat stomach. She pulls her hair down and runs her fingers through it.
“I can’t go in there looking like I want to. Not worth the hassle Arthur or my family would give me if a client saw me. They expect me to be their wet dream and to pay thousands for a dance,” she says, and her words are bitter.
“Do you ever sleep with them?” I ask her gently, and she shakes her head.
“Arthur sells the fact I’m a virgin to them, and I’m not to be touched. I know he will eventually sell me off to someone, but I plan to escape this hellhole of a town before that happens.”
“Virgin?”
“That’s what he thinks. There was this one night, with a guy who was amazing. But this is who I am. My family needs me, and whatever I feel can’t get in the way of that,” she tells me and then gets out of the car.
I follow her out and lock the car before walking up the path in the middle leading to the doors of the warehouse.
"Sis," one of the massive bouncers at the door says when he sees Emilia. The bouncer has a bald head, tanned skin similar to Emilia’s, and dark hair. The other bouncer doesn’t say a word as he continues to stare at me in the carpark.
"Hey, bro, I came to see the fight. Finally, there’s a chance one of the famous King brothers is going to die, huh?" Emilia says, and I glare at her. What the hell?
"Damn straight. I’ve seen the people the boss chose for Harley. Wants him dead, all right," her brother says, and I hold the urge to hit one of them as they both laugh.
"Anyway, my friend here hasn’t seen a fight before, and if she is going to see any, it’s got to be tonight," Emilia says, hooking her arm through mine as the guy looks me up and down.
"Best show her what it’s like then, and maybe bring her downstairs after if she needs some work." Her brother laughs and opens the door. I don’t want to know what kind of work her brother just offered me, and I have no intention of ever finding out. I just need to find Harley. Emilia leads me in, and we walk down the steps to the entrance.
Once the door shuts, she whispers to me. "You have to act a certain way here or you don’t make it. My brothers aren’t like that behind closed doors, but here, it’s different. If people aren’t scared of you, then you shouldn’t be here or you will be dead."
I don’t get a chance to respond to her as she pushes the doors open to a massive room. The room is loud, the music blasting my ears, and the heat of the place makes me feel like I’m being swallowed whole. There’s a massive cage in the middle, with bright lights shining on it. There are bars around the side and doors, leading off to god knows what on the sides.
I’m shocked at the number of people here. I didn’t expect to see so many. Most of the women are wearing clothes that do little to hide their bodies, and the men are in tight suits. I don’t know why I stop in my tracks as I take everything in, the smells of sweat and sweet perfumes fill my nose, and they make me want to run out the door.
"Come on!" Emilia shouts at me, just as I spot Harley.
Every part of me freezes when I see him, my mouth goes dry and fear fills me. He is in the cage, blood pouring down his face. Two men are unconscious at his feet, and he is facing three other guys. Two of them are massive, and the other looks like he shouldn’t be in the fight at all.
There are hundreds of people around the cage, most shouting ‘King,’ but some are shouting other words I don’t recognise. The noise is just that loud in here, but I can’t move as I stare at Harley. I don’t think I will ever forget seeing him this way, the way he looks dangerous, but I know straight away that this is not who he is.
Harley is the man who feeds my daughter when she wakes up at night, who brings me coffee in the morning. The man who cuts roses from plants in his garden and puts them in my bedroom window. The man I find asleep in his study with a new book in his hands. That’s my Harley, and this is the man he has been forced to be for too long.
"I see Sebastian at the bar,” she shouts at me, trying to pull my arm just as Harley rushes at two of the guys.
"Go, then," I say, unhooking my arm from hers and ignoring her when she tells me to come back. I push through the people and duck under others that are jumping up and down. It doesn’t take me long to get to the front of the crowd, with my body pushed against the cage wall.
Harley is struggling to fight the guys as two of the huge ones hold him down and the other hits his side. I feel sick as I see the almost defeated look he is wearing; this fight isn’t fair. He can’t die like this, not after everything this hellhole has taken from him.
"HARLEY, FIGHT FOR ME!" I scream, just as his bright-green eyes find mine.
103
Harley
“What happened this time?” I ask Elliot as I wait for the nurse to stitch up the cut on his back.
Our father called to tell me Elliot was here, but I don’t know why he bothered to tell me as he doesn’t usually give a fuck about the marks he has made. The cut on his back is thicker than the other one next to it, and the wad of cash sticking out from the nurse’s pocket makes me realize my father has already paid her off. The more I look at her, the more I realise that she is one of the girls who hang around my father and Arthur a lot.
“I wouldn’t fuck Hazel,” he says quietly, and I tighten my fists. The nurse gives me a worried look, and I force myself to calm down.
“I’m going to deal with her,” I tell Elliot, waiting for the nurse to finish up before leaving the hospital with Elliot.
“Don’t bother. The girl is a fucking idiot,” Elliot comments, and I shake my head as I open the car door for him.
“She needs to leave. I’ve had enough of our father using her to fuck with me, and now you. We deal with enough shit from him.”
“She won’t leave, she has no family to go to. Let’s just go somewhere else, Harley. I don’t want to go back there tonight,” he tells me, and I look over at him. What little light there was in his eyes just seems to be disappearing by the day. Everything our father does drains him more, and I don’t want Elliot to lose himself. Not when he is so young.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Don’t know,” he mutters, and I rest my hand on his shoulder.
“I do, let’s get your brothers and go for a drink in the next town,” I say, knowing I need to get him away from here.
“Sounds good,” Elliot says, and some light comes back into his eyes.
"You ready for this?" Elliot asks me as I finish wrapping my knuckles with tape, and I look over at him as the memory washes away.
Elliot looks far better than he did back then when everything was forced or taken from him. He finally has his girl, the one he always wanted, and he has everything to live for. I look down at the tape as I tie it. It’s red, and it reminds me of Tilly’s red hair. It makes me want to finish this quicker. Win this last fight and then get the hell out of here and back to my girl.
"Yes. Just . . . if I don’t make it out of this, protect Tilly and her baby for me?" I ask him, knowing he is the only one out of my brothers who is being realistic.
Luke and Sebastian can’t think of anything other than me walking out of here. But Elliot isn’t like that. He knows how you have to fight for everything, and how I will be lucky to make it out of this fight in one piece. We always took the harder fights, the ones we knew would be hard to beat, but Luke and Sebastian don’t know that. And they never will.
“Always,” Elliot tells me, and that’s all I need to hear as I stand up.
I’ve spent months working out for this, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I can do this, I’ve done it my whole life, but I’ve never fought more than three men at a time. I remember when I fought three when I turned eighteen; I just barely made it out of that fight then, but I’m a different man now. Years of fighting have made me tough, and I’ve never been in shape like I am today. I’ve spent weeks training for this moment, to get to where I need to be.
"I wish you would let me do this," Elliot comments, and I shake my head.
"No, this is my fight. Let me protect you now," I comment, and he pulls me into a hug. Elliot never hugs me, so I pat his back.
"Fucking beat those fuckers, and we can walk out of here. Then you can get your girl," he says as he lets go, and I nod.
Elliot walks out first, and then I follow, after pausing for a moment to collect my thoughts. I have to blank my mind for this fight, focus on nothing other than winning like I do every time. The screaming is blasting my ears from the number of people here, and the heat of The Cage is the hardest thing to block out.
There are far more spectators than there usually are for a fight, and Arthur looks happy as he stands outside the door to the cage. I don’t look at him as I size up my opponents in the cage instead. There are five of them, three of them are massive, just like I expected, and I would reckon they are brothers with their similar looks and evil smirks. The next two are a little confusing as to why they are here. One looks like an almost nerdy guy, with a thin frame. I bet he moves fast. The last guy is blond with a pretty face that is not going to look good with bruises. I don’t take any of their looks for face value, they must have some hidden qualities or tricks and that’s why they are here. Arthur wouldn’t let them into the fight if there wasn’t a reason.
"Fight well," Arthur says when I get to him and stop.
"When I win this, I don’t want to see your fucking face again," I spit out at him, and he snickers.
"I have a gift for you . . . if you win this,” he says, smoothing down his suit.
“Why the fuck would you give me anything, Arthur?” I ask him, wondering what the fuck he is going on about. I don’t need him messing with me just before a fight.
“I stand to make millions if you win. The number of bets against you are through the roof, but then . . .” He leans closer. “They don’t know you like I do. They don’t know you have a pretty baby and girl at home to win for,” he whispers the end part, and I barely catch his words.
“Don’t fucking talk about them, Arthur,” I tell him, stepping closer and resisting the urge to slam him into that cage and beat the shit out of him.
“Don’t let me down, Harley, like every single one of your deadbeat family has. I don’t want anything to do with any of you anymore, and the money from this fight means I won’t have to," Arthur says, stepping away.
"What is the gift? Why the fuck would I want anything from you?" I ask him, and he laughs as he walks off into the crowd. Fucking Arthur, messing with my head before a fight.
I walk into the cage, shutting the door behind me and hearing the crowd scream my name as I stand in front of the guys, who no doubt are being paid a fortune to win this fight. Or Arthur has something on them. Either way, I have to look out for my family and myself now.
"Pretty boy, why are you here?" I ask as the overhead speakers start counting down.
"You’ll see. You can’t always win." He laughs, and they all look at each other.
I crack my knuckles as I wait for the countdown to hit one. I think they expected me to run at them, and it seems to confuse them when I don’t move.
"Come on, then," I say as I wave my hand at them, and they look between each other before one of the big guys runs forward, with the pretty guy following. I catch the man in a headlock, surprised how stupid he was to lower his head, and then lift my knee, slamming it into his chest. I spin away from the guy as he falls to his knees, and the blond man comes toward me. I have to give it to him, he is a good fighter, but it only takes me a few moments to punch him in the face as hard as I can, and he is out cold. The blood from his broken nose squirts all over my face.
"Is that the best you have?" I laugh at them.
The two guys grin at me together, this time getting several hits on my body before I manage to spin away from them both. The thin guy takes me by surprise when he slams a punch into my stomach and then jumps over me. The shock of the thin man attacking is all the other two need as they grab both my arms. The thin man walks in front of me and smirks.
“I trained for years to kill you. I doubt you remember my brother, he is in a coma because of you,” the thin man says, all the nervous acting he was doing before is gone. He lifts his hand and punches me, punch after punch until I can’t hold my head up. I don’t remember his brother, I don’t remember any of the men I fight. I had to put every man I fought in the back of my mind, forgetting they ever happened.
“HARLEY FIGHT FOR ME!” I hear Tilly's voice shout through the haze.
I lift my head, my eyes locking on her as she hangs onto the bars of the cage. What the fuck is she doing here?
“Tilly,” I whisper, and then, the man punches me once more.
Thoughts of Tilly run through my head as I roar and push the men holding me away with all of my strength. The man in front looks shocked, but he tries to punch me again, which is a big mistake for him as I catch his hand and crush it in my own. I use my other hand to lift the thin man close to my face as he screams for me to let go of his hand.
“I’m sorry about your brother, and this,” I tell him, and his eyes widen just before I let go of his hand and punch him hard in the face. I’m not shocked when he falls to the ground as I let him go before I turn to face the two large guys waiting for me.
“I haven’t got all the time in the world . . .” I laugh, waiting for them to run at me as the screaming of the crowd gets louder.
I wipe the blood off my lip as I smile at them. They look at each other and then somehow seem to decide that running at me together is the best way. It’s a bad move on their part. I grab the one who gets to me first, punching his head and roundhouse kicking him in the side. He falls into the other guy, and they both fall to the ground. I jump on him as he flies over his friend, and I start punching his face. He is out cold in two minutes. The other guy gives me a panicked look when I pull his friend's unconscious body off him.
“Don’t,” the man says, holding up his hands as he backs away. The sight of all the unconscious men at my feet has freaked him out, and he isn’t going to try to attack me, not now.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” I say, slamming my fist into his face, and he stumbles backward. I grab his head, slamming it into the bars of the cage and kicking his legs as he falls to the ground.
“THE KINGS HAVE WON!” cheers a voice over the speakers, and the crowd screams.
My eyes meet Tilly’s just as Luke gets to her side and gives me a nod. He will keep her safe in here. I walk out of the cage, where Arthur is waiting. He offers me a towel, and I just look at him.
“Don’t you like seeing me covered in blood? It’s how you make your money.” I laugh, and he narrows his eyes at me. I wipe some of the blood off my face and slap his face, leaving blood all over him.
“Take it, and get out,” he says, pulling out a note from his pocket and giving it to me.
“Gladly,” I take the note, walking away from the bastard and toward the changing rooms.
When the changing room doors are closed behind me, I rest my head on them. I fucking won.
104
Tilly
“Here let me,” I mutter as Harley tries to push the ice away that I’m holding to his lip.
He smiles at me before gently kissing me, and I sigh. Ever since he walked out of The Cage with Em at his side, he hasn’t said he is in any pain at all when I know he must be. I waited as he came back and showered the blood off and got dressed. I offered him painkillers, but he refused to have any.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he says, and I give him a disbelieving glare. Harley’s one eye is swollen, nearly shut, and there are a range of bruises already showing all over his face. I don’t believe him for a second.
“You know how awesome you are? Allie says ‘awesome’ a lot and–” He sways a little in the seat.
“You fought five guys today, there’s no way you’re not in pain, and yes, Allie says ‘awesome’ a lot,” I tell him and give him a worried look. What if he has a concussion or something?
“It's the painkillers I crushed into his drink,” Luke says, sitting on the sofa with my baby girl in his arms, and I give him a wide-eyed look. “What? I knew the stubborn fucker wouldn’t have them.” He shrugs.
“Language,” Harley says with a dopey smile as he leans back on the sofa. I watch as he slowly falls asleep, and I move him so that he is lying down on the sofa. I pull one of the blankets over him as Izzy comes into the room.
“It was a good idea; he needs to rest,” I comment, stroking Harley's hair off his face and watching him for a second as Luke doesn’t say a word.
“Any news on Maisy?” I ask.
“Is he all right?” Izzy asks, and I nod.
“Oh . . . no news. They are letting the labour go naturally, and she is close, apparently,” she says, going to sit next to Luke. “Let me hold baby girl,” Izzy says, and Luke shakes his head.
“Nope, I got her to sleep after she woke up, so I’m holding her,” he says, and I smile at him. “A name yet?” Luke asks, and I shake my head.