Was I under her skin as much as she was under mine? Shit.
After my shower and a quick shave, I pulled out my black jeans, and a black sleeveless tank top – I resented the term ‘wifebeater’ for a shirt. It was like it was approval for domestic violence. The temperatures had dropped well below forty this week, but the Warehouse would be packed tonight for the fights and I never stayed still long enough to feel the cold.
I put a touch of product on my hand and ran it through my hair to slick it back, a dab of aftershave and I was ready.
I carried my biker boots out with me and walked past Lela who was sitting on the couch watching TV. I dropped them at the door for when I was leaving. I turned to her watching me, her eyes ran over me once – then ran over me again.
“Gee, you look ready for action,” Lela commented dryly.
I looked down at myself. “Huh?”
Her hand moved up and down. “All that and somewhere to go. Looking to get lucky?” Her tone had an edge to it that I didn’t like.
“You jealous?” I snarked back.
“I’m jealous you get to go out. I’m not jealous if you are looking to hook up with someone.” Her face was flushed and she was concentrating on the TV a little too hard. I walked over to the couch and stood in front of her. She adjusted her body so she could see around me. I bit back my smile.
“Lela. Look at me.” She ignored me. “Lela,” I commanded again. Her eyes flicked to mine and I held her stare. “I don’t go to work to hook up. I go to work to earn money.” Why was I explaining myself to her?
“Ok.” She shrugged. I raised an eyebrow. “I said ok!” I did smile this time and she rolled her eyes at me. I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a travel mug. I filled it with coffee.
“I think you have more problems with caffeine addiction than you know,” she commented wryly from the couch.
“Yeah I probably do, but trust me, you don’t want to see me without it.” I screwed the lid on and picked up my smokes and lighter. “Lock the door.” I paused as I looked at her. “Can I trust you to stay here?” I watched her carefully. “You won’t phone any of my guys and trick them again?”
“No. I’ll stay here like a good little house pet.” Lela snapped at me.
I barked out a laugh as I slipped my boots on. I reached for my hoody and jacket. “I’ll be back late. I’m trusting you Lela, don’t let me down.” I waited for her response and then she nodded. it was reluctant, but it was enough.
I locked the door behind me as I headed for my truck. I started the engine and couldn’t bring myself to pull out of the driveway. Should I leave her? The threat to her was gone. Tommy now knew who she was. She would be safe. What if she left? I closed my eyes in frustration. What was I doing? This wasn’t me, I didn’t care about spoiled brats with issues. Cursing myself to get a grip, I jerked the truck into reverse, clenched my jaw and drove to work.
I parked around the back of the industrial site that housed Skinner’s unit. I didn’t usually have trouble but common sense made me park my Raptor out of sight. Some people lost a lot of money here. Sore losers could do stupid things. Like mark up my truck. Which of course would then mean I’d need to beat the shit out of them. It was a courtesy to them really, me parking out of sight. I grinned as I walk around to the side of the building.
A van was outside. I raised my hand in acknowledgment. Trey and his cousin jumped out. “Hey, we good?” Trey asked immediately.
“Huh?” Then I remembered earlier. “Sure, did you remember to get extra Maker’s Mark for tonight?” I unlocked the Warehouse and held the door open as Trey and his cousin started carrying boxes in. We didn’t have a licence for a bar, but then we didn’t have a licence for a fight club either. Trey set up the two tables that would hold the liquor. We served the basics – scotch, bourbon, vodka and tequila. You got the option of Coke as a mixer and nothing else. We had cases of beer. Since it was winter in Boulder the warehouse was acting as a natural fridge. However, Trey and I were now hauling in ice coolers filled with ice. I shoved eight bottles of vodka into one of them. We also had cases of water for the ones who didn’t want to add alcohol to an already fuelled atmosphere.
“I got more shot glasses and stuff from Costco,” Trey told me as he carried in the boxes.
“Plastic I hope,” I commented.
“Yeah, course. Picked up some lime for the tequila since so many people pissed Jay off last time asking for it.” He laughed but I didn’t. Reminders of my brother pissed me off.
“Good,” I said instead.
“Yo, Aaron, you here?” I looked up as one of my other guys came in. Mike was short, stocky and looked like he had been kicked in the face by a mule, but he was absolutely excellent at door control. He and his brother, who stood a good half foot above him, deterred most of my potential trouble.
“Setting up bar,” I hollered back. I shook his hand as he came up. Wearing black jeans, black shirts and black coats, they looked like bouncers.
“What you need us to do?” Mike asked.
“Need the ring taped out,” I answered. I didn’t have an actual boxing ring in here – that would be too much like evidence if Skinner ever had the cops snooping around. We taped the floor every fight night and put up four temporary posts. I posted four guys – one on each side of the ring – to keep the crowd back and the fighters in.
You came here to fight. There was only one rule: no weapons. Hands, feet, head, all were usable. Bare hands, bare feet, no padding, no protection. Raw power. Nothing got money flowing quite like it. I discouraged the breaking of bones. Fighters tapped out when they had enough or until they were knocked out. Knock outs were common.
“I am here!” a loud booming voice announced. I looked up from finishing the bar set up as Shadow walked in. I grinned at him. My earlier displeasure gone. I wasn’t expecting to see him tonight – thought Clara would have her hooks into him.
He swaggered over and immediately poured himself a shot. He knocked it back and flung his arm over my shoulder. “So, we good, or do you still want to rip my throat out?” Trey instantly froze as did his cousin. I noticed Mike and his brother also stopped and looked. I sighed. Shadow wasn’t big on discretion sometimes.
“I didn’t want to rip your throat out, just punch you in it.” I ducked as he grabbed for me and laughed.
“He’s harmless man, I like him.”
“You’re blinded because of what he did.” Shadow frowned at me. “But I understand. Just keep him away from here. I don’t need the extra shit.”
Shadow continued to frown and then beamed at me. “I do like it when you say I can have other friends” he joked at me.
“You’re such a prick.” Laughing, I offloaded a box to him. “Make yourself useful.”
Twenty minutes later, I had a fighting ring, a fully stocked bar and my DJ had just arrived. He was setting up in the back corner.
“We need seats for tonight? There’s five fights scheduled,” Shadow asked me quietly.
“Nah, let ‘em stand. We can get more in that way.”
“We should seriously consider a door charge,” Shadow mused.
“Maybe for Saturday, I got that guy in the MMA coming in. Totally off radar, we’ll need to confiscate phones.” I would also need extra security. I made a mental note to phone some guys tomorrow.
“Think Frank is right?” Shadow asked me as he surveyed the floor. I squinted at him.
“Right about what?”
“This getting too much attention?” He looked at me and I shrugged.
“I’m in total control. None of this it too big for us to handle.”
“Ok. Hey, listen to me.” He looked around to make sure no one else was listening. “Take my cut for the next few weeks. Use it to pay Tommy.”
“Fuck off.”
“Aaron. Don’t let your pride fuck you over. Take it. You have four weeks. You can pay me back if it bugs you so much, after you pay the fucker.” Shadow glared at me. The problem with being i
n business with my best friend was the fact that he was my best friend. That was a lie. He was family. I glared at him. He glared back.
“You’re such a needy dick,” I muttered.
“Hey there’s no needs with this dick, my wife takes good care of her man.” He winked at me and I laughed out loud.
“Oh god, she’d slice it off if she heard that!” I went back to setting up for tonight as I laughed.
“We good?”
“Course we are.” I caught his eye. “Thank you.”
“Shut up, I ain’t hugging you.” I was still laughing as he walked over and started barking out orders to Mike and his brother. Shadow here meant more security and I was glad.
Another twenty minutes had all my staff in and ready. I had two guys on the door, four for the ring, two on the bar and two on the decks. Three girls – usually my regular guys’ current girlfriends – would go through the crowds taking drink orders. I just needed my bookie to turn up and I was all set.
Everything was cash. Shadow and I would move through the crowd all night, taking bets and handing out slips, and moving the cash from the makeshift bar and bookie station.
“First lot are showing up boss,” Mike shouted from the door. I nodded. I shrugged off my coat and headed towards the back of the unit. We had a safe here. I put the code in and took out two money boxes then I headed back. I dropped one with Trey at the bar and saw Eddie had arrived. I gave him the other one as he made his way to get set up. I followed behind him.
“Five tonight,” I greeted him. “Keep the first three odds low and then go high for the last two ok?” I handed him a brief description of each fight. He looked it over as he lit a cigarette.
“How good are the first three?” Eddie took a long drag of his cigarette.
“Outclassed each time. Last two are the more evenly matched,” I answered. I watched the trickle of people start to come through. They headed straight to the bar area.
“We got any specials tonight?” Eddie asked me.
“Yeah, I’m going to try and get the third fight to be a timed match. You up for it?” Eddie nodded. Timed matches had different odds on each time – it could be complicated but Eddie had been running bets since before I was old enough to know what a bet was.
“Ok, tell one of them hotties to keep me in beer and I’ll catch you later.”
I walked over to the nearest blonde and told her his order. I also reminded her to keep him supplied but moderated. Eddie liked the booze too much – he could get hammered after the fights, but while they were taking place and the money was coming in, I needed him as clear headed as possible. That’s why everyone knew not to give him scotch. He got a bottle at the end of the night.
“Hi Aaron.” I turned at the soft voice. Kayleigh was in front of me, all dressed up, with a tight short leather skirt and a tight see-through top which displayed a low-cut bra and her ample chest well.
“Hey Kayleigh, how you doing?” I asked as I watched more people arrive. Her hand came up and touched my arm. It drew my attention back to her. She trailed her hand down my arm and her fingers grazed my own.
“I’m good.” She smiled at me and I nodded.
“Great, you heard from Jay?” I asked her as I caught Shadow’s eye. He was hiding his grin behind his hand and my eyes narrowed at him.
Kayleigh huffed in frustration. “No, nothing.”
“Ok, good. Have fun, I’ll see you around.” I nodded as I left her and made my way over to Shadow. “What are you laughing at?”
“You’re unbelievable.” He laughed as he watched Kayleigh. She was looking over, but she merely gave a soft wave and turned to the bar.
“Huh? Why?” I took a bottle of water off one of the girls as she passed.
“She practically threw herself at you. What did you say to her?”
“No, she wasn’t, she’s sweet on Jay.” I took a swallow of water as I glanced at Kayleigh. She was looking over at me and smiled when she saw me looking at her.
“Oh your girl back at home is not going to like this.” Shadow was grinning at me. “You’re gonna get your balls cut off man.”
“She is not my girl,” I snapped. “Stop saying she is.” I scowled at him. His booming laughter drew a lot of attention. “You’re a dick,” I muttered as I walked away. Just then my phone vibrated.
Lela: How is your evening at work going?
Shadow had followed me and read the text over my shoulder. He was still laughing.
“Yeah, not your girl my ass.” He clasped my shoulder as he walked over to greet some customers.
“Hey, Aaron?” I turned and saw my first fighter had arrived. I took him to the back of the unit, making sure I had walked him through the crowd first, let them get a look at who they were spending their money on.
I set him up and made small talk with him, then Shadow was bringing the other fighter for tonight’s first match in. The fighters were usually professional, it was all about making money for them, they didn’t trash talk, they didn’t try for cheap shots before the ring. Occasionally, there were some who were evenly matched, and they needed to have the mind games. Those ones I tended to move to the ring sooner, I didn’t want the crowd missing out. For the next hour I walked the guys through the crowd, putting them in their respective areas – merely sectioned off parts of the unit that were off limits to the crowd. Trey and his cousin kept the drinks flowing and the DJ kept the music upbeat for the crowd.
I made my way over to Eddie. “What odds you giving for the first fight?” I asked as I took a drink of water.
“Three to one, the opponent is going to crush him and quickly too,” Eddie commented. I nodded. I hadn’t set this match up; this was one of Jay’s. He wasn’t clever enough to match the opponents more evenly. The guy that had turned up first was built but he was lean and toned, his opponent was built like a brick shithouse and I wasn’t holding out much hope for a long fight.
“You seen the others since they got here?” I asked as I surveyed the room. It was busy. Trey and his cousin looked harassed at the bar, but they were both still smiling, keeping my customers happy.
“Yeah, nothing good until fight three, but fight five is the killer. Thinking of three to five odds.” Eddie took a pull of his beer. “Not much return unless you’re putting in a larger bet.”
I nodded. “The guy from Colorado Springs thinks he can go pro – there will be big bets on him. Do it.” Eddie nodded and I walked away.
As I walked through the crowd, I noticed Frank had turned up. I made my way over to him.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you here,” I greeted him. He glanced at me and then to the areas where I had put the fighters. “None of the gym guys are up tonight.”
“I know, thought I would come scope it out, see what they could be fighting.” I assessed him as he surveyed the area.
“Alright…have a good night.” I walked away from him and went to find Shadow. He was taking bets through the crowd and handing out slips. I leaned up to him and he tilted his head down to hear me over the thumping bass. “Hey, Frank’s here.”
Shadow straightened and ran his eyes over the crowd. He landed on Frank and looked at me with a frown. “None of our guys are fighting tonight are they?”
“No, says he just wants to scope it out. We sure about him Shadow?”
Shadow looked at me and nodded. “Yeah, he’s solid. Well, he’s dodgy as fuck, but for us he’s good.” He met my frown. “I’ll watch him.”
Still frowning, I walked away. I went and checked the first two up and then five minutes later they were in the centre of the ring. Shadow’s booming voice was amplified by the microphone he had. Once he had silence, he introduced the two fighters.
I surveyed the room. Taking in the heightened excitement from the crowd. The music was toned down but still could be heard – plenty of people were still swaying to the beat, while others swayed in anticipation of the fight. All eyes were on the ring. I noted that Trey and his cousin were taking the welco
me break from the bar and restocking bottles. Eddie was standing on his seat to get a better view of the ring from the back. Frank was close to the ring watching both fighters like a hawk. My eyes lingered on him. I took in his expression. His entire focus was on the ring and nowhere else, like a junkie waiting for his next fix.
Thinking of junkie, I grimaced as I pulled my phone out my back pocket. Lela hadn’t texted again and I hadn’t replied earlier. It was just after eleven – would she be sleeping? I put my phone back and then with a soft curse, pulled it out again.
Me: Work’s good, busy, you ok?
The fight started. I watched the smaller fighter look over his opponent, then he moved. He was quick and he had the moves, unfortunately sometimes brute strength was enough and the blare of the music indicated the first three minutes were up for round one. The smaller fighter almost crawled back to his corner. My phone vibrated at my hip.
Lela: I’m ok, no noises tonight. Watching a film. Maybe had some of your beer.
I grinned at her message and fired off a quick reply.
Me: You drink it, you replace it. Better make sure your fifty covers it
Lela: Asshole
I laughed at her reply and put the phone away. The second round had started and by round three, smaller guy wasn’t getting up without help. His friends came and helped him limp away and the four perimeter bouncers quickly mopped the blood off the floor. It wasn’t pretty but it was effective. I had made sure the area where we marked the ring out was beside a drain and we waited fifteen minutes between fights to clean, disinfect and try to make it as dry as possible for the next fight.
Dark Heart Page 17