Once that’s taken care of, I decide to focus on Kash and the delightful spring flower that has taken his fancy. Time to teach the boy some moves. He tells me that Lilly is her name and that she’s the daughter of ‘Slash’ John Bronson, the president of the Reapers Reign MC. Of fucking course, she has to be the one and only Biker Princess of the most respected biker family in New York. Her brother is the president and his crazy best friend is the VP, along with a zombie looking sergeant in arms. Haven’t seen him around for a while though, some shit went down and he just kinda disappeared. She is protected hard.
“Kashie, Kashie boy,” I say as I shake my head. Really? Like damn son. “Look, maybe for your first time around, maybe go for a chick that you can actually get to. They will not let you anywhere near her, I’m telling you now. Jimmy is her uncle. I see how they watch her and now, come to think of it, you too... well, well, well, isn’t this all falling into place. I get it now.” I wink at him.
“If you are not going to help or have anything good to say, Knox, you can just fuck off!”
“Holy shit, little brother, you got balls all of a sudden!” I say as I push him playfully. “Ok, ok” I say smiling, this boy doesn’t have a shit show up against the Reapers Reign. “Best get you back in the gym there, bubby, you may need it,” I say as I walk away. I will deal with this after training. I call back, “You coming? Lilly will be there today doing the accounts and some stock shit for clothing for me. Wanna goggle-eye her while I sort shit?”
“Get a grip, Knox, you dick,” he spits out, grabbing his bag. “I’ll come and you can do some ground work with me after eh?”
“Yeah little brother, I‘ll do some ground work,” I say, winking at him again.
The gym isn’t too busy when we get there which is good. It gets too much, training with all them eyes on me all the time. Walking out back past the front desk, I smile down at the pretty new girl. She has been here about a week and falls over herself every time she sees me. Today she just about passes out as I say, “Good day sweetheart. How are you today?” with a pantie dropping grin.
“This here, is my twin brother, Kash. He’ll need a locker key and a keycard made up. He’s joining today, aren’t you, Kashie boy?” I whack his back as I look down at the young thing looking like a deer stuck in the headlights of a semi known as Assassin.
“Huh? Umm yeah... yeah! I sure am.” he says into space. I follow where his eyes are. Boom... On the beautiful biker princess Miss.
“You can sort that can't you, darling?” All she does is nod as we walk away and I leave her there to pick up her jaw off the desk and wipe the drool from her chin. I hear her murmur to the other chick, “A twin? Oh my, that’s hot.”
“Haha, women,” I say, punching Kash in the arm.
“Um yeah bro, whatever works,” he says distractedly. I shake my head turning out to the locker rooms.
I do some ground work with Kash, and Lilly comes over to us, tapping on my shoulder with her laced up Converse. All class is the biker princess.
“Knox, I need you for photos and fittings.”
“Sure, thing girly,” I say winking.
“Knox your charm doesn’t work on me.” She says in an exhausted tone.
Laughing, I jump up to my feet and walk out of the octagon. Kash looks up at Lilly. “Hey,” he says shyly.
She looks down at her feet, looking up through her eyelashes. Which I’ll just add are fucking long and stunning. This woman is gorgeous with such an edgy calm about her. She makes my dick twitch each time she walks her cute ass in here, dressed in her tight ass jeans, tank tops and Converse sneakers. Kash has taste. I’ll give the little shit that. “Hi Kash.” Man, these two are cute.
Photos and more photos, trying on shirts, shorts, sweats and jumpers... the time moves quickly and now I’m leaning up against the wall. I watch Kash watch Lilly. I clear my throat, “You know he likes you, right?” I say to her as she passes me yet another shirt. This one is under armor.
“Who?” she says looking at me through her long ass lashes.
“Kash! Blondie, you can see it and sense it a mile away.”
“Um yeah right! I don’t think so somehow. Whatever Knox,” she says, looking a tad flustered.
I throw my hands up in the air, “I give up,” I say. “Do you need me for anything else, babe? I have got to go. You know, women to dance with, fights to be won and all that jazz.” That soul shattering smile sweeps over her face as she looks up. She playfully punches me.
“Well, Mr. Ambrose, can’t have you losing face then, can we? Being held up here with us peasants when your women await you,” she says, laughing as I throw the top at her.
“Oh, doll, I’ll be keeping these sweats. I like the way they hang round my cock that twitches each time you look at me.”
Leaning in I kiss her cheek. “Don’t ever doubt it, Lilly, just how beautiful you are. If Kashie boy hadn’t fallen for you, I may have asked you to dance.” She goes beet fucking red as her fingernails dig into my arm while she holds the shirt in the other, her eyes not leaving Kash’s who sits just behind me.
With a wink, I walk off to change, smiling to myself. That girl is all class. She’ll be great for Kash if he ever pulls his balls out of his ass.
Fight night comes around fast. I go into it pumped, ready to unleash my wrath on this little punk. They’re finding it harder to get guys to fight me now. I have a reputation as the Assassin... no shit, it’s only my fight name and I only have it tattooed in massive script writing over my back. Working my room, shadow boxing, I try to clear my mind and let the sweet beats of none other than Drowning Pool’s Bodies seep into my bones. I’m trying out my new moves. I have a new punch lined up for this little punk tonight and the jock squad afterwards. I’m calling it ‘kill punch’ after you, Angel. A tap on the shoulder makes me remove my headphones. “Son you ready?” Pa says, “It’s time.”
I nod back at him, “Let’s roll.” I wink at Nan. She still torments herself by coming to each fight. The boys flank me.
“Ready?” Jamie asks.
“I was born ready, son.” I push open the door to my room and step out into the bright corridor, pulling my hood up over my head to shield my face. I box out my arms and stretch out my neck. Approaching the ring, something catches my eye. Sitting right there, up front, it’s her. Angel. I look over searching her eyes, “You came” I mouth, closing my eyes as I kiss my fists. “This is for you, baby.”
When I look back up, she is gone but there, in her seat, is a stunning woman I’d never seen before. Her eyes draw me in. I can’t look away from her as the ref checks my gloves and runs his fingers over my head and ears, down my sides to my trunks and legs before onto my boots. He steps back up, placing his hands on my shoulders and tapping. I’m ready to go. I can’t shake the feeling I’m getting from this girl. Her eyes. I know those eyes. She has this slight air around her that my body seems to know. I have an undeniable urge to touch her, to run my hands through her hair, up and down her body. I need to know who she is. I haven’t felt this way since the spring time air known as Sarah-Jane Briggs blew into my life.
Lilly is sat next to her. She is talking into this intoxicating woman’s ear. I knew she would be here. Iit’s a big fight tonight. I lean into Jamie.
“We all set brother?”
“Sure are, brother. You just get this done then we will worry about the other thing.” He says, pulling my gloves to his hands, checking over my laces.
“Get Kash ready too, will you?” I flick him my grin and punch him on the shoulder. “Ready.” I say and, leaning my head into Kash, we pray.
“Let’s do this.”
Kissing my gloves, I steal a glance at the mystery lady sitting to my left before jumping up the steps into the cage. “Let’s go!!”
This punk’s got a lot of spunk, that’s for sure. He gets in some quick, sharp jabs but my mind is on the lovely thing sitting in the crowd, watching me. I can feel her eyes, the eyes I know. I know she is consumin
g me. Damn. I spit as he takes me down with a leg sweep. Fuck it, I go in for an arm bar. I flick out of it, roll over on him and wrap my arm around his neck. I put the presser on him, punching him in the face with my free hand and wrapping my legs tight around his waist. I hold him down and continue my pursuit in caving in his face, blood bursts from him nose and eye. I keep going, one, two, three...
Ding, ding, ding, the bell goes for the end of the round.
Sitting in my corner I see her. Angel. She is sitting on top of the octagon. What is she doing? I shake my head, Jimmy’s saying something to me. I can see his mouth moving. I can’t hear him though, I’m so caught up in watching my angel. This shit’s not happening. She is twirling her fingers in her hair casual as. I don’t have time to even think about that.
The bell rings. Jimmy pushes his hands into my chest as I stand up. “Knox, you best get your head in this game boy. He may be the one to undo you.”
I smirk. “Yeah right,” I say, “That’ll be the day.”
The rounds roll into four. I’m toying with this boy, letting him get a couple of hits in. I want to give the folks a good fight for the money they spend. I am the main event after all. Jab, jab, jab, step back, duck, step forward, punch, kick to the shins, punch to the ribs, backup. I roll out and come back down on him with a southpaw to the jaw; he wobbles back. He goes up against the cage. I roll in on him, grabbing the back of his neck. I slam his head down into my knee, bouncing his head back up, I slam my fist into the bottom of his jaw. Crack. There it goes. Broken.
The job is just about done, water is now falling from his eyes, he is done. He swings at the air aimlessly trying to get to me. A laugh rumbles in my core as I watch his eyes rolling and his arms going limp. I step back, shake out my shoulders and go in to finish him with the kill punch. Stepping back on my back foot, I center myself, pulling my shoulders back, I close my eyes, see her face, take a breath in deep, open my eyes as I blow out my breath, and with all the force and pain I have, I throw my right fist into his face, coming at him slightly on the side. But, just as I do that, she pops up in front of him. I pull back. Not again, not again, I will not hurt her again.
I step back but not soon enough. He gets me with a jab right to my jaw, he follows it through with a roundhouse. I go down hard. I see her face follow me down. I turn my head to the right as I hit the mat and, laying there with me, is Angel, a small trail of blood trickling from her nose, down her sweating lips onto her chin. I shut my eyes. Not again. I feel something land on me. Pain is searing through my body as it takes hit after hit. I try to block this attack. What is happening? Everything is a blur. To the right, I see Angel and, when I turn to my left to try to escape this boy’s fists, I see the eyes that look like they belong to me. But then arms come around my neck, I can feel the air leaving my body. He is forcing it slowly out of me, the cage starts to go black with little white lights forming around the edges. I hold on. I have to hold on. I faintly hear the bell ding. Jimmy comes in. Jamie’s at my side and the ref’s right there with them.
“Get up, get up, Knox! Now!” They yell at me.
“Angel? Where is she?” I slur out. The lady with the beautiful eyes, where is she? I think. “Where am I?” I say.
“Shut up,” hisses Jamie as he pulls me to the stool. Jimmy throws water over me.
“You need to snap out of whatever you’re in and fucking focus! Jeez boy, you’re a goddamn mess out there tonight. People paying good money to see this and you are not performing to your ability. I’m not happy. You need to get in there, get the job done, finish this now and get out. Get your fucking head in the game, Knox.”
Spitting water out, I look up through my eyes. One is puffing over the other and I can feel the trickle of blood running out over a slit in my eyebrow. Looking past and up towards the lights of the arena, there she is! With a wink she is gone.
Jamie shakes me. “Oi boy! Come on! Let's go yeah? You got this! Let’s get it done. Finish it this round, Knox.” He says to me as he rubs my shoulders.
Rolling my head around I shake it off, shake her out of my mind. Fuck this. Stealing a glance over to the lovely lady to my left. I see her moss green eyes watching me and I swear I can see a hint of blue sitting around the edges. The color of my angel’s. Shutting my eyes, I see them. The jocks that took her away from me that night. I kiss my fists. “This is for you, Angel, I’m going to knock this guy's skull into the depths of Hell.” As the bell rings out and my stool and team walk from the octagon, I jump up. Fast solid movements is what I need, and precision too. I time my moves and my punches, my focus renewed. Throwing myself into a running knee kick, it connects with his face in the right place and his head snaps back. I fly at him again with a combo of rights and lefts, snapping his head back and forward like a yo-yo. Blood is spewing out of his mouth, nose, and above his eye.
I can see he is just about done now, wobbling on his feet, lurching forward then going two steps back. This is my chance. This is it! Now, to lay the kill punch on him. I circle him, calming my breathing and squaring my shoulders as I go. I step back on my right foot, hands up high, rolling my shoulders back as I suck air deep down into my lungs. I lunge forward at him with all the power from deep down low in my gut. All the pain, hurt, and tears shed over these last three years spilling into this one punch, it feels powerful, it’s like thunder smacks into my senses from out of nowhere.
I throw my right fist high at him, catching the right side of his temple. His head flies to the side, spit flinging out of his mouth as his face slams to the left. He goes down hard. I know he is done by the way his eyes roll back in his head, all I see are the whites of them as he goes down. I jump on his fallen body and spill all I have into his limp, bleeding form, the ref pulling at me. “Get up, Knox, get off, it's done.” I rock back, looking up at him as he signals his hands to the bell table that it’s the end. The fight is over, done. I’m the winner. By way of a fucking kill punch ending in an almighty KO.
I hear screams, cheers, thunderous clapping. I feel it all, the anger boiling into my veins. I will kill them all for this fucked up shit that’s coursing through my fucking veins right now. Right at this moment, I look up. She’s right there, blowing me a kiss as she drops a black feather down on the kid. I’m still sitting on him. I pull myself up and walk over to the cage door, kicking it open. I leave, with one glance back at the octagon, mouthing to Jimmy, “Job fucking done.”
I see the girl with the green eyes that captivate my soul so I kiss my glove before pointing it at her. I turn my back, ready to go and pull the souls of the jock squad out from the depths of their worthless bodies. Quickly, I rip the tape from my hands and jump into the shower, the water attacking my tender skin and ribs. I can really feel the effects of this fight and it just fuels me to hit harder on the jock squad tonight. I’ve been waiting, laying dormant for this moment and now it’s upon me. It has all my senses ready and willing. I walk from the arena and out to my bike, I head over to the hotel.
Picking up my key card from the front desk and taking the elevator up to room 204, I dump my bags on the bed at the hotel. I open it to re-tape my fists, and there, laying on top is the photo of Angel, smiling bright up at me. I took it the day at the hotel, the day I asked her to be my forever. I was straddling her, her hair in wild waves all over the pillows behind her, laying there in just her bra. That silky smooth skin of hers on show for me. I trace my fingers over her face down her collarbone to the tip of her hip bones where they meet my knees. Shutting my eyes, I breathe, “this is for you. You believed in me. I couldn’t save you when you had saved me. I couldn’t keep you safe but tonight, I regain a part of me by punishing them.” I pull the white dove charm from my pocket and I kiss it,“Angel, forever over the moon, under the sun, in and out of the stars,” I breathe out.
Kash is where I said to meet, right on time. I let him in, he grabs me around my neck, bringing my forehead to his. “Finish it tonight, Knox, please? Finish it not only for her but for you. We need yo
u back. The old you. This one we have right now is not the Knox we want, not the Knox you need to be. I love you, brother, I need you back in one piece, whole, with the demon that’s holding you gone.”
Looking up into the eyes of my twin, my brother, my best friend, I nod “I’ll try brother, it's darker than you and even I know. Its hold is stronger than I thought it would be.”
I run out down the block to the waiting car, Jamie at the wheel. As I get in, I see her walking under the dim shine of a street light. Fuck. I shake it off. Go away. I can’t do this with you watching me. Approaching the destination, I try calming my mind. I try to set it free, allow it to enter the dark pit of the man I have become, to allow the hate to fill my veins, to allow it to sweep over me, feeding the demon. I can’t though. She’s there, in my mind’s eye, tormenting me. She told me she wouldn’t come back anymore. Why is she here? What is she doing? I can feel a small ball of heat forming against my thigh where the charm sits in my jeans' pocket.
I hear a whisper in my ear, “Don’t Knox. Don’t allow them to win. Don’t allow the demon this hold over you. Let it go, go back to her, she will heal you. She is what you need, not this. Leave it for the ring, baby.”
Fuck this shit. I bark out “Are we fucking there yet! I need to get out of here!”
Jamie answers, “Just about dude, what’s up with you? Are you ok?”
“I just want this shit done, finished. I can’t deal any fucking more, this shit’s eating me alive. I need to hear the sound of their fucking bones breaking. I need their blood on my hands. I need to smell it to set her free. It’s got to be now.”
Pulling into the dark warehouse carpark, I get out and move around to the front of the car. I wait, leaning up against it, laying in wait for them, breathing in the night's crisp air, filling my lungs with it. I try to cleanse myself for I’m about to go to a place not even in my darkest days did I enter. I hear screeching tires, see lights coming in the distance, shining into the dark carpark, lighting it up. I look around to see my boys flanking me, ready to battle for me for my fallen angel. “Ready?” I say.
Broken (Reapers Reign, #1) Page 22