“You’re not going to bed alone.” I pushed the chair back and quickly caught up with her.
For a few moments that only belonged to us, we forgot about everything that happened as we were tangled up in a lover’s embrace. It was different than the other times we went to bed together. There was heat, passion, and something in the air that hung on both of our lips. We understood that it was crazy. We understood that we had only just met, but we needed each other. She fell asleep in my arms and despite all of the turmoil, I felt peace. There was a chance I wouldn’t see it again. There was a chance I wouldn’t live past my next fight. Miguel might have been scared to fight me, but he was fighting with purpose. He was fighting with vengeance. That was dangerous, no matter who the opponent was.
Madison left the next day and I could tell that whatever magic we had was shattered in the aftermath of tragedy. Her kiss said it all. Her hug felt like goodbye. There was a time when I would have never let her go and done everything in my power to keep her by my side, but I realized our fate wasn’t meant to go down that path. After she was gone, I felt like a piece of me was missing, but I couldn’t reach out to her. I couldn’t draw her back in with the fight still looming over my head. That just wasn’t fair. The longing only got stronger in the months that followed. I was certain she had forgotten me, but I never forgot her. I couldn’t forget the sweet virgin that I fell in love with. Perhaps I was a ugly old oaf after all.
“You understand how this has to go.” I leaned against the cage and spoke to Tommy.
“Yeah.” Tommy’s face was solemn. “I get it, bro.”
“The money goes to Madison. I don’t care what you have to do, but you make sure she gets it.” I tapped my fist against the chain link fence. “I’m going to do one good thing in this fucking world before I’m gone.”
“It was a promise.” Tommy’s face clenched tight and he patted my hand through the cage. “I won’t break it.”
The stage had been set. It had been six months since the event that changed everything. Tommy tried to talk Miguel out of the fight, but his vengeance was too strong. He waited patiently for the fight. He knew would get his shot and he wasn’t going to come after me until he had a chance to put me out of my misery in our arena. I had come to terms with what I had to do. Even if Carmella was the one that lured me to Carlos’ suite. Even if Miguel had watched my brother bleed out on the floor with no regard for his life. They still deserved better than what they got. I had to make it right. It was the only sacrifice I could make.
“Ruckus!” Miguel pointed at me from across the cage and yelled. “Only one of us is walking out of this cage alive!”
Yeah, I know.
I walked to the center of the ring we were fighting in and waited for the referee to start it. I had never fought anyone to the death before, but Tommy filled me in on the rules. The referee would leave when the match started. There would be nobody to separate us if we got tangled up in the cage. There would be no second chances or referee decisions. It truly was survival of the fittest. We were fighting in an abandoned warehouse and the crowd was larger than normal. The bets were enormous. There were people present for what was surely a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle for them. We were their entertainment. What they didn’t know was that I had decided the outcome long before I ever stepped inside the cage.
“I used to respect you, Ruckus.” Miguel glared at me as he spoke. “Now, I’m going to be the one that finishes you.”
“Then you better not miss.” I growled and as snarled.
The fight started and we circled each other. Miguel charged with a flurry of punches. It was the way he started all of his fights. In a normal fight, I could have ended it right there if I managed to catch one of his punches. He was fighting with emotion instead of skill. He didn’t keep his guard up because he was too consumed by his attack. I shrugged off his punches the best I could with my forearms, but a few still caught me in the side of my head. He might have been a sloppy fighter, but he was strong as fuck.
“More where that came from, you son of a bitch.” Miguel danced and started hammering his fists into me again.
Miguel won most of his fights by being faster than his opponents. He could throw five or six punches before they threw one and if a single punch landed, it was staggering. I loved facing fighters like him normally. I could take the punches, and when they finally started to slow down, it was lights out or they were tapping. I dodged the punches I could, threw a few parries, and managed to drill him in the nose once. It had to feel real to him. If he thought I was just letting him win, his thirst would never be truly satisfied. He finally caught me with a legitimate punch that sent me spinning into the cage. I tasted blood. My eyes were blurry. Tommy was shaking with anger, to the point that he had to turn around and stop watching the fight.
“It’s over, Ruckus! I’m the new king of Sin City.” Miguel landed on my back and started driving his fists into my skull, bouncing it off the cage with every punch.
That was it for me. My life was going to come to and end. Losing it in the cage was the right way for me to go out. Giving Miguel the satisfaction that his vengeance needed would end everything. I would pay for what I did with my final breath. The continued punches left my arms weak and the blood loss was taking a toll. Miguel could feel it. He grabbed me by the hair, slammed my face into the cage and let me bounce back into the ring. He circled me, looking down with every bit of rage he had bottled up prepared to be unleashed for the finishing blow.
“Ruckus!” An angelic voice brought me back from the brink of unconsciousness. “Ruckus, don’t you fucking die in there. Don’t you fucking die on me.”
I turned my head towards the voice and I saw the face I never thought I would see again. It was Madison. She pushed through the crowd that was filled with a lust for blood and hopped up on the cage. She grabbed the metal chain link fence and used it for support as our eyes locked together. I smiled. Even that felt like it took more effort than I had left. I was glad I got to see her one last time before I went to hell where I belonged. I saw tears in her eyes and her words got lost in the crowd, but her lips mouthed one last word—armbar.
Fuck. I can’t even die in peace.
I turned my head and saw Miguel’s fist coming for my skull. It was a killing blow. I had taken too much damage for even my busted up brain to survive another one of his punches. I threw all of my weight forward and I caught his arm with what little strength I had left. He was weak from the punches he had thrown. My skull had worn him the fuck down like so many other fighters. I rolled him, leaned back on his arm, and locked in the submission hold that nobody had ever escaped. Blood dripped onto the mat. My strength was fading.
“I love you, Ruckus! End this fight!” Madison’s words were like some sort of second wind, breathing something into my body that transcended strength.
I snapped his arm. I rolled against the bone, I pulled with all of my might, and left splinters underneath the skin. He wasn’t dead, but there was no way he could finish me without that arm. He crawled away, using his good arm to turn towards me. I sat on the ground, feeling unconsciousness trying to take me. Miguel made it to where I was sitting and put his hand on my leg. He lifted up and stared me in the face.
“Finish it.” He was shaking with a mixture of shock and pain. “Fucking kill me.”
“I already did.” I pushed his hand away. “This cage is your life. Now you’ll never fight again.”
Miguel collapsed and I forced myself to my feet. I wasn’t going to deliver the finishing blow to him. The crowd would have to deal with their once-in-a-lifetime experience not ending in actual death. No fighter could come back from the injury Miguel sustained. His days in the cage were over. I pushed the door open and Madison practically tackled me as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Tommy rushed over and provided support to make sure I didn’t end up face down on the concrete.
“I’m sorry, bro. I had to call her.” Tommy put his arm around my waist and let me rest
my weight on his shoulder. “I knew if you wouldn’t fight for yourself, you would fight for her.”
Epilogue
Madison
“Stop adjusting my dress, I’m not going to get any skinnier because you keep trying to tighten it.” I pushed Abby’s hand away as she tried to suffocate me with another attempt at a knot.
“I’m sorry. I’m your best friend. It’s my job to make sure you look perfect on your wedding day.” Abby grabbed the knot and pulled it as tight as she could.
It had taken Ruckus a long time to heal from the injuries he sustained in the fight with Miguel. I stayed by his side the entire time and refused to let him give up. When the hospital finally released him, I went by his apartment every day after school to check on him. He surprised me on my graduation day by actually making it to the ceremony and watching me walk across the stage. I was happy my parents were there, but him being there meant more than anything else. That night, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I didn’t even hesitate to accept his proposal.
“Okay, let’s go. We’re going to be late.” Abby pushed me towards the door.
“They really can’t start without me.” I picked up my train and tried to hurry towards the church.
I still didn’t fully understand why he was willing to die for what he did to Carmella. I knew he carried a lot of guilt over it, but I didn’t see what he did as wrong. We would have both died if he hadn’t thrown her in front of Miguel’s shotgun. He would have died on the floor next to his brother. I would have suffered for a very long time before I was allowed to die. It was a tough sacrifice, but he was strong enough to make it. That was why I couldn’t let him throw it all away so Miguel could have his pound of flesh. I owed him my life, so I gave him the strength to save his own.
“Should I even pack my long sleeved shirts?” Ruckus looked over at me. “Does it even get cold in Florida?”
“I packed a few, but I don’t really know if I’ll need them.” I shrugged. “Bring them anyway, just in case.”
“Okay.” He pulled them off the hangers and tossed them towards the bed.
“It’s gonna be weird here without you.” Tommy walked into the bedroom. “I was looking forward to babysitting my niece or nephew.”
“You can come with us.” I turned towards Tommy. “They have underground fights in Florida, too. Don’t forget, that is where they found Kimbo Slice.”
“Nah, you two will be just fine without me.” Tommy smiled. “You have to come visit, though. I don’t really like talking over Skype.”
“What’s Skype?” Ruckus looked at us with a puzzled expression on his face.
“She’ll show you.” Tommy chuckled. “Take care of this ugly old oaf for me, will ya?”
“That’s all I plan to do for the rest of my life.” I nodded. “Well, that—and college—and raise a baby.”
We found out that we were having a baby shortly after we got married. We were calling it a honeymoon baby, but the sonogram suggested we probably conceived it a couple of months prior to the wedding. We were relocating to Florida and I was going to go to college. Ruckus was planning to be a stay-at-home dad, which was fine with me since I really didn’t know what kind of job he could get when his resume was a just a long list of people that punched him in the skull. We were doing okay financially. Ruckus still had money from the jackpot. A few weeks after I returned home, I got a flash drive in the mail with no return address that had the information for an account in the Cayman Islands with the exact amount I was owed. Sin City Auction might have been put out of business with Carlos in prison, but someone made sure I got what I was promised. My bet was on the brutish blonde with the Russian accent. She did smile at me—once.
“Are you ready to leave this all behind?” I walked over and put my arms around Ruckus’ waist as he zipped up his bag.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Fuck Sin City. I’m taking the best piece of it with me when I go.”
The End
Club Infinite Fantasy Sneak Peek
Reverse Harem Romance (Haremworld Book 6)
Chapter 1: Savannah
That bitch Nancy had everything and she didn’t even have to work for it. She coasted through high school, dated all the popular guys, and then she did the exact same thing in college. If she wanted someone, all she had to do was bat her pretty eyelashes and they belonged to her.
Here comes the bride, all dressed in white. Yeah, right. White. That’s a bit of a stretch.
After riding the carousel of eligible bachelors, and a few guys that weren’t quite available, she had finally decided to settle down. Of course, she had to choose the only man I ever loved. Dominic wasn’t just my best friend, he was my everything.
Why can’t you see past her pretty face? Why do you have to be so shallow, Dominic?
When Nancy put her claws in Dominic, I figured it would be another quick trip to bliss, followed by a broken heart—for him. I was wrong. The whirlwind romance kept spinning, and it seemed like it wasn’t going to end until the wedding bells tolled. Dominic was officially a part of my past and I had no idea where that left me. I never told him how I felt. I was too shy to profess my love because I was afraid of the rejection it would bring. I also didn’t want our friendship to end. My eyes glazed over as Nancy walked past me, on her way to everything I ever wanted.
Six months later
“Do you want me to call you a cab or something?” The bartender handed me my credit card back and stared at me as I staggered off the barstool.
“No, I’ll be fine.” I nodded and tried to force a smile.
“I’ll make sure she gets home.” A familiar voice—it couldn’t be him.
“Dominic? What are you doing here?” I practically tumbled into his arms when my heel missed the step that carried me from the ledge along the elevated bar to the floor below.
“Apparently, I’m giving you a ride home.” He offered his hand and helped me balance on my heels.
“I think I can make it.” I used his hand for support and took a couple of steps.
“Yeah? Let’s see you do that by yourself.” He released my hand and I stumbled immediately.
“Okay, maybe I am too drunk to even find my way to a cab.” My words were slurred, but they sounded like poetry in my head.
“I’ve never seen you this drunk.” He grabbed my hand and helped me walk. “What are you celebrating? Did you get a promotion at work or something?”
No, I still haven’t stopped drowning my sorrows.
“Yeah, something like that.” I faked a smile and continued walking with him.
I was the one that usually helped Dominic to the car after he had a few too many beers. Being on the other side of that was strange for me. The night had started off well, especially when a cute guy asked me to dance, but when he decided to go home with the hot redhead at the end of the bar, I decided wine was going to be my evening companion. It wasn’t like I would have been went home with him, anyway. I would have went on a date with him, but I wasn’t quite desperate enough for one night stands. I was still a virgin, the eternal cliche of a woman saving herself for one guy—a guy she had to watch get married. Dominic helped me to his car, got me into the passenger seat, and walked around to the other side.
How many times have I dreamed of this?
“How’s Nancy?” I turned my head towards him as soon as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“I wouldn’t know.” He sighed deeply and held up his left hand, which was missing the wedding band I watched her put there. “The ink is still drying, but we’re divorced.”
“Shit…” I exhaled sharply. “I’m sorry, Dominic.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He shook his head back and forth. “She cheated on me.”
“Well, then fuck that bitch!” My words came out harsh, guided by alcohol, before I even realized what I was saying.
She had Dominic and she cheated on him?
“Yeah.” A smile slowly crept across his face. “Fuck that bitch.
It feels good to say that out loud.”
I’d love to say that the night ended in glorious passion as I healed his wounds with my innocence, but that was never how it ended for us. He parked his car, helped me get to my apartment, and once I was safe in bed, he was gone. The one moment when Dominic was single, available, and vulnerable was lost. I was too drunk to do anything more than cling to him in order to keep the world from spinning into oblivion. Even though the blackness of sleep was calling my name as I lay there with my head against the pillow, I couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if I hadn’t spent the last six months drowning my sorrows.
How many nights did he need someone to talk to when I wasn’t there for him?
I stayed away out of respect for Nancy. She was his wife, and I was the female best friend. That was like fire and ice, unless they came together, and then it was kerosene against an open flame. I felt her jealous eyes on me the first time she walked into her apartment and saw us having a drink together. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Dominic would have never touched me when he was with her, but she didn’t know that. I understood it after I found out she cheated on him. She probably thought he was doing the same thing to her. Maybe he should have been. Maybe I should have been a homewrecker instead of an innocent virgin. Perhaps that would have taken me down the path to Dominic’s arms instead of loneliness.
“You’re late.” My boss, Mr. Stone, stared at me as I shuffled into the conference room and took a seat.
“Sorry, I had a late night.” I tried to avoid the stares that were cast in my direction—they were all disapproving.
“That’s the—what is it, Wednesday? That’s the third one this week.” Mr. Stone shook his head and turned back towards the presenter. “Anyway, you were saying?”
Sin City Auction: Bad Boy & Virgin Romance (Nevada Bad Boys Book 4) Page 10