I took a deep breath before I exited my office. The time had flown by so fast, and before we knew it, the first fight was about to take place. Maybe I should’ve insisted that the second fight be held at our club, and not the first, but I didn’t want Rubio to accuse me of being afraid or to use that against me.
As I entered the room completely packed with people, I realized Rubio’s plan to give the audience a month to find out about the challenge had worked. There were so many unfamiliar faces here, including those I’d usually never even let inside my club under normal circumstances—the kind of people who’d never been in a single fight and had no idea what they were really cheering for. Rubio must’ve been announcing the fight all over the city and making sure all of his usual clients could come too. Since he thought he was going to win my club, he was already working on advertising this place to his loyal audience. Shit.
Instead of going toward the platform where Rubio had already taken his seat in one of the chairs, I made my way to the locker room. Chiara was standing right in front of the door, her brow creased.
“Hey,” she said, her eyes widening. “Shouldn’t you be with Rubio?”
“I’m going, in a moment. I just wanted to see Seth before the fight.” I wasn’t really rushing to be in Rubio’s company.
“You better hurry, then,” she said. “Or Rubio will take over this club before you know it. You look great, by the way.” She grinned, her gaze going over my black leather corset and my black leather pants.
“Thanks.” I offered her a small smile. At that moment, the door swung open and Seth walked out, adjusting his knuckle padding. My gaze fell on his perfect abs, and I bit down on my lip. He looked devastatingly handsome, his dark hair ruffled. When he lifted his eyes to me, his mouth parted slightly.
“I came to wish you good luck,” I said, placing my hand on his arm and squeezing gently. “Go show that asshole who fights better here.”
A slow smile built up on his face. “With pleasure.”
I let go of him, and he went with Chiara toward the cage. There was no postponing this now, and my stomach fluttered a little when Seth disappeared from view. I headed to the platform, pressing the tip of my claw ring into my skin. The slight pain helped me to focus a little.
Rubio’s face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw me, and I didn’t like the way his eyes glinted as they lingered on my body.
“Damn, babe,” Rubio said.
“Hello to you too.” I gave him an icy smile, then took a seat in my chair next to him.
“Don’t you like this?” He extended his arm and spread his hand toward the room brimming with people. “This is how this place should look every night. Imagine all the money you could earn. It’s such a shame you refused to be my partner.”
“Not everything’s about money.”
Rubio snorted. “Yeah, says the girl with a rich daddy. But I guess it’s better for me. When I win, this’ll be mine, and I’ll turn this place into the best fight club on the planet.”
I arched my eyebrows. “This already is the best club on the planet. You’ll just never be able to see that. And if you think you’re going to win easily, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“Maybe. But everything’s going just according to plan.” He clasped his hands in front of him as Seth and Rubio’s fighter walked into the cage.
Plan? What plan was he talking about? Had this been his plan all along? To force me to agree to a challenge? An event like this one was certainly going to expand his business, especially if he ended up winning. And now even more people knew about this club and its location.
“Who’s your fighter?” I asked, looking at the bald, tall guy with huge muscular arms. He was rubbing his fists as if he couldn’t wait to pounce on Seth. The guy looked strong, and he was bigger than Seth. There were tattoos all over his body, and the biggest one was the wolf on his chest.
“That’s Smasher. He’s my best.” The corners of Rubio’s lips quirked up. I looked again at Smasher and wondered if the guy had been taking steroids or some kind of drugs to enhance his strength. Maybe I should’ve requested a blood test for the guy before the fight, but I was sure Rubio would’ve objected and instead offered that I could give to Seth whatever I wanted. Or maybe he’d just fake the results. That wouldn’t be so hard to achieve.
Rubio turned his head toward me. “I can’t believe you let your bodyguard fight this. Are you trying to make things easier for me, or do you think none of your fighters are up to it? No, wait, let me guess.” He lifted his finger. “You couldn’t find a volunteer. Because your guys fight only when they want to, right? Not when you tell them to. Oh, Vix.”
“I don’t own people. I don’t command them to do what they don’t want to. And how we picked our fighter is none of your business. Seth isn’t just my bodyguard, he’s also a member of my club.”
Rubio’s mouth twisted. In the cage, Seth and Smasher were circling each other and shifting on their feet as Fitz was about to announce the beginning of the fight. “Do you see that body?” Rubio asked, pointing at Smasher. “He could’ve been as weak and pathetic as your guy, but no, I gave him a little push, trained him to be the best, and now he’s thanking me for it.” He waved his hand. “Although, maybe I shouldn’t bother explaining this to you. You’re a woman. You’re soft. You’d never understand how men think.”
My fingers clutched the armrest, my claw ring digging into the wood. I wanted to drive my fist through Rubio’s face, but I was sure that was exactly what he wanted: to make me snap in front of everyone and to prove that I wasn’t capable of running this club.
“Really?” I said. “You trained Smasher? That’s so odd. I thought you didn’t have time for that and that people were taking care of that for you. I can’t imagine you lifting your fist, let alone doing anything else.”
“It’s true I don’t have as much time as I’d like to, but you should know I’m one of the best fighters there are. I wish I could show it to you, but...”
“You could’ve fought for this club yourself, not picked Smasher.”
“Ah, but the fight would be so unfair then.”
I focused on the cage again. With a loud roar, Smasher rushed toward Seth, his fists raised. Seth evaded, his quick punch connecting with Smasher’s side. But Smasher didn’t even seem to feel it as he moved with the speed of light and caught Seth in the jaw, making him stumble back.
The crowd cheered and roared as Smasher swung at Seth three times, but Seth blocked all the blows and managed to hook him in the stomach. Smasher backed away a little, and then Seth grabbed his shoulder and brought his fist hard at the same spot he’d hit before. But Smasher threw his head forward, his forehead slamming into Seth’s.
A shiver ran down my spine as Smasher quickly brought his knee up twice into Seth’s ribs, followed by a smack in the face that sent Seth to the ground. I cringed, because that had to hurt like hell. Smasher was on him in a second, unleashing a fury of punches. Seth held his arms up, and just as Smasher raised his fist again, Seth wrapped his arm around Smasher’s neck and twisted his body, shoving Smasher off him.
“Your guy can try all he wants, but he’s never going to win. Smasher’s been undefeated for over twenty fights,” Rubio said.
Well, I could only assume he’d won everything, considering he’d probably be dead by now if he’d lost any. Maybe Smasher hadn’t been fighting to the death, though. He could be one of Rubio’s special fighters, who weren’t trained just to die after a few fights.
Seth got hold of Smasher’s arm, trying to twist it back, but Smasher was like a slippery snake, and he kicked out with his leg to get Seth to let go. The crowd was in a frenzy, their shouts deafening.
As if Rubio could sense my tension, he touched my arm, nearly making me jump. “You know, if you’re afraid for your guy, you can stop this fight any time you want. Of course, that would mean you’re forfeiting both fights, but...”
“Shut up.” I ripped my arm away from him, my gaze solely focused on Seth.
“As you wish.”
Blood was seeping from the corner of Seth’s mouth, and he wiped at it with his arm. Smasher charged him again, but Seth saw him coming and kicked at his knee. Smasher went down, and Seth was on him in a second, wrapping his arms around his neck in a strong chokehold. Shouts erupted from the crowd, even louder than before.
“Maybe you should stop this fight. Your poor guy seems to be in pain,” I said, glancing at Rubio, who was now clenching his teeth.
“Smasher’s not made of glass. You’ll see.” Rubio rose to his feet, going toward the edge of the platform. “Destroy him, Smasher!” he yelled. I contemplated pushing Rubio off the platform and calling it an accident, but the fall wouldn’t be enough to break all of his bones and kill him. Besides, there were way too many witnesses, and Rubio’s guards were watching our every move.
Smasher tried to kick and punch at Seth as he thrashed and twisted, but he wasn’t able to free himself of Seth’s hold. A few moments later, Smasher’s body went limp, and Fitz ran to pull Seth away. I stopped breathing. Hopefully, Smasher wasn’t dead, because then we’d be in trouble. The crowd was jumping and shrieking as never before.
Fitz crouched next to Smasher, and it felt like an eternity until Smasher’s body finally twitched. Smasher was blinking and looking around him in confusion.
“It’s over,” I said, getting to my feet so I could stand next to Rubio, whose whole body had gone stiff. “I won.”
Rubio turned toward me, his fist clenched, and I tensed, ready to block if he tried to attack me. “Fine, but don’t think this is over. There’s still one more fight,” he finally said after one look at the cage. Before I could reply, he stormed off the platform. Smasher wasn’t even able to get to his feet just yet, but Fitz finally left his side and lifted Seth’s arm to pronounce him the winner while Rubio’s men rushed in to get Smasher.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Everyone had seen Rubio lose. We were going to have to be very careful next time, because I was sure Rubio would try something.