Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“We’ll figure something else out, Bones. Don’t push yourself for us.”
“People want to fight me,” he said. “It’s big money to take me down right now. There’s always some young prick looking to make bank.”
“But the more you’re out there, the more your value goes down.” It sounded harsh, but it was true. If Bones kept winning fight after fight, people would bet on him to win, and our cut would grow smaller. People were starting to expect Bones to be the winner, and more fights would make that divide even worse. I sighed. “So we need to book something big. Something like…”
Heathens Hollow. The reason Bones was infamous in the first place.
I looked over to where Frankie and Lotto were bagging up tree branches. We needed something big like Heathens Hollow to get our money back. But that meant we’d have to sell out to Troy Godwin, and after he threatened us before the match last time, I was hesitant to call up a favor.
But he did say he’d help us out if we could make him mad cash.
Frankie was going to absolutely fucking hate this idea, but it was our best shot.
“Frankie, Lotto,” I called, waving them over.
They set down the bag and hopped over some debris to join me and Bones.
I drew a deep breath and stared Frankie directly in the eyes. “I want to meet with Troy Godwin.”
“Hell no,” Frankie immediately answered. He crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing against his tight black shirt. “I’m not letting you tie yourself to that bastard.”
“What other choice do we have?” I gestured to Bones. “Let him fight ’til he can’t anymore? We both know how that ends up.”
Frankie’s expression twisted like I’d just slapped him. Shit. I hadn’t meant it like that, but his injury was a sore subject. Foot meet mouth.
“I’m sorry,” I immediately said. “It’s not your fault, I just don’t want—”
“Me to turn into a vegetable? Yeah, I don’t want to fucking die either.” He ran a hand over his clean-shaven jaw, and there was a tightness in his hand like he was trying to contain his anger. “If I could get into the ring and help, I would.”
“Freakshow’s just as menacing out of the ring as in,” Lotto commented. “Go with Ari to meet Troy and fuck him up another way.
“You don’t fuck Troy Godwin up. He fucks you up.” His sharp stare pierced Bones. “Have you heard from Nero lately?”
Bones shook his head. Of course he hadn’t. After Nero had tried to fuck over Bones’ fight at Heathens Hollow, Troy had dealt with him as a “courtesy” for winning. If Nero’s “disappearance” was a courtesy, I didn’t want to know what would happen if we got on Troy’s bad side.
“It’s an option,” I emphasized. “We can meet with him and make a deal.”
“A deal.” Frankie grunted and clenched his hand into a fist. “Troy doesn’t do deals.”
“He might for us if we offer something in return. Something that will keep the money rolling in, like another Heathens Hollow fight.”
“That something is Bones.” Lotto took off his gloves so he could take out his phone. “He’s the talk of the town. The Perk’s posted another video.”
I groaned. What the hell was their beef with us? Misty Perk and I had met once after my father died at a WBA Boxing Convention. That bitch had the audacity to shake my hand and immediately turn around and tell her brother I’d never make it. I had no idea what her problem with me was. Maybe she wanted to be the only female boxing gym owner in Seattle. Or maybe she was jealous Perk’s Gym was barely a blip in the radar, both legit and underground. But, apparently, she still had that chip on her shoulder and wore it like some kind of weirdo badge of honor.
“Let ’em talk shit. We have bigger problems,” Frankie said. “What did the specialist say?”
“Twenty percent.” The numbers felt like acid on my tongue. “And we’ll probably have to fight for that.”
“Shit,” Lotto breathed. “That means our funds are gone.”
“More than gone. Apparently, there’s structural damage on top of it. The specialist suggested I knock the place down and sell the land. Probably back to the insurance company, since they want to keep fucking us over.”
The group went silent. None of us could look each other in the eye. Even our relationship felt as broken as our boxing ring. Smiley’s was everything to not just me, but the three men standing with me.
If Smiley’s was gone, what would happen to us?
Frankie stared at the clear blue sky for a few minutes. Only yesterday it had brought chaos and destruction. Today? Absolutely gorgeous. Fuck the Pacific Northwest.
When he eventually sighed, it was more resigned than relaxing. “I don’t want to agree to this.”