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)
Ari held up the contract, her blue eyes shimmering with confidence. “You have a deal, Mr. Godwin. I’ll do it.”
Chapter 12
Lotto
The door slammed so hard the glass paneling cracked immediately and cascaded to the floor like a fucked-up blizzard.
“Hey, asshole!” Ari yelled as she stomped over the shards. “Could you not take your pissy tantrum out on the front door?”
Frankie turned around with a frown so large, I almost thought his lips ate his chin. “Don’t worry, Troy fucking Godwin gave us enough money to fix it thanks to his little fucking game.”
I sighed and set the duffle bag on the front counter. The same one with a hundred-fucking-K inside. As soon as Ari had dotted the “i” on her name, Troy Godwin snatched the contract from her and smiled like the Joker.
“Great choice, beautiful. Go ahead and take your spoils.”
Spoils. Ha. Like it was some reward for signing ourselves over to the devil. My head ached trying to come up with another way out of this mess, but I had nothing. A few cancellation clauses were thrown in there. Severe illness, fighter exchange, death. Stuff that would make Troy’s proposal go belly up. But they all came with the same caveat: if Smiley’s couldn’t make the fight, we’d owe the 100K back plus interest. As soon as we spent the first dollar out of Troy’s “gift,” we’d be tied to him for the next few months.
Basically, we were fucked.
And no one was taking it as hard as Frankie.
“We wouldn’t have been in this mess if you would have fucking listened to me,” Frankie ground out. His hands tightened by his sides, muscles threatening to rip out of his shirt. “You should have said no.”
“And why not?” Ari crossed her arms over her chest. “You think a bitch like Misty Perk is gonna scare me?”
“The underground isn’t a place for you,” Bones said as he shuffled into the mess we called a gym. His jaw hadn’t relaxed since we were sitting inside Troy’s office. “Cage fighting is a completely different ball game.”
“A man’s game?” Ari glared at Bones and Frankie. Thankfully, I was spared her wrath ’cause I knew how to keep my damn mouth shut. At least for now. I had plenty to say, but I wasn’t going to get through to anyone with the napalm flooding the air. One wrong strike of a match and this place would go up in flames.
“Oh, give me a fucking break, Ari!” Frankie yelled and threw his hands up. “This isn’t some sexist bullshit we’re talking about. The cages don’t fuck around.”
“My dad taught me everything he knew. I’m not some damsel in distress. With the right training—”
“And Misty’s had years of it.” Bones kicked a stray chair and scratched at the back of his neck so hard, he could probably rub off his tattoos. “She has boxing experience. You don’t.”
“So she’s won one singular gold medal like six years ago!” Ari yelled and set her hands on her hips, her cheeks red with anger. “We have the same foundation, and I have a better trainer.” She glared at Frankie. “Unless you’re saying you won’t train me?”
“I’m saying the underground isn’t your world.” He gestured to her dad’s portrait on the wall, and my eyes drifted up to the old man’s face. Her dad smiled down at us, a reminder of where this place started. “You think he wants you to kill yourself to save this place?”
“Who said anything about dying?” I leaned on the front desk with my elbows. “You’re being dramatic, Frankie.”
He certainly didn’t like my insertion because he narrowed his eyes at me with pure malice. “Stay out of this. You didn’t even know her old man, so you don’t get a say.”
“Dad fought tooth and nail to keep this place alive, and I would rather die before I walk away from it.”
“Speaking of dramatic,” I said.
“There’s gotta be something we can do.” Bones stopped pacing long enough to look at me. “Was there something in the contract we can use?”
A few of the clauses passed through my mind, but before I could answer, Frankie cleared his throat. “There’s one thing.” The room went silent as we waited for him to voice his idea. I knew it was going to be stupid before he even said anything, but his proposal was even dumber than I thought. “I’m going to step into the ring in her place.”
“The hell you are, man,” Bones answered at the same time Ari screamed, “No, you fucking won’t!”
“I can handle Jace fucking Perk,” Frankie argued and took out his phone. “Or Misty Perk, or whoever the fuck Troy throws my way.”
“And if it’s River?” I asked quietly, pushing off of the front desk. Frankie’s body went as stiff as a board, and he watched every step I took toward him. “Troy knows about your condition. If you fuck up his headliner, he’s not going to give you Jace Perk.”