Page 49

Hunter wasn’t ready to be a brother. He was too bent on revenge for that. So after some looking into it, we let Meekail and Jordan take him home after he agreed. As far as I know, Hunter is doing well. He’s still hotheaded but managing it. Even got into the Marines and is currently deployed to Iraq. When he’s home, though, he’s at the gym and helping.

I’m not sure what Meekail did in the underground, but if Menace knows of him, he must be someone. The club might have known and left that out of the Church meeting, which I’m not upset with. Things that don’t affect the club don’t always come to light.

But after tonight, he and I are going to have a big talk. One involving what Natalie will and won’t be doing going forward.

Each second feels like an hour.

Each hit she gets in, my heart soars in triumph.

Every hit she takes? My fists clench to the point that I wonder if I’m drawing blood from my palms or if it’s just sweat.

“How long will this last?” Domino asks with a wince as Natalie takes a hit to the face. Her head snaps back as she takes a step but doesn’t go down.

“Till one of them gets knocked out, or if there’s a head wound that blocks their eyesight due to the amount of blood.”

“Seriously?” I ask with disbelief, and the woman only shrugs.

“This is amateur night. Investors have no actual blood in the game. No one to call the fight off to save their girl from being useful in their next booking. Nat has a chance to get on top of this girl if only—ahhh, forget that,” Viv says with a pitying noise in the back of her throat.

Bertha just landed a wide punch to Natalie’s temple, and we watch her eyes roll back in her head as she falls to the floor.

I’m down the stairs before the bell chimes the winner.

Chapter 15 - Natalie

I come awake with a start, my nose twitching at the smell that pulled me back from slumberland.

“That’s it,” Lou says as he lifts me up to a sitting position on the ground.

Gross. Everything is sticky, but at least I’m behind the ring and away from the crowd. Small blessings for not being trampled to death.

“You lasted longer than I thought you would, Gnat. Head to the back, and I’ll be there in a bit to give you your cut.”

I nod and allow him to help me up. He holds me for a second to make sure my legs don’t give out, and then he’s gone.

I shake my head to dispel the last of the dizziness. I have a bitch of a headache and feel so many aches and pains in my body, and yet I grin wide.

I did it.

A true fight.

Not some one- or two-hit job to see if I could. I lasted in the ring with a real fighter. Sure, I didn’t win, but I didn’t think I would. That wasn’t even the goal for me. It was just to get to this point. To last longer than the thirty seconds Meekail said would be my target goal.

Not sure how long it took, but I’ve got to think it was more than thirty seconds. It sure felt like it. Then again, I lost time in there too. Each punch had me feeling as if time stood still, only to have it rush back when I would step away from a follow-up hit.

I know Meekail wasn’t here tonight. If he were, he’d probably be yelling at me for something or other. The man seemed nice the first time I met him. I thought he was coming up to talk to me about the punching bag or to see if I was going to join one of the classes. But no. He told me Menace sent him, and any pleasantries I thought I saw between him and other gym members were nonexistent for me.

He knew I needed to keep this private. He didn’t know the reason, as far as I’m aware, but he was okay keeping it between us. Each time I went to the gym with whichever prospect came that day, Meekail would tell me to go to the back office. A Hound might have seen it as me not wanting to be there, so I would just sit on my ass and wait for the prospect to be done. In truth, the back room was his own private gym, and he and I used it relentlessly.

I push through the crowd, one arm wrapped around my ribs where Big Bertha landed most of her shots. I head toward the back where I left my things, but the second I see a man blocking my path with his arms crossed, my mind plays games with me. First a moment of almost happiness to see him, followed by a quick reminder of how he should be thought of in my head. Not as a friend or anything more, but as a guard, a captor, a Hound.

I glare instead of smile. “What the hell do you want?”

“I’m taking you home,” Atom says, but I don’t hear it so much as read his lips. Lips that seem to be extra pink in the limited lighting around here. The color draws the unwanted eye.

Why am I noticing his lips? I shake my head and almost regret the way that makes it hurt.

“Hard pass,” I say as I push past him, but he’s hot on my heels.