3. Frankie
Chapter 3
Frankie
“ Y ou call that a fucking jab, Teo?” I yelled and leaned against the upper rope of the ring. “You’re exposing your left side every damn time! Do it again!”
Teo grumbled but put his gloved hands in front of his face to run the drill again.
That damn guy. He was lucky Bones didn’t break his nose with his shit defense. He was improving, but he was nowhere near where I needed him to be. Most of the guys weren’t. If we were going to make Smiley’s the top boxing gym in the area, they needed to get their shit together or we needed fresh meat.
I ran numbers earlier this morning before training. The cut from Bones’ fights definitely helped, but between operating expenses, contracts, payouts, and new equipment, there still wasn’t enough to hire someone new, but we were close. Ari was right: a few more fights and Smiley’s could hold the second round of tryouts and really rule the underground.
If we wanted to stay in the underground.
Ari believed she was being sly, but I noticed the way she kept glancing at her dad’s picture whenever we talked about the gym’s future. I knew her well. She didn’t have to tell me what she was thinking ’cause I could already tell. Upholding her dad’s legacy meant the world to her, and places like Heathens Hollow were only supposed to be a steppingstone.
He’d be proud of her, regardless. Six months ago, we’d been looking at closing permanently. Now we were looking at hiring fresh blood to make this place great.
All thanks to the man in the ring, who sent a hard punch straight into Teo’s left ribs when he left himself vulnerable. Again.
I was gonna fucking kill that guy.
Before I could yell at him, someone called my name. Lotto emerged from the back office, his expression grave, and his phone cradled in his hand. I told the guys to take a small break and hopped down from the ring to meet him.
“What’s up?”
He held out his phone to me. “Watch this.”
I took the phone and hit play on the video on screen. It showed two men sparring without gear, wrestling and tackling each other in a large boxing ring. One of the guys grabbed the second, pinned him in a headlock and held him there. The video went shaky as the camera grew closer. Once it focused, I saw the man in the headlock was wearing a cutoff shirt with a huge, yellow smiley face on the front. He tapped out and the other man let him go. When he stood up, I saw he was wearing a shirt with the Perk’s Gym logo. The woman behind the camera laughed, her biting words loud and shrill.
“Watch your back.”
The video cut off, but I stared at the transparent play button for an extra second.
The fuck was that?
“It was posted to Perk’s Gym’s page earlier.” Lotto shook his head. “Definitely a threat.”
I handed his phone back with a grunt. “A lame-ass threat. Doesn’t mean shit.”
Lotto took his phone back with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
Of course I was sure. Jace Perk and I went way back. When I ruled the cage-fighting ring as Freakshow, I kicked the shit out of him plenty of times. He’d tried his hand at professional boxing and got his shit rocked there, too. Now he ran Perk’s Gym on the other side of town with his younger sister, Misty.
Jace was the very definition of a motherfucker. I’d enjoyed laying his ass out on the mat whenever we went up against each other. All ego without the skills to match. He loved to talk big shit before a match and not even make it more than two minutes. I hadn’t heard from him in a long time–probably because Smiley’s had been down in the dumps after my injury.
Can’t teach an old dog new tricks. He was up to his same bullshit and was dragging Smiley’s back into it.
“He’s as threatening as a declawed cat.” I shrugged. “Actually, the cat might pack a stronger punch. You know that.”
Lotto nodded. Before his downfall, Lotto had set up fights between Bones and Jace a few times, and from what I remembered, Bones only lost once because he passed out from food poisoning before the fight even started.
Which meant a fucking excited Subway egg sandwich packed more punch than Jace Perk.
“But did you see the second fighter’s face?” Lotto clicked around the video a few times before stopping on a still frame. “This might be a problem.”
I glanced at the video, not really caring. At least not ’til I saw those blue eyes. The Perk’s Gym shirt was tight around his stocky body, and those damn eyes pierced me even through the screen. What the fuck was River doing at Perk’s Gym? Anger made my fists clench. Had his visit to the ring last night been another stupid threat? Was Jace getting back into the cage-fighting scene through River?
Jace might have been a pussy, but River was the only one who could keep up with Freakshow when I was at my prime. He sent more than a handful of the best fighters to the hospital with merely a right hook. If he was training with Perk’s, Lotto was right to be worried. Bones and River hadn’t matched up yet, but if they did, Bones could be the next to take a ride in an ambulance.
But River hadn’t been seen in the ring in a while. Rumor had it he retired from the scene, much to the dismay of rich gamblers. Clearly, that was wrong. His appearance last night and that stupid video were all the proof I needed. Perk’s was trying to fuck with us.
“Keep an eye on it,” I ordered Lotto. “See if they post anything else before the next fight.”
“What are we keeping an eye on?”
At the question, I turned to the front desk. Ari set a bag of energy drinks down there and raised an eyebrow. Too lost in figuring out what to do, I hadn’t even heard her come in.
“Nothing,” I answered a little too quickly. Ari had enough on her plate with the fights and the scouting. She didn’t need another thorn in her side. “Just some shit talkers.”
She clearly didn’t buy my bullshit because she narrowed her eyes, stalked forward, and grabbed Lotto’s phone before he could pocket it. The screen still showed the freeze frame from earlier.
When she saw River’s face, she sighed. “River at Perk’s?”
“Looks like it.” Lotto glanced at me before adding, “Talking shit.”
“Don’t collude without me.” Ari playfully glared at the both of us before handing back the phone. “They can be shit-talkers and still be a huge problem for us. If River’s involved, we should be careful.”
Ari saying River’s name soured my mood as I recalled how he’d put his hands on her after the fight and the way his gaze had lingered on her dress. Clearly, the bastard wanted her. Who wouldn’t? Ari was sexy as fuck. Long legs, solid build, a smile to die for, and all ours.
Lotto’s phone pinged with a text, and when he read it, he frowned.
“Tomorrow’s fight is canceled.”
“What?” I took the phone from him and scanned the text. Canceled for inclement weather. I frowned. “Have they ever canceled a fight this early in advance?”
“They have when the ‘storm of the century’ is going to run through town,” Lotto answered and took his phone back. “It’s at Skunk’s. Forget the cage. A little rain and you’ll be fighting not to drown.”
I snorted. Skunk’s was one of the worst venues for fighting. An old underground factory, it smelled like shit and looked even worse. The lot had been for sale for years now, with no buyers, so the organizers of the cage matches swooped in every so often and put it to good use. Didn’t mean it wasn’t the worst place in Seattle to fight. As much as I wanted the money, I wasn’t too mad at the change of plans.
“We should head out soon,” Ari said. “I saw some nasty-looking clouds on my way back from the store.” She looked behind me into the rest of the gym and snorted. “And I’m sure the guys would love a break from you, drill sergeant.”
“Wouldn’t be a problem if they could actually fight,” I countered. “Teo couldn’t beat my grandma at this point.”
“Okay, but can we sign your grandma?” Ari grinned. “She’s definitely kicked your ass one or two times. She’d be perfect.”
I laughed. I had fond memories of Grandma Betty sitting a little too close to the TV, throwing right and left hooks as she cheered on boxers in the ring. I walked in the way of one of those punches once—and only once. It had been enough to clean my clock for two whole days.
“Let me ask her, and I’ll get back to you.” I nodded at Lotto. “In the meantime, watch over those douchebags. Let me know if they post anything else. Grab Bones and get home safe.”
“Sure thing. See you tomorrow.”
Lotto headed off toward where Bones and Teo chatted around the punching bags. I turned to Ari and nodded toward the bags of energy drinks on the front counter.
“Get ready to lock up. I’ll drive you home after.”
“You mean, I’ll drive you home,” she teased and pulled my keys from her back pocket.
“You’re lucky I let you drive to the store by yourself,” I complained and swiped them from her hand before she could pull away. “Looking to break any other laws today?”
Her grin turned a little more seductive. “Other than public indecency in parking lots?”
“Watch it,” I growled. “Or you might not make it home at all.”
“As if that’s a bad thing.” She shot me a wink and turned toward the front door with a flirtatious little wave.
As she went, Ari made sure to swivel her hips in a way that drew my eyes to her ass. Fuck the storm. If it weren’t already on its way in, I’d break more than laws right here in this very gym.
I ran a hand over my jaw before turning to the fighters. My loud hand clap brought their attention to me.
“Clean up and get out of here,” I demanded. “And see you bright and early tomorrow morning, rain or shine.”