Chapter 60 #2
Fuck. Me. Knee-high leather boots. Black one-pieces that shimmer like a goddamn midnight dare and dip so low I can see the curve of Bella’s sternum from here.
Side cutouts, fishnet tights. Rico, you genius, insane little bastard.
You actually did it. My girl looks like war and a wet dream had a baby.
“Thank you, Knox. We’re happy to be here. And Knox was right, we do have one hell of a show for you tonight.” Bella says toward the crowd.
“Damn, cuz. Your girl is fine as hell. Look at those – ”
I snap my head toward Rez. “Watch it.”
Rez laughs. “Chill. I’m just giving you props.”
“Give me props silently,” I growl, eyes locked back on the screen.
Knox leans in, “Did I hear right earlier, Bella? This a Bella vs. Rez kind of Fight Night?”
“Yeah, Knox. Tonight’s a little different than your usual brawls here at The Pit. Rez has his Hollow Kings fighters…” she turns and winks at the camera. “And I have mine.”
Laughter from the crowd. Cheers. Roars.
But all I hear is mine. She’s calling them hers.
“Now, I don’t mean my Row boys like usual,” she adds, teasing. “Tonight, I brought backup.”
My jaw tightens.
Knox raises a brow. “Wait, Bella, are you saying these aren’t Wexley football guys?”
Bella smiles like she’s the villain in every guy’s favorite movie. “Nope. And these aren’t your average campus jocks either. I brought with me some of the biggest, the baddest, the sexiest—”
“Baby.” My voice comes out rougher now. She’s playing cute, but I’m about ready to start walking out there grab her and drag her ass out of the ring caveman-style.
“—fighters from all across the world.”
Rez elbows me with a smug-ass grin. “Surprise! Your girl’s insane.”
Knox is losing it. “Holy shit, Bells.”
Bella shrugs, loving every second of this. “Let’s just say I made a few calls.”
Knox whistles. “Well damn. I think it’s time we get this show on the road. What do you say, girls? Want to dance to kick things off?”
The crowd loses it.
Music hits. Lights drop. And then they move.
The Trifecta hits center ring like they’ve been training for this their whole lives, slinking, grinding, flipping their hair like sirens.
It’s sexy as hell, choreographed like pure seduction.
Bella’s hips roll. Her fingers trail down the curve of her thighs.
The girls are killing it, the donors are eating it up, but all I can think about is how she keeps calling those mystery fighters hers. Like they matter. As if they’re not about to get wrecked the moment they step into my ring with me.
Knox’s voice booms through the arena, slick and cocky like he’s narrating a damn UFC pay-per-view. “Okay, Bella. Since your boys are the visitors tonight, let’s go ahead and bring out the Hollow King for Fight One!”
I snort, watching it all unfold on the screen. “Quit fucking calling them her boys, Knox.”
Chase stands up and heads for the door, prepping for his entrance.
“Coming in hot, representing the Hollow Kings and Team Rez, we’ve got your crowd favorite, your middleweight champ, Chase Cooper!”
Chase charges out like he’s already won, throwing his hands up for the crowd and bouncing on his toes. Back here in our holding room, DeShawn claps and hollers. I stay silent. Focused. Watching.
“Alright, Bella,” Knox teases. “You want to do the honors or should I?”
She smiles like she’s five seconds away from setting the whole ring on fire. “Go ahead, Knox.”
“Okay, everyone. First up on Team Bella we’ve got one crazy-ass-cowboy straight outta Knoxville, Tennessee…”
I lean forward. “She brought a fucking cowboy?”
Knox hypes it up. “The leader of the Ashen Sons himself. Caleb Briggs!”
Briggs struts into The Pit like it’s his goddamn show—jeans, tight black shirt, boots, black Stetson. He heads straight for Bella and wraps her in a hug that lasts a full three seconds longer than it should. My jaw tightens and I’m two seconds away from throwing a chair.
Rez just laughs. “Maybe you should get a cowboy hat, cuz.”
DING.
I hate to admit it, but the cowboy can fight.
Fast, clean, strategic. Chase lands a few, but Briggs dominates from start to finish.
Ten minutes in, Chase’s flat on the mat, sucking air while Briggs tips his damn hat like he’s in a country music video.
Then winks at my fucking girl when she gets in the ring to raise his arms in victory.
Knox’s voice reverberates through the speakers. “Well, apparently cowboy’s got some moves, because Caleb Briggs just made Chase Cooper look like a little bitch. And that’s saying something!”
Rez whistles low. “Well shit, looks like it’s Bella: 1, Me: 0.”
I don’t say a word, because I’m too busy wondering who the hell Bella brought into my kingdom. And how many of her boys think that they get to touch what’s mine.
Knox’s voice cuts through The Pit smooth like a shot of top-shelf tequila. “Alright! Next up, fighting for Team Rez, we’ve got the man with hands like hammers and footwork like a panther… DeShawn Reyes!”
DeShawn jogs into the ring, hyped up and cocky, pumping up the front row.
“And now…” Knox drags it out for the drama. “Fighting for Team Bella, coming to us all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa the one, the only… Tatenda Khoza!”
I freeze. “Did he just fucking say who I think he did?”
Rez nods, slow. “Yeah. He did. How exactly does your girl have all these contacts?”
I just shrug, grinning like this is all one big inside joke. “She’s Bella Blackwood, man. Queen of chaos. Apparently, international chaos.”
But I know better. I know these names. Briggs and Khoza are Black Book names. Khoza’s not just some underground fighter. He’s a blood diamond enforcer with ties in all of South Africa.
Holy shit.
If all her fighters are Black Book guys Team Rez doesn’t stand a chance tonight.
“Who the fuck did this girl pick for me?” I say under my breath.
Khoza enters the ring like a damn showman.
All swagger and precision. The guy is built like a fucking tank, pure muscle and no bullshit.
Skin like burnished bronze, veins and ink running down his arms like warning signs.
Shaved head, jaw cut from stone, brown eyes that say he’s seen hell and walked out bored.
DeShawn is fucked.
DING.
Khoza plays the crowd, lets DeShawn land a few hits early on, probably to sell the fight better. He’s keeping it tight, clean, technical. Controlled.
Bella’s yelling from the sideline, calling out combos and reading openings, and it’s not my favorite thing to watch. Seeing her that locked in for another man’s fight?
No. Fucking. Thanks.
DING.
The men return to their corners. Bella walks right up to Khoza, leans down, and whispers something in his ear. He looks up at her and smiles with blood in his teeth.
Then she kisses his goddamn forehead. I snap the neck off my beer bottle against the edge of the bench, slicing open my palm.
Rez doesn’t even flinch. “Looks like your girl’s really good at playing the crowd… and her fighters.”
I glare at him.
“I did tell her I needed to sell this,” he adds, smug as hell.
DING.
Round Two starts and ends in under sixty seconds. Khoza drops DeShawn so hard, it echoes through The Pit. Bella jumps in the ring, all smiles as she raises yet another one of her champions hands in victory.
Then the motherfucker lifts Bella into the air like she’s his fucking prize. I shoot to my feet, fists balled tight. “Baby, I swear to God.”
“Shit, Bella: 2. Me: 0.” Rez says shaking his head.
Knox’s voice cuts in again over the crowd.
“Alright folks, we’re gonna take a quick intermission. Grab a beer, kiss your girl, and we’ll be right back with the final two fights of the night!”
Yeah. Great. Only problem is my girl’s too busy being worshiped by international criminals to remember who the fuck she belongs to.
Buzz. Buzz.
BELLA: How you liking the show so far?
ME: Oh you mean the part where you let blood diamond boy carry you like a damn trophy? Yeah. Love it. Super romantic, baby.
BELLA: Oh, don’t be jealous. Rez wanted great fights for the donors and that’s what I gave him.
ME: You brought Black Book guys.
BELLA: We needed big names… so yeah.
ME: Who the fuck am I fighting Bella?
BELLA: You’ll see. Gotta get back out there. Fight 3 is about to begin. I love you!! And remember what I said… a fight to remember, baby. Or I don’t move in. Kisses!!!!
I stare at the screen. “Oh, I’ll fucking give you a fight to remember.”
For the second half of the night, Rico clearly said go harder and hotter. Now the girls are in tight black leather shorts that are basically thongs, skimpy, ripped black cropped bralettes with Hollow Kings in red bold script across the front.
Except for Bella’s. Hers says Certified Lex Addict in glittering blood-red across her chest. My lungs forget how to function.
Rez walks up behind me, eyeing the shirt and raises a brow, “Damn. That’s one way to stake a claim.”
I turn, jaw ticking. “You ready?”
Rez runs a hand over his head. “To be honest? I’m nervous as fuck for who Bella picked for me. I mean… the guy’s a damn beast.”
I narrow my eyes. “So let me get this straight. I’m the only one who doesn’t get to know who the fuck I’m up against?”
Rez grins. “Yep. Main Event’s gotta kill it, man.
Shock factor. Make the donors go feral. And your girl?
” He nods toward the screen where Bella’s commanding the crowd.
“She’s killing it. Got the donors eating out of her gorgeous little hands.
Tonight’s a huge success because of her, you should be proud. I know I sure as hell am.”
Knox voice booms through the crowd. “Alright Hollow Kings, you know him, you fear him, make some noise for none other than Damien motherfucking Reznikov!”
Rez jogs into the ring, shaking out his arms, all swagger and steel. The crowd roars, hungry for violence.
Knox grins. “Well Rez. Bella. It looks like Team Bella is up 2-0.”