Chapter 36 – Roman
ROMAN
Liam, Seamus O’Brien’s bodyguard, is standing in the dark, his eyes fixed on mine with an indecipherable expression.
“You need to come with me.”
Shit. That’s not good. Not good at all.
“What for?” I ask, leaning against the side of my building, trying for unaffected and feeling anything but. He’s armed. I know he’s armed because he’s always packing.
“Seamus needs a word.” His Irish brogue is as thick as his beard, and I glance to the side of him and see a black Mercedes sedan, nearly hidden in the shadows.
I shift back to him. “What about my bike?”
“You won’t need it tonight. We’ll drop you off back here later.”
“You mean if I’m still alive.”
He’s not amused, likely not taking kindly to me pointing out his particular line of work, but I’m not kidding, nor am I asking it like a question. In all the years I’ve been boxing at one of Seamus’s warehouses, he’s never sent any of his men for me. Not once.
But it seems I don’t exactly have a choice.
I shove off from the wall and walk toward the car.
He opens the back door for me, and I slide inside to find I’m not alone back here.
Seamus is seated by the other window, his face all but invisible in the darkness.
He doesn’t say anything, and I don’t bother greeting him or asking him what this is all about. I assume he’ll get there.
Liam climbs in and starts the car, pulling out of the alleyway behind Uppercut and off into Southie. He’s driving us in the general direction of the warehouse, but I haven’t removed my gaze from the windshield, which gives me a good peripheral shot of Seamus.
“Do you know why I have you here?”
“No,” I tell him truthfully.
“I got a visit from someone a couple of weeks ago about you. I’d seen you with him in the past. It’s your new girl’s ex. The television guy.”
“Adam,” I supply, and he nods.
“Yes. He came to me and asked to make a deal. I have one of my guys rough ye up a bit before your fight, crack a few ribs or fuck up a kidney, something not so visible, and we place heavy bets on you losing.”
Wow. That’s so incredibly sick and fucked up I hardly have words.
“I brushed him off. I had no problem with ye, and if he did that was on him. But then he came back again the other day, offering me the same deal and sweetening it with a bonus for me. A hundred grand if I do it, plus whatever I win on betting against ye.”
“Jesus,” slips out, and I lean back against the seat. “Sounds like quite the offer.”
“He said you stole his girl.”
I almost crack a smile at that. Maybe I would if my heart weren’t pounding so hard, shooting ice-cold blood through my limbs and ears. “I didn’t steal anything from him. He cheated on her, and I’ve been in love with Braelyn for years. Things between her and me just happened.”
“Do you believe in loyalty?” he asks, and I rub a hand over the top of my head, angry and annoyed all over again.
“Yes. I believe in loyalty to those who deserve it and have shown loyalty in return. Adam threw my past in my face and tried to use it against me for his advantage after he ruthlessly cheated and hurt his fiancée, who is my best friend. Maybe me making a move on Braelyn breaks some guy code, but from where I’m sitting, especially right now, he can go fuck himself. ”
“I believe in loyalty,” he continues as if I didn’t say any of that and I’m regretting my outburst. It’s not who I am, and I need to get my shit back in control. “That said, I did consider his offer because I also believe in money.”
That’s fair and nothing less than I would have expected.
“You don’t do this for the money,” he follows that up. A statement and not a question, but I answer him all the same.
“No.”
“Ye give it all away. Even yer betting money.”
“Yes.” And now Adam’s words about me going down make sense. He went to the freaking Irish mob to do it.
“A man who fights like that isn’t fighting to win. He’s fighting to get rid of his demons.”
I twist to look at his profile. “You know this about me, Seamus. You did your research on me. I know you did. What fucking difference does it make if that’s why I’m fighting or not?
I still fight to win. So if you’re going to take Adam’s money and rough me up and force me to fight so I lose and you and Adam win, so be it.
But if it goes beyond that, if you try to hurt my wife or my family, I have no qualms about responding to that. ”
A smile cracks his lips. “He’s having the police arrest ye after the match. That’s his angle.”
“So not only am I to be broken and lose, but then arrested?”
“He doesn’t know I’m aware of that part. He’s arranged things with the chief of police and the DA.”
Holy shit. I bark out a laugh. “They come to my matches.”
“Your old friend Adam doesn’t very often, so he never saw them there. He used his connections through the network and his daddy for this. His plan is to have them arrest ye outside the warehouse, but not have them enter.”
I rub my jaw. “I see. And what would that do to you?”
“Likely nothing since neither the DA nor the chief of police wants to be involved with me in that way. Regardless, he and his friends are coming to yer fight tonight so he can see it all unfold. He asked I place them in the VIP area.”
Lovely. Brae will be there. And Adam is expecting me to lose and then get arrested and have all of that happen in front of her. The irony is, this was going to be my last fight. Braelyn hates it and I don’t have the same… need for it anymore. I’ll still box and train, but no more fights.
Now the decision might no longer be mine.
Tonight is going to end badly, and I can’t simply pull out and walk away.
Seamus wouldn’t let that stand. He’s the guy who doesn’t just take you out—he takes your family out, and that means Braelyn. This goes however he says it does.
The car turns into the parking lot for the warehouse and drives around back to a part I’ve never been to. It’s completely empty back here, save for one dingy overhead light. The car stops, and I have no idea what’s coming next.
“You realize outside of the illegal gambling, the boxing isn’t considered much of a crime. So he’ll have to get me on the gambling side of it as well.”
He gives me a pitying look. “That’s the plan.”
“Got it.” My heart starts to pound, and adrenaline hits and hits hard. I look out the window. No cameras. “I take it this is where you fuck up my ribs or kidneys.”
Sweat pours down my forehead, chest, and back. I finish getting taped up while the sound of the crowd leaks through the door. Typically, I love this moment before the fight. It’s when I get my mind set. My mental game straight. And my body ready. Except tonight nothing is happening as planned.
There’s a knock on the door, and it opens before I can answer. Seamus comes in and gives me a once-over. “Ye look like shit.”
I’d chuckle if it were funny. I don’t bother responding.
“It’s time. Did ye take care of what you needed to?”
“Yes,” I answer as I stand. “It’s all set.”
He gives me a firm nod, and that’s that. Show time.
I follow after him to the outskirts of the ring. There are easily three hundred people here tonight, and a moment later, my opponent is beside me. I’ve fought him before. Fought and beat him. And while that should give me confidence, he’s bulked up in the last year.
He doesn’t say anything to me, and I don’t bother with him. My focus is across the room on my girl standing at the edge of the VIP area flanked by Hayes and Forest. Forest’s eyes meet mine, and he gives me an almost imperceptible nod.
Meanwhile Braelyn looks nervous. Annoyed perhaps.
Or maybe upset? She doesn’t look right, and with that, I walk over to her, ignoring the protocol of the match.
Adam and his douche friends are off to the side, but I don’t bother to acknowledge them.
Motherfucker is trying to play a game he doesn’t understand, and with that, I no longer have remorse where he’s concerned.
“Hey,” I say to her, sticking out my pinkies. She eyes them harshly before slowly looking up at me. “What’s wrong?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying. Is it Adam?”
“He’s one of many things.” Her brows crease as she takes me in. “Are you okay? You’re… sweating. A lot. And really red.”
I cup her jaw since she didn’t take my pinky, but I don’t answer her as I ask, “Baby, what is it?” She can hardly meet my eyes.
“Roman, I really don’t want to have this conversation right now. Everything’s fine. We’ll talk after you win.”
After I win. She has no clue what tonight’s about, and I can’t tell her. That’s also a conversation that’ll have to wait.
“I love you.” I dip my head and kiss her lips. She kisses me back. Sorta. Only to rip her mouth away before I can deepen it. Something isn’t right. Something is very wrong, in fact.
“You already look beat. Something got you down?” Adam howls with raucous laughter. “Guess she’s another thing you’re losing tonight, Romeo.” My boxing name is practically spat at me. If he did something else, if he tainted her thoughts, he’s a dead man.
I look back at her. “Whatever he said that has you pissed at me, he’s lying.”
Braelyn releases a breath, gives me a small nod, and holds out her pinkies for me. I lock mine with hers but flip our left hands over. I’m not wearing my band since I’m fighting, but I shift her hand until her fingers touch where my tattoo is.
These past couple of weeks since we returned from Mexico have been great for us. Now it feels like she’s yet another thing I have no control over about to slip through my hands.
“Don’t give up on me yet, kid.”
The lights dim and the announcer gets started with his spiel. That’s my cue and I wipe the sweat on my brow and running down my back. Adam is shouting about something behind me, but I block him and everything else out.
I have to get through this. I don’t have a choice.
This can only go one way for me. If it doesn’t, shit will go down and it won’t be good.
“Fight!” The announcer jumps out of the way, and Curtis, my opponent, immediately comes at me. Except he doesn’t go for my face. He ducks and loops around me and goes for my back. For my kidney.
He gets a blow in that has me staggering three steps.
The crowd goes nuts. I never get hit like that.
Not so soon and never a hit that hard on my backside.
Searing pain radiates up through my spine and down into the back of my legs.
I hear him coming at me again and I spin around a second before he lands another shot to the same spot and slam my fist straight into his face.
His nose shatters, and blood spurts out everywhere. He had that coming for being part of this.
He doesn’t go down, but he does stumble back, only to regroup and come straight for me.
He lands a punch to my ribs, followed by my face.
This continues. Him wailing on me, and me throwing random, but effective punches.
The guy is a bruiser. Heavy yet agile. If he were fighting fair, it might actually be a good match.
But he’s not.
He’s fighting me with intelligence he shouldn’t have except for the fact that he was tipped off by my ex-best friend.
Round one ends, and I slink over to the corner instead of joining Brae, Forest, and Hayes as I typically do. We don’t do trainers here, but I take a sip of water while physically taking stock of my injuries.
Round two starts, going exactly as round one did.
I hit the ground this time, my lungs on fire, my muscles screaming, and my bones aching in a way they never have before.
I can’t look at Braelyn, but I hear her screaming out and gasping, and I hate that she’s having to see this.
This is the thing she feared the most, and it’s happening right in front of her and I can’t protect her from it.
The rounds continue, one after the other, filled with blood and sweat.
By the fifth round, I’m wrecked. Curtis isn’t great, but he’s not as bad off as I am. Out of the corner of my eye, Seamus gives me the signal, and I release a breath, my insides collapsing on me.
Curtis comes at me, his fist already flying, aiming for the knockout shot, and he hits my face with precision. My right cheekbone cracks, and my mouth pools with blood. Thankfully, he didn’t knock out a tooth, but it doesn’t matter much.
My vision sways and pops, and before I know what’s happening, I’m going down. Hard. I hit the cement just as the announcer starts to count toward a knockout and my loss.