Chapter Six
Amelie
Screw them if they think that I’ve forgiven them. I haven’t and don’t plan to. Unbeknown to Sawyer, I met a guy on the plane. He goes to some fancy snob school not too far away from mine and he reeks of money, but so far he has proven himself to be a good time.
Apparently, there’s a fight night and it’s the place to be.
He agreed to get me out of the airport but in exchange I had to go straight to the fight with him.
Whatever. It’s not like I have anywhere better to be.
He takes me to the warehouse where the fights will be held because he has to check everything is being set up correctly.
We’re there a while, so I play games to pass the time. Mindlessly scrolling also helps with the boredom. I’m distracted by the sound of a very familiar bike engine thrumming from outside. A moment later Baxter strides inside like he owns the place. I should have known. I smirk.
“Baxter, I didn’t think you fought anymore!” The guy whose name I didn’t bother to remember calls across the vast empty space to him.
“I don’t, it’s a waste of my time, Taco. I can kick everyone's ass and you know it.”
“That’s true.”
“Amelie, we need to go,” he says with a nod of his head. It’s the only acknowledgement he gives me and it riles me up.
“No.”
“No?” he mimics. He crosses his defined arms over his chest and raises a brow at me. He’s scowling, but I think he’s biting back a smirk, especially as I mirror his pose. I missed his beautiful face. Not telling him that though.
“Yeah, no. I’m not leaving. I want to watch people get their faces smashed in, and what’s-his-name here promised me a good time.”
“Your little boyfriends won’t be happy about this.”
“And why do you care about them all of a sudden?” I place my hands on my hips and wait, trying not to get mad.
“Paying my dues.”
“A favour.”
He nods. I can respect that. That’s our bread and butter back home.
Smalls owes me a massive favour for taking the fall for him with the weed cookie teacher‘s death now. I’ll never call it in or use it against him, though I am sorely tempted to make him break up with skank-face Sarah. He’d have to if I asked.
I sigh. I can’t do that either. Regardless of everything, I do love him and want him to be happy.
“I’m still not going, so you either join me or leave.”
Baxter gives me his psychopath smile and my insides flutter a little. I don’t like him like that, but his darkness does call to me. We could burn this place down together if I let it happen.
“I’m not fighting,” he says. “And neither are you.”
“Please,” I scoff. As if I’d fight. My speciality is hiding. “Why would I want to fight rich pretentious assholes?”
“You’ll see.” He smirks.
Crowds start rolling in, and one kid even has a whole entourage following behind him.
“That’s Chester Banks, his father is some big Fortune 500 dude, sent his kid to the best Elite school in the world that would take him. He is also undefeated.”
“If he’s undefeated, why don’t you take him on?”
“Why? What do I get out of it? Bragging rights. I already know I would wipe my ass with that kid.”
“Up yourself much,” I scoff. One thing I have noticed about the guys here in England is that they all have loads of confidence.
“So what’s the point in the fights then?” I ask.
“For the rich kids? Just boredom. For the lower class kids? A shit load of money. One fight could set them up for a while. Would depend on who they’re fighting though. Beating Chester right now, I would guess would bring in about 50k.”
“What…” I say flabbergasted. “Fifty thousand dollars to knock him out?!”
“Pounds,” Baxter corrects me. “Closer to 100k if we’re talking about Australian dollars.”
“Fuck.” That blows me away. “I changed my mind. I could use that kind of money.”
“Okay, Mike, calm down. There is no way you could beat that kid, he has more money than God, and probably had lessons in the ring since he could walk.”
The kid I came here with takes to the middle of the makeshift ring, he’s talking to a few girls surrounding him. ‘Sucker for Pain’ by Imagine Dragons plays at a deafening level, and I relax back into the atmosphere of expectation. I love this song. It always gets me going.
“Who's that again?” I ask Baxter.
“That’s Taco, he runs these fights and is also the bookie.”
“Bookie?”
“Yep, the kid has cash, so he loans money to people who need it. If they can’t pay up, he has a few friends to help recover the cost.” Baxter doesn’t elaborate on who he has to clean up his mess – though I expect Baxter could be part of that clean up crew – as the lights dim and only one shines on Taco.
“Welcome, welcome! Tonight is already shaping up to be one for the history books. We haven’t had a Knox here for a while, so just for fun, it’s double or nothing.
Get your bets in while you can! My main man, Legs, is over in the booth, bets close ten minutes before each fight.
Fighters are listed on the board as of now.
” My heart is beating erratically. A Knox?
It has to be Onyx. Explains why Baxter made a joke about me wanting to fight.
I search the electronic board that holds all the fighters’ names and low and behold Onyx is the main event fighting against Chester.
“What the fuck?!”
“Told you it’s going to be good, not many are game enough to fight a...Knox, because beating them doesn’t end well.” For a minute I thought he was going to say something else but then he said Knox. What the hell are these guys into?
“What does Onyx get from these fights?”
“Busted knuckles and an inflated ego. I bet some feisty brunette pissed him off and he has some pent-up anger to let go of.” He chuckles under his breath and it takes me a beat to realise what he’s talking about.
Baxter finds us some drinks and an ideal spot beside the ring: great view, but not so close that we get covered in sweat and blood spray.
My mind reels; these fights are brutal. It looks like medical students are set up and tending to the guys who get their asses beat. Shouts and cheers echo through the walls as each fight takes place.
“Elite, and those below us, look who just walked in.”
My head snaps to the entrance. Onyx, Slate and Kalen walk through the doors as if they own them, and hushed whispers fill the room. They don’t notice me and I use the crowd as a shield, shrinking back into the shadows.
Stepping back, I hit a brick wall of a body, and arms instantly encase me, making me lose all train of thought. My vision starts to fade; the heat from the room and his trapping me sends my mind spiralling into the past.
“Let her go,” Baxter snaps. It’s all he says before he yanks the monster from me.
“Hey, hey, you guys! You know the rules, all fights take place in the ring.” A gun cocks at the side of Baxter’s head and he releases the monster's arm. I freeze in fear. Fuck. What the hell just happened?
Holding his own arms in the air, Baxter starts to walk towards the ring, the monster guy following. Fuck, this isn’t good. What should I do?
“You need to come with me, girly,” a slender sleazy looking kid says. I have no choice but to follow.
When we reach the ring, Baxter removes his shirt, and I gasp in surprise. He has the exact same tattoo as the guys, the Celtic Knot, only his is on his left collar bone. I move ringside and Baxter hands me his removed shirt.
“This will be bloody, so put this on over your clothes.”
I nod and pull his shirt on. His fresh scent calms my nerves, and I smile because he smells like the woods. But with the faint smell of tobacco lingering too. I swear he spends most of his days leaning up against a tree, smoking.
The buzzer sings and Baxter watches his opponent, assessing. The guy’s big, but Baxter looks like a killer. His eyes do this weird thing when he gets into the zone. It’s like his soul departs. Baxter throws the first punch, blood splattering the crowd.
“Wearing his shirt makes me want to bend you over my knee and punish you,” Kalen’s voice melts like butter over my senses.
“What do you want?” I say, not looking back at him. I can feel him standing close. I wish I could lean back into him but I refuse to let my body win this fight.
“You,” is all he says.
“Not interested. Been there, done that, have the broken heart to prove it.”
Kalen gives a sharp intake of breath. He must be close if I can hear it over the chaos around us.
I keep my eyes glued to Baxter. He seems to be winning the fight.
His opponent is huge, but slow. Baxter is cold, calculating and ruthless.
I don’t think the monster stands a chance. It makes me shiver.
“We broke your heart?” Kalen asks quietly. There’s no mistaking the devastation in his tone and I instantly want to slap myself for oversharing. Too much honesty. Thankfully, I’m saved from having to answer by being drawn back into the fight in the ring in front of me.
The crowd goes wild, the Goliath of a man hits the ground, blood smearing his face, out cold. The medics run into the ring to check the guy over. Taco holds Baxter’s hand in the air.
Once his hand is free, Baxter walks from the spotlight.
“Your keepers are here, I’m out,” he tells me.
I gesture to his shirt and he shakes his head. I make a mental note to ask him about the tattoo later.
“How chivalrous of him, to fight in your honour,” Onyx drawls, making his presence known.
I turn to face him, Slate by his side. Kalen is still behind me, not moving from his position.
“At least he gives a shit about me,” I say, stabbing him in the chest. “At least he doesn’t try to hurt me by using the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, against me. So if any of you think I will forgive you, you’re fucking insane.”
“Like it or not, you’re going to need us. Your little stunt before you left didn’t go unnoticed,” Onyx spits. “People want revenge.”
“I would rather die than ask any of you for help, so get that through your tiny ass brain. I do not need you, or your protection. I can take care of myself.”
“If you say so.”
I do say so. I don’t care if everyone is out to get me, hell would have to freeze over before I trust any of them again. With the clarity of time, I have no doubt that during that day at their mum’s house they wouldn’t have hurt me, but they used my fear against me. For that they can rot in hell.