Chapter 8 Declan
I had to leave Xavier in that god-awful apartment. It took every bit of my willpower not to throw him over my shoulder and carry him out of that place.
I get to work putting the rest of my plan into place.
First, I email HR his information and the details I want included in the offer letter he’ll sign on Monday.
And he will accept the job. Not that I plan on making him work that hard—well, not for the company, anyway.
I contact my building manager to find out which unit is available.
I own the building, so it’s no problem to get the unit and the needed furnishings today.
If I have my way, he won’t be staying in it for long; soon enough, he’ll be with me in the penthouse.
Luckily, a unit below mine is available. I call Ronan.
“You could have just texted,” he answers on the third ring.
“And you could answer with a hello instead of saying the same damn thing every time.” I counter.
“I’m hoping that if I say it enough, all of you will get the hint and stop calling.” I can hear the clacking of a keyboard in the background.
“I need to install cameras in an apartment this afternoon. Taylor will do the install. I just need to know if you have the equipment.”
“Equipment? If you are putting it up in that closet your pet is in, you only need one.”
“I’m putting them in an apartment here in my building. I plan on moving him as soon as possible. And don’t call him a pet,” I grit out. He’s the second person to say it, and it’s starting to piss me off.
“And how are you going to get him to move? Kidnap him or win him over with your amazing personality?”
If he makes me grit my teeth any harder, I think I might crack a molar. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I am putting it into the employment agreement. It’ll be a perk for him working for me.”
“Did he accept your offer?” Ronan asks, and I can hear the amusement in his voice.
“I didn’t give him a choice. I told him to show up tomorrow at the office.” I don’t see any reason for him to turn me down for the job or apartment.
“And you just expect him to do as he’s told like a good little pe… person? You need to be smarter than that. Just because you think you didn’t give him a choice doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one. He could tell you to fuck off. I mean, he still has a roof over his head.”
“All I need to know is whether you have the equipment or not.” I’m done with this conversation. Xavier will choose me, end of story.
“Of course, I have the equipment. Kenji is with Finn, and I need to talk to him anyway. I’ll tell him what to pick up.”
He ends the call. Kenji will come over to install several audio-equipped cameras in the apartment—everywhere but the bathroom, because that would be weird.
I contact my personal shopper to have a wardrobe sent over for Xavier, but, much to my disappointment, Sherry needs sizes and fucking measurements I don’t know. I am going to give Ronan shit at dinner tomorrow because that information is not in his dossier.
I check the time. It’s 7:30, and I have too much going on in my head. I shouldn’t have left him there. I want him here with me. I know Alessia is right and that I have to give it time, but I don’t want to. I text the cousins’ group chat.
Me: heading to the fights tonight
Conor: time
Me: 9 at the warehouse
Conor: **thumbs up**
Ronan: No
Liam: spectator or participant
Me: participant
Liam: Finn and I will be there
It’s time to let out some of my aggression and irritation.
Xavier is not where I want him to be. Yet.
I don’t understand why he didn’t jump at the offer I made him today.
Anyone else in his shoes would have, but not my boy.
No, he has pride and a backbone. I recall the way he stood up straighter when I was looking around his apartment.
I wasn’t judging him, even though that’s what he thought.
He deserves better, and I want to give him what he deserves.
I don’t understand why, but I do. The tightness in my chest is back.
I make myself a sandwich for dinner. I don’t want anything heavy in case some jackass gets a body shot past me.
It’s unlikely, but you never know. I clean up the kitchen when I’m done, and after checking my gear bag, I head to the warehouse that holds the underground MMA fights I not only attend, but also fight in.
Like everything else in my life, it’s exclusive, so I don’t have to worry about it getting around that I like to fight.
— ? ? ? —
The warehouse is on the edge of town, away from the crowds of the city. If you didn’t know where you were going, you wouldn’t find it. I meet up with Liam, Conor, and Finn right inside the entrance.
“Are you fighting tonight?” I ask Conor. He’s the only other one of us that does, just not as much as I do.
“No. Not tonight.”
“You seem really weird. Anything to do with the hot twink from the club?” Finn jabs at me. “Can’t take the rejection?”
“You know, one of these days your smart mouth is going to write a check your ass can’t cash,” I say as I push past him.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Good luck.”
They go toward the waiting crowds as I make my way to the sign-up table.
It’s stifling hot in here, and I’m already starting to sweat.
They usually turn on the fans once the fights start, not a minute earlier.
The organizers make bank off these fights but won’t put a penny more toward costs than necessary.
I stand in line behind a large man who has me by a couple of inches, so he has to be at least six-nine, maybe six-ten. The guy is huge.
He gives his name to the guy at the table. “Jaxon,” he says. His voice is deep. He could make a fortune recording audiobooks. I’ve never seen him here before. After I sign up, I head to my group and wait for the fights to start and for my name to be called.
“Did you see the guy ahead of you? That fucker is big.” Conor says.
“Name’s Jaxon. His hands are the size of a dinner plate.”
“I pity you if you draw him. He’s got to have over a six-foot reach.”
I watch the man from across the cage set up in the center.
He is approached only by one guy who doesn’t seem happy with Jaxon.
But his issues are not why I am here. I take the tape from my bag and wrap my knuckles.
I used to do bare-knuckle, but my Dad and Alessia wouldn’t stop nagging me about it, so I found this place.
Because of the hundred-dollar bride, I slip the sign-up guy my name is called first.
Entering the ring, I wait for my opponent.
He’s shorter than I am, but he’s stockier.
I can tell that his muscles are gym-honed just by the way he carries himself.
Hopefully, he gives me what I need tonight.
Tension rolls through my muscles at the promise of release.
Fighting or fucking usually works for me.
And since the person I want to fuck is off limits right now, fighting is the only option.
My opponent meets me in the middle of the octagon, and the ref explains the rules.
No weapons, no outside help, and that’s it.
I return to my side to wait for the buzzer.
He’s jumping around, trying to get the crowd going. It’s all for show.
The buzzer sounds, and he barrels toward me.
I wait until he is right in front of me to pivot to my right and land a right hook to the side of his jaw.
It’s apparently made of glass because he goes down and doesn’t get back up.
Fuck, I wanted a real fight. To be able to release my monster, just for a few minutes.
This doesn’t even whet my appetite, much less satisfy it.
I need more. I need the endorphin rush to run through my veins and quench the frustration.
I storm to the side of the cage where Antonio is standing. He’s one of the organizers.
“Give me someone else!” I yell at him. He nods and says something to the short young man beside him. I wait, pacing the side of the cage like an animal, until another man walks into the ring. It takes me several minutes this time, but it still isn’t enough.
“Another!” I yell. The crowd is yelling with me.
A chant in and out of my head. Finally, the big guy who was ahead of me in line enters the ring.
Once the buzzer sounds, we circle each other.
Unlike my last two opponents, this guy shows some training.
He’s sizing me up just as much as I am him.
He waits me out, and I make the first move.
He finds an opening on my left side. The hit shoots pain through me.
It’s just what I need. We trade blows, neither one of us outmaneuvering the other.
I feel it the moment that my mind clears of the noise that has been plaguing me.
I pour everything into my hits. He’s blocking more than he is landing.
He tries to take me down, but I counter faster than he can react.
I get him in a rear-naked choke and lock in deep around him.
He taps my arm and then my leg. The tapping confuses me.
This isn’t the UFC, and there is no tapping out.
He goes limp after a couple of minutes. I roll him off of me and leave the ring. I’ve gotten what I came for.
“I thought you would never get done,” Liam says as he hands me a bottle of water.
“I don’t know what they were thinking putting those first two fuckers in the ring with me.
Amateurs.” I take a towel from my bag and wipe my upper body before sliding my t-shirt over my head.
There are several women around giving me sultry looks.
It’s obvious that I could take any of them to bed tonight.
Hell, I’m pretty sure I could fuck several of them right here on the dirty concrete floor, and they would let me.
Normally, that would be next on my agenda.
Fucking and fighting go hand in hand for me, but not tonight.
There is only one person I want to fuck, and I have to wait.
“You guys ready?” I ask as I’m putting on my sneakers.
Liam and Finn head toward the door, but I notice Conor is still standing in the same spot.
I follow his gaze to see what he’s staring at.
It’s Jaxon. The big guy is being berated by the guy from before.
If I had to put an emotion on it, I would say the man just looks sad.
Not the kind of sad that means ‘damn, I just lost a fight,’ but sad in a way that says I don’t want to be here.
“You coming?”
“No, you go ahead. I’m going to hang out for a while. I’ll see you tomorrow.”