1. Kinsley
KINSLEY
It’s been three months since my dad was brutally killed and I was stabbed. My sliced flesh has healed a lot faster than the hole left in my chest.
No one says cage fighting is for the faint of heart, but it rarely ends in death.
Nothing about that fight was fair. Why him?
There were six other fights that night. His fight was the last of the night.
The fight everyone showed up to see was the one with the highest bets.
He was no doubt one of the best fighters.
I’ve run the scene over in my mind a thousand times, and none of it makes sense. He brought in a lot of money, but that was what the Underground, the UG, was about: paying to watch the brutal entertainment to make some extra cash with a good bet.
I don’t believe my dad was in for the money.
He was all about the thrill of the challenge.
It was his way of balancing the exquisitely sharp edge of fighting.
One side of the blade seeks the high of the winning, while the other side bleeds the honor and respect for the art.
It seemed his competitive side fought harder for the high than the honor. His death is proof of that.
The last months of my senior year were supposed to be filled with parties, prom, and prepping for college, not mourning.
Taking a deep breath, I toss another pair of sneakers into the box labeled Shoes .
Cardboard boxes line the walls of my bedroom.
Most of them are filled with stuff that used to have much more meaning.
But after you lose someone who means the world to you, most things are just that, worthless things .
“ No one needs this many damn shoes,” I mutter.
Of all the stacked boxes packed with clothes, books, and mostly nonsense, only a few are going with me to my uncle’s house, my new home.
For the past few hours, I’ve been dragging ass to avoid saying goodbye to this house and my mom.
But time is closing in on me. I knew moving and starting a new life would be difficult, but is it supposed to be this hard?
I’m not ready for the change, the move, or for tomorrow, my first day at Monarch University.
The only thing I am prepared for is revenge.
I was supposed to attend college with my best friend, Luca. We had it all planned out. But everything changed the night of that horrific fight.
With dread, I step onto my balcony and stare at the vast front yard with its perfectly cut green lawn and pruned shrubs.
A limo, a moving truck, and a blacked-out Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle are lined up around the circular driveway near the fountain.
It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.
Hell, the reality of it is a joke—a sick one.
A red Tesla comes up the driveway and parks behind my motorcycle.
Some upbeat pop song blares from the speakers before the windows roll up.
My best friend steps out from the driver’s side.
As usual, Luca is dressed to perfection.
He strides up the wide stone steps, his lean, muscular body evident through his tight white shirt and black dress pants.
He doesn’t pause to knock on the front door like a visitor.
Luca hasn’t needed a reason to knock since we were kids.
He disappears through the front entrance.
He’ll be at my door in a few moments, and there’s no one else I want or need to see more.
If it weren’t for him, I’d be lying in a grave next to my dad.
He found me that night at the warehouse using the tracking app on his phone.
According to him, his timing was perfect.
He arrived just before the cops stormed the place and was able to get me out.
If he hadn’t, I would have been arrested and questioned about what happened.
And as much as I wanted to call the cops myself and tell them everything, that would only get me killed.
When I woke in the hospital, I was stitched up, told I had a concussion, and hooked to enough tubes and wires to make my mother nearly have a heart attack.
Luca told them some bullshit story about us practicing our weapons technique, and whoops, Kinsley accidentally got stabbed and knocked out.
No one believed him, but everyone let it go when I told the same story after he briefed me.
There’s a brief knock before Luca opens the door. “Hey, baby Kins.”
He doesn’t bother to ask how I’m doing. He already knows.
Before I can say anything, he’s across the room, taking me into his arms. Luca knows precisely what to say or do, especially when no words are needed.
Unlike me, who’s the complete opposite. I usually say the first thing that jumps into my head and then suffer the backlash as it immediately nose-dives off my tongue.
It’s most likely the reason I have very few friends.
Luca does his best to keep me out of trouble.
And most of the time, he does a great job.
If only he were with me at the UG. Not only is his level of self-control a thousand times greater than mine but he also has enough balls to verbally bitch slap me when I need to be reined in.
Because he’s an almost perfect being inside and out, most people drop to their knees to please him.
So, I like to think of myself as his breath of fresh air.
I don’t fall to my knees for anyone. And I’m convinced this is the reason he loves me.
If I had my way, I’d pounce on his fine brown ass, tie him up, and beat the shit out of any girl who got near him.
But there’s one teeny issue that I can’t change about him.
Luca’s sexual preference puts somewhat of a damper on my interests and needs.
It’s frustrating as hell, but there’s not much I can do about it—no matter how short I wear my skirts.
He pulls back and stares down at me. In my already fragile state, I can barely look into his sad, mocha eyes. His pain is just as palpable as mine since he was almost as close to my dad as I was.
“It’s okay to feel vulnerable. He was your whole world.”
I nod. “Yeah, he was.”
The fist gripping my heart squeezes again.
It has never completely let go. The tightness is a constant agonizing reminder that my life will never be the same again.
My dad was my rock and superhero. He was the one who brought me to karate class and taught me to love martial arts.
The one I went to when a boy broke my heart. He was my everything.
“I don’t know how to live without him,” I admit. “I’ll never hear him tell me my kick was off or perfect or feel his arms around me.” The wall holding the torrent of tears breaks. “He gave the best hugs.” I grip the sleeves of Luca’s shirt.
Luca sniffs. “I know they’re not the same, but you can have these arms around you whenever you want.”
I bury myself deeper into his hold. That’s the most painful thought.
There are so many things I’ll never get to experience with my dad, a thousand moments stolen from me.
That’s also the thought that keeps me strong, reminding me what I need to do.
It won’t resurrect my dad, but it’ll reward my selfish vengeance.
Luca just holds me until I ease out of our embrace.
“Thanks, I needed that.” I take a deep breath to collect myself.
“I know.” He wipes away a tear on my cheek with the pad of his thumb.
I glance around my room. “What now?”
He tilts his head, then jackknifes his finger at me. “Now we talk about this horrible idea of yours. You’re leaving me,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.
Guilt washes over me. But I didn’t give myself another choice. Luca doesn’t understand now, but one day, he will—just not today. As corrupt as they are, I have reasons for attending Monarch, but I’m not ready to share those yet, not even with my best friend.
“I know.”
“We’ve always planned that we would go to Maylen, join a dojo, and kick ass—together. And now you’re going to Monarch. I just don’t get it.” He throws his hands in the air. “You hate all that bureaucratic bullshit and the dirty money that follows it.”
I couldn’t argue with him. Even though his family and mine are rich as hell, we don’t flaunt it or use it to up our game like most we went to school with.
“You know that college has a freaking uniform for undergrads, right? You hate uniforms.”
He isn’t wrong. It’s ridiculous. “It’s just for a year.”
“And that college is notorious for only accepting spoiled, rich assholes whose families want them to follow in their corrupt corporations? I’d hate to see you get caught in any bad shit.”
“I’m sure I’ll have no problem handling myself.”
He turns me so that my back is against his chest. I lean back into his warm body. His arms wrap around me, and he rests his chin on my shoulder. I’m glad he can’t see my face as I let the lie slide so easily from my lips. “I promised my mom I’d stay close.”
“I know. I’m being selfish.” Luca pulls back a little and twists me slightly so I can look at him.
His full lips quirk into a lopsided grin.
“Selfish or not, my last argument for you not to attend Monarch is that you’ve missed the first two weeks of the semester.
It’s going to be a bitch to catch up. And I’m going to bet you got shitty classes. ”
I shake my head and laugh. “Again, you’re not wrong.”
He’s right on target with that one. I’m with the leftover classes. It’ll suck, but the small sacrifice will be worth it.
“That’s all I got, and it seems that isn’t enough for you to change your mind.”
“We have next year,” I say without knowing where this year will leave me.
“Fine.” He spins me around to face him. “So, you want to fight today? I bet we can kick this shitty day’s ass.”