Chapter 4
Chapter Four
EZRA
I hope my little minx likes the retreat I have planned for us. She always said that she loves the woods and going hiking. Of course, she’s going to be unconscious when I bring her here, but maybe when she wakes up—if she’s willing to cooperate—we could go for a hike.
There are so many places out here I could show her.
Like the lake that’s only a short hike east from here, or we could keep going north, into the Catskill Mountains.
She could spend time with me hiking to the high peaks and looking out over the valleys below.
My little minx will love the cabin, too. It took far too long to build, but every inch of it is solid wood.
She loves leather, so I made sure to have the couches and chairs upholstered with the warm whiskey-colored leather she has all over her apartment.
I open the door, and it feels like coming home.
At least, it would if I didn’t have the cabin draped with thick plastic.
I don’t know what’s going to happen when the little minx wakes up once she’s here, but I want to be prepared for the worst. She’s always been so good to me, but this is going to scare her.
She’s strong, though. Resilient.
My little minx isn’t the kind to go down without a fight, but soon she’ll see that this is for the best. She’ll find out that this is the best way for her to be.
I’ll be around to take care of her, to make sure that she wants for nothing.
She won’t have to worry about all those other stressors in her life.
I can deal with all of them.
I wander through the house, parting the sheets of plastic and heading through the kitchen to the back door.
The padlocks are still in place, drilled into the thick wood door. The windows let in light through the bars I drilled into the outside yesterday morning.
Even if my little minx thinks she can escape me, she’s going to find out she can’t.
I sigh and run my fingers over the lock. “I wish I didn’t have to do this.”
It’s the only way, though. The only way to keep her safe. To make sure that she can’t leave me.
New York is such a big and dangerous city.
But she’s never going to know that there are monsters lingering in plain sight. She hasn’t seen them like I have. She hasn’t followed them, watching the way they watch her.
She’s oblivious, my poor minx, but I’m going to fix that.
As I pull the sheet back into place, the roll of knives on the counter catches my attention. I cross the room to it, unrolling the black leather and spreading it along the counter.
Everything needs to be perfect when I come for her.
My little minx needs to see the time and care I’ve put into arranging our home.
And soon, she will.
Tyson bounces back and forth on his feet, shaking out his arms as the men currently in the ring beat the hell out of each other. “This is it, first fight of the month. Are you ready to win a fuck ton of money?”
I wrap my hands and shrug. “Don’t think there’s much I need the money for, anymore. Jade finally agreed to go out with me, but due to the fuck ass schedule the boss has me running, there’s not a whole lot I can do about any of it.”
“Damn.” Tyson reaches for his bottle of water and takes a long sip. “Here you are finally stopping the antisocial bullshit, and now you have to be here fighting. Think she’s going to be pissed about you not setting up a time with her?”
“I did, but I told her it would have to be flexible. I need a couple days after a fight to heal up.”
One of the trainers comes over and helps me with my gloves, pulling them on.
I stretch a bit, taking a deep breath.
The man in the ring hits the ground. Blood pours from what I assume is a broken nose, but it has to be far from the first he had. There’s no way his nose can get any more crooked.
I head for the ring, hanging just outside where the crowd is down a long hallway. Even if it is underground and we bounce from one abandoned warehouse to another, there is something about the showmanship of the fight that everyone seems to love.
“And now, for the fighter you’ve all been waiting for, Ezra Reyes!”
The crowd roars, and even from the end of the hallway there are people visible, shooting to their feet, their arms in the air as they shout.
This is the part of the fight I hate the most. The damn crowd work. I would rather get out there, beat the hell out of the guy in front of me, and then continue on with my day.
Instead, I jog out of the hall, jumping around, pumping my fists in the air, trying to get the crowd as loud as possible. It helps to get in the other person’s head before the fight begins, to have them worrying about what your next move will be instead of what their move should be.
I step up into the ring and hop inside, refusing to shake the guy’s hand and instead punching him in the face.
He stumbles back, his gloves flying up in front of his face. “You stupid fucker. You’re going to get the shit beat out of you for that.”
Circling him, I smirk, feinting to the left, tossing a low hook to see what he does.
He leans back a little, putting most of his weight on his right leg.
No surprise there, most fighters rely on their dominant side.
Guess that means I’m going to be left-handed today.
I switch my position fast, before he has a chance to register what’s happening, and my fist flies out. I deliver a sharp jab to his torso, followed with a hook to his other side before bouncing back and out of his range.
The crowd roars as he lunges at me, feinting to the left.
I meet him when he shifts to the right, delivering a cut to the underside of his jaw, sending him stumbling back.
He groans, his hands dropping long enough for me to snap forward and nail him in the face again, his nose crunching beneath the weight of my punch.
I’m on him then, pinning him to the ground and pummeling him.
This is the part of the fight I love. The one where I let out every frustration I’ve ever had. The one where this fucker is going to have his face caved in because I feel like it.
The crowd is roaring. People scream. There’s blood on my gloves.
All of it fades into the background.
And then arms wrap around me, hauling me off and throwing me to the side.
Someone is in my face, shouting and pointing at me, but I’m too lost to the bloodlust to pay much attention to who it is. It doesn’t matter.
The fight is over, and the dickhead on the ground is lucky to be alive.
Tyson appears in front of me, raising my arm high in the air as the crowd roars.
Money starts changing hands and before I know it, I’m being pushed from the ring.
I head back down the hallway, Tyson trailing behind me, yammering on a mile a minute. I tune it all out, though.
Maybe now I can send Jade a message. I could have dinner with her tomorrow or the night after. Or maybe we should meet for coffee first. I read somewhere that women think you’re less of a threat to them if you meet them for coffee.
Tyson knocks me on the back of the head. “You’re not even listening to a word I say.”
“Why the hell would I? You never have much that’s important to say.” I glance at him over my shoulder as one of the trainers comes over and takes off my gloves.
He scoffs and drops down onto the bench. “Someone is feeling a little touchy today. Have you thought about taking the stick out of your ass?”
“Yeah, sure. Let me get right on that.” I sink down onto the bench beside him and start unwrapping my hands. “Look, I’ve had a shit day and then I had to come here and beat the fuck out of some guy.”
“You could walk away.”
I glance over at him. “You and I both know that it’s not as simple as that. In for life, remember? Besides, the money is good. Too good to walk away from even if I could.”
“Damn right it is.” Noah strides into the room with a wad of money in his hand and holds it out to me. “Your cut, though next time, I’d like you to leave the guy you’re fighting a little closer to living. Can’t make money if all my fighters are on the ground.”
I take the money and flip through it. Nearly a hundred thousand. “Thanks.”
Noah nods, eyeing me for a moment. “There’re going to be more fights this month. I have bills to pay and endeavors to fund, but lucky for us, you benefit from this too.”
I press my lips together and give him a sharp nod. There’s no use in arguing with him. I used to do that when I was younger. But I learned. Arguing with him means getting the shit beat out of you when you get jumped in an alley. Or you’re starved and then made to fight for your life.
Noah turns to Tyson. “You’re going to be fighting more this month too, but your primary job is going to be getting Ezra here to the top of his game. I need him locked in.”
Tyson nods, not looking Noah in the eyes. He’s never been able to. Not since Noah put us through hell as children.
It was better than the alternative, though.
Which is why, as much as I don’t want to spend the rest of my life beating the hell out of people who aren’t worth my time, I’m going to.
This isn’t the kind of life you leave in anything other than a body bag.
My little minx moves around her bedroom in nothing but a towel. She doesn’t know that I can see her through the window. That blissful ignorance is going to end eventually, but I’ll be there to hold her hand through it all.
I can protect her in ways that nobody else ever has.
Shifting, I step closer to the shadows, leaning against the tree and pretending to scroll on my phone while waiting for the bus.
I glance up at her again from beneath the rim of my hat, grinning when she opens the curtains and looks down at me.
Well, maybe not me. In my direction. But she doesn’t see me.
I know she doesn’t because I’ve spent time scouting out this position, making sure that she can’t see me. Making sure I can keep my little minx safe.
And she provides me with her presence.
She’s beautiful. Breathtaking. There’s nobody in the world who compares to her, and she knows it. I’m sure she does. She wouldn’t carry herself with that much confidence if she didn’t know it.
That confidence makes her all the more attractive.
My cock swells as she leans a little closer to the window.
I want her so bad. But I need to be patient, even though the anticipation of being with her is nearly killing me.
All good things happen in time, and I have to pick the perfect moment for us. The right one.
I pull out my phone and snap a picture of her while she’s standing in the window, saving it to the Little Minx folder on my phone.
Soon, we’ll be together.