Chapter 22
Max
“You good back there?” Wesley asked, glancing over his shoulder at me.
I was leaning against the wall behind him and Tysir at the betting tables.
I came down here to give myself something else to do besides staring at my phone and helplessly trying to compose the perfect apology.
Each time I tried, I’d get halfway through typing the message, realize I hated it, and delete the entire thing.
There was so much I wanted to say to Audrey, but I didn’t know how.
Whatever I said to her needed to be delivered perfectly.
I was already on thin ice. One crack and all that shit was shattering.
Though, after the other night, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already broken.
“Yeah,” I replied. To my surprise, Tysir and Wesley were actually doing a good job managing the betting table.
While Wesley did most of the talking, Tysir was the one meticulously keeping track. He had a notebook he was writing in, adding in names and numbers into columns to keep track of the funds.
“Move!” A voice suddenly cut through the crowds.
The crowd parted suddenly, curses flying as Carter stormed through it, rage burning in his eyes.
“You wanted to sneak me, motherfucker?” He asked as we locked eyes.
He tried to lunge over the table at me, but Tysir and Wesley stood up and blocked his way.
“Don’t hide behind your men now!” Carter yelled.
“Nobody’s hiding,” I replied. I straightened my composure and walked towards him. “Step aside.”
Tysir and Wesley looked over their shoulders and stared at me like I was crazy.
“You sure?” Tysir asked.
I nodded. “If he wants to get knocked the fuck out, then let him.”
“Others in here have beef to settle too,” Wesley chimed. “It’s not fair they gotta wait and y’all don’t.”
“Don’t nobody give a shit about fair,” Carter snapped. “You disrespected me in front of my girl, and you’re gonna pay for that shit, Guerra.”
“You mean my girl,” I corrected.
“She wasn’t yours when she was sucking my dick the other night.”
His words, and the image that accompanied it, was enough to pop the elastic on the restraints of my temper. Red tinted the edges of my vision as I stepped forward, arm cocked and aimed right for the smug smirk on his face.
“No, no, no,” Wesley said. He quickly turned around, leaving Tysir to block Carter alone, and stood in front of me. He pushed his hands against my chest, preventing me from getting any closer to Carter. “Max, don’t.”
“Get the fuck out of my way,” I told him. I should’ve just shoved him out the way, but he’s been doing good work for me lately. The least he deserved was a warning before I put him on his ass.
“We have an audience,” he whispered, glancing around.
I followed the directions his eyes had gone. I hadn’t realized the room had fallen almost completely silent. All of the others in the room were staring at us, anticipating both of our next moves.
“Look, I get that you wanna fight him, but you might wanna try to make some money off it,” Wesley continued.
I nodded, understanding his idea. For once, it wasn’t a bad one. “Alright,” I said as Wesley finally stepped aside. “If you want your fair one, you’re gonna have to meet me in the ring.”
“Winner takes the girl,” Carter replied, seemingly agreeing to my terms.
I scoffed. “I was going to take her anyway. What else you got?”
Muscles in Carter’s jaw jumped as he seethed. “Ten-thousand dollars cash. You win, and the money’s all yours. I win, and you leave Audrey alone.”
“The more you mention her, the harder I’m going to beat the shit out of you,” I warned. “My girl stays out of this.”
“Then, what are you putting on the table?”
“Another ten-thousand dollars. Winner takes the twenty grand.” I stepped forward and held out my hand. “Deal?”
He shook it. “Deal.”
Wesley wiped invisible sweat from his forehead. His face lit up as he nudged Tysir. “Looks like we’ve got our main event for the night,” he said.
Tysir’s mouth was curled into a small frown. He watched Carter finally step away from the table and disappear into the crowd. “Are you sure about this?” He asked me.
“Mhm,” I replied. “His ass whooping is well overdue.”
I left Wesley and Tysir to finish registering the rest of the fighters and bets while I headed up to the office to prepare.
I wrapped up my knuckles and stretched a little bit.
My hands tingled as I warmed up, ready to unleash the chaotic energy I’ve been simmering in over the past few days and eager to finally break Carter’s face.
I couldn’t help but grin once we stepped into the octagon together.
Carter took one look at my face, and the glow of his confidence dimmed. Still, he took his stance on the opposite side of me and held his fists up.
I let him throw the first few punches, dodging them easily. He threw with strength rather than speed. It was easy to predict his punches and find openings in his guard.
With every one I caught, I stepped closer and punched him straight in his face, mostly catching his jaw. I didn’t want to hurt him too bad early on. I wanted to take my sweet time.
The scowl on Carter’s face grew with every punch I landed. He tried to pick up the pace on his punches, but he was still too slow. Frustrated he couldn’t lay a punch on me, he charged towards me, aiming to tackle me.
I skirted out of the way at the last second and let him collide face first into the hard netting of the octagon. Chuckling, I asked, “Is this all you’ve got, Lawson?”
I guess the rage in his eyes when he turned around was supposed to scare me. Instead, it made me eager for what he was going to do next.
Growling, he charged towards me again.
This time, instead of stepping aside, I met him head on with a punch. The blow knocked backwards. Losing his balance, he fell onto his back.
“Come on,” I taunted. “I thought you were gonna give me a run for my-“
Carter cut me off by swiping my legs out from underneath me.
I fell backwards and hit the mat with a harsh thud. Stars twirled behind my eyes for a moment.
Carter tried to seize my dazed moment and get the upper hand, but I wasn’t having that. I kicked him right in his chest as he lunged for me.
As he stumbled backwards, I regained my wits, sat back up and charged at him.
Pressing my forearms against his chest, I rammed his back into the chains of the octagon.
Pinning him there, I started mercilessly delivering punches.
Both of my hands alternated back and forth, hitting him over and over and over again.
In his nose. In his eyes. In his mouth. At his chest. Nowhere was safe from my wrath.
He tried to block my hits with his arms, holding them up to protect his face.
I just moved the angle of my fists, aiming for the sides he left unprotected.
Carter ducked his head and wrapped his arm around my torso. With all his strength, he pushed me backwards and onto the mat.
Now on top of me, he gave me the same treatment. The only difference was his punches didn’t hurt. Even with him using all of his strength, every hit felt like a bee sting. After spending most of my life fighting, I’ve become numb to almost all physical pain.
I let him lay a few good punches on my face. Let the crowd think he had the upper hand. Let him think he might have a chance of winning this match.
“You had enough, Guerra?” He asked, grinning between his bloody mouth.
Peeking between my arms, I returned his smile. “Not yet.”
Carter’s brows pinched together in confusion.
While he was momentarily distracted, I brought my legs up over his shoulders, hooked one around his neck, and locked the hold by hooking my other leg around my foot.
Twisting my hips, I slammed him down against the mat.
I squeezed his neck tight with my legs while my fists assaulted him again.
“If. You. Ever. Look. At. Her. Again. I’ll.
Fucking. Kill. You,” I said, punching with every word.
Underneath me, he squirmed and wriggled, struggling between choking and enduring my hits.
But, I didn’t give a fuck. His bitch ass was lucky this was all he was getting. He deserved more for disrespecting me and my girl.
Hell, I thought about killing him. The more I hit him, the more I didn’t want to stop. I felt his breaths slowing. His body steadying. Just before it could completely shut down, I felt arms around my shoulders, pulling me off.
“Stop, Max,” Tysir said, though his voice wasn’t his own.
Instead, I heard Tony’s in my ear. Telling me to stop. To chill. That he wasn’t worth it.
It was his voice I was obeying. Not Tysir’s.
Shrugging Tysir’s hands off of me, I reluctantly released Carter.
Groaning, he clutched his bruised throat and greedily gasped for air.
“Don’t worry about my girl,” I said, smiling around the blood dripping from my lip. Too wrapped up in the adrenaline, I didn’t even realize I was bleeding. “I’m gonna take good care of her.”