“I don’t give a fuck,” he chuckled. “I’m celebrating.”
I pushed him away. “We can celebrate in the room,” I said, wiping my mouth and looking down at my hand, seeing streaks of crimson.
“What’s wrong with you, Pigeon? You won, I won, we paid off Mick’s debt and I just got the offer of a lifetime.”
The elevator opened and I stood in place as Travis stepped out into the hall. “What kind of offer?” I asked.
Travis reached out his hand, but I ignored it. My eyes narrowed, already knowing what he would say.
He sighed. “I told you, we’ll talk about it later.”
“Let’s talk about it now.”
He leaned in and pulled me by the wrist into the hallway and then lifted me off the floor into his arms.
“I am going to make enough money to replace what Mick took from you, to pay for the rest of your tuition, pay off my bike, and buy you a new car,” he said, sliding the card key in and out of its slot. He pushed open the door and set me on my feet. “And that’s just the beginning!”
“And how exactly are you going to do that?” My chest tightened and my hands began to tremble.
He took my face in his hands, ecstatic. “Benny is going to let me fight here in Vegas. Six figures a fight, Pidge. Six figures a fight!”
I closed my eyes and shook my head, blocking out the excitement in his eyes. “What did you say to Benny?” Travis lifted my chin and I opened my eyes, afraid he had already signed a contract.
He chuckled. “I told him I’d think about it.”
I exhaled the breath I’d been holding. “Oh, thank God. Don’t scare me like that, Trav. I thought you were serious.”
Travis grimaced and steadied himself before he spoke. “I am serious, Pigeon. I told him I needed to talk to you first, but I thought you’d be happy. He’s scheduling one fight a month. Do you have any idea how much money that is? Cash!”
“I can add, Travis. I can also keep my senses when I’m in Vegas, which you obviously can’t. I have to get you out of here before you do something stupid.” I walked over to the closet and ripped our clothes from the hangers, furiously stuffing them in our suitcases.
Travis gently grabbed my arms and spun me around. “I can do this. I can fight for Benny for a year and then we’ll be set for a long, long time.”
“What are you going to do? Drop out of school and move here?”
“Benny’s going to fly me out, work around my schedule.”
I laughed once, incredulous. “You can’t be that gullible, Travis. When you’re on Benny’s payroll, you aren’t just going to fight once a month for him. Did you forget about Dane? You’ll end up being one of his thugs!”
He shook his head. “We already discussed that, Pidge. He doesn’t want me to do anything but fight.”
“And you trust him? You know they call him Slick Benny around here!”
“I wanted to buy you a car, Pigeon. A nice one. Both of our tuitions will be paid in full.”
“Oh? The mob is handing out scholarships, now?”
Travis’s jaws clenched. He was irritated at having to convince me. “This is good for us. I can sock it away until it’s time for us to buy a house. I can’t make this kind of money anywhere else.”
“What about your Criminal Justice degree? You’re going to be seeing your old classmates quite a bit working for Benny, I promise you.”
“Baby, I understand your reservations, I do. But I’m being smart about this. I’ll do it for a year and then we’ll get out and do whatever the hell we want.”
“You don’t just quit Benny, Trav. He’s the only one that can tell you when you’re done. You have no idea what you’re dealing with! I can’t believe you’re even considering this! Working for a man that would have beat the hell out of the both of us last night if you hadn’t stopped him?”
“Exactly. I stopped him.”
“You stopped two of his lightweight goons, Travis. What are you going to do if there are a dozen of them? What are you going to do if they come after me during one of your fights?”