Vegas, Baby - Volume 3

Vince was just entering the ring when they announced his name, and there was a noticeable drop in volume. The sound lowered to a fervent murmur, and by the expressions of those I could see through the blinding lights, it was clear that they were confused and shocked by the change.

Vince’s face twisted with anger, and it pronounced the sharp angles of his face, making his ugly mug downright repulsive. He glanced around, and his mouth drew down into a deeper frown as he clearly didn’t see what he was looking for. Anger flared in his beady eyes when he caught sight of her sitting with my friends, and I wondered again what the fuck he was holding over his sister’s head to convince her to take a job as a ring girl. I intended to find out and take care of it. Then I’d handle Vince more permanently than the beatdown I was about to give him.

When his eyes finally landed on my face, I saw a flicker of uncertainty before he covered it with a cocky smirk. He spat in my direction and received a chorus of boos.

Tuning everything out, I prowled to the center of the ring where the ref was standing. Vince joined me, and we bumped knuckles. Then the ref gave us the go-ahead before scampering out of our way.

Vince attempted to catch me off guard by throwing a fast jab the second the whistle blew, and I decided to let him have one to build up his attitude. The cockier he was, the more likely he would make a mistake.

We circled each other a few times before he attempted another strike. This time, I danced out of his reach. He’d gone for power over speed and accuracy, so he couldn't catch his footing and stumbled. I caught him as he fell...with my fist. First, his chin and then his stomach. I doled out a few more combos before backing away and giving him a few moments to recover. Taking him down in the first few minutes of the round didn’t seem like much fun.

As far as hits, I took it fairly easy on him in the first round, but I had him running all over the place, and it was clearly wearing him down. He did have decent speed in his blows when he wasn’t overcompensating with an attempt to hit hard rather than fast. But I took a few jabs here and there when he changed up tactics. When the bell rang to signal the end of the round, he was puffing so hard, his face was a little red.

Another girl in a tiny bikini grabbed a white numbered sign and walked around the Octagon, and he dragged his sorry ass over to his corner. I gave him a sinister smile before retreating to mine.

“Playing with your food,” Bobby muttered with an eye roll. I just grinned and shrugged. “When there’s no challenge, might as well have some fun.” I downed a bottle of water and a sports drink. As I wiped the minimal sweat from my brow, I glanced toward my angel eyes and frowned when I saw her worried expression as she stared in the direction of her brother.

Drew caught my eye and shook his head, then glanced down at her knuckles. They were white from tightly squeezing the arms of her chair. Then he discreetly pointed at me and nodded. Her head swung in my direction, and what I saw in her turquoise eyes surprised me. While there was worry swimming in them, there was also a spark of hope. I instinctively knew that she was concerned over what would happen to her brother now that she wasn’t getting paid and if he lost the fight. But it seemed she was also hoping I’d been honest when I’d told her I would take care of everything. It made me even more confident that I would be able to gain her trust quickly, and then her love would follow.

It was time for round two, so I tore my eyes away from my girl and realigned my thoughts, focusing on what I had to do so I could get back to her. Vince mean-mugged me as I approached the center and then snarled, “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing with my sister, but you aren’t going to use her against me. She’ll do anything for me, including giving her cherry to whoever I tell her to, if it will save me.”

Even though I saw red, I had spent the majority of my life learning to control myself, so I managed to stay calm and calculated. I needed something to satisfy the rage I was suppressing, so instead of continuing to string Vince along, I put power behind each and every punch.