Sin City Auction (Nevada Bad Boys 4)

“Ruck, bro.” Tommy’s lips formed the best version of a smile he could muster when I walked into the room. “And—you brought the girl.”

“You remember Madison.” I motioned to her.

“I’ve seen enough that I’ll never forget her, but I’ll never mention it again.” He turned towards Madison and grimaced. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Madison sighed. “I’m just trying to figure out how to move past it.”

“Move past it?” Tommy coughed and shook his head. “Don’t move past shit, you hold onto this guy with every bit of strength you have. He was ready to die for you.”

“What?” Madison’s eyes opened wide and she turned to look at me.

“I’ll explain later.” I grunted and squeezed her hand.

“I’m going to have to deal with Miguel.” I walked closer to Tommy.

“Yeah.” Tommy nodded and coughed again. “I was delirious during most of it, but I still heard everything that happened.”

“On the plus side, you’ll finally get to book a fight to the death.” I tried to smile.

“Wait, what?” Madison pushed on my arm. “You told me you didn’t do that.”

“Like I said—I’ll explain later.” I sighed and shook my head. “It’s not something I want to talk about here.”

I told Madison everything when we got back to the Ussery. I told her about Carmella, Miguel, and everything that happened in the room with Carlos. The armbar made her smile, but it was a sad conversation that neither of us really wanted to embrace. She had some of the pieces already, after talking with the police. She filled me in on her epic escape after she was dumped in a closet following the attempted kidnapping. By the end of the conversation, we had pieced both sides of it together and just kind of sat across the table from each other in shock.

“I didn’t have a choice.” I finally broke the silence. “There was no way I could get to Carlos before Miguel fired if I didn’t sacrifice Carmella.”

“I’m not upset, Ruckus. I promise, I’m not. I’m just trying to process everything.” She sighed and blinked away a tear. “If I never auctioned myself off, she would still be alive right now. I mean, I didn’t even know here. It just see

ms like such a waste of life.”

“You can’t focus on that.” I reached across the table and took her hand. “A million things could have changed the outcome of what happened this weekend.”

“That’s profound coming from someone who has taken so many shots to the head.” She smiled slightly.

“The important thing is that Carlos is in jail and I guess there won’t be anymore Sin City Auctions.” She blinked and her eyes widened. “Shit, I might not even get paid.”

“I thought about that, and I’m not going to let that happen. I’ve still got some money. I’ll make sure you get every penny that you’re owed.” I squeezed her hand again. “You will go to college.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I’m not going to take your money. If I don’t get paid, then I’ll find another way.” Her face was troubled, even as she tried to be brave.

“Look at it like this, if this fight with Miguel doesn’t end up in my favor, I won’t need it. You might as well get an opportunity to go to college.” I leaned back in my chair.

“Please don’t fight him.” She blinked away tears again. “I know you told him you would, but you don’t have to actually go through with it. Come with me to Florida. We can start over.”

“Madison, you don’t even know me.” I shook my head back and forth. “God, I’m not going to lie and say that it doesn’t sound awesome, but we can’t just run away together because we had a fun weekend together. Besides, I gave Miguel my word. That means something to me.”

“Oh, yeah.” She nodded. “I guess it was just fun.”

“Don’t say it like that.” I instantly regretted my words.

“I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted.” She stood and walked towards the bedroom, but she paused when she got to the entrance. “You still have me until tomorrow. I’d hate to go to bed alone.”

“You’re not going to bed alone.” I pushed the chair back and quickly caught up with her.

For a few moments that only belonged to us, we forgot about everything that happened as we were tangled up in a lover’s embrace. It was different than the other times we went to bed together. There was heat, passion, and something in the air that hung on both of our lips. We understood that it was crazy. We understood that we had only just met, but we needed each other. She fell asleep in my arms and despite all of the turmoil, I felt peace. There was a chance I wouldn’t see it again. There was a chance I wouldn’t live past my next fight. Miguel might have been scared to fight me, but he was fighting with purpose. He was fighting with vengeance. That was dangerous, no matter who the opponent was.

Madison left the next day and I could tell that whatever magic we had was shattered in the aftermath of tragedy. Her kiss said it all. Her hug felt like goodbye. There was a time when I would have never let her go and done everything in my power to keep her by my side, but I realized our fate wasn’t meant to go down that path. After she was gone, I felt like a piece of me was missing, but I couldn’t reach out to her. I couldn’t draw her back in with the fight still looming over my head. That just wasn’t fair. The longing only got stronger in the months that followed. I was certain she had forgotten me, but I never forgot her. I couldn’t forget the sweet virgin that I fell in love with. Perhaps I was a ugly old oaf after all.