Sin City Auction (Nevada Bad Boys 4)

“You understand how this has to go.” I leaned against the cage and spoke to Tommy.

“Yeah.” Tommy’s face was solemn. “I get it, bro.”

“The money goes to Madison. I don’t care what you have to do, but you make sure she gets it.” I tapped my fist against the chain link fence. “I’m going to do one good thing in this fucking world before I’m gone.”

“It was a promise.” Tommy’s face clenched tight and he patted my hand through the cage. “I won’t break it.”

The stage had been set. It had been six months since the event that changed everything. Tommy tried to talk Miguel out of the fight, but his vengeance was too strong. He waited patiently for the fight. He knew would get his shot and he wasn’t going to come after me until he had a chance to put me out of my misery in our arena. I had come to terms with what I had to do. Even if Carmella was the one that lured me to Carlos’ suite. Even if Miguel had watched my brother bleed out on the floor with no regard for his life. They still deserved better than what they got. I had to make it right. It was the only sacrifice I could make.

“Ruckus!” Miguel pointed at me from across the cage and yelled. “Only one of us is walking out of this cage alive!”

Yeah, I know.

I walked to the center of the ring we were fighting in and waited for the referee to start it. I had never fought anyone to the death before, but Tommy filled me in on the rules. The referee would leave when the match started. There would be nobody to separate us if we got tangled up in the cage. There would be no second chances or referee decisions. It truly was survival of the fittest. We were fighting in an abandoned warehouse and the crowd was larger than normal. The bets were enormous. There were people present for what was surely a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle for them. We were their entertainment. What they didn’t know was that I had decided the outcome long before I ever stepped inside the cage.

“I used to respect you, Ruckus.” Miguel glared at me as he spoke. “Now, I’m going to be the one that finishes you.”

“Then you better not miss.” I growled and as snarled.

The fight started and we circled each other. Miguel charged with a flurry of punches. It was the way he started all of his fights. In a normal fight, I could have ended it right there if I managed to catch one of his punches. He was fighting with emotion instead of skill. He didn’t keep his guard up because he was too consumed by his attack. I shrugged off his punches the best I could with my forearms, but a few still caught me in the side of my head. He might have been a sloppy fighter, but he was strong as fuck.

“More where that came from, you son of a bitch.” Miguel danced and started hammering his fists into me again.

Miguel won most of his fights by being faster than his opponents. He could throw five or six punches before they threw one and if a single punch landed, it was staggering. I loved facing fighters like him normally. I could take the punches, and when they finally started to slow down, it was lights out or they were tapping. I dodged the punches I could, threw a few parries, and managed to drill him in the nose once. It had to feel real to him. If he thought I was just letting him win, his thirst would never be truly satisfied. He finally caught me with a legitimate punch that sent me spinning into the cage. I tasted blood. My eyes were blurry. Tommy was shaking with anger, to the point that he had to turn around and stop watching the fight.

“It’s over, Ruckus! I’m the new king of Sin City.” Miguel landed on my back and started driving his fists into my skull, bouncing it off the cage with every punch.

That was it for me. My life was going to come to and end. Losing it in the cage was the right way for me to go out. Giving Miguel the satisfaction that his vengeance needed would end everything. I would pay for what I did with my final breath. The continued punches left my arms weak and the blood loss was taking a toll. Miguel could feel it. He grabbed me by the hair, slammed my face into the cage and let me bounce back into the ring. He circled me, looking down with every bit of rage he had bottled up prepared to be unleashed for the finishing blow.

“Ruckus!” An angelic voice brought me back from the brink of unconsciousness. “Ruckus, don’t you fucking die in there. Don’t you fucking die on me.”

I turned my head towards the voice and I saw the face I never thought I would see again. It was Madison. She pushed through the crowd that was filled with a lust for blood and hopped up on the cage. She grabbed the metal chain link fence and used it for support as our eyes locked together. I smiled. Even that felt like it took more effort than I had left. I was glad I got to see her one last time before I went to hell where I belonged. I saw tears in her eyes and her words got lost in the crowd, but her lips mouthed one last word—armbar.

Fuck. I can’t even die in peace.

I turned my head and saw Miguel’s fist coming for my skull. It was a killing blow. I had taken too much damage for even my busted up brain to survive another one of his punches. I threw all of my weight forward and I caught his arm with what little strength I had left. He was weak from the punches he had thrown. My skull had worn him the fuck down like so many other fighters. I rolled him, leaned back on his arm, and locked in the submission hold that nobody had ever escaped. Blood dripped onto the mat. My strength was fading.

“I love you, Ruckus! End this fight!” Madison’s words were like some sort of second wind, breathing something into my body that transcended strength.

I snapped his arm. I rolled against the bone, I pulled with all of my might, and left splinters underneath the skin. He wasn’t dead, but there was no way he could finish me without that arm. He crawled away, using his good arm to turn towards me. I sat on the ground, feeling unconsciousness trying to take me. Miguel made it to where I was sitting and put his hand on my leg. He lifted up and stared me in the face.

“Finish it.” He was shaking with a mixture of shock and pain. “Fucking kill me.”

“I already did.” I pushed his hand away. “This cage is your life. Now you’ll never fight again.”

Miguel collapsed and I forced myself to my feet. I wasn’t going to deliver the finishing blow to him. The crowd would have to deal with their once-in-a-lifetime experience not ending in actual death. No fighter could come back from the injury Miguel sustained. His days in the cage were over. I pushed the door open and Madison practically tackled me as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Tommy rushed over and provided support to make sure I didn’t end up face down on the concrete.

“I’m sorry, bro. I had to call her.” Tommy put his arm around my waist and let me rest

my weight on his shoulder. “I knew if you wouldn’t fight for yourself, you would fight for her.”

Epilogue

Madison

“Stop adjusting my dress, I’m not going to get any skinnier because you keep trying to tighten it.” I pushed Abby’s hand away as she tried to suffocate me with another attempt at a knot.

“I’m sorry. I’m your best friend. It’s my job to make sure you look perfect on your wedding day.” Abby grabbed the knot and pulled it as tight as she could.