“Smug little fucker,” Murphy scoffed. “I think it’s time for a new champion.”
My eyes fluttered shut tiredly. I didn’t care if I lost. Those rich fucks would still get paid regardless. Maybe not as much as they hoped, but they would get something.
"Then what's takin' you so long?" I hissed through blood and saliva. My head throbbed with a dull ache as I glared at him side-on.
“Now where’s the fun in that?" Murphy tutted. "The fight only ends when one of us is on our backs longer than ten seconds. I would like to draw out this victory for as long as possible.” He switched sides, tugging my head the other way as he leaned in. “Plus, it's payback for what you did to my little brother.”
I frowned. “What?”
He slammed his fist into my other rib this time, not as painful but still causing my body to writhe. I was unable to bend as his grip on my scalp tightened, forcing me to remain upright.
“He was hospitalized a while back with a dislocated jaw. Said he was just trying to have a good time with some girl before someone interrupted him.”
The guy who spiked Lily’s drink, was his fucking brother?
Murphy laughed at the realization on my mangled face and turned my head, forcing me to look at the dim entryway of the pit.
“That’s her, right? The girl he was talking about.” He waved at Lily as he spoke. “He said it was someone you were close to and you haven’t left her side all evening.”
She was standing beside Seb but somehow looked so alone. So vulnerable. Her hands were over her mouth and tears lined her eyes as she watched in horror at what Murphy did to me. I felt like shit. I could only imagine how that might look for her.
I realized how blind I was — how selfish I had been. And suddenly it all caved in.
Nothing like a knee to the face to put things into perspective.
I should’ve tried harder to make her leave this place before Antonio got his hooks in her. I should’ve pushed her away instead of getting to know her, instead of developing feelings for her. I loved her and wanted to tell her that this morning, but Lily was quickly becoming leverage for any opponent to use against me. Murphy knew we had something not just because I played hero dislocating his brother's jaw for her, but because I got lazy. We didn't hide what we had well enough.
How many people knew? What if someone threatened her to get to me?
Before, when she first started working at The Den, she wasn’t on anyone’s radar. She was just another of Antonio’s pretty employees that the fighters gawked at.
Now she was a target.
Cheating was allowed in the pit, Murphy proved that time and time again, but that could also mean threatening loved ones. It was part of the reason we had the stupid nicknames to begin with; to protect the ones we cared for with anonymity. But that didn’t work if the girl you dated happened to work in the same place. A girl you cared for and wasn’t some side piece that gave you blow jobs in a bathroom stall.
She shouldn’t be here. She didn’t belong here.
“When I’m done with you,” Murphy continued. “I was thinking of reacquainting my brother with her, so he can finish what he started. I might even introduce myself. There’s still plenty of those pills left, so it shouldn’t be too hard for the three of us to have a little fun.”
I snapped and grabbed his wrist behind my head while his guard was down. Gritting my teeth, I pulled forward. Dragging and flipping Murphy clean over my head to leave him completely blindsided and sprawled on his back.
A new wave of excitement rushed through the crowd and they roared their praises.
With the adrenaline pumping through my veins, clashing against the waning effects of the drugs, I slowly got to my feet. My eyes never left the Irishman as he scrambled to stand.
We collided. Punching, kicking, and clawing at each other as we grappled for any advantage. Every inch of me ached but I wouldn’t stop. Not until I knew Murphy couldn’t hurt her. So, when I found myself on my back, with Murphy’s hands tightening around my throat, I went for the lowest of low attacks. Payback for when he did it to me outside The Den.
I slammed my knee up into Murphy’s crotch, hard enough for something to rupture and the crowd to groan in sympathy. The kick sent Murphy careening forward, his face twisted in speechless agony as he cupped his damaged testicles.
He vomited nearby while I gulped down air again. My chest heaved with every breath before I rolled onto my side. When I got to my feet, staggering slightly, I reached for my nose and snapped it back in place. I hissed and clenched my jaw until the pain subsided.
“Finish him!” yelled a voice in the crowd.
My attention went to Murphy, slowly trying to get to his knees, and I started towards him. Wiping the blood from my nose on the back of my hand. The second he realized, his eyes widened before I grabbed his throat and dragged him to his knees.
I don’t know why I did it, but I looked up at the entrance again. Lily was still there, her eyes wide and face tear-streaked. Still scared, but not for me.
She was scared of what I might do.
