“Or he’s too drunk to remember,” Rose teases.
“I’m not too drunk to remember anything. What, did I fuck you or something?” Carmine asks between clenched teeth.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Rosalie says with a pointed glance in his direction. “Anyway. Are you done here yet? I’m not having very much fun.”
I know that’s code for, “I’m not getting fucking shit” when it comes to information.
“You’re free to leave,” I tell her. “I’m still having a good time.”
She rolls her eyes, and then looks between me and Carmine. “I can see that. Maybe you two should get a room. I’m going to call a car and head to the bar up the street.”
“Fine,” I reply.
Rosalie knows I’ll meet her there later to talk about all of the information she didn’t get.
For now, I need to continue keeping an eye on Carmine. At least, that’s the reason I’m telling myself for not leaving with her.
“I didn’t know you have a girlfriend,” Carmine teases me in return once Rosalie has walked away.
My nose crinkles. “That’s my sister,” I tell him. “Rosalie, and believe me, even if she wasn’t my sister, I wouldn’t be interested.” I shake my head.
Carmine looks in the direct she left. “Well, that’s an image I didn’t fuckin’ need.”
We both seem to shudder at the same time, and then I smirk at him, and he slowly smiles a small smile back at me before looking at the floor.
“Guess someone in the family had to get the pretty genes,” he insults me, but the look on his face keeps me from being too annoyed. For once he’s not brooding. Not entirely at least.
I take a step back, feeling the distance between us now that I’m not touching him.
I remind myself what I actually came here for. To keep an eye on him, and get in with him even further. Not just that, though. I look around and observe briefly if there are any Carvels here or anyone who might be related to them. Friend, family, or foe.
I don’t see anyone, not yet. So, I simply turn around and look through the crowd at the arena as the music lowers and a voice begins to announce the first round of fighters.
“At least let me get a good look at the fight,” Carmine says from behind me. He moves past me and starts his way through the crowd.
I can’t help but follow him, until we’re close to the front again; just a few feet back from the chain link.
“Can’t believe you stopped him,” a woman on the left of me says, leaning in close. “I would’ve bet three hundred he’d get pummeled.”
My jaw clenches as I ignore her, not even giving her a first look much less a second.
Still, I can’t help but imagine what might’ve gone down in there if I hadn’t dragged him out. If Tigerhadbeen interested in letting him fight to the death.
I don’t have to imagine. Not as two men are introduced to the crowd. One large, muscular, broad shouldered and dressed in street clothing. The other, small but lithe and limber, already moving around like he knows exactly how to bounce on his feet to get out of the way. He’s shirtless, and his torso is covered in tattoos.
The crowd cheers as they’re announced, but I tune the sound out. It’s all background noise as I watch them square up to each other.
Hand to hand combat. No rules. No illegal moves. Just two dark-eyed men, each trying to choke the life out of the other for a sum of five hundred thousand dollars at the end of the night. Winner lives on with the money, and loser’s family has to hope the winner will agree to pay for their funeral. If they have any family left to even grieve.
“That’s Chico,” Carmine mumbles. I barely hear him over the crowd and music.
I look over at him. “You know him?” I ask.
“Nah, he’s just been fighting the last couple months,” he explains. “He’s small but deadly.”
“He’s gotta be.” Looking back into the arena, I lock eyes with Chico. I can see now under the brighter lighters at the center of the circle that the skin under his tattoos is jagged and torn.
The fight begins before I can finish observing him. At first, punches are thrown slow and steady but quickly devolve into wild swinging and reaching for the other man. The taller, broader man has a strength advantage, but his large stature makes him slower and an easier target to hit than Chico.
