“What’s the pot tonight?” I ask Lucas as he watches the ring with hunger.
“Two mil,” he replies. “Chump change for guys like us, but to them? It’s a lifetime of cash.” He shakes his head but he’s still smiling.
I smile back at him, forced and uncomfortable. I came here to forget, but I’m forced into playing this role.
“I don’t know, I could use a nice two million,” I tell him. “I’m not sure I’d want to hop in the ring for it, though.”
“You could do it,” someone else from beside us says, obviously having been listening in.
I glare in their direction, but Lucas seems entertained.
“They’re right. You’d give one hell of a show,” he insists.
I can’t help but smirk at that and look back toward the ring.
Swing after swing, the two women take each other to the narrow peak of passing out with blood flying in every direction possible.
The crowd is getting even more amped up, several people rattle the chain link around the arena and the guards have to pull them off it.
None of the people in here understand the weight of the fight they’re watching. They’re not the ones risking their lives. They’re here for entertainment alone.
It makes the pit in my stomach burn and my hands ball into fists.
“I don’t know that this crowd is worth entertaining,” I say in a low tone.
Lucas pats me on the back. He’s a big man with the confidence of a bull. “I’d hop in myself, but I’ve got bigger things to do,” he tells me. “Don’t be so hard on these slums. They’re what make us rich.”
I chuckle once or twice and shy away from him through the crowd to get closer to the arena.
I watch as one woman’s fist makes contact with the other’s face, and I can imagine her cheek bone cracking and breaking. Ican feel the vibration of the floor under my feet. The energy in the room is palpable…
I have to admit; it makes it seem like a viable choice. The tension, the excitement, the blood… It’s all hot and sticky in the air.
The muscles of my back and shoulders tense with each strike made and I find myself rooting for one of the women over the other. The smaller one. She’s feisty and has a certain look about her. As though she would have just as much confidence while fighting even if there were a literal bear in the ring.
She’s getting her ass kicked right now, so there may as well be.
“What are their names?” I ask someone beside me, not caring who it is.
“Natasha and Lily,” they tell them. I vaguely recognize the names. It’s important to know who is who around here, but they must not be too important to be risking their lives, right?
Then again, it’s becoming even more intriguing as I stand here watching them. Every hit, every tooth that flies out of their mouths…the blood that stains the floor and their clothing. I wonder about their lives, about who they are outside of this. What else they would be willing to do for two million dollars.
There’s a hell of a lot I’d be willing to do. I’ve done more for less…
The air around me seems to grow even more tense, and I hear murmurs that clue me onto something having changed. I glance around the room but don’t see anything suspicious right away. No, I see…Tiger, the owner of the ring standing in a cornertalking to someone with money in their hands. Likely a bet that’s being placed.
“Dresvanni,” I just so happen to hear as I turn back toward the ring.
It could be any of them, but I have a feeling it’s the one I both want to see the least and would give just about anything to see again.
Not here though. Not with Lucas nearby watching my every move.
I draw my eyes around the room again, looking behind my shoulder and that’s when I see him.
Tommaso.
He looks even bigger in this light somehow. Broad shouldered, wide backed, and looking like he’s prepared to take care of any trouble that comes his way.
