Page 35 of The Fighter

“Because of you. I do this for you.” He shook his head. “I’m not a good man, Husk. I haven’t lived a good life. Taking care of you feels like the only thing saving my soul.”

“I’m not a good man, either. I killed someone.”

He laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently, the affectionate touch surprising me. He let out a small huff. “I’m going to hell, so my bias is skewed. But killing that man was a good deed, Husk. A good, good deed.” He patted my face and stepped back. “Remember, don’t let him get you on your back.”

All I could do was nod.

FOURTEEN

Conrad

I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to beanywherebut here. The warehouse was drafty but at the same time humid with too many bodies crammed inside. There was a crude ring sectioned off with rope. Men and women circled the crowd taking money for bets. I couldn’t stop my lips from curling in disgust.

Ben stood at my side with his hands stuffed casually in the pockets of his coat. I hadn’t expected him to come, but when I’d gotten in the car, he’d been in the back seat already with a wide grin on his face. I had glared at him, and he’d just shrugged and said, “Nik.”

Those two either ribbed each other like brothers or conspired against me. Today apparently was a conspiratorial day. While Ben had been out of this kind of a life for a long time, the senses we’d honed as kids into troubled teens into criminal adults never really faded. While Ben seemed casual, his gaze took in the scene with shrewd eyes. “Can’t believe you were going to leave me out of this,” he said, gaze still traveling over the crowd. “You never let me in on the fun anymore.”

“Maybe because it’snotfun anymore, and it hasn’t been for a long time.” I hadn’t meant to sound so bitter.

Ben swallowed and he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You’re right. Sorry about that.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Don’t apologize. I’m on edge.”

“So we’re looking for a rent boy named Casey and a jacked guy with two different eyes?”

I stared at him. He knew this how? “Are you fucking for real?”

He tilted his head. “Nik.”

“I’m going to staple his mouth shut.”

“Come on, the big guy is a steel trap except when it comes to you and me. He needed my help, and I blackmailed him into telling me why. Simple, really.”

I changed the subject from Nik’s big mouth. “And have you seen either of them?”

“Nope. No sign of our former friend here, either.”

I was aware that Devlin could see me here, and he might make a scene, but likely not. He didn’t know me as Soto, and so I was only in attendance as Conrad Staffod, legitimate CEO and patron of illegal fighting. I’d even placed a small bet, just in case Devlin questioned why I was here.

The crowd was starting to get rowdy, and shouts went up as heads collectively turned to the left. There were no fancy spotlight or announcers, but a tall man could be seen heading down a marked off aisle that led to the ring. He bounced on the balls of his bare feet as he walked, thighs bunching under dark blue compression shorts, which was all he wore. His skin was dark, his head shaved. And he looked fucking scary.

“That is one big motherfucker,” Ben whistled. “They call him Shock. This fight’s supposed to be a big one. Neither fighter has ever been knocked out.”

The crowd was even louder now chanting something that sounded like hissing. “And who’s the other fighter?” I hadn’t even listened when I made the bet, just handed over a few hundred and called it a day.

“Husk.” Ben craned his neck as a door banged open somewhere to our right

As the crowd jostled, a woman bumped into me. She glanced up. “Oh sorry, about that.”

I gave her a nod before trying to see the other fighter over the rabid crowd. Fists pumped the air. “Husk?” I asked to no one in particular. The crowd was rabid now. Fists pumped the electric-charged air.

“I think they got Husk from Husky,” the woman at my side said, swaying a bit on her feet. Her drink sloshed over her cup.

I frowned. “Why would they name a fighter Husky?”

She jumped in her heels and let out a little squeal. “Oh shit, there he is. Guy is a beast. And I think they named him Husky because of his eyes.”

His eyes.