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I didn’t mean to sound as harsh as I did, but it was out there. Sometimes, Frankie’s training style was over the top, and it bordered on aggressive and just plain dickish. He managed by fear; I managed by using my damn brain. We’d lost other good fighters who had blamed leaving on him, yet he still refused to change the way he behaved in the gym. He really needed to start seeing that he wasn’t fucking perfect, and since everyone else wanted to pussyfoot around him, I guess it was left to me to set things straight.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sneered as he moved to turn away. “Don’t start talking about things you don’t understand. Go back in the office, pay some bills with money we don’t have, and stay in your lane and the hell out of mine.”
I had no idea where this sudden sexist attitude had come from. It had never been there when we were younger, growing up here, and attending fights together. But ever since I had inherited Smiley’s, it snuck up every now and again. I gained the impression he resented me being around, but I didn’t give a shit about that. Smiley’s was mine. I was here. I deserved to be here, and his attitude wasn’t going to change that.
“I’m going out to clear my head,” I suddenly decided, grabbing all of my belongings in the process.
I couldn’t sit around listening to this. Not without saying something more I’d truly regret. I needed to get some fresh air before I went insane.
Frankie simply smirked at me as if he’d expected me to back down from the fight, which caused my blood to race through my body even hotter. I could feel all eyes were on us, and the last thing I wanted was our own match to erupt outside of the cage.
Lovers’ quarrels did not make good business.
I squinted, gritting my teeth, then got the hell out of there.
Chapter 4
Ari
“Lola?” I said into my phone. I’d called her the moment I’d stormed out Smiley’s door, and she’d answered. “Will you meet me for lunch? Frankie is being a total ass, and I need to get the fuck away from him.”
“Of course.” The moment her calm, soothing voice came through my phone, my anger started to subside. Lola was the most levelheaded person on the planet and was exactly what I needed right now—someone with an outsider’s perspective. “I’m just heading back from a house showing, so I can meet you at the sandwich shop if you want?”
“I’ll see you soon.”
As I stalked toward our meeting place, I tried to forget about Frankie and instead refocus on the problem at hand. I needed to concentrate on getting a replacement fighter as quickly as possible for the hole Marcus had left. That was where I really needed to be spending my energy.
Smiley’s needed a winner.
We needed to show we had someone people could bet on and have a chance at making real money. We needed bets laid in our favor. Not just against us. Our door remaining open depended on it. Nobody wanted to train in and fight for a gym that only had losers.
Maybe Lola would have some ideas. I’d met her via Frankie back during the height of his fighting days. She was an event organizer on the side when she wasn’t selling real estate. She met a lot of people along her way, and with her fighting insider history, she might have information I didn’t.
“You act like this is something new,” Lola muttered in disgust, as soon as I finished telling her about Frankie’s outburst and also about chasing off another good fighter. She’d never particularly been impressed by his broody behavior at the best of times, so this really seemed to add to her dislike. “He can be such a dick sometimes.”
“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes. Getting it off my chest had helped me feel somewhat better. I didn’t think Frankie had intended to be harmful with his words; he simply couldn’t hack the pressure at times, and there had definitely been a lot of it, lately. But it still didn’t excuse his behavior. Then again, we were all used to it now, so it was unlikely he’d ever change. I just hoped it didn’t cost us any more fighters… and Smiley’s. “So do you have any ideas?”
“Hmmm… what about Blue from Leroy’s? I heard he’s upset and looking. He’s second in line and tired of not being the focus.”
I knew where she was going with this. He was a decent fighter, but he hadn’t been with that gym long. He was just as green as many of the fighters I already had at Smiley’s.
“Theo from Leroy’s, too. Or Jack Levine from Bobby’s. Steal from them as payback.”
