“I’ve got a couple ideas,” I say.
I don’t know Leland well, but from what I do know, he’s a proud man. The humiliation of having his wife leave him publicly must have stung. Taking her back was likely a bitter pill. For him, this is parading a trophy. For her, it’s a walk of shame, a warning.
Do you see what I’m capable of without getting my hands dirty?
It’s no wonder she’s desperate to be rid of him.
We get close to their platform. Here, the crowd gets sparse and becomes a fortification of soldiers. Brothers slips in front, AK over his arm. He’s like a wily cat, head down, eyes up, watching everything as if he’s hunting.
I climb the steps to the platform. Leland steps up, and it takes everything I have not to look past him at Della. I know she’s there, but I can’t meet her eyes. He can’t know I know her, much less how intimately. So, I fix my eyes on Leland, squaring him up like he’s my opponent.
He’s a big, broad man, but it sits on him like he earned it in the gym, bulkier up top, packed on a little too carefully. Tonight, he’s dressed casual, work pants and a t-shirt. It's burning hot in the pit with all the barrel fires, and he’s already glittering in sweat. I am too. It’s dripping into my eyes and making my hair curl.
Leland extends a hand. Brothers shakes it.
“What do you want?” Leland says.
“You got a younger fighter than I do,” says Brothers, gesturing. “What’s his scorecard?”
“Two losses,” Leland says. “Twelve wins.”
His gaze swings to me, and I meet it. Deep inside, I want to walk up to him and shake his hand, introduce myself as the man who has fucked Della in about every position known to man. That she comes for me when she never did for him. That I think I still taste his wife’s pussy in my mustache. But I don’t. I just meet his gaze head on and don’t flinch.
“Who’s this?” he drawls.
I step forward. “Jensen Childress. I’ve fought for Brothers before.”
His jaw works. “I don’t remember you. Where do you hail from?”
“Harlan,” I say.
He snorts. “You Harlan fighters are scrappy.”
It’s pissing me off the way he gets that high and mighty expression at the mention of my county.
“I get the job done,” I say shortly.
Watch it. I’ll fuck up your fighter then fuck your wife when I’m done.
“Oh yeah?” His jaw goes tight, like he can feel my thoughts rolling off me.
“Yeah.”
The tension crackles. Brothers puts a hand on his elbow and murmurs something. Leland nods, backing to the side with Brothers. That clears the path right to Della. There’s no way in hell I can conceal what I feel as my eyes fall on her, but I have to. Tonight depends on it.
Warmth blossoms then erupts in my chest, followed by pain.
She’s in a cage. Her body is wrapped in a short, tight dress that comes to mid-thigh. It’s dark red. I don’t know much, but that’s not her color. Or maybe she’s just washed out from nerves.
Our eyes meet.
My God, she’s beautiful.
I’m back in that loft, tangled up in her, lost in my sweet Harlan girl. Everything around us fades. The crowd is a shadow in my periphery. I’m standing in the doorway of Cherry’s trailer, bodies all over the floor. Della is there too. She doesn’t speak, but I hear what she’s saying.
I know what my heart is telling me.
Don’t lose her too.
