Violet Reeves. The one and only. For a girl who was nothing but a ghost in this town, she has a hell of a way of popping up when I least expect. Like right now. When my head’s supposed to be clear. The tape across my knuckles pulls at my calloused skin as I squeeze my hands into fists at my sides. She peeks upat me, her lips parting in surprise. Is it because she didn’t expect to see me? Or is it because she didn’t expect me to see her? I tilt my head, letting her view my curiosity. She lifts a shoulder, looking…damn, Little Thief. Are you shy?
The ref steps into my line of sight. “No biting, no eye gouging, no crotch shots. We clear?”
I blink, forcing myself to focus on the fight. “Yeah, we’re clear.”
Satisfied, the ref turns to my opponent. “We clear?”
The asshole stares back at me, his eyes nothing but slits. “Depends on how long he stares at my little sister.”
Sister?
What the hell?
Violet’s this asshole’s little sister?
“What did you say?” I ask.
“That’s not an answer, Morgan,” the ref warns.
“Yeah, we’re clear,” my opponent answers. The look in his eyes says differently. Hell, I’m pretty sure if he could gut me right here, right now, he would, and the fight hasn’t even begun. He must really care about his sister. Not that I’m a threat. The girl hates me and has been nothing but a pain in the ass since we first met.
“It’s tap out or pass out,” the ref continues, but I’m too distracted to make out much else. I’m busy digesting Morgan’s words. Little sister. Violet is Morgan’s little sister? Nah, there’s no way. Hawke would’ve known. Roman would’ve, too. Wouldn’t they? Muscle memory takes over as the ref adds, “Touch knuckles,” and I raise my fists. Morgan does the same, brushing our closed fists against each other before we bring them up to protect our faces.
Then, the bell rings.
My opponent steps out fast, bouncing on the balls of his feet, his shoulders coiled like loaded springs. Circling wide, I keep myarms loose and wait for the hothead to strike. Clearly, he prefers being on the offensive. When he finally gets close enough to reach, I dodge his jab, then test the waters with a low leg kick just to mess with him. It thuds against Morgan’s thigh in a solid blow, but the asshole absorbs it with a smile.
“That all you got, pussy?”
I move fast, driving into his space with a quick jab right in the bastard’s nose. His smile vanishes, and his head snaps back in surprise.
Yeah, motherfucker. I’m here to fight.
Recovering quickly, Morgan feigns left, spinning into a back elbow. It barely grazes my temple when I jerk away, pulling a gasp from the crowd around us. All right, that was close. Keeping my fists up to protect my face, I dart forward again, throwing a quick jab-hook combo to keep him from tying me up in the clinch to kill my momentum. A grunt escapes me as his knee connects with my side. I pick him up, slam him to the mat, and cock my arm back for another few jabs. Blood stains my taped knuckles. It pours from his nose, though I’m not sure if it’s from the earlier hits or this position. Not that it matters. He raises his arms, blocking my fists the best he can before twisting his hips and rolling us both on the mat. Wiley fucker. He clearly knows how to fight, which is more than most who meet me in the ring. Moving to half guard, Morgan lands a short elbow to my eye socket, and I swear I see stars.
All right, that hurt.
I try to buck him off, kicking and fighting, but Morgan stays heavy, using his weight to keep me pinned to the mat. Slipping in a shoulder choke setup, he grinds my face into the canvas, leaving a smear of blood from where he caught my brow earlier.
All right, this has been fun, but I’m done messing around.
I pull Morgan’s choking elbow, moving my hips to the side to relieve the pressure before landing another uppercut to his chin.He stumbles back, the lights almost going out in his eyes as I push to my feet and stalk closer. Trapping him at the edge of the mat, I drive my knee into Morgan’s ribs again and again until he folds in half.
“Fuck!” he yells.
That’s right, motherfucker. Let’s end this.
I wrap my arm around his neck and jump for a guillotine choke, pulling guard as Morgan’s legs kick wildly in front of him.
Four more seconds.
Three.
Two.
Morgan jabs his fingers upward and straight into my fucking eye, gouging the hell out of me. I loosen the choke instinctively, but the asshole takes full advantage, transitioning to a rear-naked choke while my mind spins.
The asshole almost took out my eye! My fucking eye! Cheating sonofabitch!
