Page 25 of Beguiled

“O-kay. So the contestants aren’t merely fighters.”

“Oh, they’re fighters, but not on the scale that you might be thinking. To get to this point and to be selected is both an honorand a responsibility. It is also life changing for some. Money changes hands. Sometimes violence erupts because when you cram four hundred men in a space meant for less than two hundred, tempers can fly.”

“I think I get it.”

When he took a step closer, I had the instinct to run away and not look back. “As I’m certain you understand, with every powerful regime, there are those who insist on challenging authority. In this world, they aren’t simply let go. They are punished. Do you get what I’m saying, Saige?”

If he was trying to frighten me, he was doing a damn good job. “I’m still on board with what you’re saying.”

“A very intelligent woman. I like that. I can’t stand to repeat myself. That usually makes me highly cranky.” He held out an envelope, nodding as he waited for me to take it from him.

Which I did, easily able to tell he was paying me in cash as promised.

The verbal message was clear. Don’t pay attention to anything around me and keep my mouth shut when I left. “If this is a good mood, I certainly wouldn’t want to see you cranky.”

His laugh was a little too practiced. “You’re a very beautiful girl. You could go far in this club and I assure you that there is potential for you to move up. Keep your nose clean and I will use you again.”

At this point, I wasn’t going to break the bad news I would never do this again. I smiled and nodded like all good girls should do.

“Alright. Mark is outside. He’ll give you the cards and help you get through the crowd. If anyone touches you inappropriately,Mark will be your contact. He won’t hesitate to toss the motherfucker out on his ass. I won’t tolerate the girls being pawed like animals. Anyone who walks into this club knows the rules.”

With a sigh of relief, I nodded.

“The fights are quick with fifteen minutes in between. No one is allowed in the basement. I don’t care how much money they promise you.” He headed to the door, completely dismissing me. I guess I wasn’t allowed to ask questions.

“Don’t worry about that.”

With his hand on the doorknob, he tilted his head until I was able to see the side of his face. “Keep smiling even through the blood, sweat, and cracking bones.”

I envisioned my mouth had dropped wide open. For a girl from Iowa, I wasn’t used to such frankness. Even my older brother, while a pain in the ass, wasn’t that crude. Maybe the cash would come in handy. My mother’s phone call continued to weigh on my mind. Attorneys were way too costly.

Another chill settled into my system as he walked out, Mark instantly leering at me, but he quickly averted his eyes. I had a feeling he’d received a similar if not more stern talk when he’d been hired.

Within a couple of minutes, he was guiding me down a long hallway and the more steps I walked, the louder the crowd became. He led me up a set of stairs toward the event. My stomach was in knots, my mind a fuzzy mess of trying to figure out how I’d been talked into this nightmare.

There was a pathway that led from the hallway into the massive room. However, with lights coming from every direction, spinning around as if announcing a celebrity, it was difficult to see much of anything.

But I felt the crowd of men, all four hundred of them crowding the velvet ropes, already pumped for the first fight. As soon as I stepped from the hallway onto the main floor, whistles came from every direction, heated bodies moving as close to where I was being guided to the platform in the middle of the room.

The walls were black and with no windows, if there was a fire, people could be trampled within minutes. However, I knew there had to be a private entrance other than the stairs I’d come down. They’d been employee stairs.

Electricity sparked the air, the surge of energy unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. My heart was pumping in time to the heavy drumbeat, my pulse already skyrocketing. I clung to the cards in my hands as if a lifeline. Honestly, I had no idea if I could even go through with this.

I was the quiet girl, the one who wasn’t interested in going out to clubs. Tawny owed me big time.

At least where I stood waiting for my job to begin was protected. No one could get to me unless they started a stampede and there was no mistaking that the men in the room who were working for Strike Zone were heavily armed. They didn’t bother trying to hide it.

Maybe the visual was enough of a deterrent.

I couldn’t move and didn’t want to pay any attention to what was going on, but Tawny had described the customers accurately. They appeared wealthy with money to burn.

Less than five minutes passed and the first two fighters were announced. The roar of the crowd was wild, men screaming at the top of their lungs, money flying from one side of the ring to the other.

I could tell there were active bookies in the club, working their magic.

And just like that, the fight began.

The moment the first round was over, I was certain I’d pass out. But I made it through, albeit my motions were barely perfunctory. Yet I was able to use my practiced smile to my advantage.