Page 142 of Ruin

“Tangled, of cwourse.”

Sigh.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want you on your feet. It’s been too long since we last saw him in the ring…so be upstanding to welcome your very own homegrown champion…Zeus…‘The God’…Kincaid!”

The crowd goes wild. Zeus’s boxing anthem, “Lose Yourself,” starts to thrum through the stadium.

My eyes pull up to one of the big screens. It shows Zeus coming through the stadium, making his way to the ring. His robe on, hood up, face composed, focused.

My heart starts to pound with worry. It’s hard not to feel the adrenaline buzzing through the stadium, feel the rush of people’s excitement. But I’m scared. Because the guy about to climb into that ring with a complete psycho is the man I love. The father of my child.

Thankfully, Gigi won’t see this. She’s at home with Aunt Elle. She should be in bed by now. She knows that Zeus has a boxing match tonight, but thankfully, she doesn’t really understand what that means.

I’m here with Ares, Lo, and Missy, and we’re seated in the front row.

Close enough that I’ll be able to hear every punch thrown.

I wince at the thought.

The tickets would have been expensive if we’d paid for them. But, when your boyfriend is the headline fighter, you get them for free.

Tonight is the big-money fight because, if Zeus wins, it means he will hold all five heavyweight division titles. They call it unifying the division.

Hence, the hefty price tag on the tickets.

When we were younger, this was something Zeus always used to say he wanted to achieve.

I recently asked him if this was one of the reasons he wanted to do the fight as well as the money. But he said no.

I don’t know if he feels that he should say that because of the guilt he harbors over Kaden.

Tons of celebrities are here to watch the fight. I can’t even be excited that Jake Wethers and Tom Carter from The Mighty Storm are sitting three seats away from me because I’m so nervous.

Maybe, when Zeus wins, I’ll have my freak-out over them.

But all I can think about right now is Zeus, praying he comes out of this okay.

I watched all of Zeus’s fights in the years we were together. I always felt nervous back then, but I can honestly say nothing compares to how I’m feeling right now.

I feel sick.

I press my hand to my stomach.

I’m afraid that he’s going to get hurt. Seriously hurt.

I knew of Dimitrov from the news stories. But I made it my business to watch some of his fights. I didn’t tell Zeus because he didn’t want me to worry.

I’m worried.

The guy is an animal.

Think Mike Tyson on crack.

That’s Roman Dimitrov.

I don’t think he’d give a shit if he killed someone.

And Zeus is getting in the ring with that lunatic.