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Ivan Cooper’s got his fingers everywhere, I have no doubt he has one or two of ‘em in the illegal fighting circuit. The guy’s so shady I could have already come up against one of his fighters without even knowing it.
“A fight.” He nods his head, seeming impressed at the suggestion. “I would need some time to prepare a fighter of course.” He frowns.
Prez eyeballs me, and I can sense the smile that he’s keeping off his lips. When it comes to fighting, he knows his odds are high. I’m undefeated in the ring, and over the years I’ve made the club a buck ton of money. If Ivan doesn’t know that already, he will soon enough.
“A month,” Prez suggests.
“One month today, on neutral ground… the reservation,” Ivan suggests after some thought.
“Deal.” Prez holds out his hand and Ivan shakes it firmly.
“And you will return the chief unharmed by this evening,” Prez adds while he still has a firm grip on the man.
“Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft on the natives, Jimmer Carson.”
Prez shakes his head. “I don’t make it my business to cause innocent people harm. You took the chief as a message to me, and I got it loud and clear. You don’t need him anymore.”
“And supposing he’s already dead?” Ivan asks, a vision of Shaniya crying over the loss of her uncle has my jaw tensing.
“Have him returned to the club, alive, by nightfall or the deal’s off.” Prez stands up and makes his way out of the diner without even looking back over his shoulder. With men like me and Jess following out behind him, he’ll never have to.
“That was some clever shit you pulled back there.” Prez slaps me hard on the back as we walk back inside the clubhouse.
“Now all I got to do is win the fight.” I raise my eyebrows, and scan the room for Shaniya. I need to find her and assure her the meeting went well.
“You ain't ever lost yet, kid,” Prez winks. “We need to keep eyes on him. Find out what his connections are in the circuit.”
I nod my agreement, I’ve always made it my business to know what I’m coming up against, that way I can adapt the right fighting style.
“You coming for a drink?” Jess tilts his head toward the small bar where only members are permitted.
“Got something I need to deal with,” I tell him.
“Something like Pokin-fuckin’-hontas,” Squealer pipes up from behind me, and the glare I give him when I turn around has him immediately holding his arms up in defense and sniggering.
I leave them all in the foyer, making my way up the stairs to the big hall where I assume she’ll be with all the others, but looking around the room I see no sign of her. So, I head toward the kitchen to see if Marilyn knows where she is.
“She left here with some of their men a few hours ago, honey. You hungry?” I don’t know why she bothers asking since she’s already putting me a sandwich together. Maddy’s mom is a kind woman by nature, I can see she’s in her element taking care of all these people.
“You better wrap that up to go,” I tell her, kissing her cheek to distract her as I steal a handful of salami from the tub on the counter.
Less than ten minutes later, my bike’s parked at the tree line and I’m heading down to the reserve. Men are working on fixing the damage, and Shaniya works alongside them, struggling to drag a large wooden post that’s still usable from under the debris. I rush over to help her, but Tawk manages to get to her first, and she steps back to allow him to free the post, before smiling at him gratefully and grabbing the other end to help him carry it.
Seeing them working together sets a fire in my blood, one that channels through my veins and scorches me with jealousy.
“Troj,” she calls across when she sees me. “Have you brought good news about my uncle?”
Tawk continues to drag her along by the post and I quickly take over from her, watching him scowl at me.
“Your uncle will be returned this evening,” I tell her, and my insides do some weird-ass fluttery shit when I see the happiness my words bring to her face.
“Thank you.” She goes to step toward me, but suddenly passes a guilty look toward Tawk and thinks better of it.
“Prez will speak with him when he first arrives, then he can join your people when he’s made his decision.”
“Decision?” she asks, looking confused.
“Your uncle strikes me as a stubborn man, we still don’t know if he will be with us on this, or against us,” I tell her. Tawk drops his end of the post and dusts off his hands before stepping closer to Shaniya like he’s got to protect her.
