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Especially the Ashbys.
A knock sounded on the door, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked up, prepared to see my assistant, not my brother.
“Jas, what are you doing here?” I half expected Terry to come in behind him but he was, thankfully, alone.
“We need to talk. About Fight Night.” His expression was somber and when he stepped in and closed the door, I knew he had something serious on his mind. Jasper wasn’t one to beat around the bush, so I leaned back in my chair and watched him closely as he took the seat in front of me and crossed his legs.
“What about it?”
He sighed and leaned forward on his elbows, fingertips steepled together as his gaze met mine.
“We have three belt fights, all Ashby fighters. We can only have two wins.”
I nodded at what he was saying. I understood clearly; it was just the way things were done sometimes and I accepted that. There was just one thing I didn’t get.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because I need you to inform Ravager without Emmett finding out.”
Shit. Of course, that was what he wanted. Emmett was a stand-up guy, a former military man with a distinct sense of honor and fairness. He would never agree to fix a fight. Especially when he refused as a fighter even knowing it could’ve cost him his fighting career.
In the end, it hadn’t cost him anything because Ma had respected him for taking a stand. She was strange that way.
“Why me?” Rob had a crazy ass look in his eyes, and I kept my distance whenever I could. “He wants to fuck me, which means he won’t listen to a damn thing I have to say, even with my last name.” It was the shittiest part of being a woman on either side of the business. Sexism was a motherfucker. “Plus, this is only his sixth pro fight, a belt fight at that. You really think he’s gonna take a fall?”
“For fuck’s sake Kat, he doesn’t need to take a fall. What the hell kind of movies have you been watching?” Jasper looked at me like he thought I was crazy. I just smiled. “Rob is undefeated and the bets reflect that, which is why he’s gotta do it. If he wants to fuck you, use that to get him to agree to this. We need it to look good. Make it close.”
I shook my head in disgust. “I’m not flirting with that maniac for any reason. This is a Jasper task, and since I’m doing everything else, you can handle it.”
He nodded and stood, pressing his palms flat against my desk. “Right now, you are Jasper. If he’s a shit about it, I’ll do it.”
I sighed and nodded, knowing that when Jasper found a reasonable solution, there was no arguing with him. “Fine.” I scribbled a note on my tablet to talk to the middleweight contender and looked back at my brother.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. Terry said some guy tried to mug you?”
I wasn’t surprised at all Terry had told Jasper about the parking lot incident, but I was surprised he’d downplayed it because I saw the look in that guy’s eyes. He meant to do me harm.
“Yep. It’s a good thing Terry spotted me and said something totally sexist and condescending to get my attention.”
I realized last night over my third glass of wine, Terry had done it on purpose to get a reaction out of me.
As if I needed another reason to be attracted to Mr. All Wrong For Me. Still, I made a note to send Terry a thank you gift.
“Anything on Mueller?”
“Not yet.” When there was something concrete to tell, I would. “I’m approving another assistant for Maisie. She’s buried in guests wanting her to do everything. She's one person. And this fight has the place booked full of high rollers for weeks at a time on both sides of Fight Night. She needs the help.”
“Fine,” he said with an easy smile. “Who knew she’d be so capable? Nothing but compliments from the big spenders.”
They loved Maisie and handed out the most lavish gifts that were borderline inappropriate for an engaged woman.
“I’m surprised Virgil hasn’t gone full beast on any of them yet, especially that Greek dude who bought her a pink jet.”
“It was a small jet,” he said as if that made any difference at all. “Well she did get him and his teenage daughter tickets and backstage passes to Lady Gaga. Besides, Virgil is the one who’ll fuck her on that jet.”
I groaned and shook my head. “Seriously, Jas? Gross.”
He gave an unapologetic shrug and a matching smile. “They are two adults in love, Kat. They have sex. You do remember what sex is, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. It’s when I spread my legs like this and grab a cock like this—” I cupped my hands in a crude gesture that had my brother on his feet and marching toward the exit. I laughed and smacked the desk.
