Chapter 20 Hit a Nerve
Point of view: Eric
There’s something about the geometry of a ring that puts my head back in order.
That’s why I had a twenty-three foot one installed in the private complex I built for me and my men. Access is simple: lifetime loyalty, sealed by the Wood brand burned into the skin.
I pull on my gloves. The smell of fresh leather calms me down. My initials are stitched on the side. That way, nobody touches them.
Possessive? Yeah. With what’s mine, always.
Cael’s already bouncing on the ropes. He’s the only one I spar with regularly. The only one who gives me a real fight. We’re almost at the same level. Fifteen years of beating the hell out of each other builds a bond. He knows my tells. I know his.
Makes the game more interesting.
“Ready to eat canvas?”
I smile. “Still impressed by your arrogance, especially after I beat you three times in a row.”
“Got to let you win sometimes. Keeps your ego healthy.”
We circle. Him, elbows tucked, fists under his chin. Cael’s impatient. He always throws first.
Jab. I block. Second one. I block. Third. He steps back, I come up with an uppercut that folds him in half.
“Shit!” He grunts, catching his breath.
He comes again. I see the sequence before he even throws it: jab, jab, straight, a hook aimed to take my head off.
I take both jabs on the mitts, slip the straight and, before the hook lands, I bury a left deep in his liver.
Cael collapses against the ropes, chest heaving. I grin. “What were you saying about luck?”
He cracks his neck. “So... your lunch with Jenny yesterday?”
I hold back a smile. When you know someone too well, you go for the head, not the body.
“Nightmare, like usual,” I answer, picking up the rhythm.
“And you see her... why? For the new tits Dr. Moreau sculpted for her? I heard he did good work.”
He strings jabs together. I block every one, back him into the corner. “The only part of her body I’m interested in is the palm of her hand.” Another uppercut. Cael barely dodges.
“Excuse me?”
“Because her father’s in the middle. Hiram Laurent.”
Cael snorts. “Makes sense.” Then he flashes me a vicious grin. “You could marry her, you know. Hiram becomes your father-in-law.”
He drops his guard for half a second. Mistake. My left hook catches him on the brow. He goes down.
I look down at him. “Your strategy sucks, brother. You keep giving me ammo.”
Cael’s up before the ten count. “I’m serious.” I dance around him, working the body while he slips. “Like my old man Karim says: you need heirs. And fast.”
“Asshole,” I growl.
He laughs, skirting the ropes, arms draped over them, eyebrows dancing. “You’ve already got a woman under contract for sex. Why not the same one for a kid?”
“Son of a bitch.” We clinch. Sweat, muscle, tension. Fighting for leverage.
“Catherine won’t be the mother of my children,” I spit when we break. Triple jab. Cael’s nose explodes.
He stumbles back, bleeding, but smiling. “Well, well. Hit a nerve. The little assistant’s a weakness?”
One hook isn’t enough to shut him up. A heavyweight probably wouldn’t do it either.
Soon as he’s out of my reach, he grins: “She must be wild in bed, huh? Tell me: does she moan or does she scream?”
That’s it.
Speed, power, anger. I come down on him like a hurricane. Cael holds his own, but nobody stands up to my possessiveness when it wakes up.
A few clean shots. Cael kisses the canvas he promised me.
“Stay down, brother. Better for you.”
He rolls onto his back, drenched. “Oh, I’ve got no intention of moving,” he laughs. “And you’re welcome.”
I frown. “Welcome for what?”
He lifts his head two inches, scans the room. “For making you look good in front of your men.”
I glance up. A circle formed during the fight. I didn’t even notice. Cael said her name and all I saw was red. The guys are nodding. Respect. Approval. Beating my second-in-command is a medal in these walls.
I offer my hand. Cael gets up. “Good fight.”
He smirks. “You’ve got control, brother. Keep it. Especially with the girl.”
He steps out of the ring. I clap his back.
He’s right. This obsession with Catherine is dangerous. But it’ll only do real damage if I let it.
And I don’t intend to let anything control me.
Not even that intoxicating little thing.