Chapter Sixteen

*Not edited* Not proofread*

Chapter 16– Back off:

When I first came here, I never thought I'd return. I never planned to accept another offer from Lilah, and when I found out Dakota was a fighter here, I didn't plan to come back on my own in case I bumped into him.

Accepting to help Landon with getting Dakota out of this mess was a rash decision. I don't know why I decided to help— I'm still unsure on that matter. I never planned for this to happen, it just did. My big mouth and impulsive actions have gotten me into more shit than I can count on both hands, but I think this time the problem I've caused myself is one of the biggest.

And yet, I just keep fucking pushing.

I could leave. I should leave. But I don't. And it's not just The Ring that I should walk away from, it's Raven Hollow in general.

This town is clearly doing me no favours, and in the long run, I can tell that staying here is going to bite me in the ass sooner or later. And yet, I have no intentions of leaving.

In the short amount of time that I've been here, I've created quite the list of unfinished business for myself. Most of it involving Mac and the leeches. If I were to leave now, I'd still have ties connecting me to this place, and that can't happen.

But standing here, in the balcony that I've only ever looked up at, I've come to the realisation that the more I try to free myself from the bonds that are keeping me in this town, the more tangled up I become.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," Mac smiles crookedly, his fake teeth a little stained. He wears a suit, though, it doesn't look as expensive as some of the ones I've seen. His white shirt is slightly wrinkled and his suit jacket is clearly too tight.

"It shouldn't be seeing as you knew I was coming," I point out, aware that I'm at a disadvantage in this setting so I should probably tread lightly. But I've never been someone who was able to bite their tongue, despite the consequences.

Mac looks annoyed at my retort, his fists clenching ever so slightly. It amuses me, his reaction. It's funny how he thinks he's intimidating, how he thinks that he calls the shots. But he really doesn't. If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead. If I wanted to shoot his kneecaps off and rip his arms straight out of his socket, I would. But I don't.

I have self-control. Who would've thought?

A man comes through the door and walks straight up to Mac, interrupting the conversation. He's tall and bulky, a buzz cut with brown eyes. He whispers in the fat man's ear, so lowly I can't hear anything, so I decide to take this short break to look around.

The balcony area isn't as I envisioned, in fact, it's much different. The space is a lot bigger than I imagined with only one row of seats over looking the ring. There's a long sofa against the right wall, a coffee table in front of it, another sofa opposite. In the corner by the door sits a small wet bar, and on the left wall there's a cabinet filled with guns and drinking glasses— because clearly weaponry and kitchen items belong in the same storage place.

The man suddenly pulls away, nodding once at Mac before disappearing through the door again. The obese bastard with the half-assed name finally focuses his attention back on me, a smirk darkening his face.

"I see you've brought a friend," Mac raises an eyebrow as his beady eyes dart to Jace who stands behind me, tense as ever. I clench my jaw the second he looks at him, but I'm able not to show how bothered I am by him acknowledging Jace.

"Well now that we know your eyes work just fine, why don't we fast-forward to the reason I'm here, yes?" My tone is condescending, it doesn't sit well with the overweight asshole, I can tell.

"Why don't you have a seat?" He gestures to the sofa next to me. I barely even glance at it before I shake my head in defiance. Mac takes his own place on the sofa opposite the one he offered me, leaning against it and stretching out his arms over the back. His demeanour is open, his guard down, which tells me he doesn't feel threatened by mine or Jace's presence. It should anger me, but it doesn't. His stupidity is all the more amusing to me.

He should learn that underestimating me isn't a blow to my ego, but more so a stupid decision on his part.

But as Jace says: We all learn from our lessons.

"You see, Kody," Mac's eyes meet mine. I raise an eyebrow. "I don't like your attitude," he says with a smile, but I know he's sincere with his words.

I shrug my shoulders uncaringly. "What a shame."

He chuckles, his head shaking. "It is a shame. Such a shame. I was really hoping we could get along."

"Over my dead body," I spit out, unable to keep the words in my mouth where they belong.

His lips raise in a sardonic smile. "That can be arranged."

The men in the room, the ones that stand silently by the cabinet on the left wall, behind me and Jace, move closer, I can hear their shuffling footsteps, immediately making me roll my eyes. They're no good. I feel Jace push closer up behind me, his shoulder almost coming in contact with my back.

"Trust me, old man, you'd be dead before you can even bark out your orders to your lapdogs," I give him an unbothered look. "But if you'd still like to give it a try..." I trail off in challenge, seeing if he's stupid enough to take the bait.

He doesn't.

He sighs loudly before sitting up, his legs apart and his arms resting on his knees. He picks up a whiskey glass filled with a golden liquid that had been sitting on the coffee table. He takes a small sip before lowering his arm, though he keeps the glass in his chubby hand. "You're funny," he nods. "Kody is it? What can I do for you?"

This is the part I'm not prepared for. I didn't have a mapped out plan, I just knew what I wanted and what needed to be done. Everything in between, I didn't give a second thought. So now, I stand here as clueless as Mac believes I am, tongue-tied with a blank mind.

Nice one, you fucking idiot.

"I was thinking we could make a deal," I answer calmly, only just finding the words.

Mac looks intrigued, his eyes going to the bag on Jace's shoulder before coming back to me. "Make a deal? Or bribe me?" He questions with amusement.

Again, I shrug, the action nonchalant as I cross my arms lazily against my chest. "Call it whatever you want."

"Okay then," he sticks his bottom lip out like he's in thought and nods his fat head. "What sort of deal?"

"It's of my understanding that you have a contract with Dakota," I start off, finding the words as I go along. I really am unprepared. "But he wants out before the contract ends."

Looking suspicious as to where this is going, Mac tilts his head. "Yes, that's right. But he knows that he can't get out of the contract just yet. We have a deal."

"Well, that's why I'm here. I want to buy Dakota out of his contract."

Mac laughs as soon as I say it, the sound getting louder and louder the longer he carries on. I wait for him to finish— it shouldn't be long until he starts spluttering and coughing. Looking at him, he isn't the healthiest person and I'm sure his lungs are paying some of the price.

Once he's done, he slaps his leg a few times. "Oh God, I haven't laughed like that in a long time," he dramatically wipes at his eye, despite there not being anything there.

"And I wouldn't recommend doing it again. By the sounds of it you're one knock-knock joke away from a heart attack."

Composing himself and ignoring my comment, Mac gets to his feet, straightening out his suit. He comes to stand in front of me but Jace is quick to push him back, dropping the duffel by his feet. The men in the room also take a step forward, sensing a threat in my housemates actions. I loosen my arms slightly, ready to grab a gun if needed.

Mac smiles at Jace mockingly, but he steps back and keeps his distance from me. I'm not a fan of people defending me, but it's not like I'm going to scold Jace for it now. I'm busy.

"Cute," he mumbles quietly, yet loud enough for both me and Jace to hear. "I would like to say I'm confused as to how you have so many boys wrapped around you finger, but I'm not," he looks me up and down. "Smart girl."

"Back off," Jace warns in a growl, unhappy with his comment. It doesn't offend me though. Mac is as stupid as I thought.

"So?" I ask, drawing the fat man's attention back to me. "Are you going to take the money that I offer you?" I kick the duffel bag to him, hearing as it slides against the floor. "Which, by the way, is a lot more than you'll get from Dakota's fights. Or are you going to prove to me you're exactly the air headed idiot I thought you to be?"

Mac's jaw twitches, the muscle jumping. Once he softens his face so he no longer looks constipated, he signals for one of the men behind us to check what's inside the bag.

I wait impatiently as a dark haired man, who looks to be quite young, walks over to the duffel and opens it up, rummaging through it. Once he's done, he gives a single nod to Mac before going back to his previous place by the cabinet.

Mac looks at me, seeming satisfied. "Impressive," he nods. "Though you're clearly not as informed about this as you think, dear. It's not that simple." I don't say anything, just wait for him to go on. "It's not about the money he earns me, anymore," he laughs. "Unfortunately, you've been outbid."

I scoff, "So you're telling me that someone has already offered you money for Dakota? Yeah, like I'll believe that," I roll my eyes, acting oblivious. "None of his friends or family have that sort of money."

Mac chuckles again, shaking his head. I wonder if the movement puts a strain on his neck. "You're adorable when you're clueless," he mocks. I refrain from shooting him just for that. "They didn't offer money to get Dakota out of his little mess. They offered me money so they can have Dakota as one of their fighters."

"No. A manager wouldn't pay that much just for him. He's not even that good." Which isn't a lie. I've seen a lot better.

"That's because he's not a manager, dear. He's much more important, much more... dangerous."

"You mean to tell me there's people more dangerous than the managers who manipulate and bully their fighters into earning them money through violence?" I fake disbelief. Of course there are people more dangerous than that. I've met them. Spent the majority of my life with them. But he doesn't need to know that. "You're bluffing."

Mac looks pissed off at the fact I'm accusing him of lying, and I can feel Jace staring at me. Even though he probably doesn't show it, I know he's confused. "Believe me, child, I do not bluff. Mr. LaTorre is a dangerous man. He doesn't run one of the biggest organisations in this state by being kind."

Mr. LaTorre.

Runs an organisation in the state.

"An organisation like an insurance company? A law firm?"

Mac snorts in amusement, falling for my dumb act. I really do hate playing the idiot, but he seems to be buying it. I guess that's what you get for underestimating someone. "You're just a child, you wouldn't understand," he shakes his head. "But lets just say he is a very important man, not somebody you would like to be on the bad side of. And Dakota can be of real use to him."

"For fighting purposes?"

Mac gives me another one of his ugly grins which makes me grimace. And I thought Dakota's was bad. "You're a curious little thing, aren't you?" He questions rhetorically. "But I think we're done here. I won't be accepting your proposal, but I give you points for trying. However, if you ever get your little boy toy to do you a favour that involves me ever again, I will slit his throat," he leans into me at the threat and I almost gag at his breath. "Understand?"

"Un día te voy a matar. Y voy a disfrutarme cuando lo hago," I whisper back, my words more promising than his. "Enjoy the rest of your night, won't you?" I add mockingly, stepping back as Jace reaches for the bag. We're escorted out by two of his men, their abnormally large figures towering over us from behind. I know it makes Jace uneasy, it makes me uncomfortable, too, but I know I can kill them if I really wanted to, so that relaxes me slightly.

We descend the stairs in silence. Once we're almost at the bottom, Jace pauses and looks down at his foot. I follow his gaze and notice his lace is untied. One of the things he hates the most. Unsurprising to me, he bends down to tie the shoelace back up. However, as he does so, one of the guards nudges him forward, almost making him lose his balance.

Immediately, I have the guard by the neck and up against the wall. I squeeze hard and have no intention of letting go. Although, what I don't expect, is for his strength to rival mine.

I'm aware of the different in our size. His physique is much larger and obviously more muscular. However, I have always been a little stronger than what's normal. I'm not sure if it's all the training I endured, or all the drugs they injected into my body— I never questioned it.

But this guy has me pinned to the floor in seconds with his own hands around my neck. Talk about how the tables have turned. I can hear Jace and the other guard struggling, Jace also at a disadvantage. After we left the facility, we didn't train like we used to, nor did we have the injections that seemed to aid out strength, so we're clearly out of practice.

He has my legs held down as well as the upper part of my body, so my movements are restricted. The lack of oxygen doesn't affect me in the slightest as I was trained to hold my breath for a much longer time than the fifteen seconds I've been without it so far.

Noticing his face is much closer to me than he probably thinks, I pull my head back before throwing it forward and hitting him hard in the nose. His grip doesn't disappear but it falters just enough for me to shove him away from me and get to my feet quickly. Sending a kick to his stomach so he hunches over, I grab the back of his head and smash it against the wall.

If I could've had my fun with him, I would have. But Jace clearly lacks my talent in the violence department, so I have to go over and get him out of the chokehold he finds himself in.

Grabbing the muscled blonde off of him, I throw the guard up against the wall— with difficulty— and before he can push me away, I have my gun against his forehead. The nozzle presses into his skin, making it turn red right away. The man grunts but doesn't make a move. "Wise choice," I mutter to him mockingly. "You good, Jace?"

I hear him cough before he spits on the ground. "Yeah," he rasps out, clearing his throat again. "I'm great."

Reluctantly, I move away from the mountain of a man and walk over to the dark haired one that started this whole mess. I crouch down so we're face to face and lift his head up to me with my gun. He glares at me with hatred and I glare back just as hard. "You ever put your hands on him again, and I won't hesitate to shoot you in the fucking head, okay?"

I'm so angry it's a surprise I can stop myself from shaking. My toes wiggle in anticipation for my next actions. Do I shoot him now? Or do I save it for later? It's a hard decision to make, but it's the only thing that's on my mind.

Well, it is until the man lifts his hand to push the gun away from his face and I recognise the familiar barcode on his wrist.

___

Author's Note

What in the cliffhanger??? What just happened, I don't even know!

Bit of a weird chapter that, wasn't it? Is this what you guys were expecting? Or did you just think it'd be another boring one?

Because same.

Honestly though, I am trying to speed the book up and make it more interesting for everyone. I keep forgetting I only have a limited amount of chapters to add everything in and I can't drag my feet with the storyline, you know? I just don't want to ruin the book by adding too much in too fast.

But bare with me, I'm getting there (:

Let me know what you think.

Also, this chapter was published on Sunday the 24th of May. Remember that. Just because, I keep getting comments on chapters that I posted that same day asking me to update, and while I think it's sweet that you guys like the book so much that you want more chapters, you need to remember they're not pre-written and it does take some time to come up with ideas. Also, chapters are pretty long at 2,000-3,000 words (give or take a few).

Just bare in mind that it doesn't take five minutes to come up with a chapter. I'm not saying it's the hardest thing ever (anyone can do it), it's just time consuming, you know? Please have a little patience (: