Page 35 of Dark Things (Payback Duet #1)

Rebelle

B lood coats my whole body. When I step out of the cage I look for Haunt, but he’s not there. Not like him at all, unless he had a problem getting Brooks out of here.

I go over to my bag, keeping myself from looking around too much.

Vince is standing on the side watching me like a hawk.

I give him a little wave and the middle finger before grabbing a towel out of my bag.

Not much I can do about the need for a shower, but getting even a little of this blood off me will be worth it, especially if I have another fight to get through.

The announcer brings a couple of other guys in the cage, but I could give a fuck about the carnage. It’s the same thing we always see and after a while you become desensitized to it. I know that sounds fucking horrible, but my soul is too black to give a fuck anymore.

“Where’s your boy?” Vince asks, coming up to me. His fucking face could use a nice slit through it, but I hold those thoughts inside. One day.

“Don’t know. I was busy killing for Stan. Isn't it your job to keep track of all us minions?” I pull a water bottle out of my bag and drink half of it while he watches.

“That mouth is going to get you in real trouble,” he says, taking another step toward me.

I eye him from the side and let out a little laugh. “It’s gotten me in plenty of trouble, but my fist is what you should be worrying about. I will knock you out, you take another step. I don’t give a fuck who you are to Stan. Move along, henchman.”

His eyes turn into pools of fire. I’m sure if he could blow smoke out of his nostrils I’d be surrounded by it. Before Vince gets handsy and I embarrass him, Rook gets my attention. Vince knows this isn’t done between us, but giving him my best smile makes him even more incensed.

“Pitch, you seen Haunt? I brought Dozer; he wanted him here,” he says, standing in his usual uniform — black fatigues and a black t-shirt.

“Not since I got out of the cage, have you tried calling him?” I ask.

Rook nods, and something on his face has me going on alert. Why is this the second person who’s asked me where Haunt is, and now he’s not answering his phone…?

I nod my head to the right and Rook follows me into the darkened corner. “What the fuck did you see?” I ask, crossing my arms over myself before dropping them immediately because of the squelch of my wet sports bra. Gross.

“He left with il corvi . I didn’t want to say anything in front of Vince and start a goddamn war when we don’t know all the information.”

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “He didn’t look distressed did he?”

Rook shakes his head, and I throw my head back, looking at the ceiling. I’m going to fucking kill him, if Mario doesn’t kill him first. This is the last fucking thing we needed. I told him to get Brooks out of here, not play sacrificial lamb.

“Where’s Dozer?” I ask. Might as well solve one problem at a time. Can’t exactly get Haunt now that Vince is up my ass.

“He’s at the bar. He thinks he’s in for some sort of promotion. Fucker’s going to die, yeah?”

Cracking my knuckles, I tuck my lips in nodding. “Yup. Thanks, Rook. You should probably take off. Not sure how much Vince is going to flip his shit when he sees what’s about to go down.”

He doesn’t look convinced, but he does throw Vince a look. “You sure? I can stay and watch your back. ”

I give his arm a squeeze before stepping back out of the shadows. “I got this, but thank you. I won’t forget what you’ve done over the years. You’re a good egg, Rook.”

He smiles and leaves, hopefully to make up a story why Dozer is here tonight. Now I just need to get that asshole in the ring while everyone thinks it’s him who’s supposed to be here.

I make my way over to the announcer and pull him closer so I can whisper in his ear. “Change of plans. I’m fighting Dozer for my second fight. He’s over by the bar. Have a couple of bouncers grab him.”

He raises his eyebrows, giving me a once over. In the city my word wouldn’t be questioned, but these country fuckers don’t know me that well. Pretty sure I should have proved myself when I took down a six-foot-something, two-hundred pound man, but guys are fucking stupid.

“You think you’re calling the shots, sweetie? Pretty sure this is my club,” he says, more amusement than anger.

“Up to you if you want to make this a thing, but they don’t call me Pitch for an unknown reason. Why don’t you ask Gage what he thinks about pissing me off?”

His face blanches for a moment, but then he snaps his fingers and a huge-ass bouncer comes over and he whispers in the guy’s ear. I take that as a problem solved and go back to my chair to wait .

The fight in the cage ends. This one wasn’t to the death, so they both get out of there pretty quickly. The cleanup crew still goes in and does a sweep of the floor, but it’s truly not necessary. I’m going to destroy Dozer and then go find fucking Haunt.

The announcer starts his speech, but I’m not paying attention. I climb into the cage and wait for the bouncer to bring Dozer in. The punk-ass is actually yelling, drawing more attention to himself than necessary.

“Get off of me. I’m not here to fight. This is bullshit. Do you know who I work for!?” Dozer screams, as he’s tossed into the cage on his ass.

The audience laughs; they’re eating this shit up. Me, I’m on my last nerve and have zero fucks to give. “Shut the fuck up and stand up, Dozer. Stop acting like a fucking tool.”

That gets his attention. “You? What the fuck is a whore doing here? And why are you covered in blood?”

I smirk and roll my shoulders out. “Guess you missed my first fight. Let me introduce myself. Call sign, Pitch. This is a death match and you’re definitely not leaving here alive.”

“I don’t care who the fuck you are,” he screams getting in my face and giving me a shove. I step back and look at the announcer, giving him a get-the-show-on-the-fucking-road look.

He brings the microphone up to his lips and the bell rings. Dozer is still trying to get a rise out of me with words, so I punch him in the face, breaking his nose.

He bellows, hands going up to clutch his face. “You fucking bitch!” he roars, and charges me. I spin around to avoid the rush and kick him in the ass. He finally gets the message that this isn’t a joke and comes at me with his fists.

I dodge a couple, but one clips my jaw. It’s not the worst I’ve had, but it’s enough to leave a bruise in the morning. The crowd loves it, screaming and throwing hands up in the air. I block it all out and focus on how I’m going to take him out. This needs to end.

He gives me an opening, and I take it. Kidney shot, kick to the thigh, uppercut to the jaw. He goes down, and I’m too fast to allow him to get up. I straddle his torso and rain down blows to his face, taking all my frustrations about this fucking mission and goddamn town out on him.

I think about seeing the boys again, my time in juvie, my brother, fucking Stan. I let it all out, screaming into the void like I’ve wanted to for years. All my anger and despair makes itself known. All of my dark things bleed out with each blow.

Dozer doesn’t have a fucking chance, and by the time the bouncer comes in to pull me off of him, Dozer’s skull is caved in, and my hands are bruised and bloody. Some of the blood is definitely mine.

“Off,” I yell, shoving the bouncer’s arm. He drops me, and I kick Dozer once more for good measure before climbing out of the ring and marching over to my bag. I’m not fucking hanging around after that shit. I have a fucking soulmate to find.

My phone buzzes as I’m walking to the car. I slip it out of my gym bag as I pull the keys out with it. Stan’s name flashes on the screen. Vince either ratted me out, or he wants to know where Haunt went.

“Boss,” I say, trying to calm the rage inside of me.

“You have to test me all the time, Pitch. It’s almost like you want Magnus to die.”

I grit my teeth and lean my head on the steering wheel. “Apologies. My other opponent took off, and Dozer wasn’t exactly loyal. I took the trash out.”

He hums for a moment. “And you were the one who thought that you could make decisions for me?”

There’s no way I’m getting out of this without some kind of punishment. I just hope the price isn’t too much to pay.

“He was a plant. We saw him at Mario’s club the other night going into the back room. We didn’t know who he was until we were at the slaughterhouse for our meeting. I didn’t think I should bother you with the details until it was taken care of.”

I lie my fucking ass off and hope he buys it, because I don’t have fucking time to deal with his bullshit.

“Next time, you come to me first. I don’t care if you have half the information. Understand?”

“Yes, boss. I’ll make sure to tell you first. ”

I roll my eyes and breathe out. Thank God he accepted the fucking excuse.

“Now, tomorrow you’re racing Black Caviar at the track. Not the underground one, the real one.”

Oh fuck, I do not have fucking time for this. I need to find Haunt.

“I thought he couldn’t get his gate card?” I ask, closing my eyes the moment the words came out. I shouldn’t have fucking said anything.

“I took care of it. Be here at noon. And Pitch, if I find out you’re lying about Dozer, I’m going to be fucking furious.”

He hangs up the phone and I open up the messenger app to text Rook. If anyone will go along with the lie, it will be him. I toss my phone onto the seat after the message is delivered and growl into my hands. This day just keeps getting worse.

It’s been a half a day since I’ve seen Haunt. Half a day of my skin itching and my body unable to rest. I didn’t get any sleep at all. I stared at my ceiling for four hours before I got up and went into the home gym. Even an hour on the treadmill and two hitting the heavy bag didn’t calm me down.

“Morning!” Cat says when I walk into the kitchen after my shower. “Where’s Haunt?”