Page 14

RAVEN

“Who the hell are you? Don’t bullshit me,” AJ said behind me.

I stopped in my tracks. A few people around turned their attention to us at his statement. I glanced over to where Kaito would sit if he were here, but the seat was empty. It might be risky, telling him some of the truth here, but I turned to face him, ready to let him in a little more.

“I am the eldest daughter of a very prominent sensei in the city. Especially in the fights people only hear whispers about. When my father passed away, I took up his mantle and am now the sensei of his dojo. People know me because I have students who fight in this ring,” I said, meeting his gaze and wondering what his next move would be.

His muscles bunched as his fists clenched. His eyes narrowed at me.

Anger. Distrust. I don’t blame him. I haven’t been completely up front with the details of my life.

“Oh, yeah? And what student is that? Because if you think you can throw me into a ring and I’ll fight for you with nothing in it for me, you’re dead wrong,” he said, his voice deep and stern.

I shook my head and gestured to the side of the stadium seating. I walked over with AJ hot on my heels, and when I came to a stop, he placed a hand next to my head and blocked me from most of the crowd behind us.

“It’s nothing like that,” I said as my heart rate picked up with him so close to me.

“Right. So, I’m supposed to believe you had no idea who I was after you brought me here?” His words came out fast and harsh.

I reached up to place my hand on his chest, but he swatted it away, swearing under his breath.

“Nah. Don’t try to be sweet now. It’s not gonna get you out of this,” AJ said.

“I wasn’t. I need you to understand. I had no idea who you were or what you did before we met at the bar that night.

I didn’t bring you here to fight anyone.

AJ, please just relax for a minute and listen to me.

And can you lower your hand? You’re drawing too much attention toward us,” I said as I looked up into his eyes, hoping he would feel the sincerity in my words.

Because I had no idea about his past. What he did and where he had come from were never really shared with me.

I had to get AJ to calm down and not cause a scene tonight.

The last thing I needed was for Kaito to find out another man was this close to me and get the idea we were more than what I wanted Kaito to think we were to one another.

He glanced around the space and glared at a couple of guys who were staring at us.

“The fuck you lookin’ at?” AJ said, and they ducked their heads and rushed away. Then he tucked his hands into his hoodie pocket, his muscles flexing in frustration.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“You really don’t know that I’m the reigning champion fighter in LA?” AJ asked, his voice lower so others wouldn’t overhear us.

Wait, what? Does he mean he actually fights for a career?

“Wait a minute. Are you telling me you are a professional fighter?”

He chuckled, and a smirk, hidden by his mask, made his eyes narrow. “Sure, if you want to call where we are right now professional, then yeah.”

Then it hit me full force. AJ was so good at fighting two-on-one because he had done it before. He wasn’t merely some fit guy who had gotten lucky that night. He had been professionally trained. Years of honing his skills in fight after fight.

“I didn’t know. I mean that. Please believe me.

The night we met, I truly had no idea who you were.

I only asked you to come here tonight after we ran into each other because I’m scared as hell that my fighter will lose tonight, and if he does, I don’t know if I will be strong enough to face Kaito all alone.

Not that I want you to talk or do anything to him, but knowing I have you here reassures me just a little more that I have another person in my corner,” I said as I stared into his eyes, determined that he hear my truth.

His eyes softened as he processed what I’d said. The tension disappeared between us shortly after.

“All right, baby girl. I guess I don’t have much choice but to take your word for it. But just so we’re clear, I don’t fight for free. So, if you want me in that ring, you’d better believe it’s gonna cost more than your ass in my bed.”

I resisted the urge to slap his arm and instead settled for barely shaking my head.

“Trust me, asking you to fight is the furthest thing from my mind, AJ. Now, let’s head over to the training area. Touma should be here at any minute. He’s my student fighting tonight,” I explained as I stepped past him and led the way.

We walked over to the side of the room where the fighters were all warming up for the night, including Touma, who had arrived through the back entrance a few minutes ago.

He looked between me and AJ and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, only nodded at me before going to a mat to warm up.

I watched as Touma stretched. He was in really good form tonight. Sydney had done well, keeping up with his training in my place. I would have to give her more credit next time we got together. Maybe I didn’t have anything to worry about after all.

AJ leaned against the wall next to me, watching Touma go from stretching to sparring with the practice dummy near us. I couldn’t help but watch as AJ analyzed Touma’s movements. Just like I’d thought, AJ was a natural as a fighter inside and out.

I wondered how he would do in matches here.

I’d seen him in action once before, but fights like these were different from a bar brawl.

You weren’t facing untrained muscles in these rings; you were fighting some of the deadliest people in Japan.

There had been more serious injuries and even deaths in these matches than people might realize.

To get distracted could cost you more than the title; it could cost you your life.

“He’s not half bad. Unless he’s going up against someone like me, he should be able to win,” AJ said as Touma delivered a powerful blow to the dummy, almost knocking it over.

“He’s been training for months. He has to be perfect.” But I realized how harsh that might sound, so I continued, “Thank goodness he’s not up against you. I really need him to win, and it might look bad if I was also cheering on his opponent.”

My attempt to lighten the mood worked as he chuckled.

Good. I didn’t like the tension we had after our conversation earlier.

I went to say something else when the energy in the room shifted, and my eyes were drawn to the entrance.

Kaito walked in, surrounded by his guards and his fighter in tow.

The room parted, giving him unencumbered access to his box, which had a prime view of the match.

He walked over, being greeted by people as he passed, and sat down.

The announcer went over to Kaito, and he spoke to him as people resumed their activities.

He glanced over at me and smirked. Then his gaze went beyond me, and I knew he was looking at AJ.

I quickly stepped away from him, and his eyes snapped back toward me.

My stomach turned, but I didn’t want him to get curious about AJ and come over to ask questions.

I looked between him and his fighter. He was more muscular than Touma but still looked like he was fast on his feet as well.

For a split second, I felt my nerves creep back in. He turned away to talk with the man seated to the right of him, and my body relaxed without his eyes on me.

But I shook my feelings off with another glance over at Touma. He was squaring up to spar with a fellow fighter he had warmed up with in the past.

It all started normal enough. They threw easy jabs and uppercuts as they dodged and weaved around, putting their hands up to block as the other attacked.

Touma looked like he was in perfect form. I couldn’t find a single fault as he went through his paces. So much that I turned my attention from them and walked over to AJ again.

“Don’t think you have much to worry about. I’m guessing his opponent is the one who walked in a few minutes ago. He’s top-heavy. As long as your guy keeps his footwork up, he shouldn’t get hit much,” AJ said as I stood next to him.

I felt his hand slide onto my ass, and I was thankful that at this angle, there was no way anyone else could see that. Or the fact that merely his touch alone was causing my body to heat-up and my face to flush.

I glanced up at him, and he chuckled. My stomach did a flip at the way his eyes wandered up and down my body.

That was when everything went to shit.

I knew from the sound of it that it was a devastating blow. Once you heard your first bone snapping, you didn’t forget it.

Touma cried out as he fell to the ground, clutching his knee.

The man he had been sparring against waved over at the resident medic, and I jogged as fast as I could through the crowd to get to them.

“Move! Please get out of my way!” I yelled, pushing through people as they gathered around the scene.

I finally reached Touma, and he was sitting upright, but his knee was bent wrong. If it wasn’t broken, it was dislocated. There was no way we could get this set properly here. It was official; my sisters and I were going to lose everything over a simple accident.

I knelt down beside him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“What happened?” I whispered to him as the doctor continued his assessment.

“I don’t know. We were warming up as usual when, out of nowhere, he threw an actual jab at my face. When I went to dodge it, he kicked my knee when it was sideways. He’d never done something like that before,” Touma said as he winced when the doctor pushed around his leg.

I looked around for the man he had been sparring with, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Something doesn’t feel right about this.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the doctor’s voice.

“Dislocated at best, fractured kneecap at worst, I’d say. He can’t fight tonight.”

“I’m so sorry, Sensei. I have let you down,” Touma said as his body tensed in pain.

“There is nothing to be sorry about. This wasn’t your fault. Right now, we just need to get you to the hospital. Think you can get up and walk out with assistance?”

He nodded.

I was about to lift his arm over my shoulders when I felt a warm hand touch my arm.

“I’ve got this.”

It was AJ. He had come over, and with one fast motion, he had Touma up and on his good leg. They exchanged a few hushed words, and AJ eased him over toward an exit.

I stood, and the crowd parted around me, going back to business as usual now that the excitement was over.

It was so damn confusing. These two had sparred with each other in so many matches before without something like this happening. Maybe if fate had decided tonight was the night to have this happen, then it was time to stop fighting the inevitable and have Sydney take Regan and leave the country.

“It’s interesting, isn’t it?” a strange voice said beside me.

The hairs stood up all over my body, and I glanced to my right. A man, barely taller than me, wearing a white-and-red striped suit and a fedora hat, stood there. His eyes watched my fighter as he slowly staggered over toward the back entrance. His eyes had an eerie red hue to them.

I knew he was a dangerous man as I stood next to him. His presence made Kaito’s feel like a summer breeze. I also knew that not responding to someone with energy like this was a foolish game to play.

“What is?” I asked as I watched AJ help Touma to the door, where he nodded and the bouncer took him from there.

“Just how perfectly timed some accidents are.”

At his words, my eyes darted over to Kaito, who had been watching AJ and Touma, and he had the most vicious smile on his face. Then I watched as he turned to the man next to him, handing him a sum of money, which the man pocketed before bowing and walking away from Kaito.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered under my breath.

This had been no accident. Of course, Kaito wouldn’t take the chance to let my fighter actually fight. When the match started and my fighter didn’t go into the ring, it would be counted as a forfeit. And Kaito had done everything he could to ensure he got his way.

I glanced behind me, and the man was gone. I looked around the space and couldn’t see him anywhere. It was like he had vanished on the spot.

“Looking for something, baby?” AJ’s voice was close.

I hadn’t realized he had walked back over. I grabbed his arm and quickly dragged him over into the corner, hoping Kaito was too busy celebrating his small victory to notice us.

“You can’t call me that here,” I said as we came to a stop. I brushed the hair out of my face and pulled it back into a ponytail. “I need to ask a favor of you.”

He rolled his shoulders back and tucked his hands into his hoodie pocket. “Who am I fighting?”

Was I really being that obvious?

“How did you guess?” I said as I waved the announcer over.

“Kinda figured you might need a guy after I just helped your fighter limp his ass out of here,” AJ said as the announcer reached us.

“And you’re sure? I can’t guarantee you won’t get hurt. Kaito’s men fight unfairly. And you owe me nothing. You could walk away tonight and save yourself. You don’t always have to jump in and save me, Hero.”

AJ chuckled and nodded. “Don’t worry; I’ve fought worse and lived to talk about it. Just sign me up.”

All I can do is trust him. Trust that he will save my family with this fight.