Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

my career. I’d put my body through hell and fought my way to the top. Taking a dive would not only go against everything I stood for, it would be throwing away years of hard work.

“We appreciate your request, Mr. Dell,” Jonny said.

“It wasn’t a request,” Mr. Dell answered.

“Okay.” Jonny met Mr. Dell’s gaze head-on, not combative yet unwilling to be intimidated either. “I understand your position. If we were to feel strongly otherwise, that Dean can win this fight, could there be another way to work this out? Maybe you could move your money over to betting on him.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Mr. Dell said, losing his cool, pleasant personality. It was as if a switch had been flipped. Instead of the congenial smile that graced his lips a moment before, a snarl escaped his throat. “You go down in the tenth round. That’s all there is to it. You will go down. If you decide anything otherwise, things won’t go well for you.”

I didn’t like the way he was talking to the man who had been like a father to me. Anyone else and I would have stepped in right there and then. They’d be talking to Jonny through a mouthful of broken teeth and a splintered jaw.

Instead of violence, I took a step toward Mr. Dell, clenching my fists. In the short time I’d known him, I’d lost all respect for the man.

“May I have a moment to speak with my gladiator?” Jonny asked politely. He placed a hand on my shoulder. “You have to understand adrenaline is flowing freely right now.”

Mr. Dell stared into my eyes. He must have finally realized that an animal lived inside of me. He took a step back and nodded. “You two take whatever time you need. My mind isn’t going to change. You go down, or you two are finished. It’s as simple as that. Make the right decision for not only you but for your families right now. Your time will come to hold the belt. Tonight is just not that night.”

Jonny’s grip on my shoulder tightened to hold me in place. I could rip free from his hold if I wanted, but I was still having a hard time processing the turn of events the night had taken.

Mr. Dell left the room.

A second later, our trainer and security staff reentered.

“We just need a moment, fellas,” Jonny said with a smile. He guided me to the restroom in the rear of the locker room. It was all white tile and bright lights.

“Is this guy serious?” I said once we were safely out of earshot. “I can’t believe what he just asked us to do. No, not even asked. I can’t believe what he just told us we were going to do. I was about to lay him out right there.”

“Hey, you forget about that right now,” Jonny said, holding my stare. He spoke in a tone just above a whisper. “You go down just like he said. You hear me? You go down in the tenth.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. The same man that had pushed me to break through my limits every day, the same man who was always in my corner in and out of the ring was telling me to lose the fight.

“What? No,” I said, shaking my head. “We’re not going to let him take from us everything we’ve worked so hard for all these years: all the fights, all the sacrifice. No way. He can lose his money. I’m not going down. I don’t go down, and if I do go down, I don’t stay down. You taught me that.”

“This isn’t about fighting anymore,” Jonny said, clenching his teeth. There was a pain in his eyes I’d only ever seen once before. “This is about living and dying, Dean. This is about surviving. We go against Mr. Dell, and we’re dead men.”

“We’ll go public with his threat,” I said, refusing to believe the only option we had was losing or death. “We’ll tell everyone who will listen. We’ll expose him.”

“No one’s going to listen to dead men,” Jonny said, firmly taking me by my shoulder. “Even if we could spread the word before he got to us, he and his friends own half the reporters in the city. They’ll bury our story, and then they’ll bury our bodies. This isn’t about us anymore, Dean. Think of Natalie. Think of the baby she’s holding in her belly.”

“I am thinking about them,” I said, refusing to give in to Jonny’s advice. “This is why I’m going to win tonight. I’m going to win for them, for you, Jonny. We both came from nothing, and we have the chance to do something great tonight. Mr. Dell is every single bully who threatened me growing up. He’s every single person who told us we were nothing. We don’t give in to them, Jonny. That’s not who we are.”

“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” Jonny’s face told me he already knew the answer. “If I can’t change your mind, maybe she can. At the very least, you need to talk to her about this. You two are a team, even more so than you and I. Promise me you’ll talk to her about it before you go through with it.”

I looked at the clock on the wall of the bathroom. It read sixteen minutes until I was supposed to be walking to the ring.

“I’ll talk to her,” I agreed, seeing the wisdom in Jonny’s words. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Good. I’ll go get her,” Jonny said with a hint of relief in his voice. Apparently, he thought Natalie was going to talk me into throwing the fight. I knew better. She was more of a warrior than I was.

Jonny practically ran from the bathroom on his way to the next room to go get my wife. She usually gave me space before the fight to get my head right. In the last few minutes before I