Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 36428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
I remember life down here.
And no matter how high I climb, I always will.
I’ll never forget the sacrifices I made in blood for a second chance.
And even if I could, something tells me, the other half of my soul would do whatever it took to remind me of the pit, of which I came from.
I truly believe that she too occasionally needs to see me down here to appreciate having someone up there at her side.
Someone she can love.
Trust.
Piraíba releases an unholy roar at the same time he successfully snaps Humphead’s leg. Humphead – who is named after the parrotfish he shares mouth qualities with – bares his buckteeth in agony only seconds before Piraíba is using both of his knees to pin him to the ground by the throat. Victory is his shortly after and the clamor of excitement causes me to cockily smirk.
What can I say?
I know a fighter when I see one.
Piraíba hops onto his feet, glances around at the crowd praising him, and surveys the scene. For exactly what is unknown until his searching actions cease and the tiniest grin is given. I follow the direction of his gaze to see one of the girls who’s serving champagne blush from the attention being shot her way.
Familiar feelings course through my veins pushing my stare to my wife who caught the exchange too. She seductively wets her lips and touches the key dangling around her neck, promising me the same thing the newest fighter is looking forward to with his own chosen prize.
Who knows.
Perhaps someday he will be given a chance to choose her permanently.
Piraíba is escorted out of The Diamond at the hands of a security member, passing by me. He acknowledges my presence with a curt nod to which I do the same.
Two members of the household swiftly come to remove the lifeless body in the middle of the ring while another two drags in the guilty party I’ve come here to execute. To my surprise, he isn’t quite what I was picturing when she described a peasant.
He’s fairly well-built, and the only visible injury he seems to be displaying is a big, beige bandage over his left eye.
The eye my wife evidently took as the start of her retribution.
He blindsided her.
So, she blinded him.
Rowan – who is still walking on eggshells in spite of accepting my apology – let me “step on her toes” therefore he earned her stepping on his.
Reestablishing balance is sometimes very simple, yet always grisly it appears.
“May I have your attention, please?” Remy calls to those in the upper level, almost immediately rewarded with their silence. “As most of you know, Piraíba versus Humphead were the last pair of scheduled fighters for this evening; however,” a nefarious smile slides into place, “tonight we will be hosting a bonus fight to celebrate my late mother’s birthday, which is today.” There’s a small round of recognition applause for the woman many met. “All proceeds from this fight will go to The Knigi Foundation, the organization I founded in honor of her.”
And the surprises keep coming.
God, how could I let today’s importance escape my mind like that?
“This fight also actually comes with a fun twist.”
I foresee another unsuspecting bomb being dropped my direction.
“You will not be betting on the fighters per say,” she casually informs the room, creating a small stir, “but how long it’ll take for Mr. Kessler to end his opponent’s life.”
“She’s gonna kill me?!” the other male in area squawks my direction. “She said she wasn’t gonna kill me!”
“She not,” I reassure prior to presenting him a wicked smirk. “I am.”
“You have four minutes to place your bets,” Remy announces to the room and then drops her stare to me. “The execution begins in five.”
“Execution?!” my adversary barks on a pointless thrash. “I’m being fucking executed?!”
“Well…” there’s a small bounce of my head from side to side, “not fair fight…so…” the action is repeated a little faster, “da.”
“Da?!” He shouts at the top of his lungs. “What the fuck does da mean?!”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?!”
“Yes, this execution…” I offer him a tiny shrug of indifference. “For entertainment of guests.”
“Who the fuck are these people?!” He continues to yell, wasting his energy. Strength. “Why do they wanna watch me die?!” More attempts to break free are stopped. “Why do you wanna kill me, Mr. Kessler?!”
Reluctance to answer doesn’t exist. “You hurt wife.”
“I said I was sorry! She got all her money back! She got that framed fucking thing returned! She made me listen to nothing but that fucking ‘Phenomenal Woman’ poem the entire time she held me in that tiny ass cage! And she even took my goddamn eye! Crushed it so I can’t see shit! What more does she fucking want from me?!”
“Life.”
“Why!?”
“You hurt hers. She take yours.” Folding my arms across my chest occurs on a second shrug. “I weapon of choice.” Pride can’t be kept out of my expression. “And I honored to be weapon of choice.”