Riley reached out, holding her hand. “I’m not going to fight any time soon.”
Tears filled her eyes. “People die from fighting.”
“I’m a tough old fucker, Lou. Nothing is going to kill me.”
She shook her head, reaching out to take his face, gently. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m not going to, but I am going to the after party hosted at the Dentons’ house. It’s why Mom and Dad couldn’t be here. They’re making sure they are there before anyone can throw them out.”
“You mean in case you had won the fight and the baby hadn’t?” Lou asked.
Riley sighed. “You just don’t get it, but maybe one day you will.”
“If you’re thinking when my kids are old enough to do this shit, you better think again. I’m not letting my kids do anything like this.”
Her brother laughed. “Go and wait in the car. I’ll be out in a minute. Don’t want to miss an opportunity to rub it into every fucker’s face that they were too damn scared to take on the sixteen year old boy.”
“You do know how that sounds, right?”
“You didn’t even watch the fight. You have no idea what he looks like.”
She hadn’t been able to watch the fight. The thought of her brother fighting someone so young hadn’t appealed to her. She’d stayed in his dressing room, listening to the screaming and yelling. They were all animals. “True.”
“Go and wait in the car. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Pfft, you can’t even walk.”
Riley climbed off the table and raised his brow at her. “Got a problem?”
“Fine, I’ll go and wait in the car.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the back of the changing rooms to where his car was. Climbing into the passenger side, she tapped her legs as she waited. This was what she never wanted to do. From the moment she first realized what her parents did, she’d been fighting to stay away from them.
Many of the argument she had with her parents were because she refused to fall in line and accept her fate. She wasn’t going to become another trophy wife, or a connection to another crime family. Her parents didn’t like the fact she had a free mind, or that she intended to do what she wanted to do rather than what she had been told.
Pushing her hair out of her face, she pulled it on top of her head so it wouldn’t be in the way.
She didn’t have to wait long before Riley was in the car. “I figured you’d try to drive my car.”
She chuckled. “There’s only so far a brother’s love will get me, and taking his car for a drive will test that love.”
“You got that right.”
He fired up the engine, and she sat back, enjoying the ride of the car.
Chapter Two
Jacob grabbed a beer and looked around the large reception room which was filled with people. The fight meant they were in for one hell of a party, and glancing across the room, he saw that Landon was already lapping up the attention. Three women were all hanging around him.
“He’s certainly the life and soul of the party,” Gideon said.
Turning to his brother, he raised his beer, but didn’t take a sip. “He’s earned it.”
“We knew he was going to earn it.”
“Did we?” Jacob asked. “He looked ready to give up.”
“Nah, it’s Landon’s MO. He likes to make people think he’s defeated, and then bam, they’re fucked. It’s beautiful to watch.”
Releasing a sigh, Jacob glanced toward the door waiting for Riley Moore to arrive. It was always a sign of respect to allow the opponent to party with them. Riley had put up a good fight, and Jacob actually liked him. He was a good man, and he wasn’t searching for the wrong kind of attention either. Jacob hadn’t recognized him earlier, as his focus had been on his brother. Riley was one of the few Moores that Jacob could actually stand.
“Landon has a bad reputation.” Jacob had heard all about Landon’s temper, and he’d seen him do crazier shit than he had in the ring tonight. What he didn’t like was his brother’s lack of control. They all had a temper, and were all known to be vicious when threatened, but none of them ever lost control like that. Hitting a guy when he was down, it was against the rules, and he was pleased their mother fixed that problem, or at least said shit to make Landon think.
“Yeah, well, none of us are ever going to have a good reputation. Look at Abel, he slit a man’s throat in front of the wife, and made her clean the blade. Oliver fucks other men’s wives, and if it suits him, he makes them watch while he does. Damian, well, he’s just into serious fucking kink, and that speaks for itself.”