Love and Wargames: A Bad Boy Hacker Romance (33 page)

“You don’t?” she asks, jerking the car back into the lane. “He’s a total Clooney.” I shake my head, silently smiling. “Well, if Charlie doesn’t strike your fancy, then Tobias surely does.” She groans softly and uses her hand to fan herself.

“I’ve seen worse,” I mutter.

“I’d kill to be in your position again.”

“Again?”

Her eyebrows bounce in the dark. “He and I have spent a little time together,” she says with a purposeful inflection. “But it never really went anywhere.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah.”
She stops and cringes with a quick glance in my direction. “Oh, I’m talking about your cousin, aren’t I? Whoops, my bad.”

“Just through marriage,” I explain. “My mother married his uncle.”

“Good for you then,” she teases with a wink.

“How long have you known him?” I ask to shift the subject elsewhere.

Amy hits the gas again for apparently no real purpose other than to go very, very fast. “A long time. Ten years,
ish
. We went to high school together.”

“Has he always been so…?”

“Brooding?” she completes, flashing me a smile.

“Yes.”

“Pretty much.”

I look out the window and watch the empty fields shoot by in silence. It seems like I learn something new about Tobias every day, something that makes him a little more intriguing to me.

“Speak of the devil…” Amy adjusts her rear view mirror.

I spin around in my seat to see a motorbike speeding towards us on the dark highway. “That’s him?” I ask.

“Yep, that’s him,” she grins. Her finger presses a button and her window slides down. As Tobias passes, she sticks her head out the window and lets out a piercing holler.
“To-bi-aaas!”
She honks her horn wildly, but he doesn’t even look over at us as he speeds down the road.

I chuckle at her as she rolls the window back up.

***

I look around the gym and see plenty of familiar faces.

Tonight’s fight isn’t taking place at a secret, underground ring like the one before. This one is in a legit boxing club in the center of town. There’s a sense of urgency about it, like we could be busted by the local police at any moment, but this just adds to the adrenaline buzz pumping through my veins.

My eyes roam the crowd; their faces red with excitement. It’s strange to think that these are just normal people during the day, but at night, they’re here, eager for blood. Even my heart thumps wildly in my chest as I glance around, in search of his face.

“You okay?” Amy asks me, a permanent giggle on her tone.

I nod quickly. “Yeah, why?”

“You look tense.” She stuffs some dollar bills into her glass jar and waves a few more people inside.

“Just excited, I guess.” I lean closer to the wall near the door.

“Good!” she shouts. “Tonight is going to be
wild
!”

The door near me flies open and a large man steps inside. I recognize him immediately and I hear Tobias’ voice in my head.

Stay away from him.

“Pike!” Amy greets him with excitement. “It’s about time. I almost counted you tardy.”

“You know me, Amy,” he growls as he slaps money into her palm.

“Unfortunately,” she quips.

He reaches a thick hand around her and forces her body against his. The entirety of his palm covers her rear as he gives her cheek a firm squeeze. “That’s not what you said last time!” he laughs.

Anger boils in me, but Amy’s face splits with a loving smile. “I’ve said many things to you, Pike.”

“Say more tonight,” he replies.

“Win your fight and we’ll see,” she teases as she glides back.

His hand drops from her ass and he turns away, his gaze falling right in my direction.
“Claire…”
he says with curling lips.

I push my back so hard against the wall, it feels like I might fuse with it. “Hey,” I say.

He lays his hand near my head on the wall behind me. I recoil as his body odor invades my nose. “I was hoping you’d be here tonight…”

“Pike!” Amy shouts. “Locker room.
Now.
”

He turns away from me and looks down at Amy. “Yes,
ma’am
,” he says. His eyes scan my body from head to toe before he finally walks away towards the back of the gym.

“That was impressive…” I say to Amy.

She shrugs as she quickly flips through a bundle of bills to face them all in the same direction. “I’m an Alpha Dame, Claire,” she says. “No one fucks with an Alpha Dame.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. You show disrespect to one of us and you have every fighter in her league on your doorstep the next morning — and they ain’t there for board games, if you get my meaning.”

I nod slowly. “Sounds like a nice gig.”

“It’s the best job in the world.”

“So grabbing your ass in public doesn’t count as disrespecting you?” I ask.

“That was personal business,” she winks and spins on her thick heels towards the door to greet a few more new arrivals.

“Right…” I chuckle with amusement and look back to the ring as the cheers from the crowd fill my ears.

A woman steps into the boxing ring, drawing the attentions of everyone in the room. Her long, red hair flows down to her navel like a cartoon mermaid while her thick breasts beg to explode out of her tight, leather-bound top. She points a single finger and slowly brings it to her lips. The entire room falls into a dead silence. “Greetings, ladies and gentleman!” she calls.

The crowd cries out in response, but quickly dies back down again.

“Who’s that?” I whisper to Amy.

“That is Lillian Tombs.”

“Is that her real name?” I ask.

“Doubtful,” she replies. “But that’s what we call her. She runs the St. Louis branch and oversees the activities of the entire operation. If we had a monarchy, she’d be queen. My mother and her were besties before she died.”

“I’m sorry…”

She dismisses the remark with a wave of her hand. “Lillian never shows up to fights outside of her branch, so this is a big deal…”

“Are all these branches run by women?”

Amy nods with smiling eyes. “It’s tradition.”

I look to the ring as Lillian’s voice pulls me back in.

“Six fighters. Three fights,” Lillian says with a commanding, warrior princess-like tone. “After hearing about the talent displayed so far this year, I just had to come down here and see what the hell y’all were squawking about.” She grins widely and the crowd laughs with her. “And now that I’ve snuck a peak in the locker room, well…” Her eyebrow peaks. “I may just have to spend the night.”

Behind her, the fighters climb into the ring among the satisfied calls of the audience. All six of them, Tobias included, stand tall, wearing nothing but shorts and sweat.

“Three of you,” Lillian continues, her eyes snapping to each of them as she glides around the ring, “will go home victors tonight. The other three… will just go home.”

My eyes move across their faces, each fighter a little more daunting than the last. They all bare their teeth in efforts to look menacing and scary — all but Tobias, that is. He stands there, dark and silent, with his head held down and his arms crossed over his chest. I feel a spike of fear for him; a sheep surrounded by wolves.

Or is he also a wolf, cleverly disguised in sheep’s clothing?

“Our first match is between one of mine and one of yours…” Lillian teases. She moves down the line, her finger sliding across each of their chests as she goes. Tobias doesn’t budge when she touches him, firm as stone. She stops in front of Pike and gently digs her black-painted finger nail into his chest.
“Pike the Punisher!”
she calls out, driving the noise of the crowd, while Pike flexes for them. “And…” She steps to the next man in line and stops in front of him.
“Freddy the Freak!”

Freddy shivers with purpose, forcing his bright green mohawk to shift about on his head, and sticks his tongue out to excitedly wag it around.

Lillian throws her head back and laughs. “The rest of you will just have to wait your turn…” She steps towards the ropes. “Enough stalling!” she cries. “Let’s see some fights!”

Hands wave into the air and feet stomp loudly as they step out of the ring, leaving Pike and Freddy alone. They enter their corners and wait for Lillian to give the signal. She slides a metal whistle out from between her breasts and slips it between her teeth.

I catch sight of Tobias outside the ring. He far more focused than the rest of them with his eyes on the fight, while the others take selfies with their adoring public. It’s clear which fighters are in this for the promised underground fame and glory and which fighters are not. I search his eyes from the other side of the room and wonder what other reason Tobias has for being here.

The whistle cuts the air and the fight begins.

Pike darts forward immediately and aims his thick fist for Freddy’s face. Freddy slides to the side to dodge, but Pike still strikes his ear, knocking him completely off balance. He tumbles to the floor and I look away before Pike’s foot stomps down on his chest.

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?” Amy asks me.

I shake my head, but I keep my eyes on the ground. “I don’t think so,” I lie.

She pats me on the back. “I remember feeling queasy at my first fights, too. It passed. Now, I just get so turned on, I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“You’re a very strange person…” I joke.

“Oh,
please
…” She licks her lips. “Don’t act like you’re immune to this.”

I flash back to the night in the barn and I remember how satisfying it felt to feel my fist connect with Tobias’ chest. My entire body quivered after that. His power and strength were almost too much for me. It overwhelmed all other senses, leaving me broken and confused, but intrigued to the core.

My eyes flick back to the ring just as Freddy performs a solid jump kick against Pike’s chest, sending him stumbling back against the ropes. He bounces off of them and uses the momentum to send a vicious uppercut into Freddy’s gut. I can hear the wind escaping his lungs from all the way over here. The screaming horde jumps up and down as Freddy falls to the floor and doesn’t get back up. Pike takes great delight in grabbing his hand off the mat and watching it drop back down without resistance.

Freddy is out cold.

Lillian steps into the ring and calls the match in
Pike the Punisher’s
favor. “That’s how we fight in St. Louis!” she cries, proud and happy.

I turn away again as a few people step up to drag Freddy’s limp body out of the ring.

“He’ll be
fine
,” Amy assures me with a friendly, soothing voice. Her eyes tell me another story. These fights are kept secret for a reason. I imagine a world of no holds barred violence results in many fighters that retire from the sport a little too early.

The four remaining fighters step into the ring and Lillian takes her time revealing who will go next, teasing the crowd with her perfect stage presence as she pokes them one-by-one.

“Next… from our districts down south…” She puckers her lips and stops in front of Tobias. He stares back at her with fixed, green eyes.
“Tobias
…” Her hands climbs his bare body and she raises her fingers to his face, letting them hover just above the skin of his cheek,
“the
Untouchable
…”

The crowd screams for her, daring her to touch him, but she drops her hand without ever making contact.

Lillian laughs and moves on to the next fighter in line. “And
Marcus the Menace
!” she grins and reaches out to squeeze the man’s sizable biceps. She purrs to herself and throws up her hands. “Let’s start this before I explode!”

Tobias eyes Marcus as he drifts over to his corner. I wish I knew him well enough to know what he was thinking behind his dark and rough expressions. Knowing would probably make me feel a little less terrified right now.

Lillian blows the whistle again and my heart skips a beat.

I stare at Tobias, preparing for him to strike, but he doesn’t move from his corner. He lurks there in his fighting pose, calmly bouncing on his toes as his eyes watch Marcus shift towards him.

“What’s he doing?” I ask out loud.

“Classic Tobias…” Amy grins. “He never throws the first punch.”

I remember the bruises splattered across his abdomen and nausea washes over me again. Marcus is huge — much larger than
Burt the Brute
was. If Tobias leans into the punches like he did last time, he may not get back up again.