The Fight for Forever: The Legend Trilogy, Book 3 (Legend Trilogy #3)(5)

Moses purses his lips. “Oh, she’s part of it, all right. Every single person in your life is subject to forfeit until you give me my due.”

“I told you—I don’t have the fucking money.”

“That’s why I’m here, Gabe. Because I heard you got yourself one hell of a fine opportunity on the table. You’re going back to fighting, aren’t you? And ain’t that fight against Bodhi Black? They’re already talking about the odds.”

My brain stutters to a halt. “Wait. You fucking come out of the woodwork now because of this fight?”

That grin flashes across Moses’s face again. “Yeah. You see, I’m betting a fuck ton on Black, and you’re gonna take a dive to make sure I get paid. That is, unless you got that one point five mil handy right now.”

Scarlett sucks in a breath beside me, but thankfully, she says nothing.

“No. Gabe is gonna win. Gabe won’t lose.” Poor Bump looks like he’s going to blow a gasket, and I pray that he doesn’t move or run his mouth any more.

Moses jabs him with the barrel. “What part of shut the fuck up don’t you understand, kid? You must have nine fucking lives.”

The reminder that Moses’s crew is the reason Bump is the way he is ignites an inferno inside me. Keep it together. I lock down my rage and stare at Moses, mentally crushing him with my bare hands.

“If I lose that fight, I lose everything.”

Moses’s grin has caused plenty of men to piss themselves, but I sure as fuck am not one of them.

Not back then. Not now. Not ever.

“You win this fight, boy, and you lose everything anyway. Whatever you think you have right now, it’s only because I allow it. I can take any fucking thing from you anytime I want. That’s how it works when you’re me.”

“How long have you known?” I don’t need to voice the rest of the question, because Moses gets what I’m asking.

“I’ve had my sights set on you for years. Been waiting for you to come back and try to fucking kill me, but you never did. Surprised me with that, Gabe. I thought you loved that bitch. You were willing to risk everything for her. Guess she wasn’t really worth that much to you if her dying meant nothing.”

His words slice through me, eviscerating me like he’s just gone at me with switchblades.

“I was biding my time.”

Moses’s dark eyebrows shoot up. “The hothead grew up. Who the fuck knew that was possible? Now, we got a deal? Or do I need to remind you what you got to lose if you don’t play the fight my way?”

Take a dive. Moses gets paid. I lose everything.

Or . . . win the fight, then prepare to fight for my life—and everyone I care about—against the man who has been hanging over my head like a guillotine for fifteen years.

When I don’t answer right away, Moses lifts the pistol away from Bump’s head and trains it on Scarlett. I jump to my feet and throw myself in front of her, my arms out.

Moses’s fucking grin widens. “That’s what I thought. You’ll do whatever I say, because you know exactly what I’ll take from you if you don’t. Shit, maybe I’ll even keep this one. See if she’s a better fuck than Jorie. Might be tough, because she had a cunt like solid gold. Then again, you know all about that.”

Bump lunges at Moses, but Moses is quicker, and presses the pistol right between his eyes.

“One more move and you die. And I mean all-the-way dead this time. I won’t graze you like those motherfuckers who put a bullet in your head in Mississippi.”

When Bump raises his hands in the air and drops to his knees again, Moses’s gaze lifts to me.

“I’ll give you one thing, Gabe. Your taste in women has improved. This bitch looks like she’d rather slit my throat than take my cock down hers. I’d hate to see something bad happen to her.”

I reach out to pull Scarlett directly behind me so he can’t see her. “She doesn’t exist to you. Threaten her again, and I’ll skin your ass and use it for a fucking lampshade.”

Moses’s chest shakes, and booming laughter fills my office. “Nice try, Legend. I’ll see myself out. You get to training. Get those fucking odds right. If I have to, I’ll pay you another visit. Just to remind you what you got on the line.”

He backs away from my desk, his gun trained on me now, and a panel in the wall opens behind him.

My fucking hidden entrance. How the hell did he find out about my fucking hidden doors?

Another man pokes his head through, but that’s not where my attention is focused. He’s got a TEC-9 in either hand. Probably fully auto. He’d kill us all in seconds.

“Now, be good little bitches and don’t follow us.”

But Bump doesn’t listen. He charges.

“No!”

Moses lashes out, catching Bump upside the head with the back of his hand holding the pistol. Bump crumples to the floor.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Gabe. That’s your last warning.”

Moses backs away through the door. It closes slowly, until all I can see are his fucking eyes glinting before he disappears into the darkness.





Four





Scarlett





My knees give out. I can’t help it. As soon as the door closes, I sink to the floor. My head swims, and everything feels like it’s happening in slow motion.