Downfall(40)

I spit out the mouth guard and lowered my head closer to hers, hoping she could hear me over loud pants.

“Why does that guy want me gone? How does he even know who I am? Stop dropping your guard after you advance. You fall back a step after every kick. You need to move in closer to your opponent, not give them an opening to recover.” I released her and used my core muscles to lift myself off the cold, hard ground.

The girl followed suit, rubbing at her neck as she also spit out her mouth piece. She shook her head and rubbed under her nose with the back of her hand. She made a low noise and rushed at me. I thought she was going to go for my head so I automatically lifted my hands to block my face, leaving my ribcage wide open. There was no way she didn’t break bone when her kick connected. The pain was blinding and immediate. I lashed out before thinking. I heard the sound of my fist make contact and blinked in surprise. The girl’s nose was gushing blood and sitting at an odd angle.

I gasped and immediately reached out. “Fuck! Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” I groaned when I tried to take a step toward her. My ribs screamed in protest and the sharp stab of pain made bile rise up toward the back of my throat.

The girl spit out a gross blob of blood and saliva. Her eyes narrowed and she threw a right hook that would’ve knocked my head around in one-hundred-and-eighty degrees if it connected. Instead, it glanced off my cheek and rattled my skull just a little.

“He wants you out of the way so he can get to his granddaughter.”

I stopped moving, ice running cold through my blood. “His granddaughter?”

Since her target was still, it was really easy for the girl to execute a perfect leg sweep and take me down to the ground. Her weight on top of me was slight, but the elbow she pressed on my Adam’s apple was sharp and pointy. It was my turn to struggle to breathe. I was changing my mind about her being a fair opponent. She was better than half the guys I usually went against in this circle. She thought about what she was doing, she was smart, and skilled, which made up for her lack of size. She was crushing my windpipe without any hesitation.

“Yeah. The old guy swears his granddaughter has been kidnapped and he can’t go to the police. He’s been shaking down every lowlife and junkie on the streets for weeks looking for information. I don’t know how you fit into the equation, but he insisted that you need to get out of the picture.” She was struggling to keep the upper hand. I used my greater weight and strength to shift her off my throat. Her gaze landed on mine and something dangerous flashed in them. “If I feel like I can’t win this fight, he paid me an extra fifty-thousand dollars to take you out permanently. There’s a switchblade in my boot.”

She rolled to the side and moved the opposite way. Both of us were sweaty, bloody, and tired from making the fight look far more dramatic than it actually was. By now it was clear this girl could do as much damage as I could, but she was holding herself back the same way I was. That didn’t mean she wasn’t putting on a good show. I took a kick right in the center of my back, making my messed-up ribs howl in agony. I moved so I could catch that deadly leg and pin it to the ground. I lifted over her and grabbed a handful of her short, dark hair. Normally I would use the hold to smash my opponent’s head on the unforgiving cement. With her I used it to pull her face closer to mine as I narrowed my eyes.

“I’ve got too many people counting on me to let you stick a knife in me. They’re why I can’t leave this city. I can’t lose this fight.” And when I was back on my feet and Channing Vincent was no longer a thorn in my side, I was going to track down whoever sold Orley out. My money was on Skinner. He was already pissed I beat his ass for harassing her, and there was no way he would turn down some quick cash in exchange for information.

The girl cackled and wrapped her hands around my wrist. I wasn’t expecting her to get a knee in my gut or for her to use the momentum of my body when I folded over in pain to flip me neatly over her head in a somersault. Once again, I was on my back looking up at the pipes and heating ducts which crisscrossed the naked ceiling. This time she put her foot on my throat and steadily pushed down.

“If I let you win… I die. So, I can’t lose this fight either.” She shook her head and looked down at me with obvious remorse. “I’ve seen you fight. I’ve honestly always looked up to you and would have loved to have an honest shot at trying to take you on. I hate that it has to end like this. But it does have to end.” The pressure on my neck grew until it felt like all of her weight was standing directly on my windpipe. I locked my hands around her booted ankle and tried to shove her away, but my busted-up ribs made getting the leverage I needed nearly impossible. Plus, I was starting to get lightheaded. Things were starting to fade in and out of my vision, and I could practically feel anger radiating from where the Devil stood. It had to kill him he couldn’t intervene, and he was probably a little pissed that I was getting my ass handed to me by a girl.

Underneath the leather of her boot, I could feel the hard metal of the knife she warned me about. Of course I would never think to use it on her, but if I could get my hands on it, I was pretty sure I was past the point of reason and could use it on the lunatic who set all this in motion. I had a sinking feeling deep down in my gut that the next time I asked Orley to tell me her last name it would be the same as the bastard who set me up. The only granddaughter I could have possibly have come into contact with recently was Noble. If this asshole was the reason Orley had gone into hiding in the first place, I had first-hand proof she had good reason.