Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(75)

And Truly. I’d been wrong to believe for a second that Truly should be out of my thoughts. I needed her there in my head. I needed to remember what I might be losing.

Jester’s eyes narrowed. He’d expected me to make a move already.

“Don’t give out hints for free.”

Cord’s words came back to me and I didn’t budge. Jester moved in for a jab but it was a bluff and I knew it. If he thought I would cringe easily then he was dead f*cking wrong. I had one advantage over him; I’d seen him in action before. But he hadn’t seen me.

It seemed like Jester was used to his opponents taking an early crack at him. He’d tire them out that way, get them nervous and unsure. I wasn’t moving in. I had to force him to attack first and then answer before he regained his balance. I heard the rustling of the crowd. We’d been staring each other down for at least a few minutes and nothing had happened yet. There was murmuring among the spectators. They hadn’t paid big money to wait around all night.

Jester stepped. I saw it as if it was happening in slow motion. His position told me that he was going to aim high. I’d always relied on brute strength but Cord had taught me a thing or two about the value of being quick. I jerked back and saw Jester’s fist fly past my nose. He grunted, trying to recover his stance, but I spun and got a crushing blow deep in his left kidney.

The man growled like an animal and stepped back a few paces. I could see in his face that he was beyond furious. Even in the best of circumstances that hit would make him piss blood for a week. It wasn’t enough though. Not nearly enough. I cursed myself for not pressing the brief advantage when I had it.

We eyed each other for a long anxious minute. Then suddenly Jester dropped his arms. He began walking my way as if he was planning on shaking my hand. I kept my body tense, knowing whatever he was heading over to do wasn’t going to be friendly. I braced for another jab. This time when he tried it I would go for his face. I had to rattle his head, aim for the soft dent in the temple. It was a tough shot to make but it would give me the best chance to leave him reeling.

Jester had other ideas. He got within two paces of where I stood and then swept a strong leg behind my knees. I wasn’t prepared. I went down hard and felt a shock of pain through my right knee. For a horrible second I believed I wouldn’t be able to rise again. My knee felt as if it had been glued to the concrete. I staggered to my feet and felt the agony shoot up my leg.

Fuck this is bad.

I couldn’t stand on two legs any longer. My knee swelled inside of my pants and I gritted my teeth as the joint buckled and nearly sent me back to the ground. Jester did what I wasn’t able to do earlier. He pressed his advantage. He moved in and got three quick hits to my face. I felt warmth falling over my left cheek. The son of a bitch had worn a ring and the damn thing had taken a slice of my face off. I was still trying to stand up straight. I looked up and saw the terrible vision of that f*cker grinning at me. He thought this shit was as good as won. He would make it last a few minutes before coming in for the kill. Maybe he would crush my head against the concrete too. Maybe he would end it a different way.

The boys were at my back but I didn’t need to turn around to know exactly how they looked. I knew they were in agony as they’d been so many times before as Benton had used us to hurt one another. If I laid down here on this rooftop with a hundred *s rooting for my blood then Jester wouldn’t be the only winner. Benton would have finally won too.

Jester must have been told to give quite a show because he wasn’t ready to finish it yet. He pulled back for a hit that would have cleaned my clock again but that’s it. I grabbed his forearm, swiftly pinning it between my right arm and my body. I felt the blows raining down on my back as he punched me with his other fist. But he was in an awkward position and I knew when it came to pure strength he couldn’t outdo me. It was the only ammunition I had left and I needed to use it now. As Jester pounded on my ribs, desperately trying to bring his knee into my side and wrench away, I wrestled his extended arm over my bent knee.

“Whatever f*cking means necessary.”

With one colossal chop I cracked his elbow in the wrong direction. Jester screamed. It was a beautiful sound. I stared at the gruesome way his arm hung over my knee. Then, without pausing, I seized his other arm and did the same thing.

There was no blood but the sight of the man’s ruined arms was every bit as grisly. Jester writhed on the ground, screaming and cursing incoherently. It was so loud the entire city of Phoenix must have heard it. I stood slowly, painfully. Then, with my undamaged leg, I stomped on Jester’s outstretched knee the same way he’d done to Emilio. He stopped screaming. He vomited and rolled to his back. In all likelihood he was going into shock. I closed my eyes. The fight was over.

Yet there was no bell. Nobody moved. I looked around at them, these people. I understood why there was no movement. They had paid to see a death and there was no death yet.

Blood still poured from the slice across my face and my knee was barely able to hold weight. I held my arms wide open and roared.

“FUCK YOU!”

A few of them jumped slightly. They made shocked faces at one another and retreated a little. I scanned the crowd and saw Gabe. He was pale. As our eyes met he dropped his champagne glass. If he needed a damn fatality then he would have to make that happen himself. I staggered over to where my brothers waited.

Chase caught me before I fell. He eased me down to the ground while Cord pressed a towel against my face.