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taking a dive to play the sharks against each other, Sergei crippling you will be the least of your
worries."
"If I took a dive, I'd deserve it." Kelly had considered that Besian or Hagen might try to force
him to throw one of his tournament rounds to satisfy the debt. It was the one thing he absolutely
wouldn't do.
Alexei seemed satisfied by Kelly's reply and released his hand. Pivoting on his heel, Kelly left
the dealership and drove straight to the social club where Besian liked to hold court. Like Alexei, the
Albanian mob boss was expecting him.
"Kelly!" Besian grinned widely from behind his desk.
Not in the mood for chitchat, Kelly asked, "What are your terms?"
"Would it kill you to be friendly?" Kicking back in his chair, Besian tucked his hands behind
his head. When it was clear that Kelly wasn't going to attempt friendly banter, he rolled his eyes and
sighed. "If you make it into the final round, I'll consider the seventy percent of the debt cleared. Win it
and we're even."
"Ninety percent," Kelly insisted. "You're asking me to take multiple beatings. I know you'll
have action on my fights. If I make it into the final round, I want ninety percent of the debt cleared."
"Eighty," Besian countered.
"Eighty-five," Kelly replied.
Besian seemed to mull it over and shrugged. "Yeah. Okay. You make into the final round and
I'll wipe eighty-five percent of the debt. I'll want the remaining fifteen percent within seven days."
Kelly figured this was the fairest deal they were going to get. "Agreed. I want Pop's account
closed. No more credit with you or your underground casinos or the bookies."
"Done." Besian leaned forward and picked up a pen. "I hear Alexei is going to help you."
Kelly wondered how these criminal types shared information so quickly. He suddenly wished
he had a network like theirs. "He's agreed to train me for the tournament."
"Then you should have no problem making it to the final round," Besian said as he scribbled
something on a slip of paper. "The tournament is capped at sixteen men. There will be two fights the
first night and two fights the second. We'll have the bracket out next Wednesday. I can say with some
confidence that you won't be facing off with Sergei that first night."
Kelly's jaw tightened. "Is this tournament fixed?"
Besian snorted and tossed down his pen. "You say fixed like it's a bad thing. No." He met
Kelly's glare. "The brackets try to match fighters against equal partners. You're not in Sergei's league.
If you survive the first night, you'll get your chance with him." The mobster turned loan shark made a
face. "I hope Dimitri's company provides good health insurance."
Ignoring the subtle insult, Kelly asked, "Are we finished?"
Besian waved toward the door. "Go."
He'd just stepped into the hallway when the mobster called out, "If you decide that you want to
get a loan on the gym, come back and see me. I'm sure we can work something out to save it from
Hagen."
The reminder of their precarious position with Houston's most infamous money man hit Kelly
like a brick to the face. How they were going to square that one remained a mystery. Placing bets on
his fights was one way to make the money but would it be enough?
Sitting in his truck, Kelly called his eldest brother. He expected to leave a voicemail but Jack
answered after two rings, sounding a bit out of breath. No doubt he'd sprinted to his phone while in
the middle of a class or training session. "Well?"
"I met with Besian. He's agreed to clear eighty-five percent of the debt if I make it to the final
round. The tournament is sixteen men. Two fights on Friday and two on Saturday."
"Jesus, Kelly." Jack's anguish came through loud and clear. "That's a fuck load of punishment,
little bro."
Kelly ran his fingers along the curve of his steering wheel. "I've survived worse. You've
survived worse. Finn has survived worse. It's two nights and we're done."
"I don't like it."
"I know you don't."
"What are we doing about training?"
"Yeah& about that."
"What?"
"So Vivian's husband found out that I was in a bind and he called in a favor for me."
"Vivian? Wait. The painter who married the Russian mob boss? The guy who owns Samovar?"
"Nikolai," Kelly supplied his name. "He hooked me up with Alexei "
"Sarnov?" Jack interrupted. "Alexei Sarnov?"
"Yeah. You know him?"
"I know of him. He's a damn good fighter. He still does some training down at the Warehouse.
You know, Ivan Markovic's joint." Jack hesitated. "His help won't come cheap."
"I got the feeling his help is free."
"Shit. That must be one hell of a favor he owes Nikolai."
"Apparently," Kelly agreed. "He wants to start training this evening. We're meeting at six at the
gym."
"I'll make sure there's an empty space for the two of you."
"Thanks. Now what are we going to do about Hagen?"
"I arranged a meeting for tomorrow afternoon. We'll feel him out and see what he's thinking."
Kelly had a feeling they weren't going to like what Hagen was thinking.
"How is Bee?"
"She's safe."
Jack didn't ask him to elaborate. "Good. I assume you won't be home tonight?"
"I'll run by to grab a bag but I'm sticking close to her until we get this stalker."
"Yeah. I bet you'll be sticking real close to her."
"Are we going to do the playground taunting now?"
"Let me get Finn. We'll do a Kelly and Bee K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a tree duet for you."
Kelly laughed. "I'm hanging up now."
"Be safe, bro."
"Always."
With his personal business in order, Kelly drove to the nearest big box store to pick up
everything on Bee's list. He had never shopped for a woman before so he was glad she had been
specific about the brands she wanted. A couple of times she didn t note the fragrance she liked so he
had to resort to strange measures to get it right.
Glancing around, he sniffed the soap and antiperspirant until he found the ones that smelled
right. He prayed no one would come around the corner. They would probably report him to
management for being a soap-sniffing freak. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]