Filthy Fight (Hard n' Dirty Book 2) Read online

  As I thought about going to see this Mateo Vega, I couldn’t help but notice the way that my heart literally skipped a beat. I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to keep my mind on what was important. Trying to keep my focus only on the fight. The fight to save Shamrocks.

  2

  Mateo

  “To see a man beaten not by a better opponent but by himself is a tragedy.”

  – Cus D’Amato

  Fucking hell.

  I staggered outside toward my mailbox. The sunlight was so bright that it stung my eyes – which was the result of not sleeping for days on end. I was forced to cover up my gaze as I moved my aching body across the lawn, but this gesture wasn’t just because of that. It was to block out the rest of the world from seeing me too. If I could just stay in my little den of depression forever, I would.

  I thought back to the person I once was. The loud, outgoing bad boy no one wanted to fuck with. But now, ever since the downfall of my booming career – for which I only had myself to blame – I didn’t want anyone to even glance my way. I used to love all eyes on me, the screams from the crowd, the female attention… now I wanted none of that. I wanted to lock myself away, to just hide from the rest of the world, and to not be seen by anyone.

  As the mailbox swung open, I groaned as I spotted a whole range of unpaid bills that made my heart sink. I used to have money to burn. Now – with a welding business I created just to keep myself afloat four years ago – I had close to nothing. Few people wanted to hire me when I was competing against companies that had been established for twenty odd years, and the few jobs I did get were barely enough to keep me going.

  It was a shame my lavish lifestyle had been reduced to such a mediocre one, but this was exactly what I should have expected when I got myself into this mess.

  Noticing a car engine getting closer – too close to be going anywhere else other than my house – I spun around and crossed my arms in annoyance. Everyone who knew me well was more than aware that they needed to contact me in advance before just showing up. Who the fuck would just come to see me unannounced?

  I leaned in a little to take in the long, dark brown, curly hair of a woman gracing my presence. My heart skipped a beat at how attractive she was. A weird frission of electricity coursed through my veins as I observed the way her curves looked as she got out of the car and approached me.

  When I first lost everything, I also lost a part of myself. I actively went out to screw around as much as possible. I wanted to forget all the bad that I’d been through, to keep living the high life, and I figured fucking a load of women would help me to do so.

  Unfortunately, that just resulted in making me even more unhappy. So I took a sabbatical, swearing off women until I found someone I really liked. Which was where I currently still was. Because of that, I felt extremely out of practice. I was as close to a monk as a man could be without taking any vows. So to be faced with someone as hot as my visitor unexpectedly, there was a clear uptick in my pulse.

  When she got closer, revealing the longest, sexiest legs that I’d ever laid my eyes upon, I knew I was hooked. She brushed a wayward hair away from her face to look at me, showing me a gorgeous pair of sparkling hazel eyes and a heart-stopping smile. Hazel eyes, dark skin—a mixture of two cultures that created a blend of perfection.

  Holy fuck, she was the most beautiful woman I’d seen in a very long time.

  “Hello?” I asked curiously, closing the distance between us. “If you’re here for any welding services, I start at nine.”

  “Hello,” she said in a professional tone of voice, which was when my eyes flickered down at her stark pencil skirt and crisp shirt. This woman was here for business, which meant trouble for me. She could even be a reporter for some gossip rag. I knew I shouldn’t have done that interview with the friendly brunette a few months back. I was just feeding the sharks and more would come. “I don’t require any services at the moment. My name is Julep Foley. I would like a minute of your time.”

  “What for?” I snapped back in a frustrated tone that I didn’t mean to sound as harsh as it did. I didn’t need this right now. I was in a seriously fucking bad mood, which wasn’t really a new thing for me.

  The woman didn’t seem frazzled, however. Instead, she was scanning my body from head to toe with those eyes of hers.

  “I’m the owner of Shamrocks, and I’d like to discuss having you come train at our gym. See if we can get you back in the ring.”

  “Are you here to fuck with me?” I asked in disbelief. “Is this some sort of joke?”

  “I’m not joking,” she replied, actually looking offended by my accusation. “This is a serious offer, and I want to discuss a possible contract with you. See if we can work toward making you a champion.” She tilted her head to the side with a small smirk. “If you still have what it takes, that is.”

  “Shamrocks is owned by Sham Foley.” I remembered the bald Irish man with an epic temper, but the skill of a trainer every fighter wanted. He was a legend, and I would have cut off my right testicle to have the man train me.

  “He’s dead,” she said evenly. “I’m his daughter, and now the owner alongside my brother Danny.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. He was a good man,” I said, wondering how I didn’t know that news. But considering my life had gone to hell, it was explainable.

  “He was,” she said, not revealing any emotion. Or at least any emotion that I could read.

  “Do you not know my history?” I shot back quickly. “Do you not know what I did?”

  She glanced down at her feet before speaking out once more. “You threw a fight, right? Or at least that’s what people have accused you of.”

  Okay, so this crazy broad had no fucking idea. Maybe she hadn’t been in the boxing scene for long, and she didn’t know a lot about the sport. Maybe her daddy had shielded her from everything. Because it felt like the whole damn world, especially people in the fighting world, knew every sordid detail.

  “That’s the tip of the fucking iceberg,” I said, but she shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t bother her. What the fuck was going on with her gym? She must have been desperate if she was coming to me. “If you don’t know the rest, then you really shouldn’t be coming to me with talks of contracts.”

  “Then tell me,” she said, as I tried my best to turn and walk away, but something kept me standing in place. “Make me understand why your career came to a screeching halt.”

  I hung my head in shame for a second, allowing my hair to fall over my eyes. Does this girl really want to know everything? Should I tell her about the gambling, the fraud, the terrible things that I did in the grips of my drug and alcohol addiction? I figured it would only take one look online to reveal it all anyway, so if she really needed to know that badly, she could find out for herself. But at the same time, I did need her to get the fuck off my property, so I decided it best to tell her anything to get her the hell away.

  “Look,” I said in a firm tone of voice, “I am not the sort of man you want representing your gym. I can assure you of that. And even if I was, I’m not in a position to box anyway.”

  “Your past—” she began, but I refused to let her get a word in edgewise.

  “I need to look after my father. He needs me.” I shook my head, wanting her to understand that this wasn’t going to happen no matter how hard she tried. “He’s survived cancer twice, and now he can’t take care of himself. He needs me here. He needs me to look after him twenty-four seven. I can’t take on any other responsibilities. Not now. So just hop back in your car, and go find someone else.”

  I turned my back to her and started to walk away, but she wasn’t about to be deterred. She called out behind me regardless. “If you change your mind, you should come over to work out with the others at the gym on your free time. One free month as my treat. You might actually find Shamrocks to be a cool place. Welcoming. And tomorrow we are holding tryouts to fill some holes. I would really like to see what
you still have. I have a feeling even though you may be a bit rusty, that boxer is still in you.” That little smirk of hers returned. “I could be wrong though. Maybe you are too out of shape to bother. One of the young guys may beat the shit out of you.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? But it’s up to you if you want to prove you are still the fighter you once were.”

  Not wanting to fall for her trap of attempting to goad me, I stalked back inside. Resisting the urge to look back and be hypnotized by her exotic beauty, I slammed the door behind me, making my feelings on the subject very clear. Of course I wanted to get back into the fight. That was why I allowed that little tidbit of information to slip into my interview recently. But that didn’t mean it could actually happen. I’d changed too much now, and I really did need to take care of the man who adopted me off the streets of Cuba. That part was true. I owed this man—my father—everything. The answer was no… but I remained by the door, with my back pressed against it, panting heavily until I heard the sound of the engine of Julep’s car fade as she pulled away.

  How dare she just come up to my home, blowing my mind by looking hot as hell, then just offer me a glimpse of a life I once knew? It was the most epic cock tease ever.

  “Mateo?” I heard my dad call out. “Can you come in here for a moment?”

  I sighed deeply and wandered into the kitchen where I could see my dad slumped slightly over the table, clearly suffering from a lot of pain. I hated seeing him this way. I had always known him to be a really strong, powerful man. But as soon as the cancer started to ravish his body, he began to crumble. It had been eating him up alive, and it killed me to see. I needed to be there for him, much as he didn’t want to be a burden to me, but I was more than happy to do it.

  “What was that about?” he asked me curiously. “I heard that woman outside.”

  “Oh, that was nothing.” I did my best to brush it off, but it was too late for that. I knew that my dad had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation that I had with Julep Foley. Dad had been trying to convince me to get back into boxing since I returned home from rehab, and this was only going to make it so much worse. “You want a drink of water or something? When was the last time you took your pain pills?”

  “You know you should be welcoming her offer with open arms,” he said, completely ignoring my questions. “You were born to fight, Mateo. You shouldn’t be shut up here in this house, looking after me and trying to run a welding business you hate. This just isn’t the way your life should be. It’s not the story that was written for you.”

  “I blew it, Dad,” I said. “I made my choices, and now I have to deal with the consequences of them.”

  “Same old fucking story,” he shot back as he took a seat while cringing in pain. “You made a mistake. We all do. You shouldn’t be punished forever because of it. And that woman came here to speak to you. That seems like a clear second chance to me. You should go to that gym and see what you think. What will be the harm of working out a bit, burning off some energy, and seeing how it feels again? You know if you try out, you will beat any kid they put up against you.”

  “I can’t. What about you?” I walked over to the sink to pour him a glass of water. “Plus, I have my hands busy with jobs,” I lied.

  Whatever my dreams were, whatever I wanted, I needed to be there for him. He could argue all he wanted, but he relied heavily on me, and that was all there was to it. He needed me on his good days, and he definitely needed me when he was suffering. When that pain was radiating through his body, he couldn’t do a single thing for himself. I couldn’t just ignore that fact.

  “What about me? I’ll be just fine.” He was trying to put my needs first, but it really wasn’t as simple as that.

  “Just because some chick came here, doesn’t mean the boxing world would trust me and welcome me back with open arms. I don’t think anyone ever will again. I’d get a middle finger and a fuck you instead. I don’t want to get my hopes up because some naïve little girl, who is in over her head with Daddy’s business that she knows nothing about, says so.” I needed to get out of the house, and I needed to do it before my dad kept harping on me. “The firewood is running low. I’m going out in the yard to chop some more.” I handed my dad the glass of water and his pills off the counter and left him before he could say another word.

  I wanted the fresh air to help me forget about everything, but somehow it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, boxing was all that I could think about. I remembered my glory days when things were amazing. I recalled when fighting was my life, and it was all I cared about. I tried to picture being back in the ring again, without all of the bullshit that came later. Would I be able to do it? To return back to the scene. Or would the rest of the world still blame and hate me for what had happened?

  Why did Julep have to come and complicate my existence by offering me a chance to regain the life I threw away? By re-sparking my heart’s deepest desire. Why couldn’t she have simply let things lie?

  Would it be totally crazy to go to the gym if I thought of it as just working out rather than a potential career change? Or was that stepping into dangerous territory? One that would suck me back in before I knew it? I didn’t want whatever I did to be something I ended up regretting. If I stayed behind, would I always wonder what if? If I went, would it just be another mistake? Once a fuck up, always a fuck up.

  3

  Julep

  “The man who has no imagination has no wings.”

  – Muhammad Ali

  I flicked my eyes over the potential candidates who were entering the gym for tryouts today, not feeling any of them. It had been hard going, but ever since Mateo made it obvious that boxing wasn’t in his heart at the moment, I forced myself to sign up some others for tryouts. Although my gut told me they wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as Mateo, they were at least newbies which meant there wouldn’t be any contractual issues or arrogance. They needed Shamrocks more than we needed them. I did prefer to be in a position of power. But by the looks of some who stood ready to fight, I knew Danny was going to chew them up, spit them out, and then stomp on whatever regurgitated mess was left.

  As soon as I left Mateo’s house, I got online to do a bit of research on him. I wanted to know what this massive issue was that was holding him back and to find out what I was so clearly missing. I knew a lot about the media from Lola, so I knew how stories were often sensationalized and how deep you had to plow in to find out the truth. From doing a lot of digging around and wading through the bullshit, I eventually figured out that Mateo got into the grips of a gambling addiction, and it made him act reckless. There were a lot of other reports suggesting some terrible things. There were countless pictures and gossip about him sleeping with just about every model and starlet in New York City, but I didn’t know how much of it I believed. The gambling and the match throwing I bought, but the rest of it about serious drug and alcohol use, as well as hanging with some notorious mob related people I wasn’t so sure about. I thought it was all just blown out of proportion because of who he was, and how famous he was becoming back then.

  To me, it didn’t seem big enough to keep him away from the sport forever. It was just a shame about his adoptive father being ill, because that would halt him for sure.

  “Okay, everyone,” I called out to the five prospective fighters in front of me. “Danny will be here soon enough to explain the process of tryouts to you, but what I’m going to say is that we’ll have you guys spar against some of our best in the gym, see who fights well and who gets their ass kicked the worst, and go from there…”

  My words trailed off as I spotted a familiar figure entering the gym. One whom I really didn’t expect to see moving across the room. Mateo Vega – he had actually come. My heart thundered in my chest, and I had to gulp down a thick ball of emotion lodged in my throat. I shouldn’t feel the way I did. I really shouldn’t, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. There was just something about this dark, handsome man tha
t had me feeling a little unstable… which was really inappropriate. I needed to stop it now, before it got in the way of him potentially joining our gym. If we could land him, I knew things would start looking up for us. I knew Shamrocks would reign once more.

  In the end, I forced myself to drag my eyes away and looked down at the clipboard in front of me. I tried to read the names that were swimming in a blur in front of me, wanting to keep my professional position of power.

  “Hello there,” Danny called out in an overly friendly tone of voice, which really grated on me. He’d go in like this, all nice, then his attitude would turn as soon as people relaxed and let down their guard. Why couldn’t he just be charming all the damn time? It sure as hell would make my life easier. “Let’s talk through what’s going to happen today.”

  As Danny began to explain, I allowed my eyes to glance over to the gym members we currently had, and I could already see them whispering and gossiping among themselves about Mateo. Were they saying nice things about him? Talking about his amazing skill as a boxer? Or were they talking about his past? My guess was that they were talking shit and watching for the spectacle about to begin.

  After pairings were made, the men started warming up and preparing to fight. Danny came to sit with me near the main ring in the center of the room. We had two other rings, but the larger one was where we planned to try out the hopefuls. Even before he slid into the seat, I could see the anger radiating from his face. I already had an idea of what it might be about.

  “What the fuck is Mateo Vega doing here?” he hissed into my ear. “Do you know who he is? Do you really think that we need someone like that as part of our gym?”

  I sucked in a few deep, soothing breaths, not wanting to scream all the obscenities that were currently racing through my head. I wanted to try and do this calmly. To get this through to my brother in a way that didn’t end with us yelling in one another’s faces again.