Caged: Cellar Door Series (12 page)

A7X’s Nightmare pounded through my ear buds after I tucked them in. I let the music do what it could to even me out; it’s what I fell back on when I had to run a dry spell from drinking. Music…. it could pump you up, calm you down, and change your mood with the opening notes to a great jam. That was real talent.

It had taken sheer force of will but I’d kept my head in my training and spent the next week wearing myself out physically so I would crash each night,  my brain not having time to  dwell on Kylee and the shit that had gone down or the fact I hadn’t heard from her. The focus had paid off with huge wins.

After I took a shower and changed, Matt and I moved our vehicles around front and entered Cellar Door’s regular club. I’d gotten through my fights, been declared the victor but the best part was I hadn’t lost my shit even though I’d felt edgy and agitated. I’d still kept it all together. They were clean fights, brutal but clean and I’d had some talent in the cage to help showcase what I really knew. I’d be damn sore come tomorrow, have some bruises on my face still but it was a good moment, one of the best I’d had recently, hell, ever. Matt was living the high right next to me, a big ass smile on his face that he couldn’t seem to stop as we walked towards the club’s doors.

We entered and Matt worked a path towards the bar, moving through the crush of bodies blocking our way. Matt wasn’t as big as me, but he had build and knowledge. If somebody were to fuck with my boy, they would be beyond surprised. He’d always been athletic and in high school had played the same sports I had; so he when he’d started to help me with my training by default he’d picked up on some MMA and Jiu Jitsu. The difference was Matt had no desire to step foot in a cage or get on the mats with someone other than me and that was only for running drills. He was content being a part time sparring partner for me.

Ronnie was at the bar already waiting on us. I’d just ordered Matt’s and my drinks when my mood came crashing down. The club was packed and still out of everyone that could have fallen into my line of vision it had to be the one person I was avoiding, the one avoiding me, the one person I didn’t want to see. Matt must have caught where I was staring because he tensed up beside me. Kylee was across the room in a pair of tight pants that encased the curve of her ass and a top that barely kept the rest of her hidden.

“Damn it. I knew we should have just gone to OverTime. We can leave JD.” Matt glanced apologetically to Ronnie, my eyes passing over both of them briefly before returning to Kylee.

Kylee hadn’t seen me yet, had no idea I was boring craters into the ass hole that was talking to her. Her hands waived animatedly towards him, a shake of her head no and then his hand landed on her arm as he gripped her roughly. All the good intentions I’d maintained in the cage flew right the fuck out of the window.  Matt groaned behind me, called out my name before realizing it was a lost cause.

Kylee had to have felt the weight of my glare because she turned towards me and her eyes widened at the look on my face. I was moving before I’d had time to process what I was doing, my boots carrying me across the packed club quickly.

By the time I got there dude was gone. “Where’d your friend go?” I know I sounded harsh but I was beyond caring. Kylee was mine, good, bad or ugly, I had to face that fucking fact and convince her of it because the only other option was her with someone else and I was pretty sure that would land me in jail. I could manage to ignore the shit when she wasn’t right in my face but even after going a week without talking to her, seeing her in the flesh instantly ignited me even if I was pissed as hell.

Kylee’s eyes would have blistered me if they could, her fists going straight to her hips. It was her typical stance when she was fired up. “He’s not my friend and I don’t need your help James David.”

              My body still had blood racing through it at seeing some dumb ass grab up on her and I was done for, done with the bullshit. My cup not only ran the fuck over but had busted out of the bottom. I didn’t give a thought to my actions as I scooped her up over my shoulder, her kicking feet almost snapping some poor chick in the face as I swung around and headed to the door.

              Small fist beat at my back as she cussed me, her anger escalating when the big boy guarding the door didn’t’ attempt to slow me down. He bounced in the basement too and knew to let that shit go.

              Once clear and outside of the club, I set Kylee down, my face up close to hers, my hands planted on either side of her head against the brick exterior of the club. “I’m done with the bullshit game playing. I got shit to say and I’ll be damned if you try to stop it.” I was mad as hell that somebody had touched her, touched what was mine and it was time to make sure she knew she was fucking mine. If she was going to remain in town, no way would I be able to watch her with someone else, didn’t matter right or wrong, it was  a done deal.

              I opened my mouth to speak when the club doors burst open, Matt waiving wildly to me.

“JD its Ray…come on Sam needs you.” And then Matt was gone, leaving me and Kylee. If Matt had been prone to dramatics then I might have been able to ignore him but he wasn’t. The kid was the calm in most shit storms. If he was worked up that meant there was damn good reason for it.

“This isn’t finished. You and I are going to have a talk.” I backed away from her, Kylee glaring up at me. “Stay the fuck here. I’ll be back.”

              I should have known she wouldn’t listen. I slung the doors to the club open and realized the bouncers weren’t at the door. Music still pounded through the place and the folks on the main floor seemed oblivious that something was up.

              Grabbing the railing at the carpet covered stairs; my feet took them two at a time to get up to the upper floor that was reserved for VIP. I’d spent time there after fights more than once and was almost positive Ray was up there. I knew what this club meant to Sam. He’d given me my second chance and I owed him. I ripped the first curtain open and startled a couple that needed a hotel, not a club. Not saying shit to them I moved to the next one, then the next, Kylee on my heels.

              I barreled through a set of curtains and came to a dead stop, holding out an arm to stop Kylee behind me. Ray was holding a dude by his throat, the man’s face turning a shade of purple I didn’t think existed as I scanned the room. Javier was being held with a knife at his throat. I could hear Ray speaking. Two bouncers were just inside the curtain, neither sure what to do, glancing back and forth nervously. It was one thing to kick a drunk out of the club, another to fall into a knife fight.

              Ray’s eyes were wild, his face pulled tight in a rage. “I will fucking end you. You don’t threaten my family. First my cousin, then Javier? You got a death wish I’m more than prepared to grant.” Ray’s fingers tightened around the guy’s throat and having fought the man I knew what kind of pressure that he could exert. If something didn’t happen quickly, Ray was going to be looking at a 187 charge.

              Javier dropped an elbow back, connecting with the guy holding him; the knife shifting enough that Javier could get room to work. When he righted himself out of the hold a gun had appeared in Javier’s hand and it was dead centered aimed, his anguished voice filling the small confines of the VIP room we were in.

              “You are done for fucker. DONE! Nobody fucks with Veronica. NO ONE!”  The gun came down over the man’s head, knocking him out. The kid had lost it and I could see it in his face. I saw his future shit down a commode, Javier was going to finish it, in the final be all end all kind of way. The gun was aimed down at the asshole that’d been holding the knife to Javier’s throat. 

I didn’t think, just dove, tackling Javier and knocking the gun from his hand, sending the kid flying. Righting myself, I spun around to see Ray watching worriedly.

              I didn’t have any love or real like for Javier Ramone but I wasn’t prone to delivering ass kicking’s just because of that though he probably deserved one for the shit he’d pulled. I shook my head and then met Ray’s worried stare. “You aight Ray?”

He’d dropped the guy he’d been choking the shit out of and went to check on his brother with a tight nod to me. Then shit went from cluster fuck to pure chaos. My body lurched forward from an impact and I immediately went into self defense mode. I twisted around, grabbing the guy that had barreled into me by his torso and swept him to the ground, my elbow coming down to connect with his nose, busting it wide open. The cartilage smashed flat and he was knocked slam the fuck out as blood poured from the damaged cavity.

              Kylee’s scream brought me back; saved his ass from some more punishment after that stunt. Her face was a shade of white I’d never seen as she covered her mouth with a hand, pointing at my side with the other.

              The handle of a knife was protruding from my left side, the blade stuck in my skin. The room got deadly quiet; all eyes on me as Kylee fell to her knees, her hands covering her face like she wanted to black out the scene.

              With my attention drawn to the wound, that fucker burned and I saw the blood seep out with every beat of my heart but it didn’t stop me from squatting down in front of Kylee.

              “Baby girl? Come on, it’s okay.” A hand dropped to my shoulder and I prepared to take out whoever it was when I realized it was Matt. I was on adrenaline overload.

              “JD we need to get you looked at.” Matt’s voice was calm but he radiated anxiety. All I cared about was Kylee. She was shaking like a leaf, her eyes darting to the knife in my side and back to my face again.

              “Im good.” A hand landed on the top of my head; Sam.  If it hadn’t been for Sam, I’d still be a waste of space. He was the owner and the one that gave me the clear to fight at Cellar Door. When everyone else had shunned me, he’d taken Matt’s word and let me do what I do best.

              “I know somebody that can clean you up right JD and won’t question how it happened.” I looked into Kylee’s wide eyes, her emotions all over the place before turning my head up to Sam from where I was still squatting.

              “Yeah that’d be good.” I stood and the rivulet of blood running out from the knife wound increased, my gray shirt blooming with a red stain. Sam shoved a linen table cloth into my hands. Music still pumped through the walls and no one below on the main club floor was the wiser about what had just gone down.

              “Hold that to it JD. Matt get your boy and follow me.” I looked down to Kylee, her slight frame trembling before she stood, swallowing back her obvious terror.

              “Wherever JD goes, I go.” Matt stepped up, tried to reason with her but she was having none of it. She was coming with me.

              I looked back over my shoulder and saw Ray, head bent to his brother, speaking solemnly to Javier. He must of felt my stare because his eyes met mine, sorrow in the depths. Something big had gone down; I didn’t get it all but I knew enough to know he and I would speak later.

              Wrapping an arm around Matt’s shoulders, I shuffled down the back stairs and over to Matt’s car. Sam issued some directions that I didn’t catch but apparently Matt did because we were right behind Sam’s Audi when he sped out of the parking lot.

Matt handed his phone over the seat to Kylie. “Look in my text for Ronnie and let her know we had to bail. I’ll call her later to explain.”

Kylie quickly fired off the text for Matt, passed the phone back to him and settled next to me, her small hand folding around the one I didn’t have holding a table cloth to my side, gingerly avoiding moving the blade still imbedded in my skin.

              We arrived at a long drive way, the area of town not unknown to me, just wasn’t somewhere I thought I’d find myself since it was the elite side of town. Matt hadn’t spoken and all Kylee had done was help hold the linen table cloth to my side with her free hand. I was thinking Sam needed to use black because there was no way that man was getting the one I had pressed against my side clean ever again.

              I eased out of Matt’s car, my arm around his shoulder, Kylee’s around my waist, careful to not disturb the knife planted in my side and made my way to the front door of the big ass house we’d arrived at. I was feeling light headed as hell.

              Sam shoved the main door open like he owned it, hollering out a name I couldn’t hear. A sleek, well put together woman appeared in front of us within moments.

              “Christine, this is JD, Matt and Kylee.” Sam swept an arm towards us. “JD needs some attention.” The next words I heard almost made me shit my pants in disbelief.

              “Really dad? On a Friday night, the first one I’ve had off in forever you come home with this?” The woman, apparently Sam’s daughter glared at him looking like she’d just taken a bite of a shit sandwich when her eye’s landed on Matt, then bounced to me where they worked down to  the knife handle stuck out of my side.

              “Shit. You didn’t say it was an emergency.” Christine went into full doctor mode even as Sam admonished her for her language.

              I’d barely blinked before I was led down a hall, down some steps and Christine had me on a table in what resembled a full fledge ER room, some contraption clamped to my finger as she gloved up. She started prodding my side, a beeping noise fired up behind me that was chiming in time to my heart rate.

              I sucked in breath as Doc Christine’s fingers touched around the blade again. “There’s a blade stuck there if you didn’t notice Doc.” Her fingers kept poking around the wound and that shit hurt. Kylee stepped in between my legs and took my hands in hers.