“Helluva workday,” I said with a grin as we walked through the gym, Jasper’s presence causing a wave of tension. The grin remained because every day I woke up finding it hard to believe that my workday consisted of being at my best friend’s side, shooting the shit, and having each other’s backs in all things.
It was a fucking great way to earn a living.
“Gotta earn those dollars somehow,” he grinned. “No more than an hour. I hope.”
It was then that I realized that Jasper was actually worried he might have to apply pressure to Ravager. Not that he ever backed down from a confrontation or a fight, but he preferred to be a businessman when it came to business. And a brawler when it came to the real business. It also told me that I needed to be on my toes and extra observant because this shit with the return of Brendan Rhymer was fucking with him more than he let on.
Just before we came to the row of octagons, Jasper went right and I went left to Emmett’s office and knocked, Hard.
“What is it,” he barked, sounding so much like our old man I had to do a double take before I opened the door and poked my head inside.
“Got a minute?”
Worry instantly clouded Emmett’s gaze as he nodded and waved me on. “Yeah. What’s up?”
I stepped inside slowly and shut the door. This was private news best shared behind closed doors.
“My mom ran into yours in lockup at County recently. Wasn’t sure if you’d heard from her or not.”
It was the same story with both of our mothers, in and out of jail on petty charges, mostly stemming from addiction. After a while it just became normal.
“I haven’t,” he said warily. This was often the intro to some really bad shit.
The laugh that escaped my mouth was bitter more than amused because we both lucked out in the parental department. Moms were both drunk junkies who dabbled in hard drugs and our dad was a dealer who dabbled in everything, legal or otherwise. Sadie had saved us both, ironically.
“Well, you’ll be happy to know she’s alive and well. Picked up on a theft warrant, stole some shit from one of those boutiques inside the Venetian.”
Emmett let out his own bitter laugh and shook his head. “Thanks for letting me know. How’s your mom?”
“Just got out and thinking about turning her life around. Again. Got a new boyfriend so I’ll hold my breath in anticipation of the wedding announcement or the death notification.” With her, I never could tell. “How’s fight training going?”
“Fine. Mostly.” He sighed, weighing whether or not to tell me what was on his mind. It was either because he was afraid I’d tell Jasper, or he was more afraid I’d handle it on my own.
“Well?” I asked, impatient to get moving.
“Something is up with Rob. I can’t say for sure, but I know it’s something. His fighting is fine, on point as usual but his attitude. It’s different this week. More aggressive but not pre-fight aggression.”
I knew exactly what he meant about pre-fight aggression because we’d gone a few rounds in the days leading up to Emmett’s first few fights.
“Get in the ring with him, make sure it’s not just nerves. Worked for you.”
“And risk injuring the headline fighter days before the main event? You trying to get me kneecapped?”
“Never,” I responded seriously. It was always a worry when we did the kind of work we did, mingling with the underworld crowd. We always had to be careful. “Let me know if his head isn’t in the game, he’ll end up dead.” In more ways than one.
“I’ll handle it, Terry.”
“Don’t be defensive, Em. I know you can do your fucking job, but you have a problem giving people news they don’t want to hear. Except me, then you have no problem at all.”
He nodded, saying nothing, but the quirk of a smile on his lips said everything. “This fight is a big deal for me too, Terry. I’ll do what needs to be done.”
“You always do, little brother.”
He shook his head. “I’m bigger than you, asshole.”
“I’m still more badass, though.”
We shared a laugh at the old joke that never failed to get a rise out of us. Emmett was younger and big as fuck, but I made up for my wiry frame by being what Jasper called a crazy motherfucker.
“Heard you scared off some asshole messin’ with Kat.”
I nodded, still angry that asshole had the nerve to get so close and on Ashby property no less. “Anything show up on camera?”
“Nope. You can see it if you want, but he was really careful about hiding his face from the cameras. Like he’d been here before and knew where they all were.”
“Any newbies here that set off alarms?” I asked, filing away more bad news.
Emmett shook his head and raked a hand through his thick brown hair. “Plenty of people are in and out of here, mostly fighters and trainers, medical crew. Nobody who caused concern, at least not if you don’t count all the agents and managers looking to poach fighters.”
Shit. Poaching was part of the business; we all knew that. But still it shocked me how many were willing to risk certain death by crossing Sadie or Jasper. Boxing was a money maker and the Ashbys would do anything to stay on top.
“All right. I’ll get security to get me the last two weeks of footage. See what we can find.”
Emmett’s brows dipped low. “Kat is family. I already pulled the past four weeks. I’m sending it now.”
“Thanks.” I’d hit up Cal with what I could remember of the man’s description once I went through the footage.
“Anything for Kat. Right?”
My lips twitched, and I shook my head. “You relentless little shit,” I laughed. “Save that for Rob.”
“But it’s so much more fun to give you shit. Especially
