Sammy

I watched as Grayson helped Dante up into the ring. "Hey hey hey, what the hell are you doing? You need to take it easy." I chastised him, but he waved his hands in a quick dismissal.

"We don't have much time." He said, handing me my water and towel. "Malcom is good. Really fucking good. But you're better, Sammy. Stop looking for an opening- create one. Use the 1>6>3>4 combo but switch that rear uppercut with a rear hook. Malcom is favoriting his right side. Use that against him. Hows the hand?"

Dante was talking so quickly, I barely managed to follow. Once my brain finally processed that there was a question there at the end, I gave him a nod. "It hurts but I'll manage."

He extended his hands so I could hand him the towel and water. "Kick some ass so we can get to the celebrating part already." He said, sending me a wink. That got me riled up in the best way possible. The things I was going to do to Dante once all this was over...

The very first thing was going to be taking his ass to the hospital.

"Yes, coach." I replied, watching as Grayson helped him back out of the ring. There was only seconds left on the clock before round three. It was time to get serious.

Malcom had one of his novices coming in on break to hand him water and a fresh towel. I thought he might of had Shaun do it, but judging by the state Dante put him in, It didn't look like Shaun would be getting back in this ring anytime soon. I also didn't think that Malcom liked Shaun much at all. The novice scrambled to quickly get out of the ring, in preparation for the third round.

As soon as the ref called it, Malcom was the first to strike.

He threw a combo in my direction. I blocked the first few punches, but I allowed to last one to it me. It damn near knocked the wind out of me, however, it also opened up his left side. I lead with the combo Dante told me about. It was a knockout combo we had practiced this week, but Dante tweaked it a bit.

With that left side exposed, I was able to land a jab, rear hook. I put all my strength into it, envisioning my hand going straight through the side of Malcom's face. My hand was soaring with pain as it made contact, but I pushed past it. That follow through resulted in Malcom crashing onto the mats.

His body went limp from the knockout.

I half expected him to get up again, but that hit was too much for anyone to bounce back from. I made certain of it.

There was a moment of silence, before the crowd behind me lost their shit. Malcom hadn't lost a match in years. He damn sure hadn't been knocked out before. The ref barely had time to call the match, before I was being tackled by my team.

"That was fucking beautiful!" Kyle exclaimed with excitement. I had to literally rip him off of me.

"I got a photo of you right as you knocked him out. In the process of making prints as we speak." Grayson added, flipping through his phone photos with a satisfied smile playing on his lips. I was happy to see the guys, but there was someone in particular that I owed a thank you to.

Dante was still in the crowd cheering excitedly. I jumped out of the ring effortlessly, before pulling him in for a tight yet gentle hug. "You fucking killed it!" His grin from ear to ear made this victory ten thousand times better.

"I couldn't have done it without you." I replied. "Quite literally though, that knockout combo was perfect."

Dante broke eye contact with me, to look away bashfully. "Don't say that." He mumbled. I just chuckled.

"It's true, though. I was starting to lose stamina there. Malcom really put up a fight this time." We both glanced back to the ring. Someone from his team had helped him up now. You could see the blood I drew with that last punch, all over the mat. It was mixed with droplets of sweat.

Even though the arena was in subzero temperatures, I literally couldn't stop sweating. The mat would have been a slip and slide if I fought in normal temperatures.

"Let's get you cleaned up before the award ceremony." Dante said, as I allowed him to guide me back to the med room I had brought him to earlier. As soon as Dante got a good look at my hand, he scowled at me. "This isn't looking good, Sammy. You really overdid it."

There was a weak smile playing on my lips.

"I didn't want to let the team down... I couldn't let you down." That made Dante's scowl disappear almost immediately.

"You could never let me down." Was what he replied with. I watched as he unrolled the compression wrap, before starting to bandage my hand. "The only way I'd be let down is if I couldn't see you fight again. That will happen if you don't take care of this hand." He added.

I gave him a nod. The hand did look pretty busted. I was probably going to have to sit out our next tournament, depending on how soon it was. That was pin to piss Grayson right the fuck off, but me beating Malcom meant more to Fight Club than me sitting out some fights.

"You have my word that this hand will be protected at all costs." I told Dante. He rolled his eyes at me, but pulled me in for a quick kiss. I went ahead and deepened that bitch cause why the fuck not. All the fighting was over now anyways.

His hands wrapped themselves around my neck almost instinctively, as I pulled him closer. His mouth was swollen from where Shaun had landed that cheap ass hit, and both of us had the irony taste of blood in our mouths, but I didn't mind. Dante didn't seem to either, as he moved passionately against me. We were interrupted by someone clearing their throat at the doorway.

"They said I missed all the action. Looks like I showed up for just the right amount." Kassie spoke, causing me to pull away from Dante. "Oh please, don't stop on account of little old me. I was just about to pull up a chair."

"You're ridiculous." I chuckled, pulling her in for a hug as she approached us.

"I heard you two kicked some serious ass out there." Kas beamed at Dante, he offered her a grin twice that size.

"Just a bit." That reply made Kas's smile grow.

"Well, we better get moving. It looks like the award ceremony is going to start soon. I can show you were it's located Dante, while Sammy gets cleaned up." He gave her a nod, setting the rest of my things on one of the med room tables.

"I'll see you out there." He spoke to me. I gave him a nod.

"Well done, Sammy! Grayson sent me the photos. He's making fridge magnets." Kas added. That made me laugh, as I watched the two disappear down the hall.

Reaching into my gym bag, I went to grab another towel, but it was the vibrations from my phone that distracted me.

The screen said the call was coming from an unknown number. I debated answering it or not. Maybe it was just a telemarketer? The area code seemed right though...

"Hello?" I asked, picking up the call.

"Sammy." Uncle Jimmy replied almost immediately. My fingers tensed as soon as I heard his voice. "Hopefully I didn't reach you at a bad time. How was the fight?"

"It-um, it went well. I beat Malcom. Um- why are you calling? How did you get this number?" Confusion was pretty evident in my voice now.

I could hear him chuckle through the line. "I got your inquiry about that little problem you were having. Everything comes back to me, Sammy. Don't you forget that." He added. I could feel a lump forming in my throat. I knew I should have left it alone... But Dante's safety meant everything to me. "Consider that little problem of yours, handled. But keep in mind, I may have a little problem myself that needs handling one of these days. I expect you to come when I call... because why?" He asked, waiting for me to finish that sentence.

"Family takes care of family." I replied, ending the call.

Fin
••

First off, thank you to everyone who picked this book up and gave it a chance. I am just- wow, beyond words grateful.
This was honestly so much fun to write and I now know more about boxing than I thought possible lol, but hopefully the fighting scenes were easy to follow!
Finishing this book means a lot to me. I am now over the moon excited to start Book 3 of The CEO's Trilogy!
Once chapter one is up, I'll update this book and I'll also send a notification out.
As always, thank you thank you thank you thank you.
I love you guys
xoxo