Dedicated to NightshadeLover216

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Writing a quick note on the refrigerator for Grayson, I take the Bolognese I made from off the counter and placed it into the fridge.

Checking the time on my watch, it reads 7 pm and Grayson won't be home till 8 since he's going out after the tryouts with his new friends. I trusted Grayson; he is a smart kid so I gave him a little lead way when it came to outings with his friends.

Running upstairs I quickly packed fresh gym clothes and a towel into my bag, before heading out and locking the door behind me.

The air was crisped and fresh against my skin as I drove to a little café in the next town over to meet up with Kota.

It only took me thirty minutes to get to where I was meeting him, I searched through the glass windows for his short self, until I finally found him sitting in the back by himself sipping at a cup of coffee.

"I thought you stood me up." He grinned, as I got closer to the booth he sat in.

"Not in a million years." I winked playfully.

Kota had black greying hair, 5 o'clock shadow sat on his jaw and brown eyes with laugh lines covering his face. He was in his early 60's and was the only person I trusted, in a sense he was my guide through The Underground, he knew the ins and outs of how it all worked. He studied each of my opponents for me before I fought them, what I should expect and what I shouldn't.

I always split my winnings with him even though he always refused and only wanted close to nothing but I always gave him half of the money I made, he took care of me and I took care of him. I was never greedy with the money I made, I never fought fight after fight, I only fought enough times, just to cover the bills and expenses, which was only two fights a week, I was content with that.

"You'll be fighting Red tonight, she's a kickboxer so watch her legs carefully, her kicks are very powerful but she has no upper body strength, try tire her legs out first and then lay into her." Kota said, sipping his coffee.

"Why are you nervous?" I asked watching him carefully.

"Aren't you? We're heading to one of the biggest Underground Clubs." He whispered.

"Don't be nervous or else you'll make me nervous." I said flatly.

"Oh you're right." He said nodding and straightening himself.

"Come on we better go, I want to watch a fight before I have to." I said, standing from the booth and making my way out of the café.

"I'll follow behind you." Kota yelled, rushing to his car.

Slipping my leather jacket on, my car roars to life as I start and head off to my next destination. It wasn't a long drive but it was a boring one.

Finally pulling up at the huge warehouse that sat in the middle of nowhere. I shut off my car lights immediately. The place was packed with exotic cars from Lamborghinis to Audis.

I waited for Kota to come up behind me before we made our way into the warehouse. Nodding to the security guard that stood at the doors, he patted both of us down for any weapons, which of course he never found any on either of us. Even though I hated the pat downs, the security guards were always respectful.

Once we were in, the place was filled with men in suits, cheering for the person they betted on to win. No one here that I could see didn't look familiar, none of them gave me a second glance and I was happy with that.

When I first started fighting I tried hiding my face with a hood but it never worked out so I decided to let them see my face but I went under a different name.

"It stinks in here." I mumbled, loud enough for Kota to hear.

"What did you say?" Kota asked, puzzled.

Or so I thought.

"Up next is Silas vs. Tony." The MC yelled over the cheering.

I turned to the ring immediately at the mention of the name Silas.

There he stood, his curly hair bouncing as he walked around the ring.

What kind of idiot keeps their real name? I thought, watching him intently.

A stupid kind.

The fight was fast; Silas was more than skilled like he's been doing this since he was born. He moved fluently, I saw flaws but not many.

"You're up next." Kota said, pushing me towards the changing rooms, as he made his way up to talk to the MC.

I changed quickly, into a tight long sleeve black crop top and matching high-waisted tights. I never fought in anything baggy, it was an advantage to the opponent if you wore something they could grab onto. There were only two rules in the ring, no weapons of any kind and only the two people fighting were allowed in the ring while the fight went on. To me, those were fair rules so I backed them 100%.

Strapping my hands properly and my feet, I shoved my shoes into my bag and made my way back to the warehouse where everyone stood waiting.

Someone was already in the ring, kicking the air multiple times. She looked plain mental if you asked me with her legs flying everywhere.

"Okay everything's set up, I'll be here waiting." Kota said attempting to hit my back, grabbing my bag and leather jacket.

I got strange looks from the men in the room, strange looks as in judgment looks.

"Who's lost their daughter?"

"Who let this little girl in?"

"Is this a joke?"

"She isn't going to last in that ring with Red."

"Vee must have got scared so he sent a girl to fight in his place."

I'm not sure if these are grown men or woman in disguise since they like to gossip like some.

Everyone assumes Vee is a guy, I would too if you looked at my reputation. Nothing a girl can accomplish apparently but what I couldn't get was why they judge me if my opponent was a girl too.

Freaking idiots. I thought.

Stepping up into the ring, I catch a glimpse of Silas to my right, staring at me mouth wide with Drew next to him and others but I don't stare long enough to take them all in.

"Vee and Red everybody." The MC nodded my way before stepping out of the ring.

"You're Vee? How pathetic." Kenna laughed loudly.

I too was shocked at the fact that I would be fighting Kenna, the girl who spent most of her day today glaring at me.

"You won't survive in here, I've been wanting to punch your pretty face all day." She smiled wickedly.

At least she thinks I have a pretty face. I thought.

She had her eyes closed, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Rule number one, don't underestimate your opponent. I thought to myself.

Throwing a punch to her mouth, splitting her bottom lip in the process, she soon shut up, leaving the huge warehouse silent.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" She screamed as the room remained completely silent.

I watched her storm towards me, throwing careless punches. I dodged them easily and sidestepped her. She finally stopped throwing punches and started to attempt at kicking me.

But because we both had to be still for her to land a kick, I moved around, waiting for her to get tired. And she made the mistake of letting that happen. As soon as she showed an ounce of tiredness. I laid into her immediately, throwing punches into every part of her body before knocking her out cold and watching her drop to the floor.

"VEE, the winner." The MC yelled into his microphone.

The place remained silent as Kota threw a wet towel my way, allowing me to wipe off Kennas' blood from her nosebleed.

I undid my strapping and threw it into the bin where Silas and Drew stared wide-eyed at me and so did three other guys that I recognized from school. The only one out of the six, stared at me questionably, he stood out from the rest but I never stayed long enough to know why, maybe it was his light grey eyes or his strong presence.

Jumping out of the ring, the warehouse remained silent, I liked it.

Kota threw me my jacket and bag as we made our way out of the warehouse, Kota's hands full of wads of cash.

I guess they did bet big here.

"Serves them right for doubting you." Kota said, pulling the fingers at the warehouse as we left.

"Here you go kiddo, you earned it." Kota said handing over the four wads of cash, "I took out the money for the MC, everything there is yours." He said, walking away empty handed.

"Kota." I called out, placing two wads into his hand.

"You earned it too." I said, before getting into my car and driving off.

It was almost 12:30 am once I arrived home. Grayson was fast asleep on the couch in the living room, he always waited in the living room when I fought, I knew he worried about me but I promised him a long time ago that I would always return to him.

"Hey, I'm home." I whispered, shaking his shoulder gently.

"Hey sis." He smiled, stretching.

"Go to bed, I'll go shower." I said kissing his forehead, waiting for him to make his way up the stairs with me closely behind him.

"Goodnight." He said with a yawn.

"Night." I replied, letting a yawn escape my mouth.

I showered and tucked myself into my bed, falling asleep almost immediately.