Chapter 8

Lyric’s P.O.V

The stadium was packed tonight.

That’s the first thing I noticed as soon as I arrived at the abandoned warehouse at the outskirts of Rosewater that had been turned into a hotspot for all kinds of illegal trade. From drugs to alcohol to gambling and illegal fight clubs, anything you ask for, this warehouse provides it all. But the most famous activity had to be the fights that occurred three days a week.

The dates were chosen randomly and they could be one right after the other or they could occur at intervals. This week the dates chosen had been Monday, Tuesday and Friday. The rotation usually kept the cops off our tail, but it’s not like anyone was going to rattle us out. If I wasn’t mistaken, some cops were regular members of the fight club as well and they even took part in any other forms of debauchery that the warehouse had to offer. Usually, everything was free for the cops so they don’t rattle us out.

Derek had been a part of this place since his late teens and as far as the rumors went, so had been my dad. So when Derek came back from the battlefield all wounded and without his legs, the people who owned the warehouse welcomed him with open arms and even given him some important work to oversee the matches and pair partners who would fight against each other inside the ring. And that’s how, when I joined the club, I had always been given the toughest of contenders.

It wasn’t like they just let me join the club because my brother and supposedly my father had been a part of it. I damn well had to prove my worth trying to get a membership here and I’d been beaten to a bloody pulp several times over while Derek had just watched patiently from afar.

Well, at least I don’t feel that whatever I am today is because of my brother. I got here because of my own merits and I plan on continuing my winning streak just like I had been before the damn boxer showed up.

“Ready?” Derek’s voice cut through the low murmur of the crowd as he came up behind me. “You’re up next. The match begins in ten.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I told him while testing my muscles. They were a bit sore and my chest was still aching pretty badly. Maybe it was a bad idea to go for another round today because if my ribs took any more bruising, I’m pretty sure they’ll crack. But I wasn’t about to give up a good fight because of some small wounds.

“You’re faster.” Derek said, much to my surprise. My brother wasn’t usually the warm and fuzzy kind so it came as a big shock to me that he’d actually given me a small piece of advice.

I didn’t say anything as he wheeled away to go announce the names. But he was right. Mr. Boxer was over three hundred pounds of muscle and thus, his moments were slower. All that muscle did slow him down but only by a fraction of a second. So all I needed to do was avoid getting hit at all costs and get in a few jabs where it would hurt the most.

Right then, the crowd went wild as the names were announced and the boxer entered the ring. I smirked.

“Bring it on, big guy.” I muttered under my breath as I too got inside the ring, positioning myself right opposite to the boxer.

And then the bell rang.

Lydia’s P.O.V:

“An engagement party?” I asked with raised eyebrows, even though I knew neither Ivy nor my mother could see me over the phone. “But you guys are getting married in a few months.”

“Exactly! It’s just excessive-“Ivy Jane Summers, my soon to be sister-in-law protested just before she was silenced by my mother.

“Oh, stop it you two!” My mom scolded and I could already picture her glaring at Ivy with her hands on her hips. “It’s a wonderful occasion! My son has finally proposed to Ivy and we need a party to celebrate the occasion officially.”

“But mom, I just got here.” I told her firmly. “I can’t take a week off of college. Two days at most.”

“Alright, fine.” She sighed. “Two days is still better than you not showing up at your brother’s engagement party at all. I’ll see you soon.”

I sighed in relief as my mom finally handed the phone over to Ivy and went her merry way to meddle in someone else’s business. I love my mom, trust me, I do, but sometimes she just gets too controlling with other people’s lives. And Ivy and Stephan were the perfect example for that.

Ivy’s mom and my mom were best friends since Kindergardenth and that’s why, they both thought it’ll be a great idea to have their children engaged to each other since they were both toddlers who hadn’t gotten out of their diapers yet. Even though our fathers thought it was a hilarious joke, our mother’s made sure just how serious they were by announcing the wedding publicly when my brother graduated from med school. It’s a different story that Ivy and Stephan fell in love with each other later on, but the whole thing started because of my mom’s meddling and now both Nathan and I’m terrified of finding ourselves randomly engaged to someone when we wake up one fine morning.

“So, how’s the ring?” I asked when I was sure Ivy and I were alone.

“Oh my gosh, Lydia! It’s amazing!” Ivy sighed dreamily. “I can’t stop staring at it.”

“Well, it’s yours, pretty much for the rest of your life.” I told her. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Gosh, you sound just like Nathan,” Ivy sighed. “Only, he added something along the lines of ‘women and their shiny things’.”

“You should’ve pointed out the fact that he loves to keep his car extra shiny at all times.” I said, pointing out my younger brother’s obsession for cleanliness, especially regarding his car.

“I would have but Stephan just chased him away.” Ivy said before adding, “Anyways, enough about me! How’s your new school? Anything interesting I should know about?”

“Aside from the fact that I took on one of the ‘bad boys’ in my college and nearly got punched?” I told her nonchalantly. “Nah! Nothing more interesting than finally getting that ring, I suppose.”

“Oh stop distracting me!” Ivy scolded. “And are you okay? Did this guy hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine.” I told her the truth because Ivy was like the elder sister I never had. We kept each other’s secrets and planned on pranking my brothers together.

“So…a bad boy, huh?” Ivy asked slyly. “If I remember correctly, you used to hate bad boys. How bad does this one get?”

“Pretty bad if you consider the fighting and the jail time.” I shrugged. “But why are we talking boys again?”

“Because it’s been three years since we last had our conversation about boys!” Ivy said matter of factly. “It’s a sign that there’s still hope for you.”

Was there really?

But I didn’t get to think more about myself because right at that moment, a motorbike came to a stop in front of my apartment and the person who stepped off of it was none other than the devil himself.

“Ivy, I gotta go.” I told her briskly before disconnecting the call.

Looks like I wasn’t done dealing with the bad boy after all.