My fist meets his mouth, knocking him backwards. His phone goes flying as he grabs at his mouth like he can stop the blood from flowing. He mumbles in fear as he tries to scoot away from me when I stand and tower over him. I reach down, taking his collar in my hand and pull him out of the seat but Diego’s voice stops me in my tracks. I don’t take my eyes off Carlos but I listen to the cartel boss.
“What’s going on here?” Diego demands.
“This moron thought it’d be okay to disrespect a woman in front of me like I wouldn’t do shit about it. Isn’t that right, maiale?” Pig. I’m about to punch this fucker’s teeth in some more but Diego grabs Carlos by the hair and rips him out of my grip.
“You’re done, Carlos. Get to the back of the fucking plane now.”
Carlos sputters and tries apologizing but Blanca tosses him to one of his other guards. “Get this disrespectful piece of shit out of my sight.” He watches the guards drag Carlos to the back until they’re out of sight.
I stand there waiting for a reprimand for hitting one of his guys but Diego claps me on the shoulder and gestures to the seats. As we sit and relax again, a flight attendant, looking completely unfazed, quickly comes over with drinks without being summoned. Seems like they’ve seen this before. Makes me wonder how the hell a cartel boss like Diego ended up with a moron like Carlos for a guard.
“He’s my sister’s son and I offered him a position as a favor to her. The pendejo doesn’t deserve the kindness though.” Well, I guess that answers that.
We sit for a few moments in comfortable silence until I remember Carlos’ phone fell. I pick it up and see it’s still on the video so I play it back from what I’m guessing is the beginning.
At first you can’t hear anything she’s saying because the person behind the camera is screaming his head off along with everyone else. Silver stands there with a glint in her eyes as she waits for the audience to calm. And when they do, her soft voice comes through clearly, making my mouth dry from the sensuality of this woman.
She’s beautiful but unlike any other type of beauty I’ve seen. She has her silver locks in a pin-up style, reminiscent of an era gone by. Her body is alluring in the tight black dress that shows every bit of perfection in her curves, from her toned legs, flared hips and full breasts. She’s also got piercings and I can easily see the shine on the snake bites underneath both collarbones. Her face is absolutely heart-stopping. She has high cheekbones, full kiss-me-lips, and an arrow-straight nose with a septum piercing. But those attributes aren’t the only pieces of her that make my heart stutter, no, it’s her eyes.
Her eyes glitter with excitement and bloodlust. They hold a rage that speaks to my own. They glitter and sparkle with the hate of a thousand demons. Her eyes give you a glimpse of the damage life has caused her and it speaks to me on a level no one else ever has.
I’m not paying attention to what she’s saying until she does the most sarcastic gesture ever to the smug-looking brunette. Silver grandly sweeps her arm out giving a mocking bow as she calls for “Princess Popov.” I chuckle a little at that because sarcasm has never looked so good to me before. Silver is a bewitching woman to be sure.
“That young lady is a dangerous foe and I’ve been waiting to see her fight for an entire year.” Diego looks proud, like Silver is his flesh and blood. I wonder how close they are.
“I’ve never seen her fight but she must be good if she’s willing to put her throne on the line.”
I don’t think I’ve seen confidence displayed so well before, she’s confident but not big headed. A fine balance that she manages perfectly, if you ask me.
Silver looks like a woman who knows what she wants and takes it.
“Oh she’s good. If my own daughter wasn’t an excellent fighter too, I’d say Silver is the best.”
If she’s got Diego Blanca claiming her to be the best then I guess I believe it. I was mildly intrigued with the infamous Queen, but now, I’m eager to meet her although something tells me Silver is going to be a distraction to my plan and that’s not something I can afford right now.
With that in mind I hand Diego his nephew’s phone and settle in for the rest of our flight.
The sound of fists meeting pads surrounds me as soon as I walk into 5th Round Gym. It’s a mixed martial arts gym owned by Johnny DeLucci and it’s where I spend most of my days when I’m not at Barbarity. I’ve been here so often that I practically live here even though my new apartment is across town. Ever since I got that damn text from my mother’s nurse, my heart has been shattered and I couldn’t bear to be in the apartment we shared together so I moved out—but now, my place feels empty.
Fuck my life.
My mother went into cardiac arrest and though she was able to survive it, she never woke up from the coma she slipped into. Against the advice of doctors, I left her on life support hoping and praying she’d wake up. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months when finally, with the DeLuccis and Jefa by my side, I let the doctor unplug her.
“She can finally rest, ragazza.” Girl. Johnny and Jefa were my strength on that awful day.
My tears were pain-filled, yes. The loss of my mother was a painful experience and one of those moments that I’ll never forget but my tears weren’t only from pain or heartbreak. They were filled with rage and hatred. Tears ripped straight from my heart and spilled to the ground like meaningless drops of water.
That cruel day, the unfairness of life created such a deep and violent rage within me that my skin felt as if it were peeling back. Since then, fury runs rampant in my veins like an unchecked virus, infecting every cell in my body. So I focused on getting ready for my fight in order to keep myself from exploding.
“Yo, Silver! You’re late and today is the fight no less. You’ve got three minutes to change or you’ll be running extra time on the tread!” Johnny’s stern voice blows away the heavy cloud of self-pity and brings me to the here and now.
I give Johnny the finger over my shoulder as I half walk half jog to the locker rooms. Normally I wouldn’t allow someone to speak to me that way but Johnny is like my big brother and he’s also my trainer so I save myself the headache by just listening.
He and Jefa have been helping me through everything from grieving my mother to preparing for tonight. All year I’ve put my aggression into my training. From the moment I wake up to the moment my head hits the pillow, I live and breathe footwork, combinations and routines.
Not a moment of rest. No days off.
I finish changing and grab my water bottle on my way back out to the floor. Johnny is set up in the back within the boxing ring. This is my last sparring session before Barbarity Night begins so we’ll just be keeping my body loose.
Climbing through the ropes, I ask Johnny, “Did you hear the news?”
“What news?” he tosses me the headgear and begins pulling on his own as I answer him.
“There’s an additional middleweight fight tonight. Blanca called Jefa last night and asked her to find the next best fighter of that category for his new guy.” Johnny and I do some stretches as I wait for him to reply. Johnny has always been slow to speak and though I love that quality about him, it drives me nuts when I’m excited about something and he lacks my enthusiasm. Like now, he looks contemplative as he pulls his arm straight across his chest then does the same to the other arm.