Bad Boy's Queen

22; Bad Boy's Fight

"Let's not talk about this. Can you just look after her while I train?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go on." She rolls her eyes.

"I owe you one." Hunter glances at me once more before turning and heading toward a row of benches. Eleanor turns to me, motioning for me to follow her to the bar. I sit on one of the high stool as she goes around the bar.

"I'll give you a free drink today since it's your first time. Any friend of Hunter is a friend of mine. What do you want?"

"Just iced water would be good, thanks," I say, taking off my hat.

"Oh, come on. I don't kiss and tell. Beer maybe?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

She grins, turning around to open the fridge. I rotate myself so I can look at Hunter. He has taken off his jacket, leaving him in a black shirt and black sports shorts. He doesn't look at me as he nears the boxing ring, his hands wrapped in white hand wrap.

"Eleanor," I say as she puts the beer on the bar in front of me. "Is this place legal?"

She seems amused at my question. "Not quite. The boss comes down here sometimes to recruit people who he thinks are good enough to compete in the monthly boxing tournament."

"Boxing tournament?"

She wipes the bar with a cloth, shrugging like she has explained it to several other people. "The tournament is illegal, and you're allowed to say no, but there hasn't been anyone that turned down the offer. It's good money."

"How much if you win?"

"Well, 10k. It's not much if you compare it to others, but you have to keep in mind that they do this every single month."

I don't know about Eleanor, but $10,000 is a whole lot of money if you ask me.

I hear Hunter grunt from the boxing ring. I lift my head up, hand fidgeting with the glass of beer nervously. He ducks a punch from an opponent who's staring at him almost too aggressively for my liking. Hunter sneers, curling his fingers like he's taunting his opponent.

"Your boy's good," Eleanor mumbles just as Hunter swerves a knee kick and jabs the man in his rib cage before throwing another hook to the man's chin. The man tumbles to the ground, breath heaving and blood running down his neck. "That's why he got recruited by the boss last week."

"What? When's the next tournament?"

"Next Sunday. Hunter has been training here everyday since he got recruited. I think he should try doing it professionally instead. He's good enough. He doesn't need to do it illegally."

"Why aren't they wearing boxing gloves?"

"They modified this month's tournament to be bare-knuckle boxing. That's why the money's going up from 10k to 17k."

What could he possibly be needing all that money for? Isabella and Sean are flooded with money. Could it be possible that he may be buying drugs with them? I don't think he would've even brought me here if he was using the money for bad purposes.

"Is this his first time?"

"Yeah. He's hellbent on winning too. I don't know why an 18-year-old even needs 17k, but that's none of my business." She shrugs. "I need to serve some customers. Stay here."