I could feel the heat just below my flesh, the slick sheen of sweat forming down my back and over my face. My hands were wrapped tight, but that doesn't stop the burning feeling of punching something. Or in this case someone.
I shifted my weight from foot to foot keeping my muscles loose and warmed up. I controlled my breathing so I wouldn't fade out too fast.
Fight to forget. That's my line, and tonight I have something to forget.
I have to shed Lexi and leave her in the past. Even if she'll also be in my immediate future. She's Aleksandra now. Enzo's soon to be wife. That's how I gotta look at it. Sure, I didn't know her for very long, but I haven't been that intrigued by a woman in a long time. She was different to what I usually went for in a woman.
Hot is one thing, but hot and intelligent and interesting is quite another. I found all those things in her. Lexi. But that's over now.
As weird as it may feel right now, I guess she'll eventually just be some girl I share a secret with, but nothing more than that. In time it'll be like a faded memory, like an odd dream you can't quite remember all the details of.
Those beautiful, pink, plush sexy lips need to be forgotten. Her soft moans, her creamy flesh. How tight she was. How good she was for it being her first time. It's shocking how well she took my cock when she's never taken one before.
Something deep inside me feels satisfied with that fact. Though I'll never admit it out loud.
I can't get lost in thought right now. Not when I have a 200 pound man scowling at me from across the garage lot, ready to beat my face in. It's been a longer fight than usual. We're both tired, but both determined. I don't often lose fights and with the stress of the last several days I have plenty of ammo to keep me going.
To motivate me to punch until the burning in my knuckles fades into the throb of a fist hitting my face or the sting of smacking onto the ground, concrete to flesh.
"GET THAT MOTHER FUCKER, AYE RIZZO" I heard my buddy Bianchi hollering out from the crowd. He was many beers in, with a fist full of cash willing to be spent. He was sweating too. All of us were even if they weren't fighting. A lot of bodies fill that one lot. A lot of adrenaline coursing through us all.
"DROP THAT WOP" I heard a non Italian shout from the masses. He better be careful. There are a lot of damn Italians in here for him to be dropping offensive terms, but then again we all talk a lot of shit and most don't take it personally.
Like barbarians it's how we bond. Hitting fists and swearing mouths.
But fuck that. He isn't dropping any fucking wop. I went for the big swing. The shot that'll either rock him to his core or give him an open shot to my face. I faked a left swing, he anticipated the right, so I faked a second swing from the right, but to the body. And when he quickly went to block the body shot I swung higher and CLAP.
Bone to bone, the sharp smacking sound of fist hitting jaw. It swung far in the opposite direction to the punch until the 200 pound man, built fleshy on top, went tumbling down.
Our guys counted him down. 1, his arm splayed out at his side. 2, his eyes were shut. 3, he never sat up. And the crowd went nuts.
"RIZZO" my name was shouted out by many voices, but mainly the ref who deemed me the winner.
Somebody went and tapped the guy's cheek to wake him up. Our street kid quickly swiped any blood or sweat that may have reached the ground to prep for the next fight. Somebody grabbed my arm and lifted it high above my head. People were cheering and hollering all kinds of things.
Some begrudgingly handed over the lost bets or grinned like a Cheshire cat while they collected their winnings.
My chest was moving rapidly to catch my breath. We'd gone several rounds. In a flash, an image of Lexi came to mind. How we'd been out of breath after that intense kiss. Our last kiss. Forget about it.
I felt someone clasping my shoulder and shaking me. When I glanced over it was Enzo and Bianchi. "Way to get em" my buddy tipped his drink to me. Already half empty. I shoved his face away when his beer breath hit me.
Enzo threw an arm around me and led us away from the fight circle. We stopped in a less crowded corner.
"I wanna set up a big fight. Make you a headliner. What do you think?" My cousin asked me. I raised a brow at him. I bet there's a pretty good red mark right above it. I was hit pretty good there. No split skin but there could've been had he gotten a second shot. I moved too quickly for him to pull that off though.
I'm usually the one setting up fights, so I raised a brow to Enzo that way.
"Yeah, what do you think about fighting a Russian? They sounded interested in checking out the business. Maybe one of those crazy bastards will want in on a fight. All in good fun, man" he patted my back when he saw my expression.
"Not a good idea" I shook my head. We are just barely getting into business with them. We don't need any bad blood because of a 'friendly' fight. Plus I have no idea if they have a skill level I wouldn't be prepared for. It just sounded like a bad idea.
"Come on, don't be a pussy. If Domani okayed it would you do it?" He asked me.
Joey Bianchi is the pudgy one out of all of us. He's got shit brown eyes and the hair to match. He's the instigator of the group, but never gets in on the action. Georgie Romano is more squat built. He's got weird dark roots to his hair and he's what we would call Mr. Nice Guy.
I'd say those two hang around us the most, but there's plenty of wise guys always around.
We grew up with those guys though. All children of the head of households. We were thrown together a lot. That's why we all know each other so well.
Me, Enzo, Gianna, Dom, his two sisters Isabella and Sophia, The Lombardo brothers, and Bianchi and Romano. A bunch of us.
The Lombardo brothers are characters of their own. We got the eldest brother who we call Lucky Lombardo, and that's because the guy's been shot twice and didn't die either time. He's got a dimpled arm and upper chest from the healed wounds. He's also got this protruding brow that makes him look more serious than he is.
Then there's Paulie, the youngster. He's only 22 and he's got a real cropped cut and big ears. Most of my friends are ugly mother fuckers. That's why Dom, Enzo, and I got all the girls. It was almost too easy.
"If Domani okayed it it'll be because he wants my ass beat. But even still, you know how serious he is about this Russian deal. I don't think you'd have him on your side for this one" I let my cousin down. He waved me off.
"I'll tell you what I think" Bianchi stepped in.
Enzo and I both at the same time said, "We don't care what you think." I wouldn't say we pick on Bianchi, but he's the type that's easy to pick on. That's probably why he instigates so much.
The guy's face fell flat and he flipped us off, making me chuckle. He tipped his chin to motion for me to look behind me. When I glanced back I saw Elio moving through the crowd headed straight for us.
I've got nothing against Elio, but for a while I thought he might have something against me. I did hook up with his sister and all, but he thinks I'm a decent guy, and he probably would have rathered me over Domani. The feeling was mutual.
"Ayo" I heard him call out for us. Enzo and Elio clapped hands and slapped backs. Romano nodded. I was only just turning around so I was now standing right in front of him. He looked me up and down and could see my wrapped fists.
"Did I miss the fight?" he asked me. "Finished just now" I motioned over there. "And who won?" He smirked my way, It was a stupid fucking question and he knew it.
"Come on, Fiore. You know better than that" I showed my fists and a mock fighting stance.
"Hey, Fiore, listen to this" my cousin called for his attention. He started telling him his idea to set up a Russian fight. Just to egg me on Elio pretended to go along with it. Telling me I'd get my ass beat.
"If they wanna fight each other they're more than welcome to. Maybe the Petrov brothers aren't into the idea, but some of their younger goons might be interested. I'm sure the Petrov's wouldn't mind watching at the very least" I told them.
They all tipped their heads and seemed to consider.
Elio was still in a half suit, so he must've been coming from somewhere. He's a pretty good looking guy too. I'm not too insecure in my masculinity to admit when a guy looks alright.
We didn't grow up with Fiore though. He came into the picture several years ago after Dom left the military. They've been two peas in a pod ever since.
It's not often a person of no relation to the mob becomes a Made Man. They like to keep it in the family. It guarantees more loyalty and less risk of infiltration of spies or flip flop guys, which are guys who might flop on you the minute they get a better opportunity or flip on you if they get pinched by the feds.
I've heard the whole spiel about De Luca and Fiore fighting together in combat and having each other's back, saving lives and all that bullshit. It's how he made it to the top without doing much.
Not everyone in our syndicate was okay with that for a long time. Not many were brave enough to say it, but I know even Dom's pops had an issue with it. He was vocal about it too.
The Fiore siblings really know how to disrupt order. First Elio, a soldier fresh out of the military still smelling like gunpowder, with eyes full of eagerness for power. Then Miss Mia Fiore, catching the eye of the mob boss, and her brother's closest friend. She made Dom crazier then he already was.
Then she had all of us rather interested in her. She's a knockout, she gains attention even if she doesn't want to. She got me stuck on her.
That only caused more disruptions between me and my boss. She got Elio and Dom fighting too. She made many waves.
I can't blame the girl for everything though. We all played our parts.
I didn't realize my mind wandered off until I was being playfully shoved at to regain my attention. It was my cousin and he was looking at me funny. "The fuck, I'm talking to you" he said to me. I tipped my chin up in the gesture for him to go ahead and repeat himself.
"Let's go watch the next fight. I wanna see these squares" he motioned to our group of buddies moving forward already to be in front of the crowd. They'll always part for us.
Nobody would dare block us if they knew what was good for them.
The two guys getting ready to fight were not mob affiliated, that's why Enzo was calling them squares. You don't need to be a mobster to put on a good fight. Let's see what these guys are made of.