Irish adj. A pleasure to the eyes.
Callum MacBrady
I watched that pompous bastard as he sat in his Bentley, letting his father do his talking like always. It was early for my time, but they were late to leave so it evened out nicely.
"Should we go inside? The meeting starts in fifteen minutes and we can get some coffee first." My agent unbuckled his seat belt and waited for my say so.
I ignored his request. "Look at this little fucking weasel hiding in his car. Can you fucking believe him, Jack? Fucking pussy." I glared at the Englishman from across the parking lot.
"So is that a no on the coffee?" Jack raised an eyebrow at me and made me cackle.
"Fuck your coffee, mate!" I shoved him into his door and stepped out of my side. "Let's see if we meet that little fucker's brother in the lobby. I'd like to give him a good beating." Jack caught up with me nervously.
"Callum, I know this family has fucked with you in the past and stuff but I don't think it's wise to start a fight before Saturday. You'll get your one on one, but not here." He raised his hands in defense when I swiveled around to face him.
"Are you my fucking mother now?" I growled out. "I'm a grown man, Jack, don't fucking lecture me. Don't you fucking do it." I warned him. Truth be told I like the man. He was a good agent. He never took a fight for me that was less than nine figure pay and for that I kept him around. It couldn't have been an easy job for him half the time. Between my temper and my aggressive nature, fighting was my only outlet. Sometimes I just couldn't wait for the grand finale and I needed to get it over with sooner. It must be a nightmare for Jack to constantly keep me from going back to jail.
"Alright, okay." He backed down and followed quietly behind.
"I bet they went in there and talked shit to the James's. Little fuckers." My fists clenched at the thought.
"About that." I cocked a brow. "Nothing bad! I just forgot to tell you that the James's are still away so we'll be meeting with their daughter and their planning committee."
I curled my lip back in anger. "What? You're telling me I have to sit down with some spoiled rich girl and a bunch of old men?" I shook my head angrily. "Un-fucking-real."
"Look, I know how it seems but she's really alright. It's not the first time she's sat in for her parents. It's not like she's a teenager." He defended as we pushed through the doors to the kiosk up front.
The woman at the front desk stood up promptly and stumbled over her words. "Mr. MacBrady, um, please, have a seat. I'll phone Miss James right away." Her eyes darted to the line of chairs in the corner.
"I'm not waiting in a lobby, I'll go up now." I kept my pace steady and headed for the elevators.
"But-" she tried to stop me but Jack got in her way, cutting her off.
I hit the button and got inside as soon as the car came down. "How old is she then?" I relented. She had to be young and an amateur at that, but at least she wasn't some eighteen year old fangirl that would drop her panties upon seeing me.
"She just turned twenty one over the weekend." He cringed at my reaction.
I took a deep breath and slicked back my strawberry blonde hair. Normally it was styled in a high faded hard part but I had made the decision to go to the gym before the meeting in an attempt to blow off some steam. It wasn't the most business like I'd ever looked but I felt comfortable in my black vneck and fitted blue jeans. My black and white trainers had a small dirt stain on the side from going for runs in them, but it made no matter. This wasn't going to be a public affair.
"Fucking great." I muttered more to myself.
The bell dinged and opened on the top floor. A mess of desks and people were flooding the area and in the back, near the conference room, was the Perceval family walking out.
"Callum," Jack saw where my gaze had settled and panicked, "Callum!" He grabbed for my arm but I shrugged him off and strode forward.
Amon was the first to see me and stepped lively around his father to confront me first. "MacBrady, ready for an ass kicking on Saturday?" He challenged just in time for his father to stand behind him with a hand on his shoulder.
I smiled confidently and stepped closer until I could feel his breath hitting my face. "Oh I'm ready to kick some ass, that's for sure. But why wait for Saturday when I can just shut your mouth now?" Jack dove between us and shoved me back, Kit firmly gripped Amon's shoulders and held him in place.
"Now boys, we don't want to put off this fight by going to jail for assault do we?" Kit's whore of a wife intervened in a bored tone.
"Listen to mommy." I laughed in his face and pressed against Jack, getting as close to the blonde mobster as I could.
"If you knew what was in your best interest, you'd back down." Kit warned. "Your fight is with Remy, not Amon. Take that filthy Irish mouth of yours and taint someone else's ears with that horrid accent."
I could see security coming from both sides but it didn't matter. I shoved past Jack and leapt with a flying knee towards Kit. Faster than I could comprehend he dodged it and security separated us for good. "Fuck you!" I shouted over the heads in between us.
"See you on Saturday, friend!" Amon yelled back and vanished behind a wall of security.
"Get off me." I ripped my arms loose from the two men. Three more stood in front of me just to be sure I wouldn't run to the elevator and finish what we started. "Fuck are you all staring at?" I questioned the men and women that stopped their shuffling about to watch the altercation.
Immediately they rushed back to their duties. "Why are you still here?" I glared at the five men around me. "Fuck off!" They scattered and left Jack and I alone.
"Callum..." Jack trailed off.
"No!" I snapped. "Not a fucking word!" I jutted a finger into his chest. "Not. One." He crumbled under my stare and nodded with a gulp. "Let's go."
We quickly crossed the room to the frosted glass doors. I could see the silhouettes of people inside busying about. Without checking in with the receptionist near the doors, I pushed inside to make my usual gruff entrance.
"Oh, Mr. MacBrady. We weren't expecting you for a few more minutes." An elderly woman at the end of the table noticed me first and they all abruptly turned to face the doors.
"My plane touched down early so I thought I'd just drop in." I replied honestly.
"Please, have a seat and we'll get started." She moved her pruny finger between the seats on the opposite side. I noted the girly cell phone resting at the head of the table and chose to sit nearest it.
"Which one of you is leading this meeting?" I knew it wasn't any of them. A handful of older men and women were the only ones in the room.
"That would be me." I heard the sound of heels clicking behind me and turned around. I had to physically exert myself to keep my jaw from dropping. "I'm Luna James, you must be Callum MacBrady." Her voice was so sweet and silky like melted chocolate.
"That's right. It's a real pleasure to meet you Luna James." My tone was quick to change in her presence. I took a few seconds to discretely look her over. She was a head shorter than me in her heels, but I couldn't deny the instant physical attraction I had to her. Her skin was golden and her hair reached her lower back even in a high ponytail. I loved long hair, it gave me something to pull if the occasion called for it.
Her smile was pearly white and beautiful like the rest of her. "I love your accent!" She gushed out and blushed suddenly. "Sorry, that was random. We don't get many Irishmen in Louisiana, but I've always been in love with Irish accents."
A big grin spread across my face. "Don't be sorry. I was born and raised in Ireland, darlin', I'm happy to hear that from you."
Her blush faded only slightly but her beautiful smile remained on her crimson lips. "Shall we get started? I'm sure you've had a long flight from Belfast." She gestured for me to be seated.
"So, Mr. MacBrady-"
"Callum, please." I corrected with a smile. I kept my hands folded together on the table.
"Callum," she smiled back. I knew I had her then. "I've tripled our security detail already for Saturday night to insure that both you and Remy Perceval are kept safe. I understand that there is some bad blood between you two. And Thursday there will be a small meeting if you should require any female escorts into the ring."
I pinched my brows together. "Female escorts? Sounds like you're asking me if I want a group of whores flanking me." I chuckled and saw the way the corner of her lips twitched up. "You're serious?" I checked.
"Unfortunately yes." She sighed, clearly unimpressed with having to locate women for the match.
"That little weasel needs you to find women to parade around for him? He can't get his own?" She rested a hand under her chin and giggled musically. "I'll pass on the girls. I don't need to compensate for anything." I shook my head at how unbelievable Remy was.
"Good," her eyes widened and she cleared her throat to cover her comment. "Perfect, I'll cross that off my notes then." She typed something into her phone.
"Which one of you is in charge of visual effects?" A man raised his hand like a student. "I need a strobe light for my entrance. I have one every time I enter." Jack smirked beside me. It was just another tactic we used for years to get into their heads and mess with their eyes before I even stepped into the octagon.
"No problem." The man wrote down a note on a piece of paper and nodded.
"That's the only specifics I can really think of. Jack?" I prompted.
Jack leaned forward on his chair. "We'll need to keep an Irish flag up in Callum's corner while he fights. We'll need complete blackout darkness in the arena before the lights and music play his walk in. I'll make sure the tech guys get his song by Friday. And I want to make sure that no Remy friends or family are anywhere near our side." He pushed his index finger into the table with every request.
"Sounds doable." She commented and made another note. "I can't control where the fans sit, but most will choose to be behind the guy they're rooting for. However this event did sell out so we may be faced with randomly placed fans that just grabbed the last tickets in a hurry." I admired the way she was handling Jack's abrasive demands. She was more mature than I had anticipated. I pictured a spoiled little rich girl that didn't take daddy's business seriously, but she was anything but.
I shrugged nonchalantly. "The fans can sit wherever they want. It's their show." She seemed pleased with my answer. The meeting from then on was between Jack and the rest of the team just to dot some i's and cross some t's. I zoned in and out as they discussed charity payment, speeches, and locations. The business part of it all bored me. I was made to fight, Jack was made to negotiate. The only relief I found was the few times I got to sneak a look at Luna and her skin tight dress.
"Well then, I think we're all in agreement." Jack stood up and I followed suit. He leaned over and began to shake all their hands.
"Mr. MacBrady, good luck on your fight." One of the men said to me, but I had already forgotten his name. "I've got money on you this weekend." He chortled and I couldn't help but grin back at him.
"I'll make you a rich man then." I replied confidently.
The people all filed out, I was obviously the last meeting of the day. Luna remained behind to gather her things. "You're pretty confident you'll win." I was inwardly beaming that she spoke first.
Jack clapped a hand on my shoulder and went to leave. "I've worked hard for this fight and I intend to win it."
She shoved her cell phone into her purse after typing something in it. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your record?"
I raised my brows. I was the highest paid in my division, one of the most famous to ever step on the canvas. "You don't follow mma do you?" She turned around from her purse with a nervous expression. She bit her red lip endearingly.
"Is it that obvious?" She fixed a loose strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear where diamond studs decorated her lobes. I had no doubt that they were real.
I casually took a few steps closer to her so we were only five feet or so apart. "A little." I teased.
"I grew up in the fashion industry. I never had to watch any sports, only entertainment news and runway shows." She shrugged her shoulders with a tinge of embarrassment that that's what her life consisted of mainly.
"I used to be a featherweight when I first started out, but once I won the title in that division I decided to gain some weight and take on the next contending class."
"Impressive." She uttered the word quietly more to herself. "How long have you been fighting?"
I held back my enthusiasm. From the moment I walked in I wanted to get her alone to talk to her, and here she was striking up a conversation on her own. "Professionally since 2009. Before that it was just in pubs when I'd had too much whiskey." Like I'd hoped, she giggled that sweet way she had earlier.
"Well, I'm glad you chose to use an appropriate setting rather than bars now." She quipped and slung her purse over her shoulder, readying to leave. "The Percevals mentioned that Remy was undefeated after thirty-six fights." I scrunched up my face at the statement. "I still haven't heard your record." She pressed with a certain sense of dominance in the situation.
I pushed my body forward more and flipped the roles. I wasn't about to let a woman take the lead before I had a chance to get to know her. "I may just tell you." A gleam went up in her dark caramel eyes.
"And when will that be?" She played along.
"At dinner on Friday night." I hid my nerves well but fuck all she was gorgeous. But not in the way that Molly was. Molly was a natural beauty, never touched makeup, always wore modest clothes. Still she was the love of my life because she was beautiful in her own right and most importantly she loved me. Luna was magnificent to behold, but it was a different beauty. Hers was a well put together and glamorous beauty.
"Are you asking me out?" She checked with a spark in her tone.
"I am." I stood taller and clasped my hands in front of me to still them.
"Shouldn't you be using the night before your fight to train and prepare?" Luna's eyes slid over my arms and the way they buldged beneath my shirt. I knew exactly what she was thinking.
The urge to ask her if she saw something she liked had to be chained up and pinned down inside of me. I was so close I couldn't afford to lose her with my ego. "I train for ten hours a day, five days a week, for a month before a fight. I think I can afford to take a beautiful woman out for a night instead of going to the gym." That endearing redness flooded her tanned cheeks once more making me smile at her innocence. "How does seven sound?"
Luna smoothed down her dress and toyed with her hair to busy her hands. "I'd say that sounds like I'd be compromising my professional relationship with you and Mr. Perceval." She put a hand on her hip. I could still see that gleam in her eye and the body language she was forcing to betray her mind. She just needed a little push.
"Playing hard to get? One thing I can tell you from my work is that I never give up when I truly want something." I took another step and saw her breath catch and her hands still for a moment.
"I'm not playing hard to get." She set her jaw with a proud look. "I am hard to get." With that she crossed her arms over her chest, unknowingly pushing up her breasts to expose more of the kissable cleavage, or she knew.
I chuckled at her words. "Then I'm going to enjoy this challenge more than Saturday's." I confessed.
"I'm sure." She responded dryly, not impressed with my comparison. "I'd do well to play your cards right Mr. MacBrady." She stepped around the opposite side of the table, her heels leaving tiny clicks with each step.
"Callum." I reminded her and earned a small one sided smile. She knew I'd correct her. "And I'm always careful with my cards when I have a queen in my hands." Her steps faltered from their uniform clicking and I smirked knowing I'd gotten her attention.
She reached the door and turned back around. "You're good." She wagged a long fingernail at me. I resisted the urge to puff up my chest like a gorilla at her praise. "But it'll take more than a cheap pick-up line to get me to ruin a business deal. Also," she fully faced me, "perhaps next time you plan on asking me out you can avoid being rude to my receptionist Amy, and not tell my security to fuck off when you start a fight in the building." She waved her phone in her hand. "I know everything that happens here." I wasn't given anytime to respond. She opened the door wide enough for her small frame and slipped out. I broke out into a grin at her display. It was more than refreshing to meet a woman like her that wasn't trying to get laid just to say that they'd fucked a celebrity. Or just random fans that can't stop drooling over the thought of being near Callum MacBrady.
This one had it all. Looks, money, drive, class, and a confidence in herself that told her not to fall for my lines right off the bat. I wouldn't give up by any means, but I would step up my game.