wind whistles out of his lungs. He doubles over,

uppercut

left, send his head snapping

ies. Swe

he hits

ready turning to the crowd, mounting

w, they're like a sonic boom. Pack

eb! C

ed prizefighter. The sure

what the rest of

A

the sweat off my face with a

at faux-curious voice that hides the rea

one I've seen before, a

ho lets the crowd know which round it is. The only requirement for the j

d beating down any idiots who come for me and

shoulder to my bicep and po

is

rsting out of a low-cut tank top. Barely-there clothes are the mandator

erk of th

up my money, and I'

ust fine. I don't need to connect with her on a spiritual level. I

's no reason we can't b

hold up a finger

o the kitchens, congratulating me on an

ke Prep is here. It

ntirely. The Hell Princes run this joint, which m

or almost a year, but tensions are still ...

stay o

ind myself of that fact: no one at R

blic kids and Hell Prin

e school in the state, that part of m

to keep i

and step into the stainless-steel shel

events, is standing in front of the sink with two brawny

shoulder at the so

aying you in adva

and lean my hip against the counter

g shoulder to shoulder to b

tonight," he adds

do something st

cause you can'

uld disagre

t of his jacket and pulls out a bun

side of him. They're Hell Princes, which m

motorcycle club, you guys seem to

ls. His buddy, a goon with eyebrows thicker than caterpil

en't noticed. Have you considered switching to something else? Linen, maybe, or

l Princes flanking Felix look like th

Easy, idiots," he snaps

dumbass Hell Princes know t

er to me. "Count it if you want. It'

unbind the cash an

s. I ig

e are high school kids in the Hell Princes, but Felix is in his mid-twentie

gone when he heard I c

s out of my face" were his exac

I'd twisted his arm behind his back and ha

, I was allo

lose-ever. Week after week ends with me on to

id enough to bet against me, but the rest of

eir ca

es and the Golden Boys, Felix wants to keep me around. It's also wh

s because it's good f

beat the fuck out of

p in my pocket and tip an imaginary hat. "Thanks for your time, as always, gentleme

ery pissed off Hell Princes who couldn'

d, I'd put them in