Ace of Spades (Underground Affair Series Book 1) (11 page)

S
HANE WAS PACING BACK
and forth. He was minutes away from stepping into the cage and for the first time he suddenly didn’t feel confident about winning. Declan was his focus and he wasn’t there.

“Ready to go out there and make us proud, Shane?”

“Ace, I’ve never felt so off before a fight. Dec, he always to taped my hands and then he would mentally prepare me for my fight. He could make me focus. I could barely make it through the weigh in without him.”

“Look, I’m no Declan but I can help you. I’ve been at every fight. I’ve sparred with you. Where’s the tape?”

Shane walked over and grabbed the gauze cloth and the tape and handed it to Ace. Ace began wrapping Shane’s hands.

“Show time, Shane!”

Shane turned around. Chace was standing there. Shane grabbed his gloves.

“Let’s go.”

Shane walked out with Chace and Ace following him.

Declan sat in his office drinking coffee. He wanted to watch the fight and be able to remember it. He was always there, cage side. Part of him wanted to run downstairs to the Arena and make peace with Shane but he just couldn’t. He turned on the closed circuit monitor and waited for the fight to begin.

He saw Shane approach the cage and then the officials inspected his hands and then Chace helped him get his gloves on. Ace handed him his mouth guard. Declan hoped that Shane remembered his cup. Shane stepped into the cage.

Declan stood up and started pacing, he always worried about Shane getting hurt.

Shane scanned the room, he secretly hoped that Declan would show up, even though he was still angry with him. The referee grabbed both Shane’s hand and Rick Marshall’s, then he backed out of the way so the fight could begin.

The bell rang and Shane struck Rick in the face several times before he took him down and ended up rolling around on the mat. When Round One was over, they separated. Shane found himself looking around for Declan again.

“You doing ok, Shane?”

“I’m good, Buddy.”

His trainer gave him some water and a pat on the ass and Shane headed back for Round Two.

The bell rang and Shane took a skin splitting strike to the side of the head and then a few to his face and ribs. He appeared a bit stunned and had blood dripping down his face; yet he managed to take Rick down and get him in an Arm Bar. Rick had no choice but to Tap Out. Shane sprung up raising his arms in victory.

The crowd started chanting over and over again, “Hartless! Hartless! Hartless!” which is what Shane’s name had become over the past few years in the MMA world because he was undefeated.

Declan was in his office yelling as if Shane could hear him. Kaylee walked by his door and peeked in to make sure he was alright.

“Come in.”

“I was just making sure you were alright.”

“Shane’s fighting.”

“Then why aren’t you downstairs in the Arena?”

“We, uhh…we had a fight.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Declan looked up and saw Shane take a blow to his face.

“Fuck! Shane’s hit.”

Kaylee started watching to see if Shane was alright.

When Declan saw Rick signal a Tap Out, he picked up Kaylee and twirled her around as he yelled, “YESSSSS!!” He slid her body down his but he stopped as her lips aligned with his. He could feel her warm breath and see her cheeks growing pink. He kissed her on the lips, sucking in her bottom lip but then he felt Kaylee stiffen, so he pulled back and gently placed Kaylee down.

“I’m sorry. I got caught up in the excitement. It won’t happen again.”

Kaylee didn’t say a word. She just left.

Shane stepped out of the cage and was greeted by Chace, Ace, the media and a crowd of fans. He looked for Robert but couldn’t seem to find him. Shane spoke to a few reporters before Buddy escorted him to his locker room. Shane wanted to pull on sweats and a t-shirt before he got dragged to the hospital to have his head stitched up.

“Shane, I’m going to check on Rick. I will be right back. Then we need to get that head of yours looked at.”

Shane hugged Buddy. “Thanks. You’re the best, Buddy.”

“You’re a good kid, Shane. Now go get your ass moving. I’ll be back in two minutes.”

Shane barely made it inside before Robert started yelling at him, “I can’t believe you fucked this up for me!”

“What?”

“You fucked everything up, Shane!”

“I, I don’t understand.”

“You always drop your opponent in Round Three, I've gone over all your fights.”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m bleeding. I had to act fast before they pulled me. What the fuck does it matter? I still won.”

“All you care about is winning. Well your win just cost me fifty thousand dollars.”

Shane grabbed Robert by the throat and pushed him up against the wall.

“You bet on my fight? You’re gambling again?”

Robert managed to swing his arm up and hit Shane in his already swollen bloody eye. Shane released his grip on Robert. Robert shoved Shane, causing him to bang his head on the bench as he fell to the floor. Seeing Shane lying on the floor unconscious and in what was becoming a small pool of blood caused Robert to panic.

“Shane, Shane, oh my God, Shane.”

Buddy walked in, “What the hell is going on in here? I can hear you two…”

Buddy noticed Shane on the floor, he rushed over to his side.

“What happened?”

“He just collapsed.”

“Call an ambulance.”

Chace stayed in the Arena manning the security detail. Ace went upstairs to tell Declan about the fight.

“Shane took Rick out in Round Two.”

“I know, I said I wasn’t going to, but I watched the fight. He did us proud.”

Declan walked over to his desk and sat down.

“Dec, look I don’t know exactly what went down between you two but you need to fix it. You’re both miserable. Shane got clocked because he was distracted, I’m sure it was because you weren’t there. He scanned the room every chance he got. I think he was hoping you’d show.”

“He doesn’t need me, he has Robert.”

Ace’s phone started ringing.

“What’s up?”

“Shane collapsed, the ambulance is on its way.”

“Where…where is he?”

“His locker room.”

“I’ll be right down.”

“What’s going on?”

“That was Chace. Shane collapsed, they called an ambulance.”

Ace turned around to leave and realized Declan wasn’t following him.

“Dec, you’re not coming?”

“Keep me posted.”

Ace gave Declan a look of disbelief and then ran to the elevator.

Shane started blinking his eyes. He could feel the cold, wet blood on his face and neck. He couldn’t really see out of his left eye anymore.

“Shane, Shane can you hear me?”

“Chace.”

“You’re going to be ok, Shane.”

“Help me up.”

“Listen to me, you need to lie still. The ambulance just got here and they’re going to take you to the hospital.”

“No, no ambulance. Buddy can bring me.”

“Shane you passed out. Until we find out why, we’re following protocol. Which means you’re going to stay right here until the paramedics move you.”

Shane was becoming more alert. He tried to look around and see if Robert was still there but he didn’t see him. He wondered if Robert snuck out.

Ace came in and got down on the floor with Shane. “You picked a fine place to take a nap.”

“Does Dec know?”

“He does.”

The paramedics came rushing in. Shane tried to sit up.

"I can get up by myself."

Ace and Buddy looked at each other, shook their heads and then extended a hand to help Shane up. They knew how stubborn he was. Once Shane was standing up the paramedic helped him to sit up on the gurney. It was then that Shane saw Robert pacing in the corner.

"Chace, get Robert and bring him here."

Chace motioned for Robert to come over by Shane. Robert reluctantly walked over.

One paramedic was bandaging his head and the other was getting him buckled up to go to the hospital.

"Chace, just listen, please. Robert, I want you to go home, pack up and get the fuck out of my house before I get home tonight. Chace will accompany me home and if you are there, I will press charges this time."

Chace looked at Shane, "This time?"