Living With Dee

Thirty-six

Raven pushed me out of the vehicle after a moment of my protesting. I grumbled under my breath and fixed my outfit before going up to yet another club. But this one wasn't like the last. No, this one was a club full of hot-headed men wanting to beat the crap out of each other.

I kept glancing back towards Jason to see his thoughts on all of this, but like the others, he had a neutral expression on his face. Almost all my hope drifted away at that point, making me sigh in defeat.

I feel the love. I feel it.

Rolling my eyes at my inner thoughts, I confidently strode up to the alley and to the door. I knocked a couple of times and like a cliche movie, a slot above my head opened up and eyes peeked down at me.

"I'll kick your butt if you don't open this," I respond instantly, tipping the front of my black heel into the metal door for emphasis. The man sighed heavily.

"Password."

Remember, tough girl act, Kenzie. You are a tough girl who doesn't have a sweet little baby at home.

I fought the urge to bit my lip and discreetly looked around. "Angelo come il vincitore," I state. I don't know how many times Raven had yelled at me today as I tried to correctly say those Italian words. He never did tell me what it meant, he just made me pronounce it until I was right.

I'm still surprised I even had got it down at this point. In high school, I never did well with Spanish. Or any class.

The door opened after awhile and I stepped in. I could already hear screaming that made my ears pop, and smell the stench of sweat. Excitement whirled around the area but it didn't radiate off me.

Nope, I wasn't happy about another mission. The excitement was emitting from the screaming people who threw things at the boxers.

The secret area was spilt into two sides. One for the boxer named Angelo, and the other for Ranix. When I came down the last time, my eyes narrowed in all the people here illegally. Meaning everyone, including me.

Apparently, though, there was plenty of underground fighting rings in Michigan, according to the smug Cory. Buttwipe had fun filling me with knowledge I was unaware of because he felt smarter than me.

I went over to the side that supported Angelo, seeing as I used his name for the password-I think. Squeezing through several people, I made it to the far corner where a door was. Looking around, I went through the door.

The room was dimly lit with a red light and when I closed the door, all lights popped on. I squinted. "Geez, woman, trying to kill me?" I hiss.

Across the room was the woman I was suppose to convince to join us. She had white hair that was pulled back in a tight bun and a gun pointed at me. When she saw who it was, she clicked her tongue and put the gun down.

"State your name," she says in an accent I only heard in movies. Struggling a giggle, I clear my throat.

"Mackenzie."

Satisfied, the woman nodded. "I am Natasha. You are here for what?"

Tough girl. Tough girl. Tough-

Aw, screw it. "I'm here to get you to join Raven Pierce's gang. And in going to be honest with you, I don't want to be here." She raises and eyebrow and I shrug.

"So why are here?" Her accent almost made it hard to here.

"Because I'm going to tell you about him, though. I can't say good things about the guy because he isn't anything good. He's ruthless and cold. I'm here because I was forced to because he kidnapped me. Raven had gotten me pregnant, and now here I am. Obviously I'm no longer pregnant," I say, pretending to be sad. "I don't know what your expecting, but Pierce isn't going to kiss your butt and tell you how amazing you are doing.

He's a gang leader, Natasha. You're going to be punished for failing. You're going to live with shame for the rest of your life. But that's how it is. The world is cruel and if you want to go out there with a touch facade, Raven will make sure he tears you down until there is nothing left of you, then make you start over.

You will be burned and broken by time he is done with you. And if you are too scared for that, then maybe you should go home."

Natasha stares at me in surprise as my harden eyes glare straight at her. She could tell everything I had said was the truth. If I has continued, though, it would have been my life story in the mix.

My heart was beating erratically against my chest ad I waited for an answer. After a couple of seconds, I got impatient and turned to leave. "Wait."

I stopped but didn't turn around, letting her have my back."I'll do it."

Leaving the room, I found that mission very simple. I was expecting some hard ass that was too proud and arrogant to talk to me. Obviously she had joined, so who cares.

All I wanted was to make amends with my best friend as I held my baby close. Because she was right. I was falling for Raven and I didn't even know it. My brain recognized the cruel ways of Raven Pierce, but my heart didn't.

My heart was swelling at the memory of our kiss. And for some reason, it made me angrier. I whipped open the limo door and got in. The rest of the ride I had ignored Raven.

I was a complete idiot. Why in the world would I fall for someone like him? He was a monster. Who was sexy, talked in Italian, and kidnapped me to Michigan.

I don't like Michigan. I wanna go home.