Her Deliverance (vol. 2) ON HOLD

Thirty-six

H a r r y

Walking into my apartment after the boxing session, I let the door shut behind me with a loud slam. Not caring that it was way past midnight and Anthony or Brad might be asleep as I rolled my sore shoulder back in exhaustion. Sauntering past the kitchen, I moved around the apartment and turned to head down the hallway towards my room when I heard a loud moan. I paused, eyebrows furrowing in confusion when the sound of another loud feminine moan drifted down the hallway. My confusion turned to annoyance when I realized it came from Brad's room and I shook my head, pivoting on my foot and walking back towards my room.

Opening the door, I tossed my gym bag on the floor then went to my dresser to pull out some clean clothes. I grabbed a clean towel from another dresser and headed back out my room to go to the restroom. Robotically, I stripped out of my sweaty clothes as I let the shower warm up then walked in once I was completely nude. I sighed deeply the moment the hot water hit my sore muscles, stepping further under the cascading water until my hair was soaked. With my eyes closed, I blindly reached for where I knew my shampoo was and began to wash my hair as I thought about the upcoming fight Cameron told me about.

Apparently there was a guy, Ricky, who was known to be undefeated requested me specifically to be his next opponent. Hundreds of people were supposed to attend his next fight, and they were going to charge twenty dollars for the entrance fee since both Ricky and I were undefeated. Cameron shared that a lot of people would be eager to see us fight each other for that reason alone. I hadn't said yes yet and Cameron was a little unsure about it as well, but my answer was leaning towards agreeing when I heard the total money expected to be gathered by the end of the night would be around eight thousand dollars. That much money would be good to put into my savings account I had been preparing since I first started fighting. The only reason I was hesitant about agreeing to the fight, was because it felt like I was lying to Em. She still had no idea about the underground fighting and I was sure if she did know, she wouldn't be okay with it. She'd have my head on a silver platter if she especially knew it was considered illegal and there was no way I wanted to risk ruining what we had. She made me so happy and I had never felt the way I do with her before. But the money...it was so much. And it would help me prepare for my future. For our future, if Em and I worked out the way I was hoping we would.

Washing the last of the shampoo out of my hair and finishing up washing my body, I reach for the shower knob and turn it off before stepping out. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I pick my clean clothes up and begin to shrug them on. My hair is still wet, so once all my clothes are on I rub it through the wet strands. Glancing into the mirror as I do, I frown when I see the bruise on my cheek from getting punched a little too hard from one of the other boxers at the gym that I practiced with. I poke it with my finger and flinch, clenching my jaw before I bend down to pick my dirty clothes up. I opened the bathroom door and walked back into the hallway before heading back into my bedroom. Tossing my dirty clothes into the hamper when I enter, I move across my room to get my phone out of my gym bag. The screen lights up after I tap the home button and my eyebrows furrow when I see the four missed calls from Em, the last one being two minutes ago. I swipe the screen, about to call her back when I see her name lighting up my screen again as it vibrates in my hand.

I immediately swipe the answer button and bring the phone to my ear. "Em? Baby what-,"

"Harry! Jesus, finally," a deep voice breathed and I pull the phone back again to double check the contact. It says Emmeline.

"Caesar? Is that you?" I ask in confusion. "What are you doing with Em's phone?"

"That doesn't matter at the moment. You need to get here right now quick!"