Path To Retaliation (Fighter's Den, #2)

Chapter 33 - Cameron

This is it.

This is what I've been training for mercilessly, what I've spent hours gruelling over so that I can be prepared for the moment that will literally make or break my career.

No pressure.

Except I'm feeling a lot of fucking pressure and freaking the fuck out. I pace back and forth in my corner of the ring and try to get my head in the game. I mentally go over my opponent's plays and then my own and then all of the fighting techniques Coach helped me perfect. We've been planning for this match for months and I'm going to win it, damn it. This match is everything I've dreamed of since I discovered my love for boxing. I'm going to be the champion.

"West." Coach calls to me as he steps in the ring. I push my shoulders back and straighten up, hoping he can't see his nervous I am. "It's okay to be nervous, son."

Well, then. Never mind.

"I'm not nervous." I scoff. He raises a brow and I begrudgingly mutter, "Only a little."

"You'd be a damn fool not to be nervous. The guy you're fighting doesn't play games. He's the best of the best and he has one hell of a shot at winning today."

"I think this pep talk is meant for him." I deadpan, even more anxious and a little annoyed now.

"Wait. Let me finish." He holds up a hand and I seal my mouth shut. "He has one hell of a shot at winning today. But you have a better shot. The best one. If anyone can fight this guy and take him down, it's you. I feel it in my fucking bones, West. You're made to take this guy down and take his place as the new heavyweight champion. This title belongs to you so you're going to fight like your life depends on it and take back what's yours. Understand me?"

"Yes, sir." I'm still a little rattled but I can't deny that a lot of my nerves are gone. Coach's faith in me meant the fucking world and I wasn't going to disappoint him. If he says I can do this, then I can fucking do this.

"Good." He claps a hand on my shoulder and levels me with a serious stare. "Kick some ass."

We exchange a bump of our fists and he steps out of the ring. Almost immediately, Jaxon ducks under the ropes and makes his way over to me.

"How you feeling, brother?"

"Good. Kind of distracted."

"About?"

"Avery met her dad earlier today. I was with them. I keep thinking about it."

"Shit." He's clearly perplexed and I don't blame him. It took several days for me to even accept the idea of the two meeting, never mind it actually happening. "How'd it go? He didn't try anything, did he?"

"No." I sigh. "That's what makes it so hard to hate him; I almost understand where he's coming from. I know he's sorry. He can't change what he did but I know he's trying like hell to move forward."

"Still, Cam." His brows draw in confusion like he can't understand why I'm not making a voodoo doll of him and sticking needles in it. Again, I don't blame him.

"You had to be there." I shrug. And it's true.

"Kudos to you." He crosses his arms and looks away, eyes darkening. "If I were face-to-face with anyone who laid a hand on Emily, I'd be in fucking prison for murder."

"Believe me, I had ideas."

And I did. The second he approached our table and cracked a joke like we were old buddies I wanted to grab him by the throat and slam him into the table. Then I wanted to punch his face in over and over until he was unrecognizable. I wanted him to suffer the way Avery suffered. I wanted him to hurt and feel pain the way Avery did. I wanted to make him pay and it took everything in me to stay in my seat. My hands were shaking from withholding my rage and I was biting down on my tongue until I tasted blood. I'd never exercised self-control like that in my life. Just the thought of him hurting Avery made me feel like a goddamn animal. In that moment, I genuinely wanted to kill him. And I don't think I would have regretted it if I did. Not sure what that says about me but it's the truth. In that moment, all I could see was red.