Against the Cage (Worth the Fight #1) by Sidney Halston Read Free Book Online Page A

don’t know why I’m telling you all this, since we didn’t exactly part on good terms last night. Sorry.”
    “Because you’ve known me forever. Because your brother and I are close. Because you can trust me. You can tell me anything, you know?” Jack leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead like she was his little sister, although after last night she didn’t want to be thought of as a little sister. Scratch that—she didn’t want Jack to think of her at all.
You’re here to bail Slade out of jail and go home. In and out, that’s the plan
. But Jack was being so sweet, and God, he was hot. Smoldering hot.
Sister? Eek. Gross
.
    “I’m sorry about last night,” she told him. “I didn’t intend to be so mean. I just … it took me off guard. The whole MMA thing, it was just … unexpected.”
    “You’re forgiven,” he said with a smile.
    She was overwhelmed by the emotions of the last twenty-four hours, not to mention the dent this little fiasco was going to make in her checking account. “The mayor’s nephew.” She shook her head. “Slade’s an idiot. You see why I hate violence?” She sat up and looked him straight in the eyes, but before Jack could say anything, a man she’d never met before came over to them.
    “Jack,” the man said by way of a greeting.
    Jack stood and reached for the man’s hand. “Cain, buddy. How’s it goin’?”
    “How’d the arraignment go?”
    “Thirty thousand dollars, dude. His priors and the fact the mayor’s nephew is involved didn’t help.”
    The man shook his head. “You got the flow covered?”
    Chrissy was looking back and forth between the two men. This other guy, who looked intimidatingly serious and stood as tall as Jack, seemed to be a man of very few words.
    “Yeah, man. It’s covered. His sister’s got it.” Jack looked down at Chrissy. “Cain, this is Chrissy, Slade’s sister. Chrissy, this is Cain, a friend.”
    Cain’s head tilted up in a sort-of nod.
    Was that a hello?
Intimidated and unsure of what that small interaction had meant, Chrissy awkwardly smiled at him. She was glad to see Slade had another friend ready to help if need be.
    “You fucked up Jas real good. Heard he won’t be fighting for a while. Talk is that when he got to the hospital, there was so much blood coming out of his nose, they thought he’d need a transfusion.” Cain held out his fist, and in some sort of caveman ritual, Jack pounded his fist against Cain’s.
    Jack beamed. “Thanks, man, glad to hear it. That guy was huge. Wasn’t sure I’d win.”
    Cain looked down at Chrissy’s ashen face, then back up to Jack. “See you got this covered. See you ’round.”
    “Later, man,” Jack said as Cain turned and left.
    Just as Chrissy was trying to wrap her head around the conversation and how calmly and proudly they had discussed the barbaric sport and the injuries Jack had inflicted on his opponent, the doors opened and Slade came strolling out. Sauntering, really.
    “Hey, sis. Thanks for coming to bail me out.” He leaned down and kissed Chrissy affectionately on the cheek. He then turned to Jack and playfully punched him on the arm. “What the fuck, man? You didn’t get me out yesterday!”
    Slade was taller than Jack, at least six foot four. And, just like Jack, he was bulky. Between his name and his enormous stature, Slade really was made to be a professional fighter. His chest was wide, and his biceps and forearms had muscles that bulged every time he gestured. Whereas Jack barely had any hair on the top of his head, Slade’s slicked-back long black hair curled at the nape of his neck. He could have given Conan the Barbarian a run for his money. He had a thick black tribal tattoo that peeked from theneckline of his T-shirt and another on his right forearm. At least those were the two that she knew about. Like Chrissy, Slade also had piercing blue eyes and long black eyelashes.
    “Dude, you needed to cool off. I was doing you a favor.