by S. C. Ellen
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, the one we’ve all been waiting for, the king of the underground…BLIZZARD!!!!”
The crowd erupts into ear-splitting applause as he walks out.
He is wearing an icy-blue robe with the hood turned up to block his face.
I am so excited I forget all about the man already in the cage and shift my gaze toward the hooded man making his way through the crowd.
I am up on my toes at this point, trying to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Blizzard’s face.
He finally makes his way to the cage and enters it, turning his back to the audience. ‘Blizzard’ is sewn in huge, blue cursive lettering on the back of the robe as he lets it fall to the ground beneath him.
I release a huge breath as I take in the angel wings accompanied by a huge cross tattooed on his chiseled back. He also has two full sleeves filled with different kinds of intricate designs on both arms. From my vantage point, they are the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen.
The crowd goes wild at the gesture and are now shouting his name in a rhythmic chant.
“Blizzard! Blizzard! Blizzard!”
The anticipation of finally putting a face on to the mystery man is making my excitement skyrocket, and I find myself chanting with them.
“Blizzard! Blizzard! Blizzard!”
I struggle to take my next breath as he finally starts to turn around.
I can’t believe it’s finally happening!
Now, I’m definitely one for big surprises…hell, I love a good surprise just as much as the next person, but no amount of shock in the world could have prepared me more than when I finally see the man whom everyone both fears and admires.
The man I’ve wanted to see for what feels like forever.
The man I just placed a bet of five hundred big ones for.
The man standing before me.
Blizzard as they call him…
…is none other than Carson fucking Granvil.
Alayna
“Al, are you okay? Do you need to sit down? You look a little pale.” Tessa takes a hold of my shoulder and sits me down.
“Shit, she looks like she’s about ready to puke. I’m going to go grab a bottle of water.” Lance quickly gets up and heads for the bar again.
Nothing in this world could have ever prepared me for the shock of finding out that Blizzard is actually Carson.
This has got to be some kind of joke, right?
I shake my head at the realization that this is real.
“Al, I don’t know why, but that Nikki guy just jumped out of the cage and is headed your way.”
My head snaps forward, and sure enough, Nikki is making his way toward me.
“Hey, sweet cheeks, you okay? You ain’t lookin as hot as you were a couple of seconds ago…do you need some water?” His thick southern accent is as defined as his muscles are.
“I-I’m fine,” I manage to stutter out.
I gaze around the arena to find that every single eye is on us.
I attempt to swallow, but my mouth is way too dry, and I’m in more of a panic now than I was before.
“Well, pretty lady, once you’re feeling better, I’d like to see you after the fight, if you’re up for it, that is.”
His brown eyes hold a lot of mischief, and I can only nod my head as my gaze finds the electric green ones shooting daggers in my direction from the cage.
“Are you here to fight me…or pick up some fuckin’ pussy?” Carson’s deep voice bellows throughout the stadium, seeing as it is dead silent.
“Who says I can’t do both?” Nikki snickers as he makes his way back into the cage.
I can all but feel the tension radiating off of Carson’s body.
A bell suddenly rings, and the men are circling each other.
If looks could kill, Nikki would be brutally murdered with the way Carson—or Blizzard—is staring at him.
Nikki throws the first punch, and Carson evades it with a quick duck and comes swinging with his own right hook that connects with Nikki’s jaw.
I flinch from the power of the punch as Nikki spits out blood onto the mat.
Carson moves so fluidly, like every step is carefully calculated.
He lands another harsh jab in Nikki’s torso, and it takes a second before the man can regain his balance.
Nikki follows with a straight punch right to Carson’s mouth. Almost as if he ‘allowed’ him to get in that punch.
He licks the blood off his lips and grins a cold, cruel smile.
His eyes meet mine for a second, and before I know it, Nikki is out cold on the floor.
He knocks him out so ferociously, he actually has to be carried off in a stretcher.
Now I understand why people say he lets his opponents get in one free shot before he absolutely destroys them…and also how he came to be called Blizzard. That was the most exhilarating thing I have ever witnessed.
So much for Nikki being able to ‘take him on.’
Before I can comprehend what is going on around me as the crowd cheers, Carson is gone.
“Al…” Tessa shakes my shoulders.
“What?” I jump, startled from the sudden contact.
“Blizzard won, Al, you bet five hundred on him…do you know what that means?!”
“Oh my God!” I shout as realization dawns on me.
“You just won five thousand dollars!!!” she happily yells out.
We run to retrieve both of our winnings.
“I told you Blizzard could do it,” I tell the man at the betting counter while counting the crisp, clean hundreds.
He mutters something under his breath, but I’m too satisfied to care.
Tucking the money carefully away in my purse, I make my way back over to my seat.
Lance catches up to us with a huge grin on his face, handing me a bottle of water. “Shit, if I knew you were going to act the way you did when you realized who Blizzard was, I would’ve just told you.” He chuckles. “You feeling better, though?”
“Now that I’ve just won five thousand off that asshole, I definitely am.”
Tessa, Lance, and I are laughing hysterically until we stop dead in our tracks as soon as our eyes connect with my father’s.
The look he is giving me at the moment has me wanting to hide away in fear. I can tell he is trying hard to control his anger, but it’s on the edge of slipping, so I don’t push it. I walk over to him, and see Tessa take a seat with her head in her hands like a little kid about to be scolded.
Lance looks like he may or may not shit himself at any given moment.
“What are you doing here?” my father bitterly fumes.
“I-I wanted to see Jase fight for the first time.” I bite my lip, hoping he can’t read my eyes as they tell a completely different story for the reasons why I’m here tonight.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Alayna. I told you never to come here. Under any circumstances. So why are you here?”
I stay silent, not knowing how to answer him.
“I have to find my daughter at an underground fighting ring after I strictly told her it was off limits and have to see her get hit on by some fuckin’ sissy cowboy!” He looks murderous in his rage. “Let me just tell you that that will be the last time you will disobey a direct order from me, I assure you.” He turns to one of his capos. “Shut it down. Give everyone back their bets for the rest of the fights and tell them to get out. This night is over.”
“But, boss, what about the fight between Blizzard and Jase? A lot of people will be pissed off if it doesn’t happen tonight,” the man whose name I can’t place nervously states.
“I don’t give a flying merda. If they have a problem, tell them they can come talk to me about it, and I’ll be more than happy to fix it for them. Capisce?” His eyes are menacing, so much so that his pupils look almost completely black.
I hear my brother before he comes into view.
“You have no reason to cancel tonight!” he shouts from across t
he arena.
“I do…and I just did,” my father affirms.
“I knew I shouldn’t have fucking gone through with it.” Jase’s gaze flickers to me before they widen as he suddenly realizes what he just admitted.
“So, you’re the bastardo who got her in here?” My father’s eyes are even more murderous than before.
“Fuck,” my brother curses in exasperation, no doubt regretting saying anything at all.
We’re starting to attract the attention of the arena’s attendees, and my father realizes it.
“My office. Both of you. Ten minutes. Alayna, get some goddamn decent clothes on, and Tessa, I assume you came with Alayna?” She looks up from her hands and sheepishly nods her head. “Lance will take you home once I have a word with him.” And with that, he straightens his back and heads out as people all around him clear a path.
Jase and I are in my father’s office in just under the ten-minute mark. We’re seated in the same spot I was in only a couple of hours ago. I borrowed Jase’s baggy T-shirt to cover myself up, and the tension in the room is thickening with each second that ticks loudly on the clock hanging from the wall.
My father is pacing behind his desk, growing more timid before he finally speaks.
“I have simple rules. Simple rules, Alayna. And each of them are to ensure your safety. Don’t disobey me and stay the hell out of the underground. Not only did you not follow the only two rules I have for you, but you had the audacity to disrespect me in front of my goddamn men! If I can’t even keep my damned daughter in control, how do you think that reflects on me?”
I can tell I pushed his limit a bit too far tonight as his voice raises higher and higher, and the vein in the corner of his forehead is now fully on display for the second time today.
“Look Dad, I’m-”
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry! And as for you…” His eyes turn coldly onto Jase sitting next to me. “How dare you disobey a direct order from me. If you weren’t my son, I would have had a bullet put in that goddamned brain of yours by now. I can’t believe the nerve you two must have.” He takes a seat at his desk and dials a number on his phone.
“Get in here. Now.” And with that, he hangs up the phone. “I was going to go easy on you, Alayna, but this only validates my reason to do what I have to do.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask, confused.
A knock on the door alerts me to a visitor as I hear the shuffle of a door being opened.
“Yes, sir?” a deep voice speaks, and I already know it’s Carson without having to turn around.
“Looks like my daughter does need surveillance at all times, so you start tonight. I trust that you will follow through with it.”
“Poppa, please-” I begin but am immediately cut off by the sharp tone my father uses.
“Nothing you say will change my mind at this point, so you might as well just shut it,” he sternly states, turning his attention back to Carson. “I know that Alayna has more than enough spare rooms to loan you at her place, and I will see that she makes it more than accommodating for you.”
My eyes abruptly widen. “You can’t be serious.”
“This is happening whether you like it or not, so either you accept it, or your life is going to be miserable for the next couple of months. I am the head of this goddamn familia, and you will listen to me as such!” My father is so angry, in fact, that his face takes on an unruly shade of red, and I finally get a brief look into how fearful the powerful mobster boss can really be.
His attention shifts back to Jase. “You’re done fighting. That was your first and only chance. I don’t even want to see you there anymore.”
I take a sharp intake of breath and turn to Jase. He is seething with anger—at me and at this situation—and I can tell he’s about to explode any second now…
“Poppa you can’t—” I begin to say, but the look he gives me is more than enough of a warning to not finish that sentence.
“I do what I want, and you follow through with what I say.” My father’s voice is viciously controlled as he regards his son.
“You can’t do that!” Jase repeats, jumping up from his chair and knocking it down behind him. “I finally find something I fucking enjoy, and of course it’s taken away before I even get the chance to prove myself. Just like him, taking on what should have been my role!”
Shock passes over my face, and the air in here is so thick, I feel like I’m suffocating with every slow inhale.
“You know damn well you are not capable of something like that, Jase, you don’t have a goddamn clue about how to run the familia.”
“Oh, yeah, because father knows best, right?” He sarcastically laughs. “I’m out of here.”
Jase is out the door in a matter of seconds. My father sighs and runs a tired hand down his face.
“Sir?” Carson speaks up, stepping away from the corner he stayed in, avoiding any involvement.
“Yes?” my father answers.
“I’d like to pack up my things before I head to Alayna’s, if that’s alright with you?”
I inwardly cringe. If he thinks he’s staying at my house tonight, he’s got another thing coming.
My father’s clipped tone interrupts me, “Go home, Alayna. I need to have a word with Carson.”
He most certainly doesn’t have to tell me twice.
Carson
Vinny points to the chair in front of him, so I immediately take a seat.
“I wanted to explain a couple of rules to you before you take on this job protecting my daughter, Carson.”
“Of course.” I nod, waiting for him to go on.
He walks over and sits on the edge of his desk in front of me, folding his arms together.
“As much as my daughter frustrates me, she is still my little girl. I don’t just trust anyone with this job, so you know that I must trust you a lot. With that being said… I am not a fool when it comes to being young and reckless, and I am not naïve when it comes to men lusting after my daughter. Don’t think I never realized the boyish fascination you had over my daughter when you were younger. I knew it was you who took the picture I carried around in my wallet. I didn’t say anything about it then because you were at a bad place at the time. I know and find out everything, son. Nothing gets past me. I’d hope you don’t mistake me as a fool, Carson.”
Of course, I knew that he found out about the picture. Did I give a fuck at the time? Nope. Do I care now that he confronted me about it all these years later? Definitely not. Like he said, I was in a bad place. But to take him as a fool? Never.
“No, sir. I would never,” I state as a matter of fact.
“Well, good, because you shouldn’t. I hope that little fascination is over by now, or if not, you better get over it or there will be consequences. Consequences that if you so much as put a finger on my daughter or look at her in a way that I don’t like, I won’t hesitate to take matters into my own hands…and you know firsthand exactly what that entails. You may be like another son to me, and now my second-in-command, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take you out whenever I deem necessary. You are watching over my daughter for protection purposes only, got it?”
I respect this man and would take on and follow through with anything he ever told me to do.
Kill? He got it.
Torture? My pleasure.
Beat to a bloody pulp? I’d enjoy it.
But protect the boss’s daughter with the amazing tits, mouthwatering ass, and a face to match? Not so sure.
I can already tell right off the bat that this one is going to get me into a shitload of trouble or will end up with my body floating at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
The fact of it is, she is fucking sexy. Even that smart mouth of hers makes my dick jump.
Man, oh man, the things I would do to her.
Especially with how she looked tonight….
Fuck.
I can’t afford to think like this. So what if she’s sexy a
nd has a smart mouth on her? This is the boss’s daughter we’re talking about here! Fucking the boss’s daughter is like handing your soul over to the devil. You just don’t do it.
Especially to the man who has the utmost faith in you to not fuck this up.
Not to mention an arsenal of guns, weapons, power, and connections…
I just have to keep telling myself to keep my dick in my pants and follow through with the order. Getting your dick wet isn’t worth losing your life over.
It’s not like I’ll have to deal with her or see her ever again after this job is done.
I can do it.
With that being said, I follow through with a, “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t make me regret this, son.”
“Never, Vin.” I’m on my way to the door when Vinny speaks up again.
“One more thing, Carson.” I stop and turn back to face him. “Good fight tonight, that bastard had it coming to him with the way he was looking at Alayna. It’s a good thing you knocked him out before I got a hold of him. Unfortunately for him, I did…and I don’t think he will be waking up anytime soon.”
I give him a tight nod, knowing exactly what he means, and close the door behind me.
Fuck. I definitely need to get this shit out of my system or I’m going to end up like that redneck bastard.
Fortunately, I find Nina already eye-fucking me from her stance on the pole, always more than willing to relieve me of my stress, and in no time I’m back in work mode and ready to take on whatever business I need to.
As long as I keep my head in the game—and on occasion in between a different girl’s legs every now and again—this infatuation with the boss’s daughter will be nothing but a forgotten memory.
I can handle myself.
I will handle myself.
Taking on the boss’s daughter will be easy. No doubt about it.
Alayna
As soon as I’m home, I’m back out of the door in a matter of seconds carrying an overnight bag. With me not home, there’s no way this deal can happen. My pride is too strong, and I’m not going to give in that easily, even though I’m exhausted from all the events that took place tonight. All I want to do is just sleep this nightmare away.
