Free Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) by Deanndra Hall Page A

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    José pulled his waist-length, jet black hair back, and Jorge braided it to keep it out of the way. He twisted his long goatee into a corkscrew and looked in the mirror. The cut above his right eye was healing nicely; he sure hoped it didn’t get reopened.
    They took the last walk down the hallway and when the doors opened, José was floored. There had to be five thousand people there, all for the hottest ticket in cage fighting: José Flores versus Devon White. The federation had been promoting it for months and they’d done a good job – every seat was filled. It might not have been the biggest, most prestigious federation, but the fights he won paid the bills.
    The spotlight hit him, and José’s whole demeanor changed. What had been an average guy walking down an average hallway suddenly turned into a raging lion, muscles swelling and tingling. He loved the adrenalin rush he got from the crowd, the music, the cage cuties, all of it.
    And then there was the cage.
    When the fighters walked in and that gate slammed shut, José always felt more alive than anywhere else. It meant that all the work, all the training, and all the frustration and pain he’d lived with all his life had come down to that one slice of time, and he made the most of it. But tonight would be different.
    Two of the men Devon White had fought had died. The guy was enormous, a foot taller than José and tough as a Sherman tank. And he’d made it clear: He wanted to fight José Flores, the only fighter on the circuit that he’d been told might actually kick his ass. In White’s mind, this was a night to make sure everyone knew how tough he was. There would be no smack-talking, no dancing around, just fighting and fighting hard. He wanted to take out Flores in the first five minutes, had to, to make sure everyone knew he was the champ.
    When José saw the huge guy, something in his gut turned. This would be the defining moment in his life. If he won this fight, he’d finally know that he’d shown all those assholes who’d beaten him, lied to him, cheated him, and generally treated him like shit, that he was one tough motherfucker and not somebody to be messed with. And he was fucking sick and tired of being messed with.
    They came to the gate and shook hands. José almost laughed when White tried to give him the evil eye. He wanted to say, You don’t scare me, punkass , but the time for that was later. Now it was time to fight.
    The cage gate slammed shut, and it was do-or-die time. After sparring a little, they got down to business, and that’s when José noticed something: White was favoring his left shoulder ever so slightly. It wouldn’t be noticeable to most people, but it was a blinding red light to José. He let White hit him twice; that would get him in close, lull him into a false sense of security. White tried a roundhouse kick, which José deflected easily; that would send him back to using his upper body, which was exactly what José wanted. José decided to do something bold; he reached out and slapped White with an open hand, just like a parent would slap a smart-mouthed child. José could tell that it had the desired effect when White glared at him and growled, “I’m gonna kill you, spic!” Then José turned the screw: He smiled at White. A look of deep-seated fury passed over the bigger man’s face, and he came after José like a wrecking ball.
    José let him get so close that he could see the veins in White’s eyes, and then he struck, grabbing the bigger man’s left arm and twisting hard. Then the unexpected happened – José heard a snapping sound, like a branch being twisted in a violent storm, and White’s face contorted in agony. He went down with a thud, screaming in pain. If he got free now, he’d be more than dangerous; he’d be a killer. José continued to torque his arm, leaned down to him, and whispered, “You stay down and I’ll turn loose.” Instead, White growled again, and José gave the