Free Untamed by Emilia Kincade Page B

long?”
    “Around six months. You’re going to be the best, boy,” he says, gripping my shoulder, squeezing it tight. “A man like you is welcome into my family.”
    “Thank you,” I tell him.
    The truth is, I do feel gratitude, but I also recognize the tongue of a snake. That was my education; learning how to tell the good people from the bad. I suppose that’s everybody’s education, really, but in my life, when you see bad people all the time, you start to notice patterns.
    It’s always the promises… the promise of greatness, success, money, whatever. You learn to tell that they aren’t promising you these things… they’re promising themselves these things.
    You’re just the tool, the instrument.
    Well, I’m no tool, though I’ve been called one before.
    “We’re fighting strictly underground in the beginning,” he says. “Nobody will know you. They’ll think you’re easy pickings, bet against you. I’ll sell it. Don’t worry boy, I’ll play my part.”
    “Your part?” I ask.
    “Yes. We all have a part to play. Life is a stage, don’t forget that, and we all have roles. All my men understand this. My daughter understands this. Play your part, I’ll make you rich. I’ll make you the underdog nobody wants to back. I’ll sell you short.”
    I don’t say anything.
    “Does that bother you?”
    “No,” I tell him truthfully.
    “Good. You’ll be the guy who is supposed to lose. You understand, Duncan, you’ll need to sell it. Look like you’re getting beat, then wham!” He claps his hands together. “Then you fucking take them down and submit them.”
    “So you want me to take a beating,” I say.
    “Precisely. I knew you were smart the moment I saw you,” he says. “You got a good head on your shoulders, Duncan. You’ll go far in this business.”
    “What happens when everybody knows who I am? What happens when you’re no longer taking bets against me?”
    “We shut it down. Nothing lasts forever. You go pro.”
    “Pro, huh?”
    “UFC, whatever. Then we go big on a national stage, international, even. The money there will be amazing. But you need a reputation first, and we’ll build it in the underground cage. Your name will echo.”
    “You’ve got it all figured out, huh?”
    “Damn right I do,” Glass says. “How the fuck do you think I got to where I am? How the fuck do you think I ride around in a limousine all day? Drink only the best whiskey? Own a house like the one that I do?” He gives me a big grin. “We’re going to make a lot of fucking money. I know it.”
    I narrow my eyes at him. “We?”
    “You’ll get your cut, boy, don’t you worry about that. Five-percent of the pot, non-negotiable. I expect the pot will climb to over ten million some fights, so you’ll be good. Don’t ever say I wasn’t a generous man. I take care of my own. Just ask Frank. Frank! Frank!”
    The intercom hisses to life. “Yes, boss.” Frank’s hoarse voice is made scratchier by the static.
    “Don’t I take care of my own, Frank?”
    “You do, Mr. Marino.”
    “See?” Glass says, looking at me.
    I swallow, nod again. Promises. But maybe Glass will be good for them. There’s more to me being a good fighter than simply him making his quick buck. I’ve been a years-long investment.
    There’s emotion behind this whole thing. This is more than just business , even if he claims the contrary.
    “You want me to be the fighter you never were,” I tell him. “You want to live through me.”
    The words silence him, still him. I call it how I see it.
    “I won’t lie to you, Duncan. We’re family, and family don’t lie to each other, right?”
    “Right.”
    “I’ve treated you like my own son. I’ve given you a life. I want you to carry m y torch.” He slaps my chest, holds his hand there.
    His torch . The one he never held.
    Glass continues: “You don’t know what it’s like having my body, being robbed by my body. This piece of shit!” He thumps his hand