Ace of Spades (Underground Affair Series Book 1) by Michelle Iannarelli Page B

Arena?”
    “We, uhh…we had a fight.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    Declan looked up and saw Shane take a blow to his face.
    “Fuck! Shane’s hit.”
    Kaylee started watching to see if Shane was alright.
    When Declan saw Rick signal a Tap Out, he picked up Kaylee and twirled her around as he yelled, “YESSSSS!!” He slid her body down his but he stopped as her lips aligned with his. He could feel her warm breath and see her cheeks growing pink. He kissed her on the lips, sucking in her bottom lip but then he felt Kaylee stiffen, so he pulled back and gently placed Kaylee down.
    “I’m sorry. I got caught up in the excitement. It won’t happen again.”
    Kaylee didn’t say a word. She just left.

    Shane stepped out of the cage and was greeted by Chace, Ace, the media and a crowd of fans. He looked for Robert but couldn’t seem to find him. Shane spoke to a few reporters before Buddy escorted him to his locker room. Shane wanted to pull on sweats and a t-shirt before he got dragged to the hospital to have his head stitched up.
    “Shane, I’m going to check on Rick. I will be right back. Then we need to get that head of yours looked at.”
    Shane hugged Buddy. “Thanks. You’re the best, Buddy.”
    “You’re a good kid, Shane. Now go get your ass moving. I’ll be back in two minutes.”
    Shane barely made it inside before Robert started yelling at him, “I can’t believe you fucked this up for me!”
    “What?”
    “You fucked everything up, Shane!”
    “I, I don’t understand.”
    “You always drop your opponent in Round Three, I've gone over all your fights.”
    “If you haven’t noticed, I’m bleeding. I had to act fast before they pulled me. What the fuck does it matter? I still won.”
    “All you care about is winning. Well your win just cost me fifty thousand dollars.”
    Shane grabbed Robert by the throat and pushed him up against the wall.
    “You bet on my fight? You’re gambling again?”
    Robert managed to swing his arm up and hit Shane in his already swollen bloody eye. Shane released his grip on Robert. Robert shoved Shane, causing him to bang his head on the bench as he fell to the floor. Seeing Shane lying on the floor unconscious and in what was becoming a small pool of blood caused Robert to panic.
    “Shane, Shane, oh my God, Shane.”
    Buddy walked in, “What the hell is going on in here? I can hear you two…”
    Buddy noticed Shane on the floor, he rushed over to his side.
    “What happened?”
    “He just collapsed.”
    “Call an ambulance.”

    Chace stayed in the Arena manning the security detail. Ace went upstairs to tell Declan about the fight.
    “Shane took Rick out in Round Two.”
    “I know, I said I wasn’t going to, but I watched the fight. He did us proud.”
    Declan walked over to his desk and sat down.
    “Dec, look I don’t know exactly what went down between you two but you need to fix it. You’re both miserable. Shane got clocked because he was distracted, I’m sure it was because you weren’t there. He scanned the room every chance he got. I think he was hoping you’d show.”
    “He doesn’t need me, he has Robert.”
    Ace’s phone started ringing.
    “What’s up?”
    “Shane collapsed, the ambulance is on its way.”
    “Where…where is he?”
    “His locker room.”
    “I’ll be right down.”
    “What’s going on?”
    “That was Chace. Shane collapsed, they called an ambulance.”
    Ace turned around to leave and realized Declan wasn’t following him.
    “Dec, you’re not coming?”
    “Keep me posted.”
    Ace gave Declan a look of disbelief and then ran to the elevator.

    Shane started blinking his eyes. He could feel the cold, wet blood on his face and neck. He couldn’t really see out of his left eye anymore.
    “Shane, Shane can you hear me?”
    “Chace.”
    “You’re going to be ok, Shane.”
    “Help me up.”
    “Listen to me, you need to lie still. The ambulance just got here and they’re going to take you to the