CHAPTER 1: Adonis? In Real Life?
A sharp buzz from my phone makes me wince.
Tonight’s fight night, and the look my best friend and mentor, Zach, was giving me from across the room earlier was not a good one. I’ve been on edge all night; I know something’s about to happen and that I just have to wait for the other shoe to drop.
My phone buzzes again and I sigh as I pull it out. It’s Zach.
It’s starting. Get your ass out here.
I roll my eyes and push off the plastic gray bench, pushing out of the door of the girl’s bathroom and into the club. Hundreds of people mill around me, drinks in their hands, laughing and talking as they wait for the fights to start.
It’s an underground fighting ring. Fight to the motherfucking death and back.
People pay extra to watch front-row.
I text Charlotte, my daughter, an I love you, baby, before shutting the phone off and zipping it into the front of my bag pocket. She usually stays over at her best friend’s house on Fridays, which is Fight Night as I call it, until I manage to get my ass out of whatever healing facility I’m in that day to pick her up on Saturday morning. She’s ten, beautiful, and the only person other than Zach that I would give my life for.
I pull the hood of my jacket up and fasten it into place so that it doesn’t fall while I’m fighting. This club is just a few miles down from campus and a lot of kids from college come over to watch the fights on Fridays.
We definitely can’t let shit happen.
Most of my money comes from here and a waitressing job I work most days in between classes and Char’s school. It’s tight, but we make it work.
Today was graduation, and these next few nights will be our last here. Forever. I hate this town, I hate the people in it, and I hate the fact it feels like each new city is like my own personal prison. There’s no place where I can relax and be myself, there’s no place that I can take Char out to and not be motherfucking afraid and paranoid as hell.
It’s time to leave. I’ve already overextended my stay so that I could get my Master’s degree in and finally get a job and a place that both Char and I love and can live in. There’s a place being held for me at an amazing firm in Hawaii, all the way across the damn country and beyond, but Char is so excited to finally see sandy beaches and large huts and glasshouses that I can’t deny it, no matter how far it is.
I crack my neck twice and start jogging out of the hallway and into the path made for the fighters as the cheapass announcer calls out my name.
My fake name, actually.
“Here comes one of our very own, the undefeated Mr. Alex ‘The Killer’ Steel!” his deep voice rumbles as my feet pound against the steps to the boxing ring. I eye my opponent from afar as I set my bag down on the edge of the ring. My assigned medic, Kate, and Zach stand near the bench where I sit, waiting for the ref.
“He’s motherfucking huge,” Kate mutters. “How the fuck are you supposed to fight that shit?”
And fucking sexy as hell, I think.
That’s a waste of a pretty face.
And a god-fucking-damn beautiful body.
He has corded muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles.
Yeah, Kate’s right. He’s at least five times the size of me, and I’m no tiny thing.
Surprisingly, Zach hasn’t said anything. He’s staring across the room at something I can’t make out from my spot in the ring.
Bright hazel eyes stare at my hood covered face, and with one look at my frame, the Adonis walks over to the ref and flat out tells him no.
The referee is this thin ass, frail-looking old dude with white hair that I think doesn't even know half of the rules to street-fighting.
Granted, there aren’t many, but still.
The ref rolls his eyes and sighs, like his job is the bane of his existence. He turns to me and starts moving to give me the win, but for some motherfucking reason, I jump up, rip off my hood, and say, “Why the hell won’t you fight me?”
Look, I’m not one to take things when they are given. I work for my shit and come out motherfucking stronger, and there’s no one to tell me I can’t do shit. So when the uber-hot man turns around and says, “What the fuck?” in a deepass voice that makes my toes curl, I place my hands on my hip and say slowly, “Why. The fuck. Won’t you fight me?” I didn’t even care or comprehend the gasps behind me, the screams of recognition and realization. Thankfully, phones and cameras are all taken at the front at the coat rack for safety purposes, otherwise, Char and I would have been beyond fucked instead of just fucked in general.
Yeah, America’s top streetfighter was under your noses all of this time and you never noticed where the fuck she went every day and every night?
Your fault, bitches.
He stares at me, fire burning through his gaze as his hazel eyes run up and down my body before narrowing his eyes at my face. My gaze ran over his strong jaw, his slightly hooked nose that told me it was broken once before, his beautiful hazel eyes that had laugh lines in the corner, and the fully built, shirtless body that had heat pooling in between my thighs.
I locked eyes with him and my body flares with arousal. It feels like something that I never knew I could feel, something that I never knew existed, was rising from deep inside my body. Something clicked, something told me that this man was someone I need to trust. Something told me that this man was part of what I needed to be myself, that he was meant to be a part of my life.
And...cue the curtains.
What. The fuck. Is that?
I always knew I was different. I always knew that something was up the entire time I was growing up, whether it was the fact that my parents were gone without a trace when I was one or that my grandparents were sneaky snakes and still are motherfucking assholes.
Yeah, no, they’ve been the cause of all of my problems for most of my life.
Scratch that, problems before I was even born.
Yeah, I have a sucky family.
I’m not running from them because they’re the most disgusting, evil rich monsters that you’ll ever meet, but because I never want Charlotte to grow up in that shit. Ever.
But this shit?
A whole ’nother motherfucking level.
Hotass Adonis looks at me and says in the lowest voice possible, “Take Charlotte and get your ass out of here. Don’t worry about your shit, just bring a bag some clothes for the both of you and don’t spend too much time at your house. There’s a car in the back of the bar with directions to a house in New York City. Shit’s coming.”
“Who the fuck are you, and how do you know my daughter’s name?” I snarl, my fists clenching as I bend my knees into my defensive stance.
Fire smolders in his hazel eyes and I shiver involuntarily, heart racing in my chest as I feel his fiery gaze rake over me. “Go,” he whispers. “It’s the only way I can protect you from the shit that’s about to come.”
That’s all it takes to make me turn around and go back down the lane I came in from.
******
Hey, loves!
Welcome to the first chapter of my new book, A Destiny Forgotten. It's a wonderful, action-packed, romance-filled adventure (and I'm telling you, there's going to be a lot of sex,) that you will literally not be able to put down - or in this case, should I say, stop scrolling.
A reverse harem is a polyamorous relationship in which multiple men are in one relationship with one woman. Sometimes, they can also be in a relationship with the other men, but in my story, they're all just infatuated with Raven.
I'm probably not going to update this book as often - maybe once every week or two - as I don't have much written in advance. I'm also sort of stuck on a specific part later in the story, but I'll try and see how far I can go.
I'm really scared to write this story especially as I've never really written a true reverse harem before, but I'm also really excited.
If you haven't noticed yet, my AN's are usually pretty long.
Sorry 'bout that.
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day and rest of your week. Stay safe and healthy.
Much love,
Tanvi.
