The Unstoppable Tony Winters Read online

  “Hmmm. I’d go lower than that. People have to be thinking that they can fight the kid and pad their records, but… he was decent in the fight against Saka. The whole time, too. Sure, maybe it was a fluke, or the one person in the world that his skills would allow that to happen with… So some will try, but a lot of them have to be thinking that it could turn out pretty poorly for them.” He smiled and glanced over at Ash for some reason. “Then… Kind of like the woman that fought the former man… The kid that won kind of has a bit of drawing power at the moment, I bet. It will be higher if he wins twice…”

  Rick nodded, clearly trying to not watch Nick like a hawk. It was a bit rude, but was the kind of thing that homosexual men probably had to be ready to handle in life. Then, that might be fair. If Anthony had been Antonia, Rick would have looked at a straight adult man touching her exactly the same way. For his part he decided to keep that idea for later, in case Nick or Raul got insulted by the behavior. It was probably even true, after all.

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Oh! Does a mop company want me to do commercials for them? Or towels? If it’s whoever makes the ones we use at the gym, tell them I’ll do it for free. Those are some incredible towels.” He meant it, since they were always white and very fluffy and soft. Most of his life towels had been a thing you used a bit reluctantly, while hoping you didn’t catch anything from them.

  Rick shook his head and teased.

  “Nope. Nothing that good. I’ll try to keep an eye out however, for that? No, you have four offers. Two are for fights, one is to study in Japan and the other is from Missy Holms.”

  Anthony tilted his head, but nodded, getting at least one of those.

  “She wants a rematch with Fox Rends too? That… I can see it.”

  Rick shook his head.

  “No. Her team wants you to come and pretend to be Fox, so she can get over her fear. Right now… She isn’t in a good way. Healed up, but not mentally.”

  He nodded then. There was only one thing that Tony could think of to say on that one. Anthony had nothing, so just went with the act.

  “Can we… Offer to let her come here? I start school in September, so I don’t know if I can manage a real fight, but if me dressing up in spandex and being beaten up will help her, then I can do that.” Really, he could travel to her too, if he could score a ride. Either way would work. This way he wouldn’t miss out on his training schedule, since he liked to go running with everyone each day.

  Everyone just looked at him, for a long while. Finally, Rick nodded.

  “I’ll run that past them? Anyway, the thing in Japan is real. You made a pretty big splash over there, I guess? It was the thing where you bowed back when Saka apologized. Accepting it like that was considered pretty honorable? So an executive there decided that you might want to go and train there full time, on his dime.” His uncle didn’t act like he should say no.

  On the good side, there was no hint that he needed to say yes hidden in his eyes.

  So Tony smiled.

  “That’s really nice of him. I’m… not really trying to be a fighter. I was thinking that I might do a little, to help pay for college, if I can get in? My grades aren’t that great so far. I do well enough in my classes, but moving every two months means that it’s been hard to be consistent that way. Still, if I can pull that out… Having some funds for it could be good, right?”

  The only one there that nodded was Jen, the others looking more or less baffled, like they were each time he mentioned not being a fighter for a living.

  “That could be a plan. Especially if you pick medicine. That costs a bit to get trained in. What do we have, fight wise for him, Rick?”

  “Erlander Hodder and Adam Forsythe.”

  For some reason Denny hissed.

  That got everyone to look over at him and Nick to nod, his head motions going large.

  “I get you on that. Hodder is the second ranked bantam in the UFC. Just him asking for a fight is… really big. Chances are you can’t beat him. He’s good, experienced and balls out tough. Strong, too. Forsythe is one of the dirtiest fighters that I’ve ever seen. Way too big to fight you. Go up against him and you will be kicked in the groin and have at least one eye gouged. What I don’t get here is Hodder. The UFC is usually pretty big on not letting their people fight outside of their organization. Tony isn’t in it, so…”

  Rick tapped the paper in front of him.

  “There was a problem there and they cut him loose. Pretty hard, too, from the sound of it. It’s clear that he’d looking for something to make a splash with, so figures that giving Tony a shot first will both give him an easy win and let people see that he’s out in the world. Forsythe…” He glanced at Jen, then Raul. “Honestly, I wasn’t going to mention that one. I understand it, after a fashion. But…”

  Rick made a face and then shrugged.

  “He dated Deirdre for a while, way back. The timing is about right for…”

  Anthony wanted to feel shocked, but didn’t really. Nick being gay was a bigger deal to him.

  “I think most people just go with a DNA test. Tell his people to send over a sample and we can see about that? Really… I don’t know, get with the Pay-Per-View people and tell them about all of this and see if they want to set up an event? That would be…”

  He didn’t know the timing on it, but shrugged, not even caring about someone wondering if they were the baby-daddy, in particular.

  Rick acted pleased enough, but also like that probably wouldn’t be happening. He could see that, but if it would help everyone else out, then it seemed like a good Tony plan to him. Besides, he honestly didn’t care if he fought or not. Not like that. Even if it was going to make some cash. A bit would probably help, so if it could work, that would be nice enough.

  Everyone seemed strained, as they left and he kind of expected to be taken to task for his part in the evening after they were gone. It would be fair. He’d run his mouth enough that he could see everyone being a bit upset with him. Probably not to the level that they’d kick him out, but he had given Raul a bit of attitude at the start. As it was, they were probably going to have to deal with that the next day, however the man planned to do that. Probably forcing Chase to take the belt back, really. That was fine. He’d been serious on that score. It was a piece of cloth to him. The white one worked exactly the same way, as far as he could tell.

  Rather than screaming, or even turning red again, the conversation once everyone had left was different.

  Jen looked at all of them, wide eyed.

  “Can you believe that? About Raul and Nick? I had no clue.”

  Ashley, who was still staying there, having gotten comfortable it seemed, nodded hugely.

  “I know! Here I was thinking of both of them as potential people to date, now that…” She took a breath and looked over at Jen. Then, she swallowed. “Um, Tony? Daren… He died.”

  Anthony nodded then, having known since the day after it happened.

  “Yeah. Hung himself in his jail cell. That… Anyway, I think the point was that now you aren’t being stalked constantly, you can get back to having a real life? I get what you meant about those two. On the good side, they just saved you weeks, or even months of looking in the wrong place. Which reminds me. I need to get someone else to take the long run tomorrow. Lexi is coming in at eight for a special run.”

  The words got Rick to nod a few times and Jen to act like he was going to be riding her back holding a whip the whole time. Which was funny, but not what he had planned.

  The blonde woman seemed concerned.

  “Um, how special?”

  Anthony held in a snicker then.

  “Five miles. Very slowly. She isn’t a runner and needs to start building up. I need a break day, so figured it would be a good time to do that. She’s thrilled, I hear?”

  Ashley just pushed his shoulder and started to walk away. Then she called out after a few steps.

  “So, you’re just going to pretend
that the Adam Forsythe thing isn’t one? He’s a middleweight or higher than that, so you know that this isn’t a real offer…”

  That made sense to Anthony. He was thin and still short, but pushing five-eight and growing fast. Probably thanks to getting decent food for a while. If the man was related to him then him being a bantamweight would have probably meant the answer was just no. The same would be true if the man was black.

  Not that Deidre didn’t date black guys, it was just that whoever his father was, the man had light skin. Even Rick tanned better than Anthony did and the man was pretty white.

  He just shrugged.

  “It doesn’t really seem like it would be all that likely, does it? Even if it is, well… I was never one of those kids that dreamed of having the perfect dad that was going to sweep in and save me. I’ve met too many of mom’s boyfriends for that. Really, that might mean that it’s true. A dirty fighter that is willing to… I don’t even know what this is really. Like I said, it’s called a DNA test. I think you can mail the stuff out now even?” He didn’t really know, but Rick nodded as if it were right.

  Anthony started to walk after Ash, since they were both up on the second floor.

  “Anyway, I’ll worry about that if it becomes a thing. Right now, I have other things to deal with. Important stuff, for my friends. Steve, Denny and Lexi.” Dani as well, but that wasn’t too hard for him. Even Lexi wasn’t since he was just on sparring for her, along with running and conditioning. She worked at the gym as a yoga instructor, during the day, so could be around for Denny in the evenings for her training then.

  He’d had to quit his job to train anyway, so had the time.

  Going into his room, after saying goodnight to everyone, he got ready for bed pretty quickly. Then he laid there, thinking. Not about Nick’s revelation, or that Adam guy…

  No, he thought about the new moves that he’d been shown the night before. There had been twelve of them, so he reviewed them all. Then did everything else that he knew how to do, since it made sense to keep it all fresh. After that, tired, he let himself drift off.

  There were dreams, most of which weren’t that great, but he felt all right when he got up. That day Rick was already gone when he got down the stairs. That was odd, since it was early. So much so that Anthony looked around, questioning what was going on. Jen was up and making breakfast.

  That looked to be eggs, which she liked to have scrambled, along with half an avocado. Turning to look at him, dressed in her skin tight shorts and a shirt that was probably a sports bra made of breathable material, she lit up.

  “Rick headed in early, to make those calls? That’s going to take up most of his day. I should have this ready in a minute. I hear it’s going to be hot again, so we might close early. Ash got out two hours ago, for the run.”

  They’d all been going out at about five in the morning, since it was impossible to run in the afternoons now. If late July had been hard, a lot of the afternoons in August were clearly trying to murder people. Then, starting a few days back it had eased a bit. Not enough, but he was used to it and the gym had stayed open until later in the day again.

  Lexi was there at eight, which was cool enough to go out for an hour and jog slowly. It was closer to two, since she still kind of shuffled instead of ran, but that was all right. She’d get there, as long as she kept showing up and doing the work.

  The girl was pretty and close enough to his own age that it would have been pretty easy to imagine getting together with her. Not for real dating, since she was twenty, but just hooking up seemed more than possible. Except the part where she might actually be a good person, who wouldn’t do things like that. She didn’t even flirt with him really. She was friendly, but not in a huggy, or cuddly way. Most of the time. Now, drenched with her own sweat, she just glared at him as they got in. It was fake though, since he’d taken it easy on her and she had to know it.

  “Now I have to shower again before work.”

  He nodded at that one. He didn’t, normally, after his run, but it was, more or less, a rest day for him. That meant getting cleaned up for once, before going around and making certain that everyone had water and clean towels to mop their brows with. Especially if it were going to be hot.

  That meant he was in the gym on the first floor, where the MMA types liked to work most days. They had more rooms than that, since the place was huge. Today, instead of working with anyone, he was there to be helpful. At least that was the Tony plan. It almost always was, after all. For one thing, he didn’t really want people to know what he was actually like. Not that he was evil or anything, but they still might not think he was all that great, if they met him.

  These were good people and deserved to see the same from him. If he could keep the act up.

  Raul waved, smiling.

  “Right, Tony! Let’s roll. Grappling only, show me what Chase and the others have been teaching you. Full out.”

  It was interesting, then. They were on the side mat and barely moved at all, as they struggled against each other for about two hours. They stood at times and twice Raul stopped him and made corrections to what he was doing. Then, at the end, he nodded at him.

  “I see. I understand now, why Chase has decided to bend the rules a little. I would have as well. You need to become smoother with everything and you are missing a few moves. I’ll talk to Chase on that, later. How long do you think it will be for you to become proficient with what you know right now, to the level say, of your boxing?”

  That was hard to know, so he shrugged.

  “There’s more to it. A lot. I’d guess… Well, if I work on it, about a month or two? Why, do you have a fight coming up? I’m mainly trying to work out what Diego Vidal might be able to learn, if he wants to try and actually not be beaten up by a girl. He’s had a few months already, so he might be better than this, right?”

  Raul tilted his head, like he was considering something.

  “Truly? I doubt it. The man, from the description, has very little incentive to learn new things for this. My best guess would be that he comes in either almost unconditioned, or perhaps holding very good muscular strength. That is the normal thought if one seeks to fight a woman, to overwhelm her in a manner that she cannot compete. Then, this is what you mentioned to me, so what do you say on it?”

  “Given that build up? It sounds brilliant. Probably true as well, but if there’s a one percent chance of him thinking outside the box, then I need to as well.”

  That got him slapped on the shoulder. Which was once again covered in sweat.

  “There will always be a need for a man who can work in several different styles at high levels, so I will test you again in a month. Keep your work on this up, if you can? Now, Nick has told me that Robert is making good progress? When do you think we should see to setting up his first professional fight? I hear he’s interested and only waiting to gain enough skill.”

  Which was the problem. The man had that already. Enough for a low level pro fight. What he needed was conditioning. He nearly didn’t say that, but it was the truth. The man was on the high end that way, for an amateur, but low for a professional.

  That got him to stop then and think. He was a bit older and had a job during the day, which meant training in the evenings most of the time. He was dedicated. He’d been getting up early to run in the mornings before work. That was done sitting in an office, so he could rest during the day, too.

  “I’ll talk to Rick about it? I think that he could be ready in two or three months, if he has a goal to work toward.”

  The other man nodded at him, as if he were being wise.

  “Yes. This will be a good thing. Very good!”

  Chapter three

  Given that he had little to do except for shower again and get to his important water provision job, it made sense to Anthony that he see his uncle right after the first round of things. While he hoped to make the situation more pleasant for everyone else, the truth was they were all adults and coul
d get water for themselves. Towels as well. They managed to pick them up from the numerous stacks of the things all over the place at any rate. At least the bins of used ones were filling up nicely enough.

  The heat wasn’t even brutal yet, still being before eleven. Not that it wouldn’t be in a few hours. He was able to tell that one already.

  His plan was to study different recordings of people and run around being useful until they closed. There was no sparring planned that day, which was good, since he was a bit sore from Steve still. He’d worked decently hard with Raul earlier, but the man hadn’t been pounding him with his fists, just trying to get him into different holds or choke him out. That had taken real work, but was a lot gentler in a way.

  In Rick’s office, he found the man himself, sitting there nodding as he held a phone to his ear.

  Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, so about a minute, he looked over to see him there in the doorway. That got him smiled at. Then there was at wave one of the two chairs beside his desk. Not in front of it, like a school principal, to the side, so that you were almost behind the desk with him. It sent a very different message.

  Anthony got into the seat, which was nice enough, having a cushion on it, though the kind that would get sticky if he sat there for too long. That was a deep blue color, which had a shine to it, indicating that it wasn’t all that old. Really, most of the place was either new or very nicely cared for all the time. The signs of age, or neglect, just weren’t there.

  There was a slow nod, which built up a bit, until Rick spoke.

  “That sounds fine. Can you send that… Excellent. I’ll get with the team here and set that in motion then. Great. I’m glad that you’re in with us.” The phone call didn’t end then, but it did about three minutes later, with a bit of fake laughing. It was pretty good, but seeing Rick’s face it was easy to see that he was a bit tired out by it all.

  “Tony. Sorry about that. Things, you know? Anyway, what can I do for you?”

  The words were a bit off and held the edge of being a lie. They didn’t meet up with what he’d been saying on the phone, for one thing. The man was acting strange.