“Apologies, Mr. Volkov. I didn’t know who you were. I want to use your precious time wisely. My subordinate had finalized a few things with Mr. Benjamin over the Zoom call, but we needed a few changes. It’s about the percentage share in the import and export from the Red Cargo crates. We need a raise in the percentage that you have decided for us,” The leader gazed at Bryce and Dimitri, unsure if he should carry on since Volkov didn’t have any reaction to his words.
When Dimitri and Bryce nodded at him, he was about to continue speaking when Volkov bent forward, ready to speak, making him expect his words.
“Benjamin offered you 30% of the gross revenue. Earlier, you used to get 50% of the net revenue. If we calculate for a $100 million deal, you will get 30 million dollars according to our dealership when you used to get 22. 8 million dollars.” Volkov took a whiff of his wine.
“And did I mention it was after you used to risk getting caught by the cops all the time? More than 20-50 thousand dollars are always spent in getting your men bailed. And after all this, you want a raise? Why? Can you give a plausible reason for it?” Volkov took a sip from his wine.
“If I were in my brother’s place, I would’ve offered 24% of the total revenue. It would still be a beneficial deal for you, no? What would you be doing? The men will be ours, the risk will be ours, not to mention we will also bear the transportation and error costs from the client, yet you want to negotiate the revenue?” Volkov scoffed.
To say Bryce and Dimitri were astonished would be an understatement. They had always thought that after taking his teaching job to get Aaliyah, Volkov wasn’t serious anymore. However, his today’s performance showed that he was up to date with everything. Not only that, he knew all the facts in depth that even they didn’t know.
“Do you think we are so desperate for this collaboration that we will bear such loss just for friendship? Do you want to take advantage of our goodwill?” Volkov asked, making the leader pause.
Seeing the leader pondering over his words, Volkov looked at the manager of the ring.
“How are the games coming along?” Volkov asked casually, and the manager, who was in awe of Volkov’s aura and debate attitude, came out of his daze before coughing hurriedly.
“Mr. Volkov, first I would like to thank you for honoring our place with your presence. The games are coming off good. Today is a good day. It’s the betting and earning day for the ring. Today many people come to bet on their favorite fighters and win money if their fighter wins,” The manager said before looking at his phone.
“The bet has already reached 1 million dollars. The highest bet is the interesting one. If you would like to make a bet, you can easily win this. It’s the fight between one of our good players, Conar and a girl. They think an amateur girl is fighting against Conar, and almost everyone has bet on Conar. They are in for a bigger surprise,” The manager said, and Volkov didn’t know what to think about it.
The manager revealed all the secrets to him because he wanted to invest in the ring. Is he capable of running the ring in the long run? Volkov thought before looking towards the window of the room.
It didn’t take a fool to guess that the manager was trying to suck up to him because of the amount of investment he had discussed earlier.
“The next fight is the one I am talking about,” The manager urged, and Volkov looked at the leader who was discussing things with his members.
“I am interested in this one. You have enough time to think about your choices while I enjoy this. Think carefully before making any useless demands. Your next words will decide the fate of this collaboration,” Volkov said, and the leader nodded his head warily.
“Please enjoy the game. We will discuss a little before letting you know our decision,” The leader smiled bitterly as he felt like he was being cornered, and Volkov walked towards the balcony of the first floor to see the game with a better view.
“Volkov, are you sure about it? It was Benjamin’s plan,” Bryce asked, feeling unsure.
“Then he should’ve been here to execute it. He wants my support and help. I will give my opinions. He doesn’t like it? Get lost. Besides, what the hell is even going on in the gang these days? Is there something that I should know but you guys are hiding from me?” Volkov asked without looking at him, and Bryce sighed..
“Nothing that I know about. We came here with you, and the only connection we have with the main branch is through Shane,” Bryce said.
“This is a good place. I now understand why you want to invest in this place,” Bryce commented with a smile as he looked around before settling his gaze on the ring, his eyes widening ever so slightly when he looked at the fighters in the ring.
“Don’t tell me you are also seeing what I am seeing,” Bryce said, and Volkov smiled interestingly.
Leaning his body on the railing, he supported his face on his palm as he looked at the ring with a mischievous smile.
“Interesting,” He commented, and Bryce looked at Volkov, unsure.
No wonder the manager was urging them to watch this game. It was really surprising and unexpected. When he had said the fight of Conar was against a girl, they hadn’t thought the girl to be this young.
“That girl barely looks like a teenager,” Bryce commented as they looked at the girl with a face mask, wearing shorts, a sports bra, and boxing bandages in her hands.
‘What is with people wearing face masks these days?’ Bryce thought as he looked at the ring curiously, wanting to know the identity of this daring girl, who looked like she was here to commit suicide.
What does this girl have gone through to come here like this? This wasn’t a usual place where girls made their presence known, and the biggest evidence was the lack of girls in the whole arena. The only women present in the watching area were also accompanying their men. Only a few of them were actually here to bet.
“Why are they even allowing -” Bryce turned to look at Volkov, who had a dazed-curious look before looking back at the ring.
It was rare for Volkov to feel interested in something. What could be so good about this match? Don’t tell him Volkov’s evil urges were surfacing because of meeting the gang, and he was trying to find solace in the miseries of this girl, who looked like she was going to get beaten up. Bryce sighed before turning to Dimitri, who looked like he had the same thoughts.
“Fighters ready?” The ring manager asked before nodding at the referee.
“One, two, three,” The referee blew the whistle, and Conar cracked the bones in his neck before taking a fighting stance.
“It was both stupid and brave of you to stand for fighting against me. You know, there’s still some time to back off. No one is going to come after you if you retreat right now. Things like these happen all the time. Besides, you are just a young girl,” Conar commented arrogantly, trying to get the upper hand on the girl by scaring her off, but when he didn’t get the reaction he was trying to get, his smirk turned into a frown.
“Come on. Attack me,” Conar raised his hands, and Aaliyah looked at Ashton, who showed her two thumbs up.
Just as Aaliyah had predicted, only three people placed the bet on her. The other two people only bet $500 each, but Ashton went out of his way and made a bet of $5000.
“Beat his ass, baby!” Ashton cheered with everyone who was cheering for Conar to win, and Aaliyah chuckled at his words before looking at Conar, who looked like he was running out of patience.
“Okay. If you don’t care about yourself, why should I?” Conar said one last time before he launched himself at Aaliyah, who skillfully started dodging his punches and kicks.
It was as if she had changed into a different person. She jumped on her toes, bending, jumping back, moving swiftly in the ring as if she was showing some kind of gymnastic martial arts show.
“Where are you running off?” Conar growled, and Aaliyah smiled before flicking him off, making him even angrier than he was.
Launching himself with full power, he raised his hand to punch her face, and rather than dodging, Aaliyah turned around and kicked his abdomen before his hand could even touch her face, sending him a few steps away as he rolled on the ground.
“You b*tch! I was trying to go easy on you, but I guess you don’t deserve it,” Conar growled, and Aaliyah, who felt like this was getting better, smiled under the mask, nodding her head as if dancing to some kind of rhythm.
Walking towards Conar, she leaned a little before scoffing.
“F*ck off,” She murmured, loud enough for him to hear, and Conar placed his hand on his knees, chuckling to himself.
“You are good at deceiving people,” He stood abruptly, kicking Aaliyah’s legs that she barely dodged, stumbling back.
“I won’t go easy on you anymore,” Conar said before he went into full fighting mode on her, punching her with the highest speed, and Aaliyah raised her hands in front of her face, dodging all of his punches with his hands.
“What are you waiting for? Get this over with!” Ashton shouted near the ring, and Aaliyah, who was distracted for the moment, stumbled back when a punch landed on the side of her shoulder.
Ashton felt bad for Aaliyah for getting hit, but more than that, he felt bad for Conar. It was all fun until Aaliyah was playing with him, but now hell went loose.
“You are strong,” Aaliyah murmured while moving her shoulders circularly to ease the pain, squinting her brows before cracking the bones in her neck.
Sighing quickly, she launched herself into an attack mode for the first time. Circling the ring on her toes, she raised her legs before kicking Conar recklessly.
He was able to dodge the first three kicks quickly, but he didn’t know it was just the distraction she needed as she suddenly turned her body and kicked him in the direction he was dodging, her foot hitting his jaws, making him stumble back.
She gave him a straight kick in his chest before turning around and kicking his abdomen. Raising her legs, she brought them down swiftly, kicking his left shoulder, and before Conar could recover from her previous attacks, she slid on the ground towards him and punched the side of his face, holding his hand and twisting it behind him.
Conar removed her hand with a jerk before trying to kick her legs, and everyone thought that Conar would get her this time, but to everyone’s shock, she jumped in the air, landing on her hands before she rolled on the ground, a few feet away from Conar.
Everyone, who was earlier rooting and shouting for Conar, confident that they would win the match today and get this easy money even if it was little, went silent, and Ashton smiled in his head.
This girl. Doesn’t she like a bit of attention here and there?
He was happy that she was winning, but for some reason, he didn’t like how some men looked at her as if she was some kind of trophy, waiting to be claimed.
She was moving gracefully, not to mention how her large ass and br*ast made her even more attractive.
Clenching his fists, he looked at the girl, who looked like she was just starting at this game. There was only one way to end this quickly in a couple of minutes, and he didn’t like that he was using it.
“Babe, it’s your mom calling,” Ashton shouted, and since most of the people were silent, his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. The next thing they saw, the girl went evil mode, punching Conar again and again, before she landed a final kick to his nose, knocking him out, and making his hard body fall on the ground as if he was dead.
Volkov, who had been looking at the girl with the gaze of a hawk, looked at Ashton before smiling at the girl.
“So the fear of mother is real? No wonder,” he mumbled to himself with a soft smile, confusing Bryce.
Looking at the empty glass in his hand, Volkov raised his brows when he saw a man standing behind him, ready to attack him.
“You thought you could attack me just because I am not looking?” Volkov’s words confused Bryce, and before he could turn around, Volkov kicked the man behind him before bringing his knife out of his pocket and slicing his chest in a swift motion, the blood splashing on his trousers and shirt, making him grumble.