Pride (Bareknuckle Boxing Brotherhood Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

saleable.
    Camila huffed a big breath before dialing, reminding herself that she’d been taught manners and reciting Mattie’s old adage that you catch more flies with honey. So with honey in her voice, she told the recalcitrant estate agent hello.
    “Yes, I’m in the living quarters now above the pub. I’m here to sell the pub, since you didn’t see fit to tell me it was sitting on an illegal fight club.”
    “It was a bit of a thorny thing, you see. Those fights are important to the families in these little towns. They bring people together, like any sport.”
    “I’m sure it’s a total Hallmark moment when little Johnny gets his adult teeth knocked out for the first time. But spare me the poems about how it’s tradition and it’s harmless. It’s violence for entertainment, and I hate violence. I’m shutting the fight club the day after this current tournament ends, and then you can sell the place outright, no complications.”
    “You’re not understanding the way this will affect the community.”
    “I don’t care how it affects the community. If they need a gathering place to bond, they can go to church or the girlie bar with the strippers for all I care. I get that you’re a Dolan and your family likes boxing, but that’s not really my concern.”
    “Dolans like fighting? That’s a bit like saying the fishes like water. The only way to keep a Dolan out of the boxing ring is to put him in the graveyard, my father always says!”
    “How quaint and colorful. Thank you for sharing that with me. Now, from what I understand, you’re the only estate agent around, so I need you to sell this joint for me when I’m done with it. I’m letting the town have its three-fight tourney as a goodwill gesture.” She crossed her fingers at the lie and didn’t mention the hot water heater she wanted. “So I’ll expect the same good faith when we do business. You find a buyer once the fight club is shut down and sell it, cash on the barrelhead, no leases or contracts for deed or any of that nonsense. I want my ties with this place and my father cut forever. Did that sound melodramatic?” She sighed.
    “A wee bit, yes,” Callie Dolan replied with a laugh that gave Camila hope that they could work together after all.
    “Look, I know I’m pushing you, and I know I’m not what anyone here is used to. I’m not friendly or looking to become part of the big, happy, gloveless-fighting family. But I do appreciate your patience, and I do need your help. I’ll get this place cleaned up so it’s easier for you to market, and I’ll take the heat for running out the fights. I’ll be sure everyone in this town knows you fought me tooth and claw to keep the boxing in the picture.”
    “I’ll sell your place for you, but it won’t be easy. No one wanted to deal with the legal issue of the fight club, but no more does anyone in these parts want to be the owner who did away with Fight Night at the Cheek. It’s an institution. My own da used to take me to see it.”
    “That’s very…unusual. But, I suppose, quite progressive that he included his daughter in his love of sport,” she managed to say.
    “Yes, I was treated as good as the boys, I reckon.”
    “Just as it should be,” Camila hedged.
    “I’ll work up an advert for your place. I’ll see you at the tournament, then?”
    “I’ll be there,” Camila said.
    “I wouldn’t miss it. It’ll be such a bittersweet finale, the last fight at the Cheek.” The woman almost sounded choked up.
    When Camila put down the phone, she checked the clock and determined there was enough time left to get a few simple things from the shop. If Mattie had taught her one thing, it was to make do with little.
    She gathered eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, and threw in an overpriced chunk of Pecorino cheese, because Mattie always said that a little bit of luxury went a long way. She changed to her last pair of clean jeans and put on some smoky eye makeup, tying her