World Away

Part 2

Violet stood in the locker room undoing the tape around her hands. Tonight didn't go as planned. She was supposed to lose tonight because Hank wanted to cause some drama before the championship match, but her opponent fought unfairly. It wasn't uncommon in underground rings, but when the match is rigged it's not wanted. It started with him grabbing her hair and escalated to him striking her spine. He got disqualified. Lucky for him it was a weekday match and Hank didn't seem to care that much, so it didn't matter toward his career in the underground. Weekday fights were for entertainment and to hype the tournament fights on the weekend. The most that would happen to him was a slap on the wrist. Violet may have won this one on a technicality, but she didn't feel like she won at all.

She pulled her bra off to look at the bruise forming under her right shoulder blade in the mirror in her locker. Before whenever she got bruises, she looked at them as trophies. She had survived and she had battle scars to prove it. Now everything was different. Sure she survived, but she didn't feel like she deserved it. There was guilt behind it because of how she got it. That and it hurt like a bitch. She finally pulled on her shirt so she could tend to her other wounds.

She also reopened the cut on her forehead, the one that never seemed to heal. John tried to put Vaseline on it, but not enough before the fight ended. It was still bleeding pretty bad.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Come in," she said. Violet faced her open locker expecting to hear John behind her, rambling on about something she didn't care about except she was met with silence. "John, if you came back to yell at me for something I did that'll mess with you career, I'll rip your tongue out. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit."

"Well thanks for the warning, but I hope you'll at least talk to me," came a voice Violet didn't recognize. It was softer than John's, but more confident. She turned around to be met with a brown haired man in a navy blue suit. His hair was gelled back and he wore a watch that probably cost more than her whole life. Damn he was handsome.

"Oh, uh...I'm sorry I thought you were someone else," she said softly and a little ashamed that she yelled at this man.

"Quite already. You're Violet Williams, am I right?" he asked stepping a little closer to her.

"Yes," she said with a nod, not meeting his eyes fully.

"My name is Tom Holland. I'm the new owner of the club up stairs and ring down here."

Wait, what? The Tom Holland. He was the one Hank never shut up about, kept saying how good friends he was with the biggest mobster in London. Talked about how they did business all the time and how he was going to rise up in this business with Tom Holland on his side. Violet thought he was just talking out his ass. She never believed him until now.

And she just yelled at him, threatening to cut out his tongue. If he's the new owner, he could have her head and feed to the dogs for saying that to him.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean it. I was just-" Tom starting laughing to himself making Violet stop rambling.

"Darling, it's fine. I'm not going to beat the shit out for that. Just don't do it again," he said with smile, to show he what he said was light hearted.

There was a brief moment were Tom just looked at Violet. Normally if someone was staring at her, Violet would feel comfortable, but she didn't completely hate his gaze. His eyes were soft, not like a predator who wanted something from her, but like person admiring the scenery. But you could tell they held a dark history. A part of her wanted to figure out what that was, but she opted to break the silence.