Read Online Because of His Name by Kelly Favor - Free Book Online

even Grace could tell that the man was tiring.
    Meanwhile, Liam was getting slowly
stronger and more confident.   The
two wrestled standing up, their arms intertwined, trying to force each other to
move.   It looked like a stalemate,
as for thirty seconds or so, they were tied up and nobody was punching.
    They
must both be exhausted ,
she thought.
    But suddenly, Liam pulled his arms free
and unleashed a combination of five or six punches in a row, and Mack staggered
backwards.   Liam continued to throw
hard punches to his opponent’s body, and Mack crumpled a little.
    The crowd was going wilder and wilder as
they witnessed the drama unfolding in such unexpected fashion.
    Mack tried to reassert himself, swinging
at Liam, but Liam stretched his arms wide and taunted Mack.
    “Come on!” Liam shouted.   “Hit me!”   He stuck his chin out, and Mack tried to
hit him, but Liam just moved his head ever so slightly.   “What’s wrong?” he said, moving forward.   “What’s wrong?   Are you tired?” Liam laughed.   “Hit me, motherfucker!”
    Mack swung again, and this time the punch
landed flush on Liam’s jaw, but he shrugged it off as if it was nothing.   And then he threw two hard, straight
punches that sent Mack’s head snapping backwards and his legs buckled.
    Grace found herself cheering with the
rest of them, moving with them, trying to see what happened next as the crowd
converged on the final moments of the fight.
    Liam grabbed Mack around the head and
began launching vicious knees to his opponent’s midsection.   Two knees landed, and as Mack crumpled
down to protect his body, Liam kneed him in the face, and the man went
completely limp, falling flat on his face.  
    His body twitched a few times and the
referee stepped in and called the fight over, as the crowd surged once more,
enveloping Liam.
    Grace felt like she was caught in a tidal
wave of people, as she was moved against her own will.
    It was frightening, and she was only
trying to keep her feet.
    She caught a glimpse of Liam—and Viggy,
Mack’s new manager—pushing and shoving one another, and then one of their
goons punched Liam in the face out of nowhere and the crowd became a mosh pit
of violence.
    Everywhere she looked, people were
fighting.  
    It was a riot.
    She ducked down and pushed her way
through the crowd, trying to avoid getting hit herself.
    More than anything, she just wanted to
find him.   To find
Liam.
    The jostling from the people around her
was getting more intense.   Someone
grabbed her arm.   “Hey girlie, where
you going?   You like the fights?”
    She turned her head to see a grinning guy
with a cap pulled low over his forehead and a tank top with the words KILL on
it.  
    “Fuck off,” she said, and jerked her arm
away from him.
    “Stupid cunt,” he said.
    She pushed forward once again, getting
more and more scared now as people were truly unruly, fighting, yelling about
money-and then she heard someone shouting about the police.
    Soon more and more people were trying to
escape the riot, and sirens could be heard dimly above the fray.
    “Shit,” Grace said, as she fell forward
and her hand was almost stepped on by a booted foot.
    At the last second, she pulled her hand
away and then someone was grabbing her from behind.
    “Get the hell away from me!” she shouted,
struggling.
    “Relax, Grace—It’s just me,” Liam
said, and she spun to find him there.
    Her relief turned to concern as she saw
that his nose was pouring blood and he looked completely beaten up, with cuts
and scrapes, red marks and bruising on his face.
    “Oh my God, your nose,” she said.
    “Let’s get out of here,” he told her,
ignoring her worry, as people cheered him and slapped him on the back, even as
they were still yelling and fighting and running.
    It was complete and utter pandemonium.
    Grace allowed him to take her by the hand
and lead her out of the crowd and through a small, unused hallway, up the
stairs—finally