Chapter 62: Lexa

The rest of the week went by fast. I passed my physical, and the meeting with Mr. Cantrell went okay. We were able to take care of all the contract paperwork for the research facility and finalize all the legal stuff for AST Enterprise. I had him draw up a contract for Abby stating that she was CEO of the company and had the power to make all decisions about the research facility. Unfortunately, Collins' attorneys didn't want to sign off on the deal I had laid out for Finn. They were unwilling to have him register as a sex offender and were not happy that I wanted him to go to rehab.

Their counteroffer was for me to pay Finn one million dollars, and he would sign the NDA about both the rape and payout. I told Mr. Cantrell to offer 500,000, a signed NDA on the rape and payout, plus a signed non-contact order for the Collins family with either Clarke or me. I said to give him two weeks to think about this final offer.

Clarke continued to stay with me, which I loved, and her brother and his family were staying with Abby. Abby was loving having Sabrina around. Lucas helped me train, and I could really tell the difference in my ground game. Clarke was working all the time, and I only saw her briefly at night, but that was fine for now.

When Saturday came, I couldn't wait to get in the cage with Keya Bagdi. I had O, Bellamy, Jose, and Lucas in my corner and, of course, the rest of the crew and group of friends in the crowd. Unfortunately, Clarke had to work. Before the fight, I stopped by to see Sloan and find out the odds of the fight. She informed me that I was a -600 favorite to win the fight but a +1600 to end the fight in under a minute. That was actually surprisingly good odds. I ask what the max bet was, and she said that Mickey had a new investor, and the cap per fight was now $500,000. I placed my bet for the max for me to win in under a minute.

Once in the cage, we were called out to the center for the final instructions. Like last time Keya started running his mouth, saying that I got a lucky punch the last time, and it wouldn't happen again. He also had a few derogatory remarks about my sexuality. My response was to look him in the eyes and say, "I'm going to end this fight in under a minute, and there is nothing that you can do about it."

He laughs and says, "You want to bet?"

"Sure?" He waves to a guy in the crowd that comes up to the outside of the cage.

He says to the guy, "I told you she was stupid. She is willing to bet that she knocks me out in under a minute. What do you want to bet, Mr. Haruhisa?"

Mr. Haruhisa says, "I'll bet one million that you last longer than a minute."

I look at him and say, "Is that a straight bet, or do you play the odds? The odds are +1600 for me to end it in under a minute."

Haruhisa laughs, "I'll play the odds and give you +4000 if you end it in under 30 seconds."

I look over to O and Bellamy, who are both shaking their heads no. I look over at Haruhisa and then Keya and say, "I'll take that bet and raise you one million. Two million at +4000 to win in under 30 seconds. Deal?"

He nods yes and walks back to his seat. I touch gloves and walk back to my corner, where Bellamy and O both say have you lost your fucking mind? I just shrug and await the bell to ring. When it does, Keya stays put, and I hear Haruhisa yelling for him to just stay away for thirty seconds. So, that is his plan just to run. I rush towards him, and he runs to the other side of the cage. Fine, I'm quicker than anyone I know so, I use that speed and pin him against the cage. He struggles to get away, but I use what Lucas has taught me and change levels. I pick him up over my shoulder and take three quick steps before jumping and slamming him to the mat. His head hits the canvas hard, knocking him senseless. The ref doesn't call it right away, so I jump on him and land two hard elbows, opening a gash on his head. The ref steps in, and the fight is over in 18 seconds.

I'm grabbed from behind and lifted into the air by Bellamy. When he puts me down, it seems like everyone I know is in the cage with me. I look over at Haruhisa, and his face is contorted and red. Once the final announcement is made, I walk out of the cage and over to him and say, "So, here is my account number. Go ahead and wire the 80 million." I stand there with Bellamy, Lucas, and O, watching as he wires the money into my account. All I can think is, 'Holy shit!' My next stop is Sloan, who wires the 8 million to my account. She smiles and says, "I never know what to expect from you. How is Reed?"

I laugh, "He's fine. Why don't you stop by sometime? The Untouchable is at the docks. I'm fighting in the UFC again next month if you want to come. It's in Dubai, and we will be there for a week. So if you can get the time off, just let me know."

"Thanks, I'll talk to Mickey."

I head to the locker room to change and text Clarke.

Me: Hey, what time are you getting off. She was supposed to get off at 7, but it is already 8 now.

Clarke: Shouldn't be long, now. Why?

Me: Can I pick you up and take you to a late dinner?

Clarke: Sure. Is everything ok?

Me: Everything is awesome. I just made 88 million dollars in 18 seconds and feel like celebrating with my girl.

Clarke: What the hell are you talking about?

Me: I just had a rematch with a guy from the tournament and won. Some guy made a side bet with me, and now we are 88 million dollars richer. I'll come by the hospital and wait for you to get off.

Clarke: Alright. You're crazy. You shouldn't be fighting in illegal fights with your UFC fight coming up. What if you had gotten hurt?

Me: Didn't happen, so I'm good. Tell Lilian I will have her contract when I get there. Love you! See you soon.

Twenty minutes later, I arrive at the hospital and enter the ER. When I get to the nurses' station, I find Lilian at the computer. "Hey, Lilian! Is Clarke finished yet?"

"I think she is still with a patient. Let me finish up here, and I will see if I can find her for you."

"Thanks, and here is the contract that I promised you. Take a look at it and have your attorney check it over if you want. It is pretty straightforward. I don't want you to sign it if you aren't comfortable with it. You'll be required to sign an NDA since some of the research is funded by the government. Other than that, it's a simple employee contract."

I leave the paperwork with her and then take a seat and wait. An hour later, Clarke finally comes walking over to me. She looks tired as always, and I say, "How about we just pick something up on the way home. You look tired."

"I am, but you wanted to go out and celebrate. I'm sure I will get a second wind and be fine."

"We don't need to go out to celebrate, just being with you is fine with me. We can get something on the way home, eat, relax in the sauna and then I will give you your bath and snuggle in bed. That's all I need."

"Lexa, you are amazing and always know what I need. Did you drive here?"

"Nope, O dropped me off so we would only have one car. I can drive if you want, though."

When we get into the car, I hand her my phone with the picture gallery open and tell her to flip through the pictures. I took photos of the plane and wanted her to see them. She flips through them and then asks, "Why am I looking at pictures of a plane that looks like it has been turned into a house."

"You're looking at pictures of our new plane. I bought it today, and it's being prepared for our flight to Dubai. I'm having AST Enterprises panted on it. It will be used for the company but also for personal use. What do you think?"

"Seriously, you bought a plane and not just a small private plane, but a jumbo jet?"

"Um, yeah. Is that not okay?"

"Sweetie, you don't have to ask me if what you spend your money on is okay. It's your money, and you spend it however you want. I just can't believe that you bought a freaking jumbo jet."

"Well, we can use it for the company, and it is considered a business expense. Plus, now we can go anywhere anytime we want."

"You are…crazy, but smart. How are you this smart at business given…uh…."

"Given the fact that I grew up the way I did and didn't go to a brick and mortar college. Is that what you were thinking?"

"Uh, yeah. But not the way you made it sound. I'm just amazed at…how you can handle everything that has happened to you when I struggle to…well, handle what happened with Finn. You are crazy smart and can speak a ton of languages. Just think what you could have been if you had been born somewhere else. You could have been the head of Microsoft or something."

"Clarke, what Finn did to you was traumatic, and it takes time to get over something like that. Especially if it's the only bad thing that has happened to you. I think I can handle what I went through because I had been conditioned all my life to one bad thing after another. I still struggle with it sometimes and occasionally have flashbacks, but when I think about what I have now…I guess it makes all the bad things worth living through to know that it brought me here to you."

"I love you, Cielo! I wish you hadn't had to go through everything you have, but I'm glad that you are here with me now. I don't know what would've happened if you weren't there for me."