"Give me my money Ezra, or I swear to god, I will break your nose again," threatened Karmin over the roar of the crowd in the fight club. After her fight and the sweat that covered her, she didn't have the patience.

"I don't have it," he snapped, unconsciously rubbing his now crooked nose. "Judas is taking care of all your transactions now. Go annoy him. He's over there."

Karmin looked over her shoulder to see Judas making his way to his office, followed by men in black suits. She glared at Ezra, who busied himself with paying other fighters their cut, and as much as she wanted to go through with her threat, she pulled at Maddox's arm.

"Let's go talk to Judas," she said.

He nodded, but before he walked away, accidentally tipped over Ezra's ledger that was filled with papers of all the competitor's names and salaries. The files spilled onto the floor, now cluttered in a large mess.

"What the fuck?" yelled Ezra as he scrambled to the floor.

He shrugged, a smirk pulling at Maddox's lips as Karmin laughed. "You should really go paperless," she shouted behind her. "Better for the environment."

Maddox let out a chuckle, his laugh pulling at Karmin's heartstrings. It was beautiful and sweet, and she just hoped she could hear more of it.

"I never realized how petty you are," remarked Karmin.

"It was either that or knocking his teeth out," he grinned that filled her with content.

They passed by the bar that was overrun with drunk people, and others trying to watch the baseball game when all of a sudden it was interrupted by a news broadcast. Karmin paid no mind to it as they walked past it.

"Just in, the Department of Defense was infiltrated by an unknown source."

Wait what?

Karmin halted in her steps, turning back around to get a closer view of the television.

"The department along with the US government and the FBI are investigating the attack with full force. Sources say that missile codes, active missions in the Middle East, and secret government agendas have been stolen amongst other national secrets."

"Is that..." faltered Maddox.

Karmin gulped nervously, turning to him with wide eyes. "Did we just?"

"I think so."

"Holy fuck."

"Nothing happened," whispered Maddox, his eyes flickering to the people surrounding them. "We know nothing."

"Uh-huh. Nothing," she agreed as her heartbeat against her ribcage. When they had dropped off the flash drive to Kai yesterday, Karmin was relieved. But now, seeing what she had done, spiked her anxiety and fear even more.

We had just given Cesar, a man head of a powerful but shady organization, all the information, and knowledge to blow up the world.

I should've known there was something more to the plan.

"We didn't have a choice," Maddox said, placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her forward to Judas's office. "Pretend like it never happened."

Karmin exhaled shakily but nodded. Her nerves stayed in the back of her mind as one of Judas's men blocked the door, but as soon as he saw Karmin, allowed them through. The two of them stepped inside his office to see him leaning against his leather chair with his feet on the table.

"Good fight," drawled Judas as he played with a thick envelope that must have been filled with her cash.

"Just give me the money," sighed Karmin, outreaching her hand. With the information she was hit with mere moments ago and knowing she was responsible, it wasn't sitting with her very well.

Judas sneered, sitting upright and placing the envelope in her hand. "Lance is going to meet you at the train station in thirty minutes. Don't keep him waiting."

"Where's Ares?" questioned Maddox, his hands curling into fists when he heard Lance's name.

"He has other important matters to tend to," said Judas dismissively. "That envelope has 5,000 dollars. I had my men count it twice, so if anything goes missing, we will know."

Karmin scoffed, shoving the envelope into her pink backpack. "We're not thieves."

"Debatable," muttered Maddox as he scratched the side of his head.

A smile threatened at her lips as she forced it away. There was nothing she could do about it now, so might as well laugh about the fact that they were criminals. "We'll get going then."

"I'll see you next time," Judas called out.

There wasn't going to be a next time. I was going to make sure of it.

***

"Here's the money," announced Karmin as she threw the money to Lance.

He caught it with ease, passing it over to another associate. "Count it."

"It's all there," she deadpanned.

"Then we shouldn't have a problem," smirked Lance as he eyed her up and down.

Karmin shivered involuntarily, and it may have been from the spring night wind, but she knew it was from his uncomforting stare. The muscles in her arms tensed up just like Maddox's as he glared at Lance.

As the man counted the cash in the envelope, she didn't take her eyes off Lance. He was unpredictable and had formed some type of hatred for her. Ares wanted her, but he looked as if he would rather get rid of her.

Oh, how I would love to add to his scars.

"All the money is here," said a man to Lance.

"I told you so," drawled Karmin. "Can I have my cut now so we can leave?"

Lance pulled out a few hundred dollars bills, holding them out. "Here," he mused.

She took a step forward, only to be tugged back by the hem of her sweatshirt. Karmin glanced back to see Maddox shaking his head, and for him to walk up to Lance instead. She rolled her eyes at him but couldn't help but feel a rush of warmth flow through her bloodstream. The little things that he did were more than enough to make up for his words.

Maddox stretched out his hand to grab the money when Lance dropped it. The bills fluttered to the ground, surrounding their feet.

"Pick them up," ordered Lance with a condescending sneer.

Maddox's back muscles tensed up, and his fists curled as if he was stopping everything for within him to not sucker-punch Lance in the face. Karmin's breath caught in her throat as she watched him bend to the ground to pick up the fallen money. One by one, he quickly grasped them, crinkling them in his hands as he stood back up. Without another word, he turned back around to walk back to her.

She gazed at his expressionless face, but she could see the flaring anger within his green eyes. His usual eyes that made her think of nature and growth now resembled forest fires.

"Here," Maddox whispered to her as he grabbed her hand and placed the money in her palm.

"Thank you," she muttered, glancing down at the bills, but something was wrong. Karmin turned her harden stare back at Lance and said, "This is only 500. It's supposed to be 1,000."

"Are you sure?" sang Lance with a risen brow. "You probably got your math wrong."

"I am not wrong," she seethed. "20 percent of 5,000 dollars is 1,000. A five-year-old could do that math."

"Well, too bad," he smirked, holding up the last few hundred bills that should've been hers and pocketing them. "I think I deserve it for wasting my time here."

"You're a piece of shit," Karmin said through gritted teeth.

"I think you should leave before you say something you'll regret," Lance snarled, his hand snaking towards his gun. "I'm not as understanding as Ares."

"Fuck you!" she shouted as she pointed at him menacingly. Maddox grabbed her arm, but she shook it off. Maybe she was being overdramatic but having literally fought for the money and for him to take it away with ease, pissed her off.

The men swiftly pulled out their gun, but Maddox stepped in, wrapping one hand around Karmin's waist and raising the other. "We're leaving," he yelled as he dragged her back.

She fought against his arms, wanting nothing to wrap her hands around Lance. She wanted him to burn along with Ares. She wanted to set fire to everything and watch the flames engulf them.

"We're going to get them," whispered Maddox into her ear. "I promise."

"I want them gone," she said shakily.

"I'm going to make sure it happens, but we need to get home first," he urged, pulling her past the railway.

Karmin glanced over her shoulder to catch a quick glimpse of Lance.

They were going to regret ever meeting me.

***

Author's Note:

Hey everyone!

My first week of classes just ended, and oh my god, I never get time to write. I'm not even kidding. I spend 8 hours of my day every day doing notes, readings, and assignments. I'm predicting a mental breakdown by week 3 lol. I'll keep you guys updated.

However, BL only has about 8 chapters to go, so I really want to finish it. I will make sure it is finished by early February!

Until next time - m.k.t