All Out Domination: Bad Boy Rival Romance (Belford Boys Book 3) Read online

  ALL OUT DOMINATION

  BELFORD BOYS BOOK THREE

  SCARLETT OAKLEY

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  Copyright © 2020 by Scarlett Oakley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  The book is a work of fiction. The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  Books by Scarlett Oakley

  About the Author

  ONE

  DYLAN

  It was good to be back in the ring. I reveled in the sound of the crowd around me, not bothering to pay attention to who they were cheering for. It was too early in the tournament for most of them to know who they wanted to see win. Still, it felt good to hear the noise as I sized up my opponent.

  It had been a while since my last fight, but I was feeling stronger after coming back from my injury. I knew that I was lucky to have been chosen to take part in this exhibition tournament, and I also knew that I was the underdog. I couldn’t help but feel ready though.

  My opponent sneered at me from across the ring, trying to psyche me out. I had never been the kind of guy to get nervous in the lead-up to a match. I wasn’t cocky– I didn’t always win. But there was no sense in imagining what might happen. Better to take a close, hard look at my opponent and try to figure out where his weaknesses were.

  The announcer called out our names, and I grinned. I was pumped. I couldn’t wait to get started. Fighting had been my whole life ever since I got out of the Navy, and it had been hard putting things on pause while I recovered from my injury. I hadn’t been able to train as much as I normally liked to and being faced with a completely empty schedule had been rough.

  But there was no use thinking about that now. I was back, and it felt good.

  It was especially good getting the K.O. without too much effort. I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline spurring me on or if it had just been all too easy to recognize my opponent’s shortcomings, but it seemed like no time at all before he was sprawled on the mat, having barely got a solid hit on me.

  I raised my face towards the crowd, beaming a crooked smile as they roared their appreciation of my skills. Yep, it was good to be back.

  I scanned the faces in the crowd, my eyes pausing on a woman sitting near the front row to my left. She had her arms folded across her chest, but despite her posture, she did look vaguely impressed. She smirked as she caught me staring and raised an eyebrow.

  It was her curves that caught my eye first. Her black tight t-shirt dress left little to the imagination, at once classy but understated. She had long blonde hair piled high on her head, making me wonder what it would look like when it was down. I had always been attracted to a woman with long hair.

  I watched her as I left the ring. That’s when I realized she was sitting there by herself. No dude on either side of her, no one that she leaned over to chat with. It wasn’t often that you caught a woman sitting by herself at a boxing match, and especially not one as sexy as she was. It made me want to know what her story was.

  Except that her being there on her own probably meant that her boyfriend or husband was one of my competitors. She had to be here to support someone else. I frowned as I headed back to my dressing room. I had never seen her around before, and I had fought against most of the guys that were taking part in this tournament. I had to think that if I had never seen her before, then whatever relationship she was involved in was relatively new, which meant that there was nothing keeping me from getting to know her.

  And if she chose me over him? Well, that was her own prerogative, and his loss.

  I grinned as I hopped in the shower, letting the hot water wash over my sweaty skin and burning muscles. Then, I headed out and conveniently found myself a spot next to her. I grinned at her but was surprised when she rolled her eyes at me. Still, a little thing like that wasn’t going to deter me from flirting a little. Maybe she was just playing hard to get. After all, I had seen the way she eyed me earlier in the evening.

  “Not often I see someone as pretty as you interested in boxing,” I told her. It wasn’t quite a pick-up line, but I wanted her to know that I appreciated her looks. Besides, I normally found that women either didn’t appreciate clunky pick-up lines or didn’t need them. There was no point in wasting my breath.

  She gave me a long look, like she was trying to decide if I was worth talking to or not. Finally, she said, “You’re not winning any points by comparing me to other women.”

  I tried not to laugh. “You’re right,” I said. “It’s just that your beauty has me flustered. It’s hard to think of what I should say to you.”

  She snorted in response. “You’ve called me beautiful twice now,” she pointed out. “But beautiful is a pretty empty word. It’s subjective, for one. And for another, it’s so general and non-specific that it’s the kind of thing that a guy can easily say to compliment a girl without him actually saying anything.”

  “Well, then perhaps I should say something about all the things I’d like to do to your body?” I asked, trying not to sound too lewd. I had to admit, I appreciated the back and forth. She was acting like there was still a question in her mind about whether or not she was going home with me. It was cute. I knew she was going to.

  At least, that’s what I thought—until she said why she was here.

  “My brother should be up soon,” she said, confusing me for a moment until she continued. “You won’t fight him until later in the month, but when he does, I’ll make sure he knows that he should kick your ass for suggesting that I’d ever sleep with you.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Who’s your brother?” I asked.

  The woman nodded towards the stage. “That’s him right there,” she said.

  The guy was scowling at me from the stage, flexing his muscles and cracking his knuckles. He was so ticked to see me standing beside his sister that he wasn’t even paying attention to his opponent in the lead-up to their fight.

  It wasn’t that I was afraid of him. I had to admit to myself, however, that the last thing I needed was drama right at the start of a month-long tournament. Especially when I had just returned to the ring after an injury and when things had started off on such a high note. I needed to keep my head in the game.

  I held up both of my hands and backed away from the curvy vixen who was probably only there to do just t
hat—distract her brother’s opponents and cause drama. “All right, all right,” I said. “Watch the match.”

  Her laughter rang in my ears as I walked away.

  TWO

  LUCY

  I could feel the bass beat in the soles of my shoes as it resonated through the club. Around me, people were swaying to the beat, some sloshing drinks while others were already sloshed. It was that late hour on a Friday night when you knew you should probably be heading home but maybe weren’t ready to break away from your friends just yet. Although I was pretty tired and ready to crawl into bed, it was Angelina’s birthday and I didn’t want to be the party-pooper who headed back home first.

  Of course, with the late hour came the obnoxious dudes and their arrogant attitudes. One guy in particular just wouldn’t seem to leave Lisa alone. As the night went on, he got more cocky—boisterous and handsy. And he was not the type of guy that she would ever have shown the slightest bit of interest in to begin with, sober or not.

  To be honest, I half wished that Bobby were here. I usually didn’t like going out to clubs with him because I knew that he would have some choice comments about my outfit. He was my older brother and didn’t want to see that much of my skin showing. He was overprotective and there was nothing I could do about it.

  Sometimes, I appreciated it. I knew that he would have made sure that this asshole never went anywhere near Lisa or otherwise disrespected women again.

  He would have taken care of the situation in a heartbeat. But he wasn’t here, and there wasn’t much that I could do to help her. The guy was drunk, and I wasn’t strong enough to put up much of a fight.

  I was surprised when someone else finally stepped in, pushing between Lisa and the dude trying to feel her up on the dance floor. “Dude, she isn’t interested,” the new guy said heatedly to the creep. “Get the fuck away from her!”

  The creep said something back, but I couldn’t hear what.

  “I don’t fucking care,” the new guy said. “Go home. You’re fucking drunk.”

  The creep drew himself up like he was going to hit the other guy, but their standoff had already drawn the attention of the bouncers who swooped in. They were obviously glad to have a reason to throw out the asshole from the club.

  With a start, I realized that I recognized the other guy. Something about his posture was undeniably familiar, from his broad shoulders to his chiseled jawline. He was guy who’d been flirting with me the other night at Bobby’s match. Not that I knew him exactly, I didn’t even know his name.

  I rolled my eyes. He was probably only challenging the other creep because he was, himself, just as much of a creep. Maybe he wanted Lisa, or maybe he believed that fighting him off would be enough to convince me to sleep with him. Either way, it was a doomed plan.

  Bobby would kill me if he knew that I’d slept with one of his competitors. He tended to think the worst of boxers in general, and he wanted better for me. As much as I didn’t like my brother’s meddling in my personal life, even I had to admit that he was right about boxers. Most boxers I’d met over the years were egotistical, arrogant, misogynistic assholes that could barely string together a coherent thought. I wasn’t interested in them, as a rule. Bobby was the exception, or maybe I just knew him better.

  Whatever his reasons for helping, the guy did a pretty good job of clearing off Lisa’s would-be suitor, and she giggled with relief once he was gone. “I’m free!” she said to him with a big grin on her face. “Thanks.”

  He gave her a mocking bow. “My pleasure,” he replied, his eyes fixed on me but otherwise not hinting that he’d ever met me before. “I’m Dylan.”

  “Lisa,” she introduced herself. “And this is Lucy, and Katie, and Gemma.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” Dylan said, smiling around at our group. Was I imagining things or did his eyes linger on me for a moment too long? “What are you up to this evening?”

  I rolled my eyes, anticipating his next words. From one creep on to the next, of course. Why couldn’t a group of girls just go out to have a little fun without guys ruining things? “We’re just trying to have a good girls’ night out, no dudes invited,” I cut in.

  Dylan looked amused as he shrugged half-heartedly. “Sure. I was asking because I’m good friends with the owner and if it was actually your birthday—” he nodded his head at Angelica, who was wearing a satin birthday sash over her crimson red dress “—and because of that creeper, I could probably ask him to give you a free round of shots or something. But that’s okay…”

  He turned to leave, but Katie caught his arm, apologizing on my behalf. The other girls were giggling, and I sighed. I wanted to tell them that he was just some asshole boxing guy who fought against my brother, but I knew they wouldn’t understand what it meant. It would only make him more attractive in their eyes.

  I had to admit it, though, he actually was attractive. A decent fighter to, if the other night had been any indication. It had been fun watching him destroy his opponent. Not that he had been any match for him. There was a part of me that was excited to see how things would go for him as the month when on and the competition became tougher. Not that I’d be there to watch him, of course, but if he fought in the lead up to my brother’s fights, then I just might happen to catch him in action a time or two.

  As he turned towards the bar and chatted with the guy behind it, I found myself admiring his firm backside and the broad muscles of his shoulders. For a second, I imagined what it would feel like to have him pin me down against the bed, his body hot against mine.

  I shook my head, knowing that the only reason I was even halfway considering it was because I’d been drinking. I wasn’t drunk, but maybe it was time for me to head back home.

  A shot glass was thrust into my hand and I frowned down at it. The last thing I needed was to do a shot right now. Instead, I should be drinking water and hailing a ride home. Be sensible. Only, my eyes met Dylan’s as I started to protest. He had an unmistakable look of challenge in his eyes, like he was daring me to turn down the shot and leave.

  I paused for a moment, considering my options. I wasn’t about to be pressured into doing anything that I didn’t want to do. At the same time, I knew that I would have just downed the shot if it was anyone else who had bought it for me. I wasn’t that drunk, and it wasn’t that late. All of a sudden the night looked a little more interesting…

  There was no reason to protest just because he had been the one to buy the shot. It didn’t give me any obligation to go home with him at the end of the night either. I met his gaze as I did the shot along with everyone else.

  His eyes stayed on me as I chatted with my friends. I was surprised to feel myself blushing and didn’t understand why. The girls headed toward the dance floor again, but I hesitated. His towering presence was suddenly next to me. “Hey,” he said. “Lucy, was it?”

  “Hey,” I said warily, suddenly wishing that I had begged off and gone home. Except that the closer he was, the more attractive he got. I needed to get away as soon as possible.

  “Look, I’m sorry about the other night,” Dylan said, to my surprise. The last thing I would have expected was for him to open with an apology.

  “I’ve totally forgotten about the other night,” I said breezily before narrowing my eyes at him. “But what are you doing here tonight, anyway?”

  “I wasn’t coming after you, if that’s what you’re asking,” Dylan said, his tone amused. “I mean, I noticed you, that’s for sure. There’s a reason that I stepped in when I saw that your friend was in trouble. I wasn’t lying when I said that I’m friends with the owner, though.”

  “I’ve never seen you here before,” I challenged. “I’ve always lived in Boston, so I would have seen you. Not that I’m in here every night, but often enough.”

  “Sure,” Dylan said easily. “But I’ve known Nick for years, before he came here. My cousins live up in Belford, Maine. Nick’s hometown. I used to stay with them during the summers.”

/>   I gave him a searching look, wondering if he was serious or not. But there was nothing in his expression that indicated deceit. I frowned, considering his words. I didn’t know Nick well enough to know where he was originally from, but I doubted that he would have concocted this story just to keep me talking with him.

  “Anyway,” Dylan continued. “If you want, I’ll get out of your hair.”

  I stared at him for a long moment. He sounded honest, and I didn’t doubt that if I said the word, he’d be gone. It only made me trust him more and I couldn’t see any reason to tell him to get lost. No yet, at least.

  I pinched my lips together. Bobby was going to kill me if he ever found out that I’d been chatting up the enemy. But Bobby wasn’t here. Besides, Dylan looked sexy with his hair pushed back and piercing blue eyes.