Bryant was the perfect older brother—protective, devoted, and loyal to everyone in his life. That changed the moment he met Joe Dylan. A bartender at the Underground Place with a gambling-addicted father drowning in debt, Joe pulled Bryant into the world of streetfighting and underground combat. Desperate to save his friend, Bryant began fighting for money, paying off Joe's mounting obligations piece by piece. What he didn't realize was that stepping between a loan shark and their victim meant becoming marked by that darkness forever. When Joe and his father vanished overseas, Bryant became the loan sharks' new target. With no way out and his little sister's safety on the line, he was forced deeper into a criminal underworld he never asked to join. What follows is Bryant's harrowing descent—the impossible choices he made to protect those he loved, and the devastating price he paid when everything shattered in a single night. A dark, intense prequel to The Nerd Can Fight. Book 3 in the series.