by Quinn, Cari
Kizzy snagged Mia’s elbow and led her away from another quick talk while Mia went through a quick stretching routine. She grabbed her ankle behind her back, then touched the mat and rose to her toes to reach for the sky. Then her gaze drifted back to me, for one last lingering look.
We didn’t need words. She was ready, and I was behind her every step of the way.
A moment later, she tapped gloves with Evie in the center of the ring as the fans roared. Evie had a confident smile in place, but she wasn’t the same cocksure woman I’d met at The Cage. Something had her rattled, whether it was her brother’s interference or the presence of the men in black suits who were lurking around the fringes of the crowd. There was no missing them—or the way they touched the guns at their waists as a not-so-subtle reminder of who and what they were.
How had I never noticed them around the fights before? I’d obviously had tunnel vision on my opponent. On winning, the only thing that mattered.
I looked back toward Mia. Until now.
The opening bell rang, and I sucked in a breath. I’d never been in this position before, watching on the sidelines. I’d never had to fist my hands and plant my feet to keep myself from harming anyone who dared to touch my girl.
Not that she needed that from me. Not one fucking bit.
From the first, she was in attack mode, just as we’d practiced. Evie’s tapes had showed she was a fighter who liked to sneak under her opponent’s guard from the start. So Mia combated that by striking first. She landed a fierce uppercut to Evie’s jaw that snapped her head back, though she hadn’t gone for the side with the scar. Kizzy had told her to, instructed her to exploit that weakness as much as possible, yet Mia had chosen to fight fair. The hit would still hurt like a bitch, but what could have been a murderous blow was much less on the opposite side.
Unlike Giovanni Costas, who’d jumped on every weakness of mine he could, Mia was operating above board. And I loved her more for it.
At the end of the first round, both women were panting hard and Mia had a cut at the corner of her lips. It bled freely while I poured water into her mouth. Kizzy and Slater were shouting praise and encouragement. Me, I was watching her back while she guzzled one bottle of water and went straight for a second.
“Carly?” she asked in between them.
“She’s fine.” I hadn’t exactly taken time to call. I would soon.
The second round, Evie reacted differently. She hung back, deliberately waiting for Mia to lunge. She used the opportunity to sweep Mia’s leg out from underneath and forced her to the ground, managing to trap Mia’s arm between her legs.
Fucking armbar. Mia’s signature move was being used against her.
Someone had watched some goddamn tape.
Kizzy continued screaming for Mia beside me, and Slater went into a crouch to watch more closely. “Get your hips off the floor,” I said under my breath, walking her through the way out even though she couldn’t hear me over the shouts from the crowd. “Push with your feet.”
I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t find enough air to take a deep breath. If she didn’t get out of this move fast, she’d end up with a broken arm—or worse.
Unless she tapped out. Her hand was right there. All she’d have to do was press down.
Somehow Mia got her knees underneath her and managed to get her free arm up to create the leverage to move. When she popped to her feet, her arms still swinging freely, I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Kizzy whooped loudly enough to break my eardrum, but I didn’t care. I was smiling so broadly my jaws hurt.
At the end of the round, Mia returned to our corner again, more slowly than the first time but still on her feet. “Something happened,” she mumbled, mouth still bleeding. “My arm’s going numb.”
I nearly grabbed her before sense kicked in. “Which part?”
“Call the fight.” Slater gripped her wrist loosely to turn her toward him. “Go back in, let her pin you, tap out.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kizzy shoved Slater. “I don’t know how you pussies fight, but that’s not how we do. She’s on her feet. She’s okay.” She spun toward Mia and got right in her face. “You’re good, aren’t you? Tell these jackoffs you’re fine.”
“I’m fine.” She nodded so resolutely that even I would’ve believed her if I hadn’t seen the pain in her eyes. She was in more trouble than she’d let on. Maybe when Evie swept her leg, she’d come down wrong. It took so little to get hurt in the ring.
And Evie was feeling it now. I could tell from the way she was marching around her corner, waving off the hands of her corner people. Timmins wasn’t bothering to offer instructions, but the woman kept trying to speak to her, probably to offer advice.
But Evie had been competing long enough to smell blood in the water. She didn’t need advice. She just needed that bell to ring one more time.
Over my goddamn dead body.
“You can’t let her get past your guard. Do you understand me?” I spoke close to Mia’s ear. “The minute that bell rings, you attack. Go right for her fucking jaw. Left side. Keep hammering it if you have to. Make her tap out. Get this over with.”
“Finally, he finds his dick.” Kizzy nodded vigorously. “Finish it out, Spyder.”
Mia nodded, her gaze sweeping the crowd. Then she reached back to grab my hand. It took a second for her to get the words out. “They have her.” Panic was slurring her words. “Tray. Look.”
I didn’t know what the hell she meant. I scanned the crowd, gripping her hand to keep her from bolting. “Who? They have who?”
“Lorenzo’s men. Olivia.” She stumbled forward and leaned over the ropes. “That’s…that’s gotta be her. Blond. His face. Oh my God, she has his face.”
I crowded against her back, trying to see what she did. Was this some kind of hallucination? Evie hadn’t hit her in the head too often, but it didn’t take much sometimes. “Baby, breathe.” I wrapped her long braid around my hand, as much to keep her in front of me as to offer comfort. She appeared ready to leap into the crowd. “Slow down and tell me what you see.”
“Olivia,” she yelled, snapping her elbow into my gut.
Slater swore at my side and called out “Li!” then dove over the ropes.
I stared, stunned, as my best friend tore through the crowd, in pursuit of a pair of men in dark suits who were dragging a slim blond woman between them. The way they were walking with their arms wrapped around her back almost made it seem like she was going with them willingly, but then she looked back over her shoulder at Slater’s shout, and fear flashed over her pretty face.
The same pretty face I’d seen in the bar.
Darren Winthrop’s daughter. In the flesh. And my buddy was chasing after her, as if he knew exactly who she was.
His goddamn Li, who hadn’t been ready to meet “the crew” and turned up conveniently sick whenever she might have to.
She’d lain with dogs, and the fleas were now biting her ass. Hard.
“Jesus Christ.” I slammed a fist against the ring support, barely absorbing the blast of pain through my hand. “Fucking hell.”
“You have to go after them.” Mia whirled to me and gripped a handful of my shirt. “They’ll kill her. They’ll kill him.”
“I’m not leaving you.” But I stared after where they’d gone, torn in two. I couldn’t let Slater face them alone, not when he’d been at Mia’s side. At mine, throughout everything. He was my best friend, the closest thing I had to a brother.
She shook me, her face frantic. The blood dripping off her chin only made her look more determined. “You have to go. I have Kizzy.”
“You have more than that,” Giovanni said, lifting the rope to step into the ring.
She forgot all about me and rushed to his side. “Where’s Carly?”
“She’s protected,” he soothed. “I needed to be here.”
“Round three is about to begin,” the ref called, evidently realizing Mia wasn’t an
ywhere close to ready.
“Where is she?” Mia yelled, slammed her wrapped fist against Gio’s chest. “You promised you’d keep her safe. Where is she?”
“She’s here with a woman who won’t allow anything to happen to her. Trust me.” He glanced at me. “I saw them heading downstairs. There’s a tunnel that connects this building to the warehouse next door. That’s where they were headed. Go. Now.”
My gaze connected with Mia’s and the panic and fear I saw there nearly made me stay. She was my world, and I couldn’t put her in anyone else’s hands but Slater’s. But Slater needed me too.
Slater, my friend who hated violence with every fiber of his being, was unarmed and alone with two guys with guns. I didn’t have time to waste.
A hip bumped into mine. “I’ve got her,” Kizzy said, voice low, expression fierce.
Nodding, I brushed a kiss over Mia’s forehead and lifted the rope to climb through. I shot one last look at Giovanni. That single glance served as a reminder about what I was entrusting to him. And what the cost would be if he let me down. Let us down.
I would end him.
Nineteen
One more round. Finish it.
Kizzy slapped my ass before the bell rang, and Gio loomed over my shoulder. “You can do this,” she yelled in my ear.
I nodded and faced Evie, who seemed more annoyed by the delay than exultant in her certain win. Not that I intended to let her win. I couldn’t. I’d told them I wouldn’t fold. That I couldn’t be bought. I didn’t know if Evie could be, or if she was a pawn in their game like Olivia clearly had been. But none of that had any bearing here.
My sister was waiting for me on the other side of this, and the sooner I put this away, the sooner I’d be able to make sure she was okay. I’d never let her out of my sight again.
That scar on Evie’s jaw seemed to shimmer in the harsh overhead lights. All I had to do was aim there and kept punching. Ethics didn’t matter right now. She was probably bought and paid for. If I broke her head open again, it was no worse than she’d gladly do to me—and had tried to do with that armbar.
My fucking armbar.
I charged toward Evie, fist extended, and she grabbed me, whirling me around so fast that I didn’t have time to counter.
Too slow. Too damn slow.
Before I knew what was happening, she’d backed me into the ropes. Her fists pressed down against the sides of my neck, turning my head in an awkward position. My breaths shortened, the angle cutting off my air. Even with my depleted oxygen, I started trying to fight the choke hold the way I’d been taught. Opposite shoulder, out. I got my good arm up on her shoulder and slammed it against the side of her face. Somehow I started to gain the leverage needed to get myself out of the chokehold.
Only a few more seconds. You can do it.
Just as I was lifting my leg between hers, intending to open her guard enough to free myself, she twisted my numbed arm. And it wasn’t numb anymore. Far from it.
Dully, I heard something snap and realized it belonged to me.
The pain was unspeakable. Horrifying. But even as I tried to breathe through it, to center my mind as years of training and teaching in the martial arts had taught me, spots were forming in front of my vision. I couldn’t see the crowd anymore. Inkblots were forming over their faces, spreading out to encompass everything. There was nothing but black, and falling, falling, falling.
And then I didn’t hurt anymore.
Twenty
Halfway down the stairs, I stopped as a distant, excited roar went up from the crowd. I recognized it for what it was. Someone had won.
Someone else had lost.
My heart turned over in my chest and I gripped the rail, fighting every instinct that demanded I turn back. How could I have left her alone? She needed me. I loved Slater like a brother, but she was the blood in my veins. Knowing I’d walked away from her when she needed me most, trusted others to ensure her safety, was like a million knives carving into my skin.
Then a scream sounded from down below, deep in the tunnel, and my feet carried me forward without my help.
I stumbled into the black, lit only by occasional sodium lights high on the rough-hewn walls. It was like a fucking long cave, in the middle of a warehouse in Brooklyn. I felt my way forward, running my hands along the uneven walls, squinting until my eyes began to adjust to the near darkness. The sound of sobbing forced me to move faster. I cursed as I slipped on something wet and nearly went to my knees. My palms hit the floor to break my fall. After regaining my balance, I lifted my hand, turning it toward the thin shaft of light.
Thick red liquid coated my fingers.
Goddammit.
I surged forward, my vision finally adjusting. The tunnel turned right and opened up to another flight of stairs, this one slightly better lit. Slater knelt at the base of them, and leaned over a prone body.
Bloody blond hair spread over the cement floor.
I crouched beside him and touched his shoulder, but he shook me off. “They hurt her,” he whispered, his voice choked. “Punched her right in the face.”
A glance down at the blond made me catch my breath. Her lips were puffy and cracked, and her nose was bleeding heavily.
I shoved him out of the way and felt for a pulse. It was strong and steady, though she was unconscious.
“She’s going to be fine.” I wasn’t certain it was true. My best guess was that she would be, but I didn’t know if they’d done something to her I couldn’t see.
And I honestly didn’t know if I cared.
She’d harassed Mia, stalked her, and tried to scare her. Some of that might have been due to the company Olivia had fallen in with, but what sane person would think hanging out with people like that was a good idea?
Your friend Gio seems to have no problem.
Shaking that off, my gaze returned to the pale woman on the floor. Sane didn’t really come into play when it referred to Darren Winthrop. Apparently, that applied to his daughter as well. I didn’t understand why she’d gone after Mia. She hadn’t tried to physically attack her, or even done anything that destructive that I knew of—though the slashed heavy bag was more than a prank—but she was clearly unbalanced.
Did she blame Mia for her father’s death? Or maybe even losing some chunk of the family fortune? Little did she know Mia hadn’t seen one red cent yet. Still, Olivia’s lifestyle had to have changed after the settlement. And I knew all too well what money did to people.
Slater dragged out his phone, punching numbers with fingers that shook. He spoke to the 911 operator while I pulled off my T-shirt and tucked it under her head. She was a sadistic, twisted bitch, but I didn’t want her to die until I knew why. Until I understood what would motivate a person to further victimize a woman who’d already suffered through so much.
Then I’d make her wish she had never been born.
As soon as Slater hung up, he nudged me out of the way and cupped her face in his hands. “They’re coming, sweetheart. Just hang on. Help is on the way.”
I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. “Christ, ease off. She’s not fucking dying.”
Unfortunately. But if she did now, I wouldn’t get my answers.
He turned to me, and his eyes were ravaged. I’d never seen them anything but that steady, placid green. Now they were wild. Incensed. “How dare you?”
“How dare I? I’ll tell you how I dare.” I grabbed his shirt, shaking him. Had he taken a hit to the head too? “She fucking stalked Mia, calling her, following her, doing who knows what else. She broke into our office at the gym and attacked the heavy bag. She’s a fucking psycho, man.”
For a moment, he didn’t move. I could tell he was trying to make sense of what I’d said. What it meant. He glanced back at her as she whimpered, then he shook his head. “No. I don’t believe you. They hurt her.”
“Don’t believe me? I fucking saw her.”
“What did you see?”
“She was at the bar, hanging a
round. Waiting for Mia, probably. She confronted her in the alley.”
“And you know for sure it was Olivia. No doubt.”
“It was her, goddammit.”
“It wasn’t her. You don’t know her like I do.” He turned away from me to kneel over Olivia’s head, his hand gentle as he stroked her hair.
“You damn idiot, she used you. Just like everyone else does. She wanted to get closer to Mia, and she probably cozied up to you to do it—”
His hand stilled. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean, like everyone else does?” he asked, so softly that I barely heard him.
I swore under his breath. Jesus, I didn’t want to fight with him. He was hurting and it wasn’t his fault, but dammit, I needed someone to blame for what Mia had faced. Was still facing.
Mia. Shit.
I jumped to my feet and stepped over Olivia’s head, intending to run up the stairs to see if it looped back around to the original tunnel. I wasn’t going to waste any more time on a touchy-feely conversation with Slater until I knew if my girl was okay.
She had to be. Winning was in her blood.
Slater grabbed my arm and spun me back, nearly knocking me off the bottom stair. “I asked you a question. Who’s always using me?”
“Abby.” The name popped out before I thought better of it. Referencing the situation with Slater’s brother’s girl was a low blow, one he didn’t deserve. It was a flippant response, as so much else had been with me lately. I’d been operating on adrenaline and nerve and bone-deep fear for so fucking long that I didn’t have a filter anymore. And I couldn’t see past my overriding need to make sure Mia was okay.
“Abby,” he repeated, turning away. “Yeah. Someone else who used me.” He dropped to Olivia’s side and caressed her bloody cheek with careful fingers. His voice sounded distant, hollow. “Don’t think she’s the only one.”
“I don’t have time for this. We’ll talk later.”
