He glanced around the crowd for a moment before returning his focus to his opponent and stretching his neck from side to side.
Was he looking for her? An ache formed in the pit of her stomach. She shook the thought from her mind. Of course not, silly.
The bell rang, and Sabrina flinched as the match began.
If she wasn’t mistaken, she thought she could actually hear him give a war cry from her spot so far away. It was ridiculous, considering the size of the crowd and the volume in the arena. The fans loved this man. And she’d been able to call him her own for a few brief days. A time better forgotten if she knew what was best.
Obviously, she was a glutton for punishment.
Conner was in rare form. He looked fit to kill. She’d never seen him so aggressive. Granted, she’d only watched him fight the one time, but the look in his eyes was feral. She could tell even from a distance. He swung out several times, landing more punches in less than a minute than the average fighter. Especially his opponent.
Sabrina actually felt sorry for the other guy. The dude had no idea he was fighting someone with so much pent up anger this week.
Not that she blamed Conner. He’d been through a lot. She assumed she didn’t know the half of it.
Conner made an impressive leg kick that caused the other guy to stumble backward, slamming into the fence. While the guy put up his hands to block the barrage of punches coming at him on the heels of the kick, Conner pressed forward. Finally, he grabbed the man around the neck and held him in a choke hold.
Sabrina held her breath. She didn’t blink as she watched the situation unfold. The crowed grew wild, screaming so loud their words were indiscernible. She fisted her hands at her sides as she watched.
Suddenly, Conner gave a jerk, and the two of them went to the floor. Conner grappled for position, scrambling to get on top of his opponent until he had the upper hand, his forearm lying across the other man’s neck, cutting off his airway and leaving him completely immobile.
The seconds ticked by slowly while Sabrina gritted her teeth. “Come on, Conner,” she mumbled under her breath.
Finally, the guy tapped out, and Sabrina let out a long breath.
Conner jumped to his feet as the announcer declared him the winner. He waved at the crowd briefly before ducking his head and exiting the cage.
Sabrina glanced at Emily and Kayla. They hadn’t moved. Gage hadn’t fought yet.
Good. Sabrina could slip out of the arena undetected.
She wormed her way through the throng of people and back out to the lobby. In her haste to escape, as she came around the corner she ran into someone. She reached out to steady the woman with both hands before the lady could fall on her ass. “I’m so sorry. I—”
The woman staring daggers at her was the same fake blonde who had hit on Conner at Extreme. “Missy?”
“Watch where you’re going, sister.” She looked perturbed as she shook Sabrina off and smoothed her hands down her short skirt. “Hey, you’re that girl who was with Conner at the club.”
“Yeah.” Shit. She hoped Missy didn’t tell Conner they’d run into each other. “What are you doing here?”
Missy’s face split wide with a grin. “I’m with Conner.” She lifted her chin and set her hands on her hips.
Sabrina’s eyes widened. She couldn’t breathe. All the air fled her lungs as time stood still. No. It can’t be true.
“Excuse me. I need to go meet him. He’ll be waiting.” Missy pushed past Sabrina, leaving her head spinning as she watched the bitch’s ass sway back and forth. Missy’s heels were so high Sabrina wondered how she didn’t fall.
She finally shook herself and blinked. In record time, she pushed her way through the crowd and out the front door. She could barely hold herself together as she jogged to her car. As soon as she was safely inside, she started the engine and fled the parking lot before letting the tears fall down her face.
Holding on by a thread, Sabrina made her way back home and inside before totally losing it. She flounced onto the couch and curled up on her side, not bothering to turn the lights on.
For the first time in five days, she really let herself cry. Hard.
How had her life gotten so off track?
She sobbed forever it seemed before she ran out of tears and lay there staring at nothing, pulling the throw blanket over her body and closing her eyes.
Welcome sleep sucked her under in seconds.
•●•
It was bright out when Sabrina blinked awake. The living room itself was dim because she hadn’t opened any blinds or curtains in the last week, but she could see the bright sun peeking around the edges of the windows.
She struggled to sit, wincing at how stiff her body was from lying in the same curled-up position all night. Taking several deep breaths, she ran her hands through her hair and stared at the ceiling. Oh God. What the hell was she going to do next?
Like a freight train derailed from the tracks, she felt frozen in her place, unsure if the damage could ever be repaired.
She thought back on the previous evening. Could Conner really have been there with that skanky bitch? Realistically she doubted it. The woman could have been lying. Sabrina wouldn’t put it past her. But what the hell was Missy doing at the arena?
Conner hadn’t seemed to be interested in the woman the last time Sabrina had seen him with her. But things could have changed. Or perhaps he went crawling back to anyone he could find to blow off steam. He might have needed to dominate someone, and Missy was an easy choice.
The idea made Sabrina shiver. Had Missy been behind all the e-mailing, car keying, and threats? Was she smart enough to orchestrate such a thing just to win a Dom?
It was illogical. So far from unlikely that Sabrina couldn’t fathom the possibility.
Missy didn’t seem to have enough brain cells to rub two of them together, and she certainly didn’t seem capable of hiring a stalker to follow Sabrina and Conner around town. Could she have done the job herself?
Fuck.
Sabrina stood and made her way to the kitchen. She needed coffee first and then a shower.
By the time she was caffeinated and clean, she resolved to face the man who had her in knots. If he thought he could blow her off and ignore her, he was sadly mistaken.
Sabrina may have spent the week licking her wounds, but she wasn’t a woman to take rejection sitting down. He owed her an explanation. Or at the very least some words that would give her closure. Otherwise, she would sit and pine away for his ass for months.
With this renewed sense of action, Sabrina dressed in jeans and a cute blouse. Conner hated when she wore jeans. Too bad. He was going to have to get used to her defying him on occasion. She pulled on her black boots, the ones with heels high enough to be dressy, but not so high as to be presumptuous. They could go either way. Today they were just boots with jeans.
She headed for her car and then sat there for several moments wondering where to start. She didn’t want to call him and give him a heads up. She wanted to hunt him down.
The gym.
It was the most likely choice for a Saturday morning.
Sabrina didn’t see his car as she pulled into the parking lot, but she decided to get out and go inside. One of the guys would be there. They might be able to direct her in the right direction. The last thing she wanted to do was head straight for his house if Missy was by any chance there in his bed. That would be the height of mortification.
She stepped from her car, tucked the keys in her pocket, and turned toward the entrance to the gym.
A man spoke, startling her. She hadn’t noticed him. “Well well, if it isn’t Sabrina Duluth.”
She froze, a few yards from the older guy she didn’t recognize. He had a strong accent. Russian maybe? Shit.
“I must say, I’m surprised to see you here this morning.”
“Who are you?”
He chuckled sardonically. “A friend of The Fight Club.” He waved a hand through the air as tho
ugh his identity wasn’t all that important. “Too bad about your man. You must feel awful.”
“Pardon?” Her blood ran cold. “What are you talking about?”
He flinched and set his hand over his chest, feigning shock. “Oh, pardon me. I didn’t realize you didn’t know.” He shook his head. “Strange man, Conner. I’m surprised he didn’t just man up and use you as an alibi. At the very least you could have lied.”
“Lied about what?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Sabrina. I know all about your affair with the esteemed professor. Tsk tsk.” He lifted a finger and shook it back and forth in the air, reaching too close to her face for comfort. “You know it’s against school policy for a teacher to fuck his students. For shame.”
She stood rigid, trying to make sense of the man’s words. He seemed dangerous. Every cell in her body screamed at her to get the hell away from him, and fast. But first she needed answers. As luck would have it, she didn’t have to ask for them.
The gray-haired man glanced at his watch and spoke again before her tongue could form more words. “I’m sure his career is completely in the dumpster by now. His meeting with the ethics committee started about an hour ago. Such a shame too. I heard he was a beloved professor.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Ethics committee? Meeting? Why? Surely he wouldn’t get fired for dating a former student. They’d done nothing wrong.
And why did this asshole know so much about it?
Slowly, the pieces came together. She knew with clarity she was staring at the Russian mobster who wanted Conner to fight for him. What the hell was he doing in the parking lot of the gym, hanging out next to his car?
Waiting for Conner…
Fuck.
And he didn’t realize Sabrina wasn’t privy to anything he was telling her.
Why the hell had Conner allowed himself to get into this situation when all he had to do was bring Sabrina forward? Before she could ponder it another moment, she turned and ran back to her car.
“Where are you going, Ms. Duluth? Don’t you want to wait with me? I’m sure he’ll come straight here as soon as his career is in the shitter.” His voice rose, but she didn’t hear anything else because she was inside her car, speeding away in seconds.
As she drove to the university, she tried to concentrate on everything she’d heard. It didn’t make sense. None of it. If somebody set Conner up to lose his job, why on earth wouldn’t Conner just tell her? Especially if she could have exonerated him with a simple meeting?
She stayed well over the speed limit all the way to campus, praying she didn’t get pulled over. She didn’t have time for that. “Come on. Come on…” Tapping the steering wheel with her fingers as she waited at a red light didn’t help her nerves.
It was a Saturday morning. Why were they meeting on a Saturday? She sped directly to the administration building, having no idea where else to start. The lot had several cars in it already, and Sabrina added hers to the mix, crooked and straddling two spots. She didn’t care. She was out of the Honda and running toward the entrance without a glance back.
Luckily, someone was working at the information desk. Out of breath, Sabrina addressed her. “There’s a meeting going on somewhere. Do you know where it might be?”
“What meeting?” The student looked confused.
“With the dean maybe? The ethics committee?”
“Oh.” Her eyes went wide. “I saw the dean heading for the conference room upstairs earlier.” She pointed to the top of the staircase. “Maybe she’s still there.” She tucked a lock of red curls behind her ear.
“Where is it?” Sabrina nearly yelled.
The girl flinched. “Probably the one the right.”
Sabrina took the stairs two at a time, nearly sprinting. When she reached the second floor, she flung open the first door on the right she came too. No one was inside. Leaving that room, she headed for the next. She didn’t even think. She just tore forward, her only thought that Conner was an absolute idiot if he let himself get fired without bring Sabrina in.
As she jerked the next door open, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Several men turned around to face the door and stare at her.
A woman stood at the head of the room. “This is a closed meeting. You can’t be here.”
Sabrina scanned the occupants until she found Conner sitting at the front.
He jumped to his feet when he spotted her. “Sabrina?” He wore a suit, and he looked pale. Stress lines marred his features. “What are you doing here?”
She stepped inside.
The woman spoke again. “Ma’am, you can’t be here,” she repeated.
Sabrina ignored her and padded farther into the room. “What’s going on?”
“Sabrina, can we talk about this later?” Conner implored.
“No, we can’t talk about this later. Later would be too late, wouldn’t it?” She made it to the front of the room.
“How did you know where I was?”
“Long story.” She stepped right in front of him, ignoring the mumbling coming from the other men in the room. She glanced around and noticed there were also two other women. Everyone was dressed in their best suits.
“Sabrina…” Conner’s shoulders slumped. “I have it under control,” he whispered, taking her arm and tugging her back in the direction she’d just come.
“It doesn’t seem that you do,” she admonished, jerking her bicep free of his grip. “Not if you let things go this far without telling me. Why would you do that?”
“Conner?” the woman standing questioned. “Is this the woman?”
“It is,” he muttered. He turned around and faced the group, motioning toward Sabrina. “Sabrina Duluth. You can look her up if you want. She was indeed a student here last semester, but only for the one semester. We didn’t begin seeing each other until several months later.”
“Why, Conner?” What the hell possessed him to let things go this far when all he’d needed to do was ask her to come in?
He stared at her for a second. “I didn’t want you mixed up in this. It wasn’t your problem. And neither of us did anything wrong.”
“So? If someone accused us of something we didn’t do, don’t you think it would have helped to allow me to corroborate?”
He blew out a breath. “Yes. It would have helped me. But it would have put a flag on your name.”
“What?”
The woman at the front of the room stepped forward. She reached out a hand. “Dean Sheffield. Nice to meet you.”
Sabrina shook her hand while Dr. Sheffield smiled and then turned to Conner. “How noble of you, Dr. Bascott.” She smirked. “Stupid, but noble.”
“Someone clue me in here,” Sabrina demanded. “I’m at a loss.”
Dean Sheffield continued, scrambling around on the podium for a paper. “Would you be willing to sign an affidavit stating that you were not involved with Dr. Bascott in any manner that was inappropriate during your semester at the university?”
“Of course.”
“That will do it.” Dean Sheffield lifted her gaze. “The rest of you are excused. I think we’re done here.”
There was a noisy shuffling of briefcases and shoes as everyone gathered their belongings and left the room.
Sabrina lowered herself into a chair two down from Conner. She fought to catch her breath still. “Conner. You’re going to have to explain this to me.”
Dean Sheffield stepped forward with a form in her hand. She took the chair next to Sabrina, farther from Conner. “I see what he did. It wasn’t the smartest choice, but I get it.”
“What?”
“I didn’t want your name dragged through the dirt while I fought this ridiculous allegation. Nothing anyone accused me of was true. And I knew I could eventually prove it without hauling you into it.” He plopped down in his seat and leaned his elbows on his knees.
Sabrina took the paper from the dean and absently signed it. “It wo
uld seem things got out of hand. Just how far were you willing to go without bringing me into it?”
Conner frowned. “I don’t think it was out of hand. Do you, Dean Sheffield?”
“Not yet.” The woman raised her eyebrows as she shook her head. “I was getting a little worried.”
“Weren’t they about to fire you?”
Conner froze, his hand lifted in the air. “Who told you that?”
The dean sucked in a breath. “And how did you find out we were here?”
Sabrina licked her lips. “Some Russian guy. I went to the gym to look for you, and he cornered me in the parking lot. Interesting conversation.”
“What did he look like?”
“Stout. Gray hair. Maybe fifty. Receding hairline. Heavy accent.”
Conner jumped to his feet. “Let me get this straight. You spoke with Anton Yenin at the gym just this morning?”
She nodded. “I don’t know his name, but I spoke with some old Russian asshole, yes.”
“And he told you I was getting fired right now?”
“Yes.”
“Well, there you have it.” Dean Sheffield stood. “You want me to call the police, Conner?”
Conner shook his head. “No. I’ll handle it.” He didn’t take his gaze off Sabrina. His face turned red. He looked livid. With her? Finally, he grunted and stomped back and forth. “Jesus, Sabrina. He could have kidnapped you or killed you or worse.”
Worse? What the hell was worse than kidnapped or killed? She shivered, pondering the options. And then she furrowed her brow at him. “Why are you yelling at me? All I did was drive to the gym to look for you. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Conner stopped moving and turned to face her. Several heartbeats went by while the dean excused herself quietly and left the room. The door shut with a resounding snick.
They were alone.
Conner’s glare softened slowly. Suddenly, he took two strides and hauled her off the seat to her feet, pressing his lips to hers. He kissed her hard, slanting his head to one side and gripping her biceps. His kiss was desperate. Needy.
And her entire body responded in kind. Instant heat rushed to her center and tightened her pussy, making her moan into his mouth.
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