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“He’s fighting because of his friend Leslie. He said he was doing it for him.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and her anger seemed to slow. “His damn mate started this all, but you got pulled into it. Donovan has threatened to hurt you if Adam doesn’t fight.”
Those guys had been following me. Of course. That was why Adam had whisked me away to a hotel. I had thought it was because he didn’t want Leslie’s drama to impact me, but it was actually because I was already in danger . . .
I was going to be sick.
“Adam is fighting to protect you, but if you leave he won’t need to keep you safe.”
“Why didn’t he send me home, then?”
Holly wet her lips and took a step closer to me. “I guess he had his reasons for keeping you.”
Because he wanted to screw me? Was that what his dear sis was trying to say? Well, clearly she had a much lower opinion of Adam than I did.
“I don’t think my leaving is going to get him to quit.” I stood my ground, pushing away from the wall. “He stopped fighting because of what happened to Owen, and he’s never forgiven himself, but maybe—”
“You know about Owen Daniels?” Holly gripped her forehead as if I were giving her a headache.
“He told me.”
She brought a hand to her mouth and turned away from me. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was softer now.
“For what?”
Holly faced me, her skin blanching. “If he told you about Owen, he must really care about you.” She bit her lip for a moment. “I shouldn’t have said that—about you two shagging . . .”
“Holly, I care about Adam. I only want what’s best for him. Maybe I should talk to him again.” I didn’t know what I’d say or if I could change his mind, but I needed to at least try. “Do you think he’s still here?”
She shook her head no. “I saw him leaving the hall and go barreling out the front doors. He’s probably heading to his home outside the city.”
Shit. How would I get there?
“I’ll take you to him.”
“What?”
“If you can talk to him, make him see—”
“I’ll do my best,” I assured her as I ripped the brown wig from my head.
“Okay, then. Come on, let’s go out the back so we don’t draw any attention from my family.”
“Sounds good.” I followed after Holly, tossing my wig in a trash bin in the parking lot as we left. She unlocked her SUV, and I got inside.
As she drove, Holly clutched the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles became white. “He worked so hard to keep from fighting. I guess I’m still trying to wrap my head around how this all happened.”
I kept my eyes on the window, not sure what I could say. I had dragged him back into the fighting world. All this time I had been worried about myself and Adam had been the one in danger.
“Adam feels so guilty about what happened to that fighter, Owen. But I’m wondering if the guilt is dangerous,” I mused.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe he needs forgiveness to move on.”
“No. The guilt is what kept him from fighting.” Holly shook her head.
“Maybe it worked before, but in the long term, I don’t think that’s the answer. I mean, Adam paralyzed a guy. He feels he stole Owen’s life from him. Maybe if he had a chance to confront Owen, face-to-face, maybe he could find some sort of solace. He could free himself of the burden that’s weighing him down.”
