“AndIsnapped his neck, Demi. Me.” He bangs his chest with the hand that should be on the steering wheel. “Idid that.”
I hate that we’re fighting, but I can’t back down. “Forme, Maddox. You did that forme.” I drag the back of my hand under my nose to ensure nothing gross is spilling before sliding across the bench seat so that I am close enough to him for him to see the honesty in my eyes when I pledge, “I promise to run to another countryifyou lose. I promise to stare at my feet long before the light in your opponent’s eyes extinguishes, but Irefuseto stay in the car. This is my mess, so I’m going to help clean it up.”
I won’t make the same mistake I did two months ago. I tested the durability of the pocketknife I stuffed down my bra this time around. It shredded through a piece of uncooked steak like I stabbed it through a bowl of pudding. If one Petretti fails to come to the plate tonight for Maddox, a second one is at the ready.
“Demi—”
“No, Maddox. Our discussion is over. I am coming inside.” He must hate the day he encouraged me to speak my mind because he’s the only person I’ve used it on the past two months.
The scruffy beard he grew thanks to a lack of shaving equipment at the hospital does little to stop the moon’s rays from bouncing off his teeth. He’s smiling even while grumbling about me being a pain in his backside.
“For future reference, I much prefer when you bribe me with sex,” he murmurs a couple of miles later.
Even though I squeeze his thigh, I keep my eyes on the road. “I’ll be sure to remember that next time.”
Our arrival at a warehouse on the outskirts of Erkinsvale doubles the frantic beat of my heart. Unlike my last arrival to a similar location, the parking lot isn’t filled with foreign cars that fetch extremely high prices. Not even my uncle’s Audi is here.
Maddox’s eyes stray from the haunted-like warehouse to me when I rip open the glove compartment to pull out his wallet. It has details of tonight’s fight stored inside of it, which is the very reason Maddox has kept it out of my sight all day.
I suck in a nerve-cleansing breath when the address on my uncle’s business card matches the one Maddox input into the GPS. I’m not relieved. I am hopeful tonight’s event has been canceled.
Needing proof, I suggest for Maddox to go past the parking lot. “There’s usually a back entrance to these types of places. My uncle likes showboating about his fighters while they make their way to the ring. He can’t do that if they use the front entrance.”
Wrongly believing I’m referencing him as one of my uncle’s fighters, Maddox wrings the steering wheel.
That wasn’t what I was doing. Not even close. I’d rather he not share the same air as my uncle, much less place Maddox in the same category as him.
“Dimitri will enter this way when he arrives.”If he arrives.“There are no cameras.”
I grow worried my uncle is up to something when we fail to stumble onto another vehicle near the back entrance of the warehouse. There are obvious tire tracks in the loose dirt, but not a single mode of transportation can be seen. It is as if everyone left in a hurry, and we’re the only suckers left to face the fury alone.
“Where are all the cars?” Maddox asks, as suspicious as me.
“I don’t know,” I answer with a shrug. “Something feels wrong…” My words trail off when a familiar face pops out of the shadows under the awning of the warehouse. I frantically tap my hand on Maddox’s forearm before adding a mangled roar to my unvoiced warning, “Go back!”
Before a single caution firing through Rocco’s eyes can be decoded, the driver’s side door of our car pops open, and Maddox’s seat belt is removed with a knife.
He barely grunts, “What the fuck!” before he’s dragged out of his seat, thrown to the ground, then walloped with three brutal back-to-back hits to his face.
“Stop!”
After throwing off my seat belt, I toss open my door, then race around the hood of the car. I get within an inch of Maddox, who’s being crushed by Dimitri’s large frame when an arm bands around my waist, and I’m yanked back. “Let him blow off some steam.”
Ignoring Rocco’s recommendation, I fight him as Maddox is Dimitri. Maddox was caught by surprise, but once the shock wore off, he started giving as good as he is getting. He came prepared to fight tonight. He just had no clue his biggest battle would be in the parking lot.
When my fists don’t talk on my behalf, I use words. “Let me go!” My command has scarcely left my mouth when Dimitri’s fist causes blood to gush out of a wound above Maddox’s left brow. “He’s going to kill him.”
Since Maddox was unprepared for Dimitri’s onslaught, Dimitri has him at an advantage. He is straddling his lap, meaning every blow he inflicts is done to Maddox’s head. Your brain can only rattle inside your skull so many times before it causes irreparable damage.
“He won’t kill him. He’s just gonna rough him up a bit. Let out some pent-up frustrations.” Rocco’s confirmation that my cousin only intends to beat my boyfriend won’t stop me from punishing his ribs with my elbows. “He needs to learn hisplace.” His last word comes out with a grunt when my kick to his shin loosens his grip on my waist enough I escape his clutch.
My hand stops creeping into my bra to remove the pocketknife when Dimitri screams into Maddox’s face, “My daughter isneverup for negotiation.”Daughter? I didn’t know he had a daughter.“If youevertry to use her again, not even she will be able to save you.” He nudges his head to me during the ‘she’ part of his statement. “Do you understand me, Ox?”
My stomach launches into my throat when he finalizes his question with a faultlessly structured right swung hit to Maddox’s temple. It should knock Maddox out. I’ve seen bigger men go down with a less potent punch, but all it does is encourage him to retaliate with just as much violence.
He slams his fist into Dimitri’s ribs, grunts through a violent crack, then strays his eyes to mine. “Run!”
When I shake my head, shock rains down on Maddox before it’s overcome by disappointment. He loathes that I’m ignoring the terms of our agreement, but they were negotiated for eventsinsidethe warehouse. There was no mention of what would occur outside of it.
