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Saying nothing, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest.
“Lorenzo saw the screen. He told me he knew that was my greatest fear, someone I love turning up missing.” I almost couldn’t get the words out. They would make the potential horror I’d lived with for days for real. “Tray, he touched Carly’s picture. He could hurt her.”
“He won’t get near her.”
“You can’t guarantee that. No one can. Even if I threw that fight tomorrow night, even if I did everything they asked, who’s to say they won’t change it up on me? Next time they’ll want more. If it meant I could ensure Carly would be safe, I’d let Evie kick my ass—”
“You listen to me.” He gripped my chin and stared hard into my eyes until his features blurred under the wash of my tears. “You fight that fight exactly like we planned. Slater and I will be right there behind you. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” I grabbed his wrist. “It’s you. It’s Carly.”
“Slater will have my back. As will you. We’ll make sure Carly is somewhere safe.”
“How? If you and Slater are with me, who can stay with her? And don’t tell me your mom, because she’s no match for Lorenzo’s goons.”
“Giovanni,” he said after a moment, and I went stiff.
“You can’t be serious.” I pulled away from him and shoved
at the sleeping bag constricting my legs. “We don’t even know for sure he’s on our side. He got us into this mess.”
“From what you said, you were on their radar all along. We both were. They were cherry picking fighters to get in their pocket.”
“So why is he hanging out with people like that?” I kicked out and the vibrator went rolling across the hardwood floor. I didn’t care. “What do you think that says about him?”
“It says there’s something going on with him, and it’s not because he likes rubbing elbows with mob types.”
“How do you know he’s not one of them?”
“I don’t know anything, Mia, except my gut is telling me he’s on our side. If he’s not—” When I started to object, he stilled me with a hand on my hip. “If he’s not, I’ll kill him myself.”
I shoved my fingers through my hair. “Don’t ask me to put her in his care.”
“What choice do we have? I can’t be in two places. Neither can Slater. You can try locking her in the bathroom with a mop, but I don’t think that’ll get her too far.”
“You can be in my corner,” I said, turning back to him. “Slater can stay with Carly—”
“No. You get both of us. I wish I had a goddamned army, but you’ll have to settle for an army of two.”
“What about Liam?” I asked, leaping on Slater’s brother like he was bottled oxygen. “He’s a former SEAL and he’s training at the gym. He’d be perfect.”
“Liam doesn’t agree with illegal fighting. He was supposed to start working as a trainer but he backed off because it just didn’t sit right with him. If he found out Slater was in your corner, there’d be issues. This is better. Cleaner.”
“Are you trying to push her toward Giovanni? Is that some part of the bro code? We’re pals now, here, free pass, fuck my girl’s sister?”
He tipped up my chin and smudged his thumb over my lips until they stopped flapping. “Repeat after me. I am not the keeper of Carly’s vagina. On three.”
I shook him off. “You think you’re funny. He’s the worst possible influence for her—” Hearing myself, I groaned, replaying the conversation with Tray’s mother earlier that evening. “Jesus.” I dropped my head into my hands. “I hate when you’re right.”
“It doesn’t happen all that often. Let me bask in this moment.” He tugged my hair until I lifted my head and met his gaze. “You worry about winning that fight. Let me take care of the rest.”
“It’s one night. They have a million others they could hurt her.”
“One day at a time. It’s all we can do.”
I sucked in a breath and forced myself to turn into him when he opened his arms.
“You need to get some sleep.” He stroked my cheek. “For me, if not yourself.”
