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CARTER
Today was the day Emma’s supposed to come to me. She hadn’t stepped foot in the gym yet, nor tried to call. I’d hoped she would, but she was the stubbornest woman I knew. Even if she didn’t want to take the three days away from me, she’d do so just to prove her point.
I had no fucking clue what was going through her head, but I did know that I was ready for the shit to be over. If she wanted me to fight for her, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I couldn’t let her leave for New York without knowing she was mine, that she always had been.
My phone rang, and Brooks’ name popped up.
“Hey, man,” I said, pressing the speaker button.
“You ready?”
I slipped my T-shirt over my head. “Yep.” All I had to do was to put on my boots.
“Good. I’ll be there in ten. There’s something I have to tell you.”
The ten minutes flew by, and then I heard the rumbling of his Dodge Ram 1500 TRX pull into my driveway. When I hopped in his truck, I was greeted with a grim expression. I didn’t like it.
“What the fuck’s going on?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.
Brooks pulled out of my driveway and started toward the prison. “You’re not going to believe this shit,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road, “but Scar gets out of prison in two days.”
I was prepared to hear various things, but that wasn’t on the list. Shock didn’t begin to describe how I felt. “How is that possible?” I growled.
Brooks scrunched his shoulders. “Not sure, but I know our parents aren’t aware of this. The whole thing has been hush-hush. Scar has to know somebody higher up in the system.” He glanced over at me quickly. “My source has even mentioned him having ties to the mafia. I’m doing everything I can to find out who he has contact with. It might take some time.”
It got worse and worse by the second. “At least we’re talking to Scar now instead of waiting for him to show up on our doorsteps.”
Brooks huffed. “Which he’ll probably still do. The guy’s a fucking lunatic. My dad told me what Scar made your aunt do. She had to fight men; it was the only way she could keep them from going after Paxton, which they ended up doing anyway.” I knew she had to fight men but was never given the specifics. Brooks continued, his anger palpable. It took all I had to restrain mine. “One of those men Gabby had to fight tried to use a flogger on her.”
Bile rose up the back of my throat. Scar and his people deserved to get the shit beaten out of them and then some. They didn’t deserve to live. Now I could see why I wasn’t given specifics on Gabby’s time at the Dark Side. She probably didn’t want everyone to know, especially my dad.
“Did my aunt get hurt during that fight?” I asked.
Brooks barked a laugh. “Hell, no. Gabby went murderous on the guy and almost flogged him to death. Your aunt’s a badass bitch. My dad even told me about all the men Paxton killed in the ring.”
It had been assumed he had, but it was a different story hearing it. “How many men are we talking about?”
Brooks shrugged. “I don’t think anyone really knows. I was told they were the worst of the worst, so honestly, Paxton did the world a favor.”
“What do you think Scar’s going to do when he gets out? Do you think he’ll start up another Dark Side?” I wondered.
His head tilted to the side, eyes narrowing in concentration. “I don’t know. Scar’s had over twenty years to do nothing but plot out his return. Whatever he does, I can assure you it’ll be worse than before.”
It took an hour to get to the prison, and all I could think about was the what-ifs. What if Scar physically went after Emma? What if they hurt her? The answer was plain and simple … I’d kill him and everyone else who tried to take her away from me.
Brooks pulled into the prison's parking lot, and we went through two security checks before they let us inside. I was put in a small room with a two-way mirror and four-seater table that reeked of stale cigarette smoke and sweat.
“I’ll be on the other side of the mirror,” Brooks informed me. “The cameras will be off, and Scar knows that. It was the only way Scar agreed to talk to you.”
I jerked around to face him. “He knows it’s me who’s here to see him?”
Brooks blew out a heavy sigh. “Yep. The bastard has so much pull in this place it’s fucking scary. I honestly hate I’m leaving town for the next few weeks because I feel you’re all going to need me.”
“On the flip side, you’ll also be training with FBI elite. You could tap into their resources.”
He nodded, but I could see the reservation in his eyes. “I hope so.”
Brooks motioned toward the table, and I sat down when he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. I glanced over at the two-way mirror and stared at my reflection. The last three days had been hard, and I could see the toll it’d had on me. My eyes were tired, and my knuckles were raw from pounding the punching bag overzealously. Yet, I was ready for the fight ahead at the same time. I wanted Scar to stay the fuck away from Emma.
