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What willalwaysbe mine.
Except now Kate’s closed the door. As she should.
Fuck.
Dragging my gaze away from her, I walk on heavy legs towards the cage door and pull it open, allowing Clayton’s crew to enter before stepping out. The crowd of people nearest to me gather round, slapping me on the back as they congratulate me on my win. I grunt my appreciation, shake a few hands before they ease back and allow me to pass. Across the other side of the club, Carter’s sitting at the bar, the King next to him. They both acknowledge me, Carter with a dip of the head and King with a raised glass. I consider giving the King the middle finger but decide he ain’t worth the attention.
Heading towards the changing rooms, Joey steps out of the shadows with an ice pack and a bottle of whisky. “Let’s get you fixed up, shall we?”
I nod, ready to follow him when my skin prickles. Kate’s familiar scent accosts me right before her fingers wrap around my bicep.
“Beast…”
I step into the shadowed archway that leads to the changing rooms and wait. Joey looks between us, gives Kate a dip of his head and says, “I’ll be fixing up Dom whilst I wait for you to join us.”
“Alright,” I acknowledge.
“You’re hurt,” she blurts out, a frown creasing her brow.
“It ain’t so bad,” I lie.
“Yeah, and my name isn’t Grim.”
I almost say it isn’t, that it’sKate, but I hold my tongue. “Where’s Hudson?” I reply instead, searching the crowd.
“At the bar getting a drink. He thinks you’refucking amazing. His words, not mine.” She gives me a small smile that quickly dies on her lips.
I press my palm against my chest, right over my heart. “Ouch, that hurt.”
“You know what I mean.”
Scanning the crowd, I nod. “Yeah, Princess, I do.”
“He really is a good guy, Beast. If you got to know him, you’d see that.”
“He’s talking to Carter and the King,” I point out.
She follows my gaze, shrugging. “And?”
“And that doesn’t concern you?” I ask, stepping further into the shadows and pulling her with me as the King looks past Hudson and at us both talking.
“I trust Hudson.”
“Should you?”
“I’ve no reason not to. He was a friend to me when no one else was.”
“How did you meet exactly?” I ask, if only to prolong our conversation. I might hurt all over and need some painkillers and medical care, but I need to speak to Kate more.
“Two years back I got into a fight with a few of the kids at the care home his brothers still live at. It was pretty brutal. Hud intervened.”
“Is that so?” I ask, not surprised that he would, but more so that she’d let him.
“He did. The fuckers tried to mug me, they didn’t get very far. I knocked a couple of them out from sheer rage. Back then I didn’t have all the right training. I fought with anger and not with skill.”
“Still do sometimes.” I grin, then wince as I feel the tear in my lip pull wider.
“Hudson has my back. Always will,” she says and there’s a fondness in her gaze which I rarely see, a softness that she hides from everyone. Knowing that Hudson has pulled it out of her stings a hell of a lot more than the cut to my lip.
