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“It’s an old factory. I heard it’s run by the Italians now. I’ve only been here a couple of times with your father. After we had you, he wouldn’t let me come with him anymore. Make no mistake, Mila, this place is dangerous. The fights are held on the factory floor. Assuming they haven’t changed anything in the last decade, the cage where the fights take place is in the center of the building."
A shiver runs through me at the thought of what might await us inside. But I’m determined to do this. Gunner is in there, and who knows what kind of shape he might be in. I need to see him.
She seems equally dead set on her decision, and we approach the entrance in silence. The man guarding the door watches us warily, but he lets us pass after my mom hands him some cash. I see him raise a radio to his lips, but I don’t pause to hear what he says. Soon we’re in a large open space filled with yelling people. I look around until my eyes land on the cage positioned at the center of the room.
“Gunner,” I whisper when my gaze locks on the shirtless wild-looking man, his left hand gripping someone’s hair as he slams his fist into the other man’s face. I watch the bleeding man drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes, but Gunner doesn’t spare him a glance as he turns to the mouth of the cage and waits.
The factory is filled with both cheers and angry outbursts as men start to exchange money. Gunner doesn’t shift his focus away from the entrance of the cage. I’m about to force my way through the crowd toward him when the cage door opens once more and someone is shoved inside.
“Oh my God!” my mother cries from beside me, and I lift on my tiptoes to get a clear view of the cage, my heart nearly stopping when I catch sight of Dennis’s thinning hair. He is dressed in dirty blue jeans and a red plaid shirt, which is definitely not the right attire for a fight.
Dennis tries to escape, but the cage door is slammed closed and locked, leaving him at the mercy of a savage beast who looks ready to tear him apart. Gunner pounces before the smaller man can even brace himself.
My mom and I grab onto each other, hiding our faces from the violence unleashed inside the cage, and I’m grateful for thecrowd’s yells that drown out most of the sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
I have watched fights before, hell, my father was a trainer, but none of it was ever this violent, this unrestrained. And to know that Gunner is doing it for me doesn’t exactly make it any easier to watch.
Gunner! Gunner! Gunner!
The fight is over just as fast as it started, but that is to be expected. Dennis stood no chance against Gunner, and the man who once thought himself untouchable is nothing more than a bloody lump on the dirty factory floor. Even his police badge couldn’t protect him here.
“Let’s go. You don’t need to see this.” Mom grabs my wrist, but before she can drag me away, a man steps in front of us. We both take a step back from the dark-haired stranger looming over us, only to bump into another man behind us. “Who the hell are you?” my mom demands.
“Ma’am, you need to come with us. Our boss wants a word with both of you.”
It’s clear that his words are not a request, and after a shared look of alarm, we follow the man across the factory floor and up a flight of stairs into what looks like an office. There is another man waiting inside, tall and dark with clearly defined muscles beneath his tailored suit. He looks to be about the same age as Gunner. He smiles warmly at us, but there is something in his eyes that is cold and dangerous.
“My name is Luca,” he says. “I’m the owner of this club, and I want to personally welcome you. I’m a friend of Gunner’s, and as such, I feel it’s my duty to ensure your safety here. Who knows what Gunner would try to do if something happened to you.”
My mother must know who this Luca guy is because she turns sheet white but doesn’t say a word. She only grasps my hand and squeezes tightly.
“Ah, speak of the devil,” Luca says, turning toward the door moments before it bursts open and Gunner storms inside. He’s still shirtless and his torso is covered in spatters of blood. There’s a bruise on his right cheek and a cut along his jaw. I want to run to him, but something in his demeanor stops me.
Gunner’s blue eyes are fiery as he steps in front of my mother and me without sparing either of us a glance. “I will kill you, Luca!” he growls, his fists clenched.
“Hey, I didn’t bring her here,” Luca says with an easy smile. “She arrived with her mother of her own free will.”
Gunner is clearly not convinced, but it seems like he doesn’t want to spend another second within these walls as he grabs my wrist and pulls me toward the door. The hold my mom has on my other hand has her trailing along behind us. At the door, Gunner stops and turns back to Luca. “Crey and Monk?” he asks.
There’s a gleeful kind of twinkle in Luca’s eye as he peers out the large windows at the cage below where my stepfather still lies crumpled on the floor, along with the other man Luca had been fighting when we arrived. “You’ve done your part. I’ll take care of the rest,” he responds.
Gunner nods in reply and continues leading me out of the factory. I nearly have to run to keep up with his quick steps. He doesn’t stop until we’re in the parking lot and in front of his car where he proceeds to turn on me with a glare.
“What happened in there?” I ask.
“I told you not to leave the house!” he growls at me instead, his eyes narrowed dangerously. “And you show up here in nothing but a jacket with a nightgown underneath?”
I look down at myself, only now realizing what I’m wearing. “We were in a hurry,” I say with a pout. My words have the effect of a bucket of ice water over Gunner as he seems to suddenly register my mother’s presence.
“How did she find you?” he demands before turning to her. “Were you in on this with Dennis?” He doesn’t wait for her to answer and takes a menacing step toward her. I hurry to get in front of him, pushing my hands against his chest.
“Gunner, wait. She didn’t know what was going on. Right, Mom?”
“R-right,” she confirms, clearly scared of my beast of a man. “I only just got out of rehab. I had no idea what was going on.”
“It’s a long story,” I interrupt. “Can I tell it to you at home?”
Gunner stares at my mother for a long moment before turning back to me. “Yeah, pixie. Let’s go home,” he says.
