AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah.” I study his long back and legs, his muscular ass that’s perfectly outlined through the thin fabric of his pants. Tension radiates from his frame, and I swallow hard. “You?”
“It was okay.”
Okay. Just okay. My chest tightens. “What’s wrong?”
He pours coffee into a black mug and turns toward me, leaning his hip against the counter. He looks down into its depths and avoids my gaze.
Distance stretches between us. We may be a few feet apart, but it’s as if miles are separating us this morning.
“I need to tell you something,” he says.
My stomach drops. The bad feeling is back. It’d been there all along, I know, but I managed to ignore it, pretend it wasn’t real.
“So tell me.” I sip from the black coffee and feel sick. I put the mug down.
“Meg… Do you trust me?”
“I do, I…” Christ, what’s going on?
He nods, turns to place the mug on the counter, and folds his arms over his chest. “I may have found him.”
“Found who?” He’s totally lost me.
“The guy who killed them.”
My blood freezes. “The guy who killed your family? How?”
He shrugs. “Told you I saw a tattoo on his arm that night. For a long time I wasn’t sure I did see it, but then I crossed paths with him, right here, in Madison, and he had the tattoo. It was him.”
I realize my jaw is slack, my mouth hanging
open. “You just saw him walking by, on the street?”
He puffs out a sigh, his eyes closing. “Yeah. He seems to be involved in the underground fighting club where Ash worked for a while. I need to get inside, find him.”
Holy crap on a cracker. It’s all mafia and crime lords in those clubs. Oh shit… “Is that why you were beaten up the other day? Something to do with that?”
He grimaces. “I was looking for a way into the fight club. Met with some assholes who beat me up instead of helping me, as they’d promised. But now I have an in.” He glances up, his eyes wide. “I could find him, Meg, after all this time.”
My heart drops to my toes. “And what then? What will you do if you find him?”
He clenches his jaw. “Make him confess, otherwise the police aren’t gonna believe me. My only chance is to catch him off guard, make him talk.” He frowns. “It’s the only way. I need to do this before I put the past behind me. Knowing he’s out there, and not knowing why he did it…it’s been like a festering wound.”
Dear God.
“You’re hurt,” I whisper. “Your ribs are bruised, and god knows what else. And now you’re going into a cage to fight to the death.” There’s a bitter taste in my mouth, and it’s not from the coffee. “Do you realize how dangerous this is?”
“Yeah, I know.” A spark burns in their center of his eyes. “I told the guys. You were right that I should. They’re not happy with this, but they’ll keep watch outside, ready to notify the police if I have news.”
Holy crap. “If I say not to do it, will it make any difference?”
When he doesn’t reply, I grip the edge of the table.
God. “It’s all set then? This is it?” I can’t believe this is happening. I’m dizzy with fear. “Is that why you asked me to trust you? That was a low blow, asking me to trust you before telling me what you were about to do.”
“I know.” He swallows, dips his chin to his chest. “I just…” He winces. “I was afraid you’d leave.”
“You were right to be afraid.”
