5. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Giana
I glanced out the window, watching for any trace of a landmark, sign, or building as we drove to the outskirts of East Haven.
“It all still feels familiar, yet like it was a lifetime ago.” I smiled wistfully and leaned into Kellan’s touch as he ran his hand over my back in a soothing gesture.
Napping, cocooned between Merrick and Kellan, had been exactly what I’d needed. The only person who’d been missing was Spade, but he disappeared before I could invite him to join us.
“Not much has changed,” Merrick grumbled, watching me like he would decimate anything he found that upset me, like he could turn back the clock and erase the changes from the past year.
I glanced at Spade, who’d surprisingly given up his seat beside me, letting Kellan take it instead as we rode in the back of the armored van. He grinned at me, but there was something else behind it, a distance that I itched to close between us. I needed to get a second alone with him to figure out what was going on, but right now, there was too much nervous energy vibrating through me at the thought of seeing my best friend.
Would she still like the person I’d become, the one I truly was at my core? I shook the thought away. I could worry about that later. For now, I had to focus on keeping her safe from Tommaso.
The sun had set an hour ago, just as we’d woken from our nap. Exhaustion weighed on my limbs, but I couldn’t stay in bed for a moment longer, not when Merrick got the text from Zane that they’d made it back to the fight club.
“Do you still fight at the club?” I asked, glancing between Merrick and Kellan. Thoughts of the last time I’d been there flitted through my mind, and my cheeks heated. Merrick had a way of controlling the ring, and I wondered if he still did—hell, I knew he had to, but I wanted to see him in action.
The sexual tension that vibrated between us was palpable as thoughts of what happened after his fight played through my mind. I shifted in my seat, needing some sort of friction against my heated core.
But it was Spade who answered, lifting some of the stifling heat that clung to my skin. “They haven’t fought there in a few months, but I usually go every other week.”
I couldn’t help but grin as he waggled his eyebrows, his chest puffing out slightly with pride. “I’ll have to watch.” With a groan, I clamped my lips shut, not wanting to let my imagination run wild just yet.
“You don’t want to see him fight,” Merrick grumbled, flashing Spade a warning look.
“What do you mean?” My brow furrowed, and I glanced between them, clearly missing something.
“Spade doesn’t fight like most fighters at the club do,” Kellan explained, his hand stilling on my back. “He lets his opponent beat him bloody before he finally starts to fight back.”
“I love to see them feel like they’re unstoppable, like they’re moments from their win, and how just a few blows from me can quickly wipe the triumph off their faces.” Spade grinned, a lethal gleam glinting in his violet eyes.
“Yeah, and no, there’s barely anyone left who will fight with you.” Merrick huffed in exasperation.
“It’s not my fault their egos are bruised by the end of the fight.” Spade shrugged, and I narrowed my gaze on him, knowing there was something else to it.
“Or have you thought that, maybe, it’s because they don’t want to risk hospitalization the next time around?” Merrick’s sarcastic reply drew my gaze back to Spade, and I studied him, needing to know the reason he continued to fight like that. The others might think it was just his sadistic streak fueling his motives, but judging by the way Spade looked out the window now, refusing to meet my gaze, I knew there was something more to it.
Instead of forcing him to divulge his secrets, I decided to offer up one of my own. “I went to a few fights in New York.” I knew their attention was focused on me as I looked out the window myself, unable to meet any of their gazes just yet. “I usually tried not to go, knowing it would bring up memories of you, but there were times he insisted, made me accompany him as his arm candy.”
Though I could feel the rage rippling off my men, they hung on my every word, not wanting to interrupt me. I wasn’t sure if they were scared of their own responses if they did or worried I would shut down if they spoke now. But I was done letting Tommaso hang over us like this. I wouldn’t let him control my life anymore, and that included my memories. I couldn’t deny those six years happened any longer. They were a part of me, and they made me into the person I was now.
“It wasn’t the same as here, of course. There were so many people pulling the strings there, you could tell that it was all for show, that the bosses and dealers owned the fighters, and they’d fall when they were told. It was a place solely for those in the underbelly of the city to go and discuss business, but sometimes, they let the crowds in, usually as a way to line their pocketbooks with their bets.”
I frowned as I recalled the next part. I might delight in the violence, but there was a difference when it was against those who are innocent. “One of those nights, as I left for the bathroom, I ran into my kickboxing instructor in the hall. I hadn’t thought Tommaso saw it, but the next day, he showed up outside of my class, and his men beat my instructor with a tire iron.”
I’d already told Merrick and Kellan this story, but this was the first time I’d admitted it to Spade. “So, it kind of feels full circle to come back to a fight club now, especially this one. Because that was when I realized that I had to get out. Otherwise, I’d either end up a shell of myself or dead.”
My jaw clenched as I chanced a look at them. I wasn’t sure what I’d find, rage or pity, but I found neither in their eyes. Merrick’s dark hazel ones were filled with an icy determination, while Kellan’s were filled with concern and a resolute fire. But Spade’s were brimming with understanding, reminding me that he probably knew what I went through the most out of them all. He’d escaped his parents, escaped their control and abuse, just as I had with Tommaso.
My chest warmed at the mix of emotions, and I gave them an appreciative nod. They knew exactly what I needed—the freedom to pull on the tethers of these memories on my own. I was just grateful to have their ears whenever I needed.
I sucked in a breath as we turned the corner and pulled up to the warehouse. The outside hadn’t changed much, maintaining its abandoned outward appearance, but there were some upgrades. They’d placed permanent spotlights along the parking lot, along with a chain-link fence with barbed wire at the top. As we approached a gate, it rolled open. The guard in the small outpost had clearly been expecting us.
“Sophia is fine,” Kellan reminded me, rubbing his large palm over my back again in a soothing gesture. I couldn’t help but grin as some of my nervous energy ebbed at his comforting touch. I might enjoy violence and bloodshed, but that didn’t mean a girl didn’t like to be comforted by her men too. Give me some good cuddles, and maybe even play with my hair, and I’d be putty in their hands.
“Thanks.” I leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, loving the way he groaned, leaning forward like he itched to deepen it, but he was holding himself back.
“I can see his self-control crumbling right before my eyes.” Spade chuckled darkly, and I knew he meant the same of his own. Reluctantly, I pulled away and gave them a wistful sigh.
“Let’s get going.” Kellan gave me a tight smile and reached for the door, and my heart fluttered at the knowledge that all three of my men were just as crazy for me as I was for them.
The interior of the fight club had changed a lot over the last six years. While the ring had been against the back wall before, it was now off to the right, the wall that had separated the large former warehouse now removed to give the club over double the space it used to have. The seats surrounding the ring were permanently bolted into the ground and then subtly sloped up, with stairs ascending on either side. It looked like a legit venue now, where people from all over would flock to for a night of violence and debauchery. On the left side were a few bars and a DJ booth, reminiscent of a nightclub.
The entrance to the back rooms was still where I remembered it, and that’s where we were headed now. A red carpet ran from the back to the stage, and I idly wondered if it was meant to add more class or to hide the blood dripping off the fighters by the end of the match. “This place has changed.”
“Yeah, Sebastian’s done a lot of work in the last few years.” Kellan wrapped an arm around my waist while Spade and Merrick took the lead. “The club has gotten huge, and thankfully, because it’s on the outside of town, the Barones leave them alone, for the most part, especially since the Demon Riders are known to frequent it.”
I nodded in understanding. Now that the Barones knew the Demon Riders were a front for the Devil’s Demons, they’d try to claim whatever territory or businesses they could, unless we stopped them.
I took in every inch of the hallway, having imagined it so many times when the guys would fight here. Seeing the floors were a wooden laminate, with matching open storage on one side and a leather couch on the other, I was sure it was in a lot better shape now than it had been then. I couldn’t picture the old place having as nice of locker rooms as stood on either side of the hall now.
My mind wandered to what, exactly, we could get up to on that couch after one of their fights, but I quickly swallowed and refocused on the rooms lining the hall. There were a few offices, their doors closed and the interiors hidden by frosted glass. The soft glow of lights spilled out into the hallway from the farthest door, the barest hint of lowered voices audible now.
I picked up my pace and nearly ran into Spade’s and Merrick’s backs as they came to a halt.
I placed a hand on each of their backs, barely stopping myself before my head smacked off their hard muscles. Kellan’s arm wrapped around my waist at the same time, helping to keep me steady.
“Giana,” Sophia called, and I tried to glance around my men, to no avail.
“Can you move?” I sighed and slid my hands between them, attempting to pry their shoulders apart without success.
A growl reverberated from Merrick’s chest before he and Spade reluctantly parted. But, before I could take more than a step in front of them, Sophia came barreling toward me, her long red hair spilling out around her shoulders as she wrapped me up in a tight embrace.
I could feel the tension radiating off my guys, like they thought my best friend, who couldn’t be taller than five-foot-two, was about to attack me.
“I tried to call you, but that asshole broke my phone.” Sophia pulled away, still holding my biceps as she threw a glare over her shoulder. Sophia might not have the same skills I did with a blade, but if her cutting look could kill, the massive man behind her would be a goner.
“I told you that they were probably tracking you,” the man, who I assumed was Zane, grumbled, crossing his massive forearms over his chest. The warm glow from the lamp beside him cast light on his black hair, like sparkling obsidian, his chocolate brown eyes hard on my best friend’s back.
My hackles rising, I narrowed my eyes on him in return, all grateful thoughts vanishing now that he was a potential threat. His broad shoulders and thickly corded muscles might be on the same level as Merrick’s, but if I could take down Mountain Mike, this asshole would be a piece of cake . . . probably.
“Giana?” Sophia said, a crease forming between her eyebrows as she studied me.
“Don’t be rude to our guests,” a second man’s voice boomed through the small office as he stood from his worn oak desk, the green tufted velvet office chair spinning slightly from the abrupt movement. “Please come in.”
Sophia chewed at her bottom lip and inched to the side, pulling me along with her as she made room for my guys to come in too. As If she’d only just registered the three men guarding my back, her eyes widened, lips parting as she scanned them up and down.
I suppressed a giggle at her delayed reaction, unable to understand how her attention hadn’t immediately gone to them the moment they’d walked in the room.
“Gi,” she murmured under her breath, glancing from them to me. “I feel like you kind of undersold them to me last night.”
Spade’s chest puffed up with pure masculine pride, his eyes glittering as he winked at me and slid in on my other side. Kellan and Merrick stood beside Sophia, all of us angled toward the door, in case we needed to get out quickly.
“Sebastian.” Merrick greeted the second man and gave him a stiff nod.
“I’ve heard so much about you, Giana. It’s great to finally meet you.” Sebastian smiled, his toffee eyes glittering as he straightened his suit jacket. He was toned and lean, his brown hair styled back like he’d never had as much as a hair out of place.
“I’m not quite sure the feeling’s mutual yet.” I crossed my arms over my chest, cocking an eyebrow in an unimpressed look as I glanced from him to Zane.
I could feel Sophia’s attention on me, as if she didn’t recognize the woman in front of her. My stomach twisted and soured even further at the look of delight that flashed across Sebastian’s features.
“I can see why you had to get her back, and why Tommaso stole her away in the first place.”
“Watch it,” Merrick growled, taking a step forward. Zane was there, though, blocking his way before Merrick could even think to move another muscle.
The two hulking men glared at one another, and I almost wanted to see what they would be able to do in the ring against each other. It would be a hell of a fight, but I was sure Merrick would win. His raw fury wouldn’t allow for any other result.
I shook away the cloud of lust that had fogged over my mind. This wasn’t the time to imagine Merrick sweating, blood dripping from his knuckles—
“That’s no way to treat our guests, Zane, especially when we have business to discuss.” The amusement quickly ebbed from Sebastian’s tone, replaced with an edge of malice.
“We do,” Kellan agreed, stepping forward once Zane retreated to lean against the wall, his wary gaze never leaving Merrick.
“Let’s go grab some drinks, so we can discuss our next steps and how you’re going to fix the mess that’s bound to come pounding at my doorstep.” Violence flashed in Sebastian’s eyes, and I stiffened, finally seeing the lethal man beneath the suave business facade he wore.
We might’ve just traded one problem for another.