Chapter 22
ALEX
Instead of a text with the location and time, Rafe received two gun-toting escorts the following night.
They drove us to wherever the fight was being held, remaining frustratingly silent, and the situation was too similar to finding ourselves locked in the back of a trunk together.
The way Rafe held onto my hand hinted that maybe he felt the same way.
Follow my lead. I’ll get you out of this, I promise.
Rafe’s words—whispered to me as we slid from the back of their souped-up SUV—bounced around my head as we entered a dilapidated warehouse. The furious vibe within these slab walls hit me instantly. The place was packed with people, the crowd consisting mostly of men.
As our henchmen escorts weaved a path for us, every man in a ten-foot vicinity attached his lust-filled gaze to my ass, though most were too busy taking a drag off a cigarette or swigging from a bottle of beer to say anything.
I clenched my fists to keep from tugging my black skirt down my thighs, past the lace tops of the stockings I wore. Men lost their minds when confronted with lace and a garter belt. I hadn’t wanted to dress provocative, but Rafe said Shelton demanded it.
Rafe flung an arm over my shoulders and tucked me into his side. His hold was possessive, but also protective, and he glowered at anyone brave enough to look at me.
There were a lot of brave men here.
The man I’d spied talking to Rafe in the barn a few days ago headed us off with a low whistle.
“I’m Shelton,” he said, taking my hand and brushing his wide mouth over the back. I yanked my hand from his.
Seemingly amused by my objection to being touched, he turned to Rafe with a small smile. “Your girl is a looker. I can see why you tried to run.”
“Like I told your goons,” Rafe said, sneering at the two men we’d followed inside, “I was just putting some shit in my truck.”
Shelton waved his words away. “You’re here, so consider us square.” He leaned in close to Rafe. “We’ll be real square after you make me a load of cash tonight.”
“We’re gonna have problems if you don’t get the fuck out of my face.”
“Whoa,” Shelton said, stepping back. “What’s with the hostility?”
“You tell me. You’re the one siccing your dogs on me.”
The other men bristled, but Shelton held up a hand. “Everybody relax. Nate and…” His eyes narrowed at the bigger of the two. “What the fuck is your name again?”
“Larson, sir.”
“Drop the sir.” Shelton pointed behind him, toward a door beyond a stack of crates. “Go make sure De Luca junior’s nice and comfy. Keep him contained until the fight starts.”
The other two men scuttled off. The way Shelton’s predatory gaze bounced between Rafe and me was unsettling. I didn’t like him. I didn’t like this place. Most of all, I didn’t like the thought of Rafe fighting my brother.
“You’re not going to be happy about this, Mason, but I need you to do something for me.”
“Why ask then?” Rafe said, and I winced at his tone. He wasn’t playing nice at all. Not that I blamed him. But why piss off this guy unless we had a reason to? He said we were taking off as soon as the fight was over…unless he didn’t think that was going to happen.
“Normally, I wouldn’t, but I don’t see a way around it. You want De Luca, and I want him in that cage with you.” Shelton scratched his nose for a second. “Problem is, he’s not budging unless he talks to your girl first.”
Rafe tensed beside me, his body ready to burst into action. I couldn’t see the adrenaline storming him, but I sensed it like an intangible wave in the air.
“I’m sure your guys can convince him.”
“That isn’t how I operate. He’ll fight because he wants to fight.” He gestured at me. “And if he doesn’t talk to her first, he ain’t cooperating.”
“You mean we have a choice?” Rafe let out a bitter laugh. “So you won’t mind if Alex and I take off then.”
“Zach’s a little tied up right now, but you’re standing here free as a bird. Don’t push me, Mason. Let him have five minutes with your girl. My guys will make sure he doesn’t lay a finger on her.”
Rafe was about to put up the fight from hell, I could already tell, but I stepped out of his grasp. “I’ll do it.”
“No!” Rafe’s voice thundered through the warehouse, and the raucous chatter fell silent.
Ignoring him, I kept my gaze on Shelton. “I’ll talk to him, but just the two of us.”
Rafe wrenched me by the arm until we were eye to eye. “This isn’t happening.”
I glared at him. This was my chance to try and talk some sense into Zach. If I could get my brother to back down, maybe this match wouldn’t end in death.
“This isn’t up to you,” I said. “He’s running things.” I threw Shelton a challenging look. “Aren’t you?”
“You got that right.”
“Take me to him then,” I said, stepping to Shelton’s side before Rafe could stop me.
“I’m gonna blister your ass for this,” Rafe warned.
God, I hoped so, because that would mean he was still alive to do so. The air between Rafe and me grew thick with anger and sexual tension, but it dissipated when Shelton grabbed my arm and hauled me toward the door at the back of the building.
“Go warm up,” he barked at Rafe. “She’ll be fine.”
Rafe wasn’t listening. His furious footfalls pounded behind us, and the only thing keeping him outside that room was Shelton and his men.
“I swear to God, Alex—” The door slammed shut, silencing Rafe’s threats of retribution.
Disquiet settled on the room like a blanket. Zach sat in a chair with his hands tied at his back and his feet secured to the legs. Letting out a breath, I took a cautious step forward, satisfied that he couldn’t corner me. I was safe, no matter how fast my heart raced. He couldn’t touch me.
“You look good, Lex.” His hazel eyes lowered to my thighs, zeroing in on the tops of my stockings. “I’m surprised he let you in here,” he said.
I jerked a thumb behind me. “If you couldn’t tell, he wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t have much choice though.”
Zach nodded. “These guys can be very persuasive.”
“It was my decision.”
He sat up a little straighter. “What?”
“I wanted to see you.” I leaned against the cold, gritty wall and tried not to wring my hands.
“Why?” His voice cracked, and he stared at his feet for a few seconds. Was he feeling guilty? No way in hell. I couldn’t believe it.
“He’s going to kill you, Zach.”
“You’re worried about me?” He lifted a surprised brow.
“I’m worried about him.” I stomped across the floor and halted a foot in front of Zach. If they hadn’t tied him to that chair, he could have touched me. He would have touched me. “Don’t force his hand. Please. If you ever cared about me at all, then don’t take him from me.”
He probably thought I meant in the physical sense, but deep down I knew what little sanity Rafe held onto would shatter if he went through with this. All the shit he’d gone through, especially these past few months, had taken a toll on him. I recognized someone on the brink because I’d been there.
Zach let out a bitter laugh. “You think I can take Rafe, do you? Is that what you’re worried about?” He gave a pointed glance at his tied-up state. “Do I look capable of going against Shelton’s underground champ?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Of course, I knew Zach was a threat, but I didn’t believe Rafe would let him get the best of him. Not again. I believed him when he said he would come away from this fight the winner, if for no other reason than to keep me safe. But the what-ifs strangled me.
“Rafe’s been through hell and back. If tonight ends in—”
“I’ve been to hell and back,” Zach shouted, and to my utter shock, he squeezed his eyes shut to hide the tears threatening to spill over.
“Lex, my hell started the day I saw Dad drive my mom away with his fucking fists. It started the day I saw you as more than my sister. It started the day you saw Rafe fucking Mason as more than my best friend.”
Stumbling backward, I gulped. “It’s not too late to do the right thing.” But I realized something then—something that twisted everything around until the lines not only blurred, but they bent and broke. I needed Rafe the way Zach had always needed me. What an intricate web we weaved.
“That’s not even the worst of it, Lex. Dad’s the reason your mom is dead.”
A loud fist pounded on the door, and I jumped. “We’re not done in here!” I strode to the door and turned the lock on the handle. “If you come in here, he’s not fighting,” I shouted through the barrier keeping them out of this room.
Commotion sounded on the other side, and the knob clicked back and forth. Voices escalated, Rafe’s especially, demanding that someone knock the door down.
I whirled on Zach, my hands fisted at my sides. “What are you talking about?”
“I wanted to tell you so many times…” He sniffled, blinked, and a wave of tears trailed down his scruffy cheeks.
“She didn’t kill herself, Lex. Yeah, she saw us that night, but she was gonna do the right thing.
She was planning to leave my dad and turn me in.
She fucking loved you.” He jerked his head back and forth. “She would’ve done anything for you.”
Something cold fisted my heart. “Why?”
“Dad wasn’t about to let her destroy our lives. I’m telling you, Lex, he killed her and made it look like a suicide.”
“No.” I gaped at Zach, my mind spinning, trying to make sense of this abstract canvas he painted. The torn masterpiece of hidden truths, rough around the edges with harsh clarity. I knew him well—too well. Better than any sister should know a brother, and I knew he was speaking the truth.
But I couldn’t fall apart now. I had to hold it together long enough to get through this night. And that made me angry.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“I’m not making it out of here.” The hazel in his eyes sharpened like always when he was passionate about something, usually me. “No matter what happens, stay away from Dad.”
My jaw unhinged. I was speechless.
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything,” he said, “but you want him. And I’m not stupid. He wants me dead.”
“He was your best friend! You don’t have a clue what our lie started all those years ago. People have died because of it. Rafe’s not the same guy you knew before we sent him to prison.”
“I only know one thing for certain. Shelton got me out of that Mexican prison. He brought me here so Rafe could kill me inside that cage. The guy hates Dad’s guts.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. I overheard his guys talking. This is about revenge, and we’re all playing into his hands.”
“I heard what you told Rafe in that barn. You weren’t shy about your hatred.”
“What else was I supposed to say? I hate his guts, Lex. He took away the only thing I care about in this world.”
“I’m not a thing.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I think you said exactly what you mean. You’ve always seen me as a thing, a piece of property.”
He hung his head. “Then let’s get this over with. Let him have his shot at me.”
Panic seized me. I didn’t know for certain that Rafe would kill him, and I had a hunch that Zach was feeding me a line of bullshit, preying on my vulnerability.
He’d always been a master at manipulating me.
Even so, I didn’t want Rafe to go down this road.
Not if I could stop it. I’d witnessed how getting his hands dirty had affected him—it was the reason he’d bolted six months ago.
And as much as I hated to admit it, even to myself, I didn’t want to see Zach dead either.
Another fist rattled the door. “He’s got ten minutes, then the boss wants him in that cage. Make it happen.”
“I’m working on it!” Footsteps faded, and my gaze darted between the only window in the room and Zach’s bound form slumped in the chair.
I deliberated for a few seconds, my gaze swerving back and forth, indecision warring in my heart.
As I hurried across the room and began working on the knots in the rope, a voice within screeched its objection.
What the hell was I doing?
Saving Rafe.
“What are you doing, Lex?”
I shot Zach a startled look. He’d grabbed the question from my mind and had spoken it aloud.
“Something undeniably stupid.” I released one leg then went to work on the other.
“You can get out through that window over there,” I said, pointing toward the rectangle pane of glass I prayed wasn’t sealed shut.
“I’ll tell them you need a few minutes. I’ll lock the door to give you time, so don’t get caught. ”
“Why are you helping me?” I moved to his back and slowly worked the knots loose that trapped his wrists.
“I’m helping him.”
As soon as the rope fell to the floor, he sprang to his feet, rounded the chair before I could blink, and pulled me against his chest. In the space of five seconds, I realized I’d made a dire mistake, and I almost screamed for help, but his mouth crashed onto mine and muffled my protests.
His arms held me in a vise, and he bit down on my tongue just enough to knock the fight from me.
And then he let me go with a tortured sigh.
I shoved him until he crashed into a table.
“Don’t you fucking touch me,” I said, my words a whisper of fury.
I jabbed a finger in the direction of the window.
“Get the fuck out of here, Zach. I swear on Rafe’s life, if you ever come back I’ll kill you myself.
” I retreated, heading to the door, my heart knocking around in my chest.
With a quick upward lift, he opened the window and let in the frigid winter air. He poked his head out, glanced downward, then pivoted to face me. “You’ve changed,” he said, his tone holding a note of surprise.
“You mean I’m not the same spineless victim you screwed for years? Not bendable anymore?”
He gnawed on his lip. “I’m sure you’re bending plenty. Just not for me.”
“Better go,” I said, refusing to go into my relationship with Rafe.
He hoisted himself through the opening, dropped to the other side, and popped his head up to give me one last look. “Tell him I said hi.”
And then he was gone.