CUL-DE-SAC (On The Edge Book 1) (29 page)

CHAPTER 36

Xan could feel a hum of anticipation in his
bloodstream, but that was to be expected before a fight. What he didn’t
appreciate was the feeling of unease going hand in hand with it.

He had tried to ignore Tony when he popped
in a few moments before for a friendly talk. It’d been a while since anything
they did together could be considered
friendly
and this time was no
different.

Working for the guy had become nothing but
a nuisance and he was planning to rid himself of this baggage one way or
another. Just a few fights more and all bets were off, he thought, but the
truth was he had no plan of how to unburden himself.

No, that wasn’t the whole truth
–
he
did
have
a plan but was simply counting on finding another solution, although he didn’t
have high hopes for that happening.

All he wanted right now was to move ahead
with this fighting school and he was nearing his goal as far as money went. He
could say a lot of bad things about his current boss, but Tony Boden paid well.

If only he knew he was helping to bring
Xan’s dreams closer to realization, he would have cut him off himself, he
thought in a bout of bleak humor.

There was also Catalina.

He wanted her as well and it was a shock to
his system when he realized how much exactly. He
needed
her when he had
never felt like that toward anyone before.

He didn’t care about many people in his
life because he couldn’t afford to, but she managed to get under his skin and
he had a feeling digging her out wouldn’t be so easy even if he wished for it.

Did he? Xan asked himself and blew out a
harsh breath.

That was the real question here and before
he could answer it, a light knock sounded on his door and his heart
automatically picked up the pace.

Damn, he had never acted this way even as a
teenager. Perhaps because he had been too busy trying to survive, he thought.
Later on he had his pick of women and he didn’t care if they were dark or
blonde, tall or short, less or more curvy, as long as he got the chance to
screw their brains out.

He couldn’t deny desiring Catalina, but
with her, things were much more complicated and no amount of sex could simplify
them. Each time they were together, something within him tightened, but it
wasn’t in the painful and uncomfortable way he knew and was used to.

He walked toward the door, pulling it open.
Xan blinked in surprise when the woman on the other side turned out to be not
the one he has been pining for.
“Chloé,” he said.

What the hell was she doing here half an
hour before his fight? Perfect timing, he smirked inwardly.
“Hello Xan,” she walked past him looking around the room curiously. “Mind if I
come in?” She flashed him a smile over her shoulder as if she couldn’t even
imagine his answer would be no.

His brain translated her smile as
flirtatious but he shrugged inwardly, assuming it was her natural mien.

“By all means, although I don’t have much
time,” he warned, wondering at the same time what stopped Cat because she
should have been here by now.

He couldn’t imagine what Chloé could
possibly want from him, and to be perfectly honest he didn’t care much.
Whatever it was, he didn’t need this shit, not moments before the fight, but he
didn’t want to tell Cat’s best friend to get out.

That would hardly win him any favors, he
considered, thinking it was a good thing neither of his friends were here to
witness his quandary, because they wouldn’t hesitate to call him pussy whipped.

He was afraid they would have been right
too. Fuck, but Cat had really gotten under his skin, he sighed.
“What can I do for you, Chloé?” He asked impatiently while she was just
sashaying over the small space of the room.

She laughed as if he said something
incredibly funny.
“Patience is not your strongest suit, is it?” She whirled around and her short
dress exposed an additional inch or two of her legs, making him raise an
eyebrow. “It is a mystery what the two of you have in common.” Chloé winked at
him.
“I can be patient… when it matters,” Xan replied.
“And Kitty-Cat does… matter.” She nodded and he wondered what exactly her angle
here was.
“What are you getting at?” He wanted to know, tired of guessing.
“Just thinking out loud.” She shrugged but the movement was anything but
negligent.
“Chloé, I really don’t have time for this… whatever this is.”

She stopped and regarded him in silence for
a nerve wrecking moment, then her lips thinned and determination filled her gaze.
He had enough time to think it couldn’t herald anything good when she started
unbuttoning her short dress.

Both his eyebrows jumped up because he
wouldn’t have been more surprised if she had just taken out a gun and pointed
it at him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He demanded.
“I thought it was pretty obvious.” Her lips curved into a sly smile.

It was, but surprise rendered him
speechless, he supposed.

One careless shrug and the thin material
pooled over her feet leaving her clad in nothing but a pair of black panties
and killer stilettos.

She was a work of art, he would give her
that, but it was hardly surprising considering she was a model. Even if his
stupid cock was ready to express its appreciation, the anger that overfilled
him waned any natural response of his body.
“You are Cat’s best friend; what is your game here?” If Catalina were any other
woman he would suspect she had put her to it in order to test him.

But if he knew one thing about his Kitten
it was that she didn’t play games like that.
“And I love her but I know men like you Xan, you need more than she could ever
give you. You like it rough and while that could be exciting for someone like
her–once or twice–she doesn’t have what it takes to withstand the fury of
desire like that.” She inched closer to him, raising her arms to wrap them
around him, but he gripped them before she could do that and shook her, not
trying to be delicate about it.
“Why are you doing this?” A deep frown creased his forehead and a tendon
started to tick in his jaw.
“I saw the way you looked at me. I know you want me,” she said.

Was she fucking serious? Xan wondered but
her nearly naked body was answering this question with dead accuracy.
“I am with Cat; I don’t do shit like that!” He informed her coldly and saw the exact
moment in which she understood it was not happening.

The shock filling her gaze would amuse him
any other time if the situation hadn’t applied to him personally.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered and her eyes shone with a sudden moisture gathering
in them.

He looked at the show indifferently, not
buying her swift repentance a bit.
“Has that ever worked for you?” He asked dispassionately, looking at the
perfectly round, crystal clear tear that hung on her eyelashes but he was not
really interested in hearing her answer.

He felt sorry for any man who had or would have
fallen under the spell of these alligator tears. Except Xan believed that if
someone was stupid enough to buy the act, they fully deserved what was coming
their way.

“I don’t know what came over me,” Chloé
muttered.
“Probably jealousy over Catalina,” he offered obligingly, although she was
trying to fuck up the only good thing that had ever happened to him.

Her tears dried as fast as they appeared
and she looked at him with venom that felt much more suitable.

Again, it might have affected him if he
were not used to it, if he hadn’t spent his entire childhood under the scrutiny
of a similar gaze which belonged to the woman who gave birth to him.
“Screw you,” she spat.
“We already established that is not happening,” Xan smirked. “
Get
dressed and
get
lost Chloé,” he said, and his head snapped up when a
single, light knock came down on the door again.

He bent down to collect the dress and threw
it in Chloé’s face when Catalina entered the room and froze on the spot.

He knew what the scene looked like; his
chest was bare since he was minutes before the fight and her friend was
practically naked.
“Oh my God,” Chloé whispered and his hands fisted because it was all the
bitch’s fault.
“It’s not what it looks like, Kitten,” he uttered the most cliché words in
existence and stepped closer to her, but Cat raised a hand as if to warn him
off taking a step back.

He ignored it and took a hold of her wrist.

Beautiful blue eyes filled with tears and
those were the most honest and real as far as tears went. But Catalina, being
herself, didn’t allow them to slide down her cheeks. No, they froze there,
reminiscent of ice shards and he knew this was her way to bury the hurt.
“Catalina…” He started but her other hand shot up unexpectedly and slapped his
face.

Her purse fell to the floor but she was too
distressed to notice, or too distraught to care. She just turned around and ran
from the club before he could stop her.
“Fuck!” He roared in fury because he wanted nothing more than to run after her,
but he couldn’t blow off the fight just minutes before the start.

He collected her purse and swiveled on his
heel to look at the perpetrator of the whole scene, noticing indifferently that
she had managed to pull on her dress again.
“You better fix this or I swear to God I will make you regret you were born,” he
hissed out between his clenched teeth, touching his cheek.

The bouncer crammed his head through the
half open door.
“It’s time, Xan.”

He knew it was fucking time
–
the most inconvenient
one at that.
“You owe me, and I always collect my due,” he told Chloé and left the room, not
caring what she would do.

He didn’t hear the cheering of the crowd,
didn’t even notice people. His head was buzzing and it wasn’t due the courtesy
of Catalina’s slap. He was so fucking furious he could barely walk straight.

Usually he could blame himself when things
didn’t pan out the way he imagined them to be, but this time it was all someone
else’s doing and it reminded him the hopeless time of his childhood.

His hands balled into fists instantly.

He wanted to wrap them around Chloé’s
throat and squeeze the last breath out of her, and this violent need was so
potent it would have given him pause if he hadn’t been so fucking mad right now
already.

Xan stepped into the ring and fist-bumped
his opponent. He knew the guy but couldn’t recall his name at the moment
because it didn’t matter.

Nothing
fucking mattered and the dramatic
scene in his room forcefully drove the point home why exactly that was. He
didn’t just care about Cat, she didn’t just slip unnoticed under his skin. No
sir, he was falling in love with her and the truth hit him as unexpectedly as
the first strike of his opponent did before he could deflect the punch.

Xan shook his head, trying to focus, but
for the first time since forever his mind was not in the game.

The audience roared, or at least he thought
they started to chant his name but it all felt as if happening outside of him.
His attacker seemed as surprised as spectators and Xan himself that his punch
reached its target and he hesitated for a moment.

But this moment was all Xan needed to pull
his head out of his ass and focus on the here and now, even if it only meant
his body’s natural defense system coming alive.

More punches were thrown, raining on him,
but he barely felt them. He knew he was going to feel them later because there
was always a price to be paid.

His opponent tried to get him in a half
nelson position, which indicated he was more of Jujitsu than Muay Thai fighter.

Xan stepped back slightly with his right
foot, reaching down with his left hand to cup the back of the guy’s left ankle.
He twisted his right hand at the same time until his palm was on his attacker’s
chest. He pulled back with his left hand, pushing with the right one at the
same time, but his opponent anticipated the throw and managed to avoid it.

Xan bit back an oath but wasn’t able to
stop his temper from spewing out any longer. He didn’t have time for this and
the fastest way to end things was to pound the other guy into the ring, even if
some voice within started its siren song tempting him to back down.

He waited until his opponent was getting
ready to throw the next punch. He throttled the natural reaction to step back,
slip or block the punch when it was coming toward him.

That was not what he wanted to do.

He stepped
in
instead adding power
to the knee attack. He was counting on his attacker’s punch to be hard because
it was going to increase his Muay Thai knee.

This kind of a strike was one of the strongest
attacks one could throw in martial arts. It was not only a devastating strike
that could knock an opponent out, but it has been known to break bones and
quickly end a fight in a single blow.

Since Xan was not in the mood to fuck
around, that was exactly what he was counting on.