Paxton's Promise (20 page)

“What’s going on?”

“It looks like your friend just bit off more than he can chew. He fucked up, Gabby. If he gets in, I don’t know if he’s going to make it out.”

“He’s just trying to protect me, Camden. I can’t let anything happen to him.”

“There’s nothing you can do. As soon as we get inside the gates, it’s all out of our hands.”

After the thirty minutes were up, the car came to a stop and Camden helped me out. My heart lurched with guilt, especially when I heard Cliff’s voice in the distance. It disappeared all too quickly.

Camden pulled me along. “I really hope you brought something else to wear besides those fucking yoga pants.”

“Yes,” I spat. “I was afraid Scar would make me fight naked if I didn’t.”

“Several guys
have
requested it, but Rage was the one who got you out of it.” We got inside and he pulled the blindfold off. “He doesn’t want the others looking at you.”

Or having sex with me.
He made that abundantly clear when he left a disfigured rose outside of the announcer’s box. The guy was seriously insane, delusional. I had no words. Scar’s office was just down the hall, but when I looked behind me there was no sign of Cliff. I could only pray he was okay. The door to Scar’s office was open and inside he sat at his desk, waiting on me.

“So we meet again,” he said with a wolfish grin on his face.

“Not by choice,” I grumbled.

“And it seems you brought a problem with you this time. Now, how am I going to handle this?” Pursing his lips, he gaped at me, tapping a finger to his lips.

“I’ll take responsibility for him,” I blurted out. Camden pinched me in the side and I hissed. He obviously didn’t like that decision.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Scar asked.

“Yes.”

“All right, it’s his life on the line if you lose. I hope you’re prepared for that.” Lowering his gaze, he busied himself with the stack of papers in front of him.

“So you’re going to kill him if I lose?” I gasped.

Scar didn’t even acknowledge me. He just waved his hand in the air dismissively. “Take her away, Striker.”

Gripping my arm, Camden dragged me out of the office and down the hall. “Camden,
stop
. If I lose, you can’t let Scar kill him,” I cried.

“There’s nothing I can do. It’s just the way things are here.” He opened the door to one of the cells and pushed me in. “Change clothes and I’ll be back to get you soon.”

I was so angry and terrified, my body shook. Cliff’s life was in danger and his fate rested in my hands. Tonight, there was no playing the innocent female. If I had to win the fight, I was sure as hell going to do it
my
way.

WHEN CAMDEN CAME back to get me, his eyes went wide when he took me in. I ripped up my yoga pants and T-shirt so that it would give me the movement I needed, but still the amount of skin exposure Scar wanted. My hands were wrapped and I was in full warrior mode. No smile, no sign of weakness, just me and the task at hand. I was going to make my opponent suffer.

“Gabby?”

I had thought Camden was going to help me; that maybe there was a heart inside of him somewhere. Unfortunately, he was just like the rest of them—a murderous, money hungry, piece of shit. For one night, I was going to give in and let my anger fly. I would show them all, including Rage, what
my
rage looked like.

“Sorry, Striker, Gabby’s not here right now. If Scar wants a fight, he’s going to get it. And if Rage wants a helpless female, he’s going to see I’m not that girl. I’ll fight him and everyone else who tries to fuck with me and Paxton.”

Camden stepped out of the way so I could pass. “I need to tell you something.”

I stopped in front of him, but kept my gaze toward the end of the hall. “I don’t want to hear shit from you,” I sneered. “I don’t need your help or anyone else’s. All of you can go to hell.”

Camden jerked me out into the hallway and pinned me against the wall. I yelped as the breath whooshed out of my lungs and his fingers grasped my chin tight, tilting my face up. “I may be a monster in your eyes, Gabby, but there’s something you need to know. I was walking by Scar’s office and I heard him talking to someone. I don’t know who, but I think it was Rage.” Letting my chin go, his eyes darted up and down the hall and then he leaned closer. My gut clenched.

“They want to go after Paxton,” he said. “It’s been their plan all along. Rage wants to fight him and kill him. That way he’ll get to you.” Camden put his hand over my mouth when I gasped and put a finger to his lips. “Be quiet,” he hissed.

When I nodded, he removed his hand. “How do they plan on getting him here?” I had the sinking suspicion I knew.

He sighed. “By the look in your eyes, I think you already know. They’re going to use you as bait. I’m telling you this because I need you to be prepared. Paxton needs to know. You have to tell him what’s going on.”

This whole time, I thought I was saving Paxton. How could I be so stupid? “When are they planning on doing this?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. You guys just need to be ready. But right now, it’s your turn to fight.” Grasping my arm, he led me down to the end of the hallway and opened the door. The energy pouring off of the crowd around the ring made me gag. It was thick with the stench of malevolence and sex. I wanted them all to suffer.

“We’ll be ready,” I murmured low. “Have no mistake about that.”

The man in the ring was dressed in a suit for Christ’s sake, and pacing around the ring.
He must be trying to fulfill his fantasies of being Mr. Fifty Shades.
He had a flogger in his hand and everything. The thought of him using that on me, or anyone, made me sick. I wasn’t the type of girl to like that stuff. If two people wanted it, that was one thing; but with him using it on me for torture, it just pissed me the fuck off.

With his hand on my arm, Camden led me through the crowd, but I jerked out of his hold. “I don’t need help to get into the ring,” I hissed low. “I’m more than happy to get in there by myself.”

Still, he kept his pace beside me. “Focus, Gabby. You’re pissed, I get that. Don’t let your anger blind you. Just kick his ass and be done.”

“Don’t worry, I know exactly how I’m going to make him bleed.” And I was going to make him bleed a lot.

I stormed up the steps and into the ring, which made the man falter. I wasn’t the weak and scared little girl he wanted. Camden shut the cage door and locked it so neither one of us could get out unless he opened it. That didn’t bother me. The man circled around the ring and snapped the flogger against the mat.

“Do you like the sound of that? It’s going to sound great once it hits your flesh.”

I countered him, concentrating on his movements. “Or better yet,” I began, “the sound of
your
screams when I’m done with you, you worthless piece of shit.”

Snarling, his arm reared back, but I jumped out of the way and tumbled across the mat before the flogger could touch me. One hit with it and it would tear my skin wide open. If I bled, I was in trouble.

His eyes went wide when I deflected him. “You stupid cunt. Do you honestly think you’re going to get away from me?”

He charged again and I kicked his legs out from under him, making him topple to the ground. The flogger flew out of his hand and I jumped for it, grabbing it before he could. His hand grasped my ankle and he pulled me down to the mat, but that was as far as he would get with me. I kicked him in the face so hard, blood instantly gushed out of his nose. It wasn’t enough though. The fight was considered over, but I didn’t want it to be over.

Camden opened the door and waved for me to come out, but I shook my head. With the flogger in hand, I clenched it tight and glared at Scar and Rage, the man who I assumed was hiding underneath the hood. Maybe he was so fucking ugly no one could stand to see his face. “You want blood?” I shouted to the crowd. “You want to see women suffer? How about I show you what happens when you mess with the wrong one?”

Lifting the flogger in the air, I slapped it down on the guy’s back and the ripping sound of his clothes and skin echoed through the room. Blood seeped through his shirt and I smiled. The laugh that came from within sounded so foreign to my ears that I barely recognized myself. I was so overwrought with anger, I wanted to make everyone suffer.

The man crawling across the floor tried to get away from me, but I kept smacking the flogger against his back. All I could see was red, I didn’t want to stop. I blocked out everyone and everything except the man on the mat who passed out cold, most likely from the pain. His back was covered in blood and his shirt was in tatters. Before I could hit him again, a set of arms grabbed me around my waist and jerked me out of the cage.

“I’m not done,” I shouted angrily. As I was being pulled away from the cage, the men surrounding it gave me a wide berth. Fear was all I could see in their faces and I relished in it. The flogger was torn out of my hands and when I looked down they were covered in blood. My body started to shake and my teeth chattered. There was so much blood.

“Gabby, you’re
shaking
,” Camden shouted. He lifted me up in his arms and rushed me out of the room. The lights above started to blur and I couldn’t stop shivering. I felt like I wasn’t even in my body anymore. My chest rose and fell as I struggled to breathe and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

“She’s going into shock. Get me something to wrap her up in,” Camden demanded. He set me on the couch in Scar’s office and rushed out of the room. The last thing I remembered before the blackness took me was a cloaked figure leaning over my body and the feel of his hands on my face. I was frozen as he touched my body and wrapped me in a blanket. Even when he leaned over and kissed me, I couldn’t move.

“Soon,” he whispered. “Soon, you’ll be mine.” My eyes closed and I surrendered to the darkness. I was never going to be his.

AFTER DEREK AND I practiced around the track, he showed me some techniques to help maneuver the turns easier. I also showed his crew some of the ways to make his car faster and more efficient. It was a win-win. We were on our second round of drinks when a call came through on my phone.