People have already started arriving, the fighters are warming up in the back room we purposely built for exactly that, and yet no one’s here to make sure the security system is up to scratch. This is why I fucking hate relying on other people. They never come through for you when you need them.
I drag my knife over my skin, scraping the scarred flesh with each pass. Some days, the monsters I try to force down are beating at my chest to escape, but I can never allow that to happen. Not after the last time I truly lost it.
Because if I ever let them out, if I ever let my baser instincts take over, I’m not sure I’ll be able to claw myself back again. What remains of my humanity will be gone and the man that’s left, if you could even call him that, will be beyond saving. The only way to rid the earth of the evil inside me will be to kill me.
The blade nicks my skin and my eyes lock on the cut just as crimson-red pools against my flesh. The sight always does something to me, but tonight it’s just making it harder to tamp down the anger beating through my veins.
I look up at the cameras again, my eyes moving over every inch of the warehouse to make sure everything else is going as it should, but it’s the front entrance that makes my cold, dead heart stop in my chest.
What the fuck is she doing here?
I’m out of my seat before I’ve consciously made the decision to move, and I shove my knife back into the back of my jeans as I stride from the room. I barely manage to lock the door on my way out as panic hits me. She can’t be here. She can’t be in danger. Because if she’s in danger, she could be hurt, and I can never allow that. She’s the one bright light in a world full of darkness, and I can never allow her to see even an ounce of pain, not when I can take it from her.
I’m vaguely aware of the people staring at me as I storm through the warehouse, not stopping even for a second to let someone know where I’m going. They shouldn’t need me in the hour it’s going to take me to take Clara home, but I should let them know where I’m going regardless.
Our security guards are assholes. I didn’t hire them, but even if I did, they would probably be the same. It’s just the profession in this city. They’re all dicks, and if I could run this place without them, I would, but when I pitched that idea to Rayne and Everett, they emphatically disagreed.
So when I find Brendan and Tyrese talking to my woman like she’s nothing, rage seeps into my veins until I can barely swallow the monster down.
“Is there a problem here, gentlemen?” I growl.
They turn to me at once, but I can’t tear my eyes off the beauty standing on the street with her bag tucked under her arm. Her tight black dress accentuates the curves I’ve found myself lost in over and over again.
“No, sir. We were just giving this woman directions.” His smirk tells me that’s not the whole story, but rather than responding, I step forward and wrap my arm around Clara’s shoulders.
“And why would my girl be going anywhere but exactly where I am?”
Their faces drop as if I’ve just thrown a bucket of cold water over them, and I can’t help myself when I press a kiss to her temple.
“You should have texted me to let me know you were here, fawn.”
She looks up at me through dark eyes, her mouth opening to respond before snapping shut. Rendering her speechless is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes.
I drag my eyes off her and glare at both men. “Next time someone tells you they’re here with a purpose, I suggest you call someone a little more qualified to make the assessment than you two idiots.”
I drag Clara through the wide door before either of them can think of a response and don’t stop until we’re back at the security room. I don’t want her here. It’s too fucking dangerous and I don’t want any of the assholes that will frequent this place to know what my woman looks like, or even that she exists.
There’s something to be said about being the most cruel, ruthless man in the city. People are a lot less likely to fuck with you when you have a penchant for skinning people alive, and playing chicken with assholes like that was always fun in the past. But now that I have something to lose, it’s a whole other ball game.
I unlock the door and shove her through before she can argue. I quickly follow her through the door and slam it shut behind me, locking each of the four locks Everett installed so this room can act as a panic room if need be. It’s not as high tech as the ones installed in their homes, but it will do the job.
I turn to find Clara looking around the small space, her eyes bouncing from screen to screen, watching the patrons mill around, waiting for the fight.
“What the hell are you doing here, Clara?” I ask, but I can’t help the bite in my tone. She put herself in danger tonight, and I can’t think of a single reason she would do that.
She flinches, but she doesn’t turn around immediately. Instead, she takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders before turning slowly. “Wynter went into labor while we were going over the last few things for me to take over her role next week,” she tells me. “Everett asked me to come here and make sure the system is working. I’m sorry I’m a little late, but I had to learn a whole new profession in twenty minutes while my boss was screaming down the office.”
She finally relinquishes her bag and places it on the chair behind the desk, carefully pulling various items from it. “Now, I don’t really know what I’m doing, if I’m honest, but I remember most of what Everett said, and I’m sure I can figure the rest out and get out of your hair before you know it.”
There’s none of the warmth she usually exudes, whether she’s aware of it or not. Clara is shut off from everyone, holding herself back from trusting the people in her life and from letting them see the real her. But in the short time we’ve spent together, she’s let her walls down ever so slightly, and I’ve seen the woman she hides from the world.
I watch her as she plugs a USB into the main hard drive and waits for it to load. She checks the notebook she’s laid out in the middle of the desk and then moves across the small room to the control panel Everett installed a few weeks ago. He had briefly run through what each of the buttons does, but when Clara looks at it now, the blood drains from her cheeks. She has no idea what she’s doing.
“Do you need help?”
“No,” she snaps.
The corners of my lips quirk up into a smile, but I quickly tamp down my amusement. “Are you sure? You look kind of…panicked.”
She turns on me, her eyes flaring with annoyance and frustration. “You know, Wynter always talks about how little you talk, and yet every time I’m around you, you won’t shut the fuck up so I can think straight.”
A chuckle bursts from my chest without warning, and I’m powerless to stop it. “You’re extra feisty today, fawn. I like it.”
She groans and reads over her notes again. “I don’t care what you like, Tommy. What I care about is getting this done and getting out of here before the fight starts.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Clara murmurs, her eyes moving over the buttons before she settles on one.
She hesitates for a few long seconds before pressing it, and I can’t help but hold my breath with her. I know Everett said one of the buttons will shut down the entire building so no one can get in or out and seeing as there’s only half an hour before the first fight starts, that’s not something we need right now.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shakes her head and presses another three buttons, each one making her tense a little more than the last, but none of them set off the alarm system, which means she knows what she’s doing or she’s lucking out at every turn. Either way, my little fawn walked into the lion’s den tonight, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to let her go again.
