I turned to stand offside. Not entirely certain what I was waiting for. Maybe if I waited, we could finally talk. Even if the idea of talking about last night scared the hell out of me.
The back door opened again and the basement was filled with the heavy tread of several other fighters arriving early. Seb was amongst them and grinned broadly when he spotted me near the bottom of the stairs.
“You’re here early...” He trailed off as he stopped beside me, studying my face first before he looked towards Antonio and Dean. “What happened?”
It felt like my mind was finally catching up to me as the adrenaline eased. I frowned slightly. “Someone tried to kill Dean.”
Seb’s eyes popped. “Wait, what? And you found him?”
I nodded.
He stepped in front of me and lifted his broad hands to my shoulders, squeezing them gently in comfort. “Are you alright?”
“I think so.” Several fighters passed us on their way to their lockers and the training equipment. I lowered my voice. “Why would anyone do it?”
“Who knows? Jealousy? Anger if they lost money betting on a fight?”
The thought of someone getting so upset they would try to have someone killed, over money, made my skin crawl.
We looked over to Dean as Antonio let him go with a nod. No sign of Antonio allowing him to go to a hospital to get checked. As Dean came closer, passing the lockers, Frank (the fighter with the horribly scarred face) clapped him over the shoulder while walking by.
“How’s it going, Deano?” he sneered.
Dean’s eyes flashed with recognition and anger before he grabbed Frank by the front of the shirt and slammed him into the lockers. The metal door crunched and dented on impact, and I flinched at the sound.
“Say that again,” Dean said darkly. His face was dead calm, but his eyes burned like ice beneath that lowered brow.
“Dean,” Seb said in warning, taking a step towards them.
Frank smirked. “What’s wrong this time, princess? Can’t find your hair gel?"
“You tried to kill me.”
A dry chuckle cracked from Frank's throat before he hissed, “Where’s the proof?”
Dean’s mouth thinned and he shifted his forearm, so it pressed against Frank’s throat and pushed up. He raised Frank off the ground as he choked and gasped for air. His face began turning blue, but no one was saying anything or stepping in.
“Enough,” Antonio said with a wave of his hand after watching calmly from across the room, allowing it to go on further than it needed to.
I found myself holding my breath when Dean didn’t stand down right away. A flicker of a thought flitted across his eyes as if he considered ignoring Antonio, but then he stepped back.
Frank dropped to his feet, coughing and spluttering as he sucked down air.
Antonio said, “Dean, take a walk... Frank, a word?”
Frank straightened, chest heaving, as he wiped his mouth and glared at Dean.
“You need to get your head checked,” he spat before walking away.
Dean’s jaw tightened as he glared at the dent in the locker a moment longer. Until he realized all eyes were on him and he stormed for the back stairs. Passing Seb and me along the way, his stare was full of calming rage and fixed on nothing in particular as he rounded the handrail and marched up the steps behind us.
When he stepped outside, leaving the door to swing shut behind him, Seb cringed slightly. “I should probably go after him. just in case he slashes Frank’s brake line or something,” he said before rushing the stairs two at a time.
I took that moment as my cue and made for the stairs in the other room. Hoping to get out without being noticed, I made it halfway past the lounge area when someone whistled. It was one single, short note, and halted my steps.
“I want you down here tonight, Lily,” Antonio said firmly from across the room. He then slipped easily back into conversation with Frank.
I glanced at the other fighters, who all made the decision to at least pretend they were minding their own business again, and straightened my shoulders with uncertainty. Uncertainty for everything; for Frank and what he might’ve done; for the other fighters in general; for the night ahead; for Dean. Any worry I had about talking to him, about it being awkward, had left the building with him.
