But being normal wasn’t an option for us. “You have to,” I told him. “You have to hit me...and more. You have to get me ready. Or I’ll die in The Pit.”
He went silent for a long time, his arms tightening around me. But eventually, he nodded.
It was only when we’d showered and got into our street clothes and I checked my phone that I found the message. Sent an hour before, just as we were finally breaking down the barriers between us.
It was from Rick. He wanted me to come to The Pit that night.
It was time to meet my opponent.
26
AEDAN
I needed someplacequiet to talk to Sylvie, so I sprang for a cab to take us to The Pit. In the back seat, I held her hand and pep-talked her.
“It’s not a fight,” I said. “Not really. More of a preview. You’ll go a round or two, but no one wants anyone to get badly hurt. It’s just a chance for the crowd to see who’s coming up in two weeks, so they can start placing bets.” The last two words made me sick to my stomach. Rich suits, throwing fistfuls of hundred dollar bills at the unlicensed bookies, betting on who would walk away. Betting on my angel.
She’d never looked more beautiful. The sunset was streaming through the windows of the cab, bathing everything in fire. She looked so small and fragile, sitting there in her tank top and sweatpants. She’d been so nervous, I’d had to remind her to bring something to put on over the top, because it would get cold once the sun went down. Now she clutched the hooded top in her hands, scrunching the fabric between them.
“It’s normal,” I told her. “Rick does it whenever it’s a brand new fighter.”So why hadn’t I seen it coming?I felt like an idiot. I was meantto be preparing her for all this and I’d completely missed it. I’d been too busy laying her down on the damn rooftop.
Our whole relationship had just seismically shifted and, thanks to Rick, we didn’t even have time to talk about it. Maybe that was for the best. I never was much good at talking.
I quit beating myself up long enough to think about tactics. Should we pretend she hadn’t been training? Lull them into a false sense of security? Rick knew me. If he saw me, would he guess I’d been training her?
Should I stay away, so that Rick didn’t suspect? Part of me thought I should. Another part wondered if that was just an excuse, and I just couldn’t bear to see her get hurt.
No. No way.I couldn’t leave her alone now. I was going to be there, every step of the way.
And there was another reason to be there. I’d come up with a plan, something that might just get Sylvie out of the fight altogether. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but if it saved her from fighting...
I squeezed her hand and she smiled at me, hiding her fear.
I smiled back, doing the same.
27
SYLVIE
It was a smaller crowd,but meaner. The hangers-on didn’t get told about events like this. Only the hardcore, the ones who bet serious money, got the discreet text message telling them there was fresh meat to view.
I took a deep breath and walked towards the door, trying to look nonchalant. But The Pit had never been a welcoming place for women and what happened to me last time I was there made it even harder. Stepping out of the twilight and into the dark, warm interior was like stepping into hell...especially since I’d soon be heading down to the lower level.Nothing like that’s going to happen this time,I told myself. Except that, in some ways, this would be worse. My near-rape was something I could be saved from. This fight—that Aedan reassured me wouldn’t involve me actually getting hurt—was something thathadto happen.
I was hoping I could pass unnoticed in the crowd, hoping that everyone would presume I was just the girlfriend of some spectator until the actual fight. Everything, I realized, would depend on whether Rick had hinted to the audience what would be different about these fighters. If they knew they were coming to see women….
It was obvious as soon as we neared the balcony around the pit.Heads turned, as if they could smell my feminine scent. A sort of rumble went through the crowd, expanding outward from where Aedan and I stood.
He put an arm around my waist and pulled me closer.
I could see their eyes eating me up. Wondering if I would be the victim or the victor...and, from their sneers, the answer seemed obvious. Had they already seen the other woman? Or did I just look so weak that I’d crumble beforeanyopponent?
There was another look, too. The one I’d been aware of before, but that held new fear for me after last time. That hungry, male look, so different to the looks Aedan gave me, even when he was fucking me. It was a look with no warmth at all, no interest in my happiness or my pleasure. It was a look that stripped off my clothes and spread me open.
Legs shaking, I let Aedan lead me downstairs.
Rick was there with Al and Carl, his two bodyguards. He looked to be in a good mood, his cane shining extra-bright as if he’d polished it specially.
And behind him, leaning against a wall, was a woman.
