“I thought you wanted me to lose, Killer. Have you had a change of heart?”
She chews on her bottom lip before answering him.
“I never wanted you to lose, you giant dick. I was just mad at you.”
He winks at her before opening his car door and yelling to me and Carter, “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
We exit the car, and Heather calls out to him.
“Break a leg, Kill.”
He shakes his head, and walks in the back door to the warehouse, as Carter chuckles.
“I think that’s for theater, not underground fighting, Little Heathen.”
She blushes as I take her hand in mine, and we walk inside. As always, Carter glances around and looks for trouble. When he doesn’t find any, he visibly relaxes. We take our seats in the reserved area in the front row, and I spot Heather looking around nervously.
“What is it, Tesoro?”
She shakes her head, before looking at me with a teary gaze.
“Is this one of those death matches?”
I try to reassure her. “No. Not tonight. He’s fighting against the leader of the Morte gang. It’ll be bloody and brutal. Death is always possible, but it’s not planned.”
Our bookie, Tommy, sits beside Carter, speaking low. He’s in charge of all the bets, as well as collecting the money, and paying out winnings. I’m sure he’s giving my brother the run down on how much money is at stake tonight, but I ignore them as I hold on to our nervous girl.
Killian enters the makeshift ring, which looks more like a metal cage. He glances in our direction, but quickly looks away as Victor enters the ring.
They stand staring at each other, sizing the other up, and Victor says something to Killian that sets him off. Kill doesn’t wait for the fight to start. Pulling his right arm back, he throws a right hook to Victor's jaw, and the referee quickly leaves the ring.
Victor stumbles back, but quickly recovers and attempts a kidney shot, but my brother blocks it.
This is what Killian does best. He moves around flawlessly, blocking hits, taking the occasional one himself, but not putting in a lot of energy. Instead, he’ll let Victor wear himself out. Once he’s too tired to put up much of a defense, Killian will go in hard. My brother knows ahead of time who he’s fighting, and what their tactics are. He’s well prepared and rarely loses. Well, except when my gorgeous Tesorodistracts him. I make it my personal mission to not allow that to happen again.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
THE HEATHEN
Isit with my hands covering my face as I peek through my fingers at the fight. Killian makes me so mad, but I know deep down I don’t really hate him. Right? Can you hate someone, and not want them to get hurt? Probably not. Maybe it’s the small glimpses of,not kindness,but normalcy, that have me not wanting him to get his ass kicked. Or maybe it’s his sudden protective mode. I didn’t expect him to declare I was not allowed to go after my family alone. Is his concern for me, though, or his brothers? It’s probably just about protecting Carter.
My mind is a total mess over Killian, and I cannot figure it all out. If I don’t like him, and I shouldn’t, why does my body ignite when he looks at me? Just the sound of his voice gets me hot, but when he touches me, it’s like an out-of-body experience. More than that, I can’t understand why the thought of him getting hurt is terrifying to me. I know I shouldn’t care, but I do.
Knox pulls my hand from my face and kisses my knuckles softly.
“You don’t want to miss this.”
Killian stands over the man Knox called ‘Victor’ with sweat dripping down his bare chest, and kicks him in the side.
“Get up!” He yells, loud enough to be heard. The crowd is silent with anticipation, waiting to find out what happens next. Victor appears to have passed out, but Killian is not done. He has a furious expression on his face, and I wonder if there’s a history there. I’ve seen Killian pissed off, but this level of rage is new to me.
He kicks the unconscious man repeatedly, and Knox turns to Carter.
“Watch her.”
“Wha-” I start to ask, but Knox runs to the ring and pulls Killian away from Victor. Killian pulls his fist back, and I gasp. Knox puts his hand up, blocking the punch, and Killian blinks fast, like he didn’t even see his brother standing in front of him.
“Come on,” Carter says, and on instinct I put my hands in my jean pockets. He gently grabs onto my shoulder as we walk back to the locker room. Immediately upon entering I notice the tension in the air, so thick you could cut it with a knife. Killian sits on a bench with his head hanging down, while Knox paces back and forth. I have never seen him stressed, so I know something is very wrong.
