Mr. Uhlig jutted his chin at them. “He’s fine. I won’t hurt him. You have my word.”
Aspen snorted, but Mr. Uhlig didn’t turn toward him. “I’m taking him ringside. You’ll get the closest seat I can find. What do you think, Dr. Mifflin?” he asked, tilting his head at me.
My gut sank and I got the feeling things were happening I didn’t understand, but I also wanted to see Fallon fight. I gave a hesitant nod.
Rowen let out a huff and glared around the room again as if assessing his odds of us getting out of here with a gunfight. I didn’t like that.
“It’s just a match, right?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s right,” Mr. Uhlig said smoothly.
Cillian’s hands tightened into fists. “The second I get out of here—”
“You’ll what? Call Killough to whine?” Mr. Uhlig’s smile was pure evil. “He understands my operation. You would have never seen Sloan step into this room without a cadre of killers at his back. He’s smart and understands me.” Mr. Uhlig narrowed his eyes on Cillian.
“Go with him,” Rowen said quietly, and Cillian spun around with his mouth open to gape at him. “He won’t hurt ye. He claims he’s not stupid. Smart men don’t feck with the Irish.”
I couldn’t shake the sense something was going on I just wasn’t grasping, and Cillian stepped to Aspen’s side to whisper furiously with him. Rowen waved at me and seemed to be trying to tell me with a look to behave myself, as he sometimes did, but for the life of me I had no idea what he expected. Mr. Uhlig didn’t let go of my elbow as he led me back out into the hallway and down a gleaming set of wooden stairs. I got turned around a little but did my best to keep up with his fast pace.
“Are you going to hurt them if Fallon doesn’t fight? He wants to. You don’t have to worry. He’s been excited all week. This isentirelyunnecessary. Did you know, I’ve never been to a fight like this. I was happy to see one, but you’re ruining it. I like being with my... well, my boyfriends. I’m not sure if they’d like that, me calling them my boyfriends, but that’s what they are.” I took a deep breath to continue.
Mr. Uhlig held up a hand. “Wonderful. Why don’t you let me escort you,quietly, to the most exciting seat in the house, since no one needs to worry.” He grinned, but there was a mean edge to his smile.
My stomach sank. When had this happened? I’d gotten used to people beingniceto me. People had been rude to me my whole life because of the way I sometimes could be, but with Fallon always around on campus, and living with four men who cared about me... I was never alone. They’d begun stepping between me and the world. I sucked in a deep breath. I hadn’t appreciated everything they’d been doing for me. Guiltily I glanced over my shoulder, but of course Cillian, Rowen, and Aspen were still stuck in that room. I wished I was with them so I could thank them, and repeated to myself over and over not to forget to tell them how happy they made me—assuming I got out of this mess alive.
“Okay.”
Mr. Uhlig sighed and slowed down a bit, stopping before a set of double doors with crash bars across them. On the other side the roar of the crowd was like the thundering of waves in a hurricane—deafening and never-ending. “You’re far too handsome to make a face like that. I can’t have Fallon seeing you look like this before the fight. Smile. You’re fine.”
“You threatened my family and you’re already getting what you wanted. Why? Why would you do that?”
Mr. Uhlig glanced behind us before he gave me a tiny smile. He was an attractive man, but my stomach churned. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Yes.”But I won’t keep it because you’re mean.Something of what I was thinking must have showed because he laughed.
“I enjoy it. Did you see their faces? These men who think they run the world realizing they’re not immortal. It’s a delicious feeling.” He sighed and smiled. When he opened his eyes, he slid his gaze down me again, then back to my face. “And they share you. That’s far more interesting than a betting event on the boring side of New Gothenburg. A puzzle I’d like to pick at. What do you do for them? I’m a Daddy. Are you their boy?”
“I don’t know much about... uh, kinks,” I answered faintly. “I’ve worried about that myself. I’m not sure I can give them as much as they give me. Sometimes I think life is strange that way and I’ll never figure it out. Fallon’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”
Mr. Uhlig stared at the door for a second, then pushed it open. “I have no idea. Two years ago he was on fire, won a belt. I would have said he’d have no problem, given his experience, in holding his own. But fighters don’t age like wine. It’s a young man’s sport in a lot of ways.”
Appalled, I yanked my arm free of his grip, and he let me go. “Heisyoung.”
Mr. Uhlig opened the door wider, gesturing me through. I winced at the rush of noise. “Spoken like an old man. I’m one, too, in fight years. The training is grueling, the fights aren’t long, but they’re brutal. Men turn themselves inside out for five minutes of glory.” Mr. Uhlig’s eyes sparkled with an unholy glee that made me want to try my luck at running. How had I not thought he was terrifying?
The chanting and roaring of the crowd overwhelmed me as we stepped out into an aisle between the front row of spectators and the ring. The lights were bright over the men battling in the center of the room, which was both larger than I’d assumed and smaller than seemed possible. All the screaming and waving bodies made the air too hot and had sweat beading on my brow. I’d never imagined everyone would be so close to the action, but then again, this wasn’t a stadium. I stood still, blinking against the noise. Mr. Uhlig grabbed my elbow again, hauling me forward.
In the ring two men rolled around on the floor together, but one was clearly winning. He sat on the other man as he came out on top and pummeled his face. Blood sprayed in the air. There was a wild cheer from the crowd.
Mr. Uhlig dragged me along until I came to a row of seats on a small platform near the ring, elevated higher than the others I’d walked past. All the seats in what seemed to be a high-roller area, based on the fancy outfits of the women draped on the arms of men, were full—except two directly in the middle. He led me past everyone and shoved me down into one of the empty seats. I gripped my knees as he crouched near me, and I couldn’t even smile at a dainty woman with long red hair to my left when she smirked in our direction.
“Hey there, Derek.”
“Red,” he said. “Enjoying yourself?”
“You know it.” She shoved at his shoulder, and he almost went over on his ass. I gave her big eyes, and she only laughed and went back to staring out at the ring. I followed her gaze and got a horrific view of the blood spatter. The man who’d won rose on wobbly legs to foot stomping and cheering, but he had both hands raised. I glanced around until I spotted the gleaming glass square on the wall that had to be the box seats where Rowen, Aspen, and Cillian were trapped. As I squinted, I could make out their profiles. They were standing near the window, clearly scanning the crowd. I waved, but they didn’t seem to notice me. I missed them already.
“I would like to go back up,” I yelled to Mr. Uhlig over the noise.
