Her blush deepens impossibly, but before I can say anything, we’re pulling up to The Den. I sigh and rake my hand through my hair.
I’m not ready for this shit. As much as I love fighting, and I do, I’d be stupid to ignore the warning signs.
Everything that’s happened in the last few months has been one insane tragedy after enough, and in the passing weeks, it’s all come to a head.
Ella getting attacked and raped by her psycho ex right after we met her. Us pushing to have her stay in our home until she healed—thenkeepingher in our house. Our relationships all evolving. Dolores, her daughter, and what Gus did to them. The deaths of Ella’s roommate, Alyssa, Raptor, and the techs. Ella being kidnapped by her exagain.Ella killing her ex. Her house getting blown up. Hunter being attacked and blackout, ninja-killing the dudes.
And then…
And then they both opened up and shared the depth of their devastation, their trauma.
And I…
I don’t think I can take anything else happening. I don’t think any of us can. It’s all been so much,toomuch. We’re riding theedge of sanity here, barely holding on by a thread. Ella is too precious to us to possibly fathom losing her.
I know I wouldn’t survive it.
I glance up, seeing the way both Gage and Nyxon stare at her as she giggles between Hunter and Stone, her head tipped back, her face brighter and healthier than I’ve ever seen. I see the love in all four of their faces. And I know, I just know, she’s it for us. She’s our only chance at happiness.
I’ll be damned if I let anyone take her from us.
Never fucking again.
Chapter 3
Everyone is silently fallingapart.
They won’t say it, admit to it, but I see it in their eyes.
It’s in the way Maddox won’t stop flicking his pocket knife, the blade opening and snapping shut again loud in the otherwise oppressive parking lot.
It’s in the way Nyx’s arms are crossed over his chest, his tux bunched and taut from how hard he’s balling his fists. His jaw is pulsing, his eyes incessantly scanning our dim surroundings.
It’s in the way Stone is staring at the side of the black SUV as though he can see right through the thick explosive-proof metal and blacked-out windows. The furrow in his blonde brows, the dark circles under his blue eyes.
But mostly, it’s in the way every single cell in my body is primed and ready for a fight.
I don’t know what or why, but it’sthere, burning and writhing deep in my soul, threatening to shred me to bits. Part of me thinks it’s just because tonight means so much. Me reentering the fighting circuit for the first time in years. Me doing something I swore I’d never do again, not unless I was being forced to.
But I’m not being forced.
In fact, I agreed to this shit show willingly, all because my tiny spitfire of a woman batted her blue-green eyes up at me and rolled her thick lip out in the sweetest pout I’d ever seen. I folded like a shitty house of cards and now…now I’m about to step into the ring again.
I swallow roughly and run my fingers over my guns as if to remind myself I’m safe, we’re all safe.
But who will keep them safe from you?
“So,” Madd grunts, jarring me from my thoughts. I blink slowly at him, my eyes adjusting in the dark. I cock a brow and he scoffs, leaning against the car. “Are we gonna talk about it or what?”
Stone stiffens but says nothing, his gaze still riveted to the window, seeing nothing.
“About?” I drawl, my head tilting to keep them both in my sight.
Maddox bites his lip, tugging the ring between his teeth as his throat bobs. “Hunter,” he murmurs. “Obviously.”
Stone stiffens again, this time, he rolls his shoulders and shakes out his hands. Though it looks like it kills him, he turns to face us, giving the SUV his back.
“What about him, Madd?” I sigh, adjusting my tux. I don’t want to talk about Hunter, not really. Everything Ella revealed to us last night still feels too heavy, too much.
