Fighting Silence (On the Ropes #1)(84)

My eyes flashed from Flint back to Leo. “Fuck, your logic. I am not taking a gamble on calling in the cops when my entire life on the line. And if you even try to tell me you wouldn’t play it safe if it were Sarah and Liv, then you’re a goddamn liar.” I stopped fighting and pinched the bridge of my nose, barely clinging to the edge of sanity.

Slate released me and shoved me toward a chair in the corner. He tried to force me into it, but there was no possible way I could have relaxed. I wanted blood.

Slate signed for my benefit as he explained the situation to Leo. “If we call in the cops, the Boxing Association will cancel the fight if there is any suspicion that Till might throw it. This guy has made it more than clear he has money riding on this fight. But there has to be more to it. Till offered to pay him off, but he hasn’t gotten a response. Sounds like someone has a vested interest in the actual winner of the fight.”

“You think Matthews has something to do with this?” My murderous rage became palpable.

“I don’t know. Maybe. More than likely a big-time, dirty bookie is using a small-time, dirty bookie to make an ass-load of money. I bet this Dragon guy doesn’t even know how much money is actually on the line.”

“Someone, please just f*cking find her. Jesus Christ, I don’t give a shit about this fight anymore. I just need someone to find her!” I pushed a hand into my hair. The anger was quickly subsiding as my anxiety took up root.

Flint moved to where we were all talking. “What if we do call the cops—”

My eyes grew wide, but he held up a hand to silence me.

“—but don’t tell them about throwing the fight. Just tell them that someone took Eliza. That way, if at fight time, they don’t have anything on Eliza, Till can still throw the fight. We have two outs instead of one.”

Slate turned to look at me. “Now that’s an idea.”

My eyes jumped to Leo.

He shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”

I toyed with my bottom lip as my mind ran over every possible scenario, but I came up empty. Losing her wasn’t an option. “No uniforms. No cop cars. Nothing.”

“I can do that,” Leo announced, walking forward and holding my gaze. “I’ll find her. I promise.”

I sucked in a deep breath as I read his lips. He could promise all day, but nothing would make me relax until she was in my arms again.



“Find her!” Till screamed at the top of his lungs. His words slurred from the force.

“We’re trying,” Leo explained, slapping the laptop closed.

Till had insisted on watching the video Leo had acquired of Eliza being dragged from the hotel. After over an hour of trying to talk him out of it, Leo had finally given in when Till went off and started demolishing he the entire conference room.

We’d all huddled around the computer and watched as Eliza walked willingly from the room with Frankie. Everything was fine until he tried to push her out of the hotel through a back exit. She planted her feet and tried to snatch her arm out of his grip, but it only caused him to slingshot her out the door. She stumbled and landed facedown. She immediately got back on her feet, but watching her fall on her pregnant belly had been more than enough to send us all into a fit of rage.

“Try f*cking harder!” Till seethed.

“Look, we know she’s in the building. Or at least she was when those images were sent to you. We’re going through footage of every single entrance to see when and where they came back in. It just takes time,” Leo said as I translated. “You get in that ring and do what you have to do. I’ll do what I have to do out here.”

The entire thing was so surreal. I couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it. Leo had made good on his word, and everything was very low-key. So much so that it almost felt like nothing was being done at all. Two plain clothed detectives milled around, but when I found one sitting around eating a sandwich, I’d lost my shit too. It took Leo and Slate to keep me from shoving that goddamn sandwich down his throat.

We’d all spent the day in upheaval. Sarah and Erica buzzed around the room, trying to coddle us, but they were a nervous wreck right alongside the rest of us. Till was a fuming mess, understandably. He paced a lot and ranted at anyone who would listen. Quarry had been transformed into a depressed, weeping child. He sat alone in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone. It seemed my brothers had figured out their coping mechanisms, but I flipped back and forth between anger and hopelessness.

God. Eliza. She must have been so scared. It twisted my gut and sent flames through my blood. I had never experienced that level of fear before and was clueless about how to channel it.

But then again, I’d never felt for anyone the way I did for Eliza Reynolds Page.

I’d been in love with her since the day she’d first walked through Till’s front door. I had barely even been a teenager, but when she’d smiled at me, I had known I’d never be the same. And I wasn’t. There wasn’t a girl in the world who would ever make me feel the sense of belonging I felt when I touched her. She was beautiful, and funny, and so good to all of us. It was so f*cking wrong for me to want her the way I did, but even the guilt couldn’t stop me.

I always knew she was in love with Till. I couldn’t even be mad about it because it was obvious how much he loved her too. At least, if they were together, I had a way to keep her in my life. But right then, with her missing and having absolutely no control over where she was or what was happening, it was excruciating.