Game(48)

I hung my head.

Nothing was free. Ever.

“It’s a tough one,” Fiore said. “Two on one.”

“What?” Shayna yelled. “No.”

“Yes,” Fiore said. “You could take them, Finn. It’s drawing tons of interest. It’s your… it’s your last fight for a while, Finn.”

“What the f*ck does that mean?” I asked.

“I’m putting you into semi-retirement.”

“I’m a fighter. I fight.”

“You win tonight and it cements you forever, Finn. Simple as that. Then you take care of this situation. Together. Celebrate back in the cabin and don’t come out until there’s a baby.”

Fiore’s phone started to beep. He backed up and pointed at me. He made a gun with his fingers and shot.

“Details?” I asked.

“You’ll get them. Don’t worry, Finn. Don’t worry at all.”

I watched Fiore rush out of the cabin. I still stood there, my hand cupping a towel over my dick. Shayna was still in a damn towel.

I turned and looked at her. “What did you do?”

“I bought us time,” she said.

“Sweetie, let me…”

“No, Finn. Someone is going to get hurt.”

Shayna stormed away, through the bathroom toward the bedroom. She stopped to look at the pregnancy test again.

Not pregnant.

I shook my head, still unsure what to feel. We were beyond walking on thin ice. Nothing had worked out. I had no real plan. All I knew was to fight. To fight my way in and out of situations in life.

What I wanted was to tell Shayna I loved her. That she had gotten inside me… just like I’d gotten inside her. That I’d do anything to protect her, help her, and find a way through all of this.

Before that, I needed to square up with Fiore. He was grieving and he needed to realize what he was doing.

I turned, wanting to wrap the towel around me and then chase after Fiore.

When I turned, there was a man standing there in a black suit. He wore black gloves. Before I could make a sound, something smashed against the side of my head.





34.


(Shayna)



I stepped into the room and shut the door. I walked to the closet and felt something staring at me. The blinds were down, the curtains drawn. It was dark in the room, but not completely dark. I reached for the light switch and had that wild fear of something bad waiting. Some kind of dumb irrational fear that everyone had once in a while.

I turned on the light and saw a man in a black suit standing a couple feet away. His hands lunged out at me, grabbing me. I screamed but was already tight in his grasp. My mind panicked, wanting to make sure my towel was on me.

“Don’t worry,” the man said. “I’m not here to see you naked. I just need your legs open for a minute.”

The man threw me at the bed and jumped on me. I had no chance to kick, no chance to attack him. He held my wrists with one hand above my head. His other hand lifted up my towel.

I looked to my right and saw the bedroom door creep open a little. It was Fiore.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I need to be reassured that Finn isn’t shooting blanks. Or that you’re not lying to me. My associate here is more than capable of giving me what I want. So just relax…”

I looked at the man on top of me.

What the f*ck was about to happen?

It was pretty obvious but I couldn’t believe it.

I threw my head forward, trying to head butt the guy. But he was smart, fast, and strong.

My body shivered with fear.

My mind wanted to know one thing: where was Finn?





35.


(Finn)



I opened my eyes and heard Shayna scream.

That woke me up even more. I reached for the wall and then for the floor. My head throbbed and everything was dizzy. I managed to get to my feet. My towel was on the floor so I grabbed that and hurried toward the bedroom.

I kicked open the door and saw a man on top of Shayna. Her legs were sort of in the air, kicking.

I threw the towel over the guy’s head and pulled him away from her. I threw him right back into the wall. He hit with a thundering sound. I dropped the towel and then threw a right fist at him, cracking him square in the jaw. His head bounced off the wall again. His eyes started to spin like tops. I unleashed on him, hitting him as he slid down the wall. I then started to kick him, using the heel of my foot to crush his face, over and over. Of all the crazy shit that I had done in my life I had never had to fight a man while naked.

I stopped kicking him to take a breath. I grabbed the towel, rolled it up tight, and put it around the guy’s neck. I then dragged him from the bedroom and through the bathroom. I let him go and then stomped on him one more time for good measure.

I knew what it had been.

Fiore.

An attack on me. On Shayna.

I raced back to the bedroom and shut the door, locking it this time. I made sure to lock the other door too. Shayna was sitting up, knees tight to her chest.

She looked right at me, tears running down her cheeks. “He…”

“This is my fault,” I said. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea Fiore could go this far with it.”

“Finn, what’s going to happen?”