Game(58)

I hurried to let her go.

“It would never happen,” I said. “I would never do that to Fiore. Or your family. You deserved better. You still deserve better.”

Mara turned to face me. She touched my face and her bottom lip quivered. “You’re going to help me.”

“Why? Fiore thinks I’m dead. I’m free now.”

“What about Shayna? Don’t you love her?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Then you need to save her. Get her out of the life.”

“How?”

“Me,” Mara said. “I’m going to make it happen. And you’re going to do me a favor in return.”

“Name it. Anything.”

“I know who helped to kill Antonio and Luca. The woman. I know who she is. I don’t know where she is. But when I find out, you have to kill her. It can’t be family.”

“Mara… I’m a fighter, not a murderer.”

“If you want to save Shayna and have a chance at living a life…”

“Fine,” I said. “Just tell me what we need to do. Fiore has a fight for me, but he thinks I’m dead.”

Mara put her other hand to my face. She moved to her toes and our eyes met. “That’s why you’re going to show up and fight. You’re going to win. You’re going to make me a lot of money because I bet on you.” Mara inched closer. Her lips brushed mine for a second. “Then it’s all going to come crashing down, Finn. You’ll get her, I promise. Just tell me you’ll end my suffering.”

“Okay,” I said. “Okay, Mara. I’ll do whatever you need.”

“All I have right now is a name. But I’ll find her. And you’ll kill her.”

Then Mara gave me the name.

Sasha.

That was Shayna’s sister.

Was I going to have to kill Shayna’s sister?



~



Things with Mara stayed cool. Which was good. She was a beautiful woman with a broken heart. I did not intend on messing with her or her heart. My love was contained for only Shayna. And I had to get her back. Make sure she was alive. Safe. With me.

Mara kept in contact with her mother.

The entire family was preparing for tonight.

I climbed into the back of the SUV and sat there.

Mara got in the other side.

There was a driver and he put up a black window that separated the front from the back.

That’s when Mara turned to me. “Just once.”

“What?”

“You and me, Finn. You’re…”

I turned to her and touched her face. “Mara, listen to me. When this smoke clears you’re going to be okay. I had no idea you were living this life and this lie. You cannot get involved with a guy like me. Ever. And I’m in love with Shayna. It’s not a joke. It’s as real as anything I’d ever felt.”

Mara reached for my hand and took it. She pulled it toward her chest.

I remembered watching Mara grow up. From a pretty young woman into a sultry adult. She had some obvious work done to her body, mainly where she had my hand going.

I twisted my wrist away from her. “No, Mara. You’re not in the right state of mind. You’ll regret it forever. I won’t do it. I’m committed to Shayna.”

I’m committed? When the f*ck have I ever been committed? Besides Carrie…

“You’re a good man,” Mara said. “I’m sorry that because you’re Irish you get treated like scum. You’re not scum, Finn.”

“And you’re not some family princess,” I said. “You’re a strong woman. Never forget that.”

“Will you at least hold my hand for a little while?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said.

I didn’t interlock my fingers with hers, but I held her hand.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Finn?” she asked.

“What?”

“This entire thing… it’s on your shoulders.”

“How so?” I asked.

Mara looked at me. She smiled and had the same cute dimples I always remembered. “Don’t f*cking lose this fight.”

“I won’t,” I said.

Sure… no pressure, right?





42.


(Shayna)



My stomach was empty. I was lucky enough to get some soda and that helped a little to calm my stomach and nerves. The two men with guns were called off me. Fiore took me outside the office and I looked down at the circle. Two guys were fighting. The crowd was getting rowdy. The one guy in the circle was taking a beating. His face looked like mush but he was still going at it.

“They’re all going to be pissed when there’s no next fight,” Fiore said. “But a forfeit is a loss. I clean up.”

“Don’t they riot?” I asked.

“They might,” Fiore said. “We’ll be gone before that happens.”

My stomach started to flip again. I gripped the railing and did my best to hold it all in.

The fight came to an end when the guy getting destroyed finally passed out. He tried throwing a punch, took a hit to the face, and then toppled down. Someone came into the circle and dragged him out. Another guy came into the circle with a mop and a bucket.