Raw Deal (Larson Brothers #1)(74)

“Everyone knows it was an accident, Frank. You know it too.”

“Tell it to his family that’s left behind.”

“I did, *.”

“You know I hear his wife is pregnant? I bet they can’t wait to see you bleeding on the mat and I’m going to see to it that it happens. You’ll see. You’ll see!”

“You didn’t f*cking know him, so who the f*ck are you to get vengeance for anyone?”

“Tommy Dugas was a brother fighter, a fellow warrior who gave his life for this sport, gone too soon and—”

“You piece of shit. You’re not worthy to mention his name.”

“You’d like his name to never be mentioned, wouldn’t you? So you can forget what you did and what you inflicted on his family.”

Another word and he was going to climb over Reid if he had to. “Let’s get back on track,” the president was saying, and security came in to add some authority to the situation. Mike put his hands up, reclaiming his seat and wrenching the cap off the water bottle sitting on his table before turning it upside down and guzzling. It needed to be alcohol. Brad and Aaron were both repeatedly slashing their hands across their throats. Cut it the hell out, he interpreted. So much for not exposing his weakness.

All this and only two questions in. It was going to be a long day.



Rowan answered Savannah’s knock with surprise written across her face. At the sight of her little sister-in-law, so adorable with a bandana headband wrapped around her hair and already wearing a maternity shirt even though she was barely showing, Savannah’s eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, God, Savvy!” Rowan cried and, with all hostilities apparently forgotten, rushed forward to wrap Savannah in her arms. “Are you okay? What’s the matter?”

“Can I come in?” Savannah sniffled, clutching her tight, her warm and familiar scent a comfort she’d nearly forgotten.

“Of course you can. Get in here. I’m making cookies; I had a sudden craving. Don’t make me eat them all by myself.”

Chuckling, Savannah allowed herself to be herded in through the front door and fussed over while Rowan got her tea and tissues and settled her at the kitchen table where they’d first made plans to meet Zane and Mike in Houston. The memory squeezed out a few more drops of moisture and she wiped at them in frustration.

Rowan shoved a batch of cookies in the oven, set the digital timer, then sat down across from her. “Tell me all.”

“It isn’t going to work with Mike. I know you don’t want to hear about him, and I don’t blame you, but I see it now, so you don’t have to worry anymore. He’s already set another fight. It’ll barely be three months since Tommy died, and he’s already fighting again.”

To her surprise, Rowan didn’t erupt in peals of joy. With solemn deliberation, she folded her hands on the table and stared at them for several seconds. “I know. I saw it on the news. I wondered how you were taking it.”

“Not well at all.”

“It was just a chance thing that came up though, right? I mean . . . it wasn’t his plan all along.”

“Yeah, he got an unexpected title shot. He wanted to take it. I tried so hard to talk him out of it. We both . . . said a lot of bad stuff, I guess.”

She remembered his face, almost unrecognizable in his determination and . . . bloodlust, with ice glittering in his eyes that she hadn’t seen since his match with Tommy. It had brought back nightmares. It had frozen her blood in her veins. This is him, she’d thought. He was in the mind-set. There was an opponent already in his cage, trying to take what was his, and at the end of the argument he’d settled into a dangerous quiet, like that of a snake lying in wait for some hapless prey to wander by.

He’d scared her. Not that she thought he would hurt her in a million years, but he would easily hurt someone else, or else get hurt trying.

“Savannah . . . and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I have to. I’ve never in my life had anyone look at me the way he looked at you in the cemetery the other day. Not even Tommy. He drove all night to get there for you. It made me think. It made me think a lot. Hell, it almost made me jealous.” Rowan chuckled sadly. “Your mom was impressed too.”

“And I’ve never felt the way he made me feel,” Savannah admitted, fiddling with the tissue in her hand.

“You deserve that. I’ve always wanted that for you.”

“But I don’t know if I can live the life you did.”

“I would never want to go back to it,” Rowan agreed, staring off into some middle distance, at memories only she could see. “I don’t know, some of it wasn’t so bad. I suppose the toughest part was living with the fighter. Sometimes—and I don’t think I’ve ever admitted this out loud—it was almost a relief when he was away, so I could relax and take some time for me for a change. God, is that awful?”

“No,” Savannah said quickly. “I can understand that. I used to live with him too.”

“Yeah,” Rowan laughed. “I suppose it’s somewhat possible I was being a little too hard on Mike. Hell, Savvy, if I’m willing to admit that I was wrong, it should be way easier for you.”

Maybe not if Rowan knew what he’d said about Tommy. Even if there was at least a tiny bit of truth to it. “Zane wants to see you again,” Savannah blurted out, not sure where that had come from or why this seemed like an opportune moment to tell her.