Gentleman Sinner(103)

Looking blankly across to the ring, I watch as holy, painful hell is rained all over Trystan. Punishing blows to the face, hard smashes of his body to the floor, and endless kicks to his stomach. And the whole time, there’s a disturbing half smile on Theo’s face. He’s avoided being locked up before now, gotten away with murder. This will end his freedom. All these people watching. He’ll be slammed into jail for life. And I will lose him.

When Trystan starts coughing up blood, my legs find life, and I run to the edge of the cage, gripping the metal until my knuckles are white, screaming for Theo to stop. He doesn’t need to kill him. He doesn’t need to be locked up for murder. He’s done enough. ‘Theo!’ I scream his name, over and over, ignoring the dryness of my throat.

He stills, looming over Trystan’s battered body with his fist drawn back, ready to drop another damaging blow. Not that Trystan would feel it now. He’s unconscious, limp and lifeless on the floor. Theo turns around, his eyes wild, and I tighten my grip around the bars, bringing my face as close as I can.

‘Stop,’ I beg quietly, though he would never be able to hear above the roaring crowd, so I rely on the pleading in my eyes. ‘Please.’

He straightens, looking around at the masses of people in his club, delirious with excitement. Because Theo is in the cage. He’s the ultimate fighter. Undefeated. An animal. Deadly. His big chest swells, sweat pouring from him. And after a few nervous moments, he drops his eyes back down to Trystan, his lip curling. Then he turns and stalks out of the cage, slamming the metal door behind him. A path clears, people jumping out of his way before running to the foot of the enclosure to see just how much damage Theo’s done. I can see from here. Trystan is lying motionless in a pool of blood, not even the sound of the crowd stirring him. But he’s breathing. I push away from the bars and whirl around, searching for Theo. I catch sight of him disappearing through the door towards the office and make urgent tracks, going after him.

‘Izzy, no.’ Judy intercepts me, fighting to keep me in place. ‘Leave him, sweetheart. Let him cool off.’

‘No.’ I wrestle her away, escaping just before Andy makes a grab for me. I need to see him. Calm him. I run through the club like a woman possessed, people moving from my path.

I stumble into the office, my feet skidding to a stop. Theo is on the other side, his forehead resting on the door that will take him back through to his house. I wait, forcing my breathing to quiet. He eventually lifts his head and yanks the door open, steaming through. I’m in quick pursuit. I can’t be certain that he’s even aware I’m here, but it doesn’t stop me. I need to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Or anything more stupid. He shouldn’t be alone.

We’re at his private quarters fast, Theo a good ten paces in front of me, and when he pushes his way in, I just catch the door before it shuts in my face. He heads straight for the fireplace, resting his hand on the edge, dropping his head and breathing deeply. He’s trying to calm himself. His back is rippling dangerously, dripping with sweat. I approach with caution, keeping a keen eye on his every move. ‘Theo,’ I reach for his shoulder, instinct guiding me, telling me to comfort him in his darkness. ‘Theo, it’s me.’ My fingers lightly brush over his burning skin.

He moves too fast for me to react.

The impact to my face is explosive. The pain indescribable.

Though I don’t have to suffer it for long.

My world goes black.





Chapter 25

The pain. Jesus, the pain. My face feels like it’s in flames as I blink, trying to gather my bearings. Fussing hands and panic-stricken voices are a blur of motion and sound while I try to figure out where I am.

‘Izzy, open your eyes.’ The voice is stressed, and I try to zoom in on the silhouette of a body bent over me, groaning as I lift my hand to my face, the throbbing getting worse. My eye socket is tender, and I wince. ‘Leave it.’ A hand takes mine and pushes it back to the floor gently. Callum’s face comes into focus, but only in my right eye, horrified lines marring his usual good looks. My neck cracks painfully when I turn my head to establish who else is on the floor with me.

‘Sweetheart.’ Judy’s red lipstick has completely worn away, leaving her straight lips stained and lustreless. Her dread-filled eyes flick to my left eye, and she flinches, quickly looking away. ‘I told you to let him calm down, sweetheart. Why didn’t you leave him to calm down?’

‘Oh, Izzy,’ Jess whispers, despairing and shocked.

I battle through the unbearable pain to try to locate any recollections, my brain hurting with the effort. But once I find the memories, there’s no stopping them from thundering forward, relentlessly reminding me of why I’m on my back on the floor with Judy, Jess, and Callum fussing around me.

‘No.’ I shake my head, hissing with the pain. In my darkness, I can see Theo’s back, stalking through the corridors to his apartment. I see his face, riddled with a rage too potent to comprehend. The movements of his body as they made easy work of Trystan in that cage, and the minuscule effort it took for him to inflict so much damage. And then back here, when I tried to calm him. Why did I follow him? Why did I think I could pull him from his destructiveness? The vision of my hand moving slowly towards his shoulder spikes a whimper of despair, my mind screaming for me to stop. How I wish I could go back and stop my stupid self from touching him. And, finally, the top half of his body as it swung around, and his big hand as it collided with my face. It all happened too quickly.