Fighter(19)

The smirk lessened. “You make it so hard.” And the smirk was back.

We weren’t going to get anywhere productive with this conversation. “What are we going to do?” I asked. “Just sneak through the crowd?”

“Yep.” He pulled me forward into a light jog with him. “Hurry.”

Trusting him, I followed his lead, and Jax led me through the parked cars until a big truck passed by. It slowed and began looking for a place to park and deliver its food. Using it as cover, we approached the back of Sally’s, hidden from most of the crowd. When it parked, the kitchen door opened, and two guys came out. One was the manager of Sally’s. When he recognized Jax, he waved us in. “Turgo’s waiting. He’ll lead you to the box.”

Jax nodded.

The manager eyed me. “The box is for you too. You’re his girl, right?”

I stopped, pure panic blasting my insides, but Jax curled an arm around my waist and kept me following him. His mouth pressed in a flat line, and we moved through the kitchen to find a guy the size of a giant wearing a black shirt that said STAFF on it.

“Stop thinking about what he said,” Jax whispered under his breath. “We’re having fun, right?”

Fun. Right. I bobbed my head up and down.

Jax now asked—I guessed this guy was Turgo—if any of my brothers were around, and the security guard/staff member skimmed a hard look over me, then tipped his head to the side. “We haven’t seen any Holdens except her in here.”

“What about Monroe?”

“Yeah, he’s around. He wants to talk to you.”

Jax gave me an uneasy look. I agreed, but we’d figured this would happen.

Turgo stopped talking and waited. Jax gave him a nod, and he led us down another back hallway. When we got to the closed door, Jax opened it and went inside. I got a glimpse of Chris Monroe, but when I started forward, Turgo stepped in front of me. He folded his arms over his chest. “Sorry. He wants Cutler alone.”

That didn’t sit well with me. “Where’s my taser gun when I need it, huh?”

He grunted, but didn’t seem too worried.

I had no choice. I waited right alongside him.

Jax wasn’t long. When he came back out, I straightened from the wall. I was about to ask what happened, but I caught his clenched jaw and stiff shoulders. He grabbed my arm, pulling me close. Turgo started forward again, this time leading us out into the main bar area. Jax shook his head, ever so slightly, and I knew he was telling me to wait until we were alone.

I did.

Pathways had been cleared through the crowd with ropes on either side, and Sally’s had been transformed to look like a real boxing venue. Turgo led us to our box, and more than a few girls called out to Jax, reaching to touch him. He ignored them, holding me even tighter. His hand pressed so firmly into my arm that I knew he would leave a bruise. I didn’t tell him, though. He didn’t know. He was holding onto me for comfort, and that was a good feeling—too good a feeling, to be honest. I should’ve been more concerned about how right it felt, but it felt too right for that. I wasn’t going to fight it.

I still loved Jax. I’d realized it earlier, and I’d slowly started to accept it again.

The rope sectioned off a little sitting area near the ring, and I knew this was the box they’d referred to. Turgo lifted up an end of the rope to let Jax and me through. Once we’d moved inside, he put it back and asked, “Anything to drink or eat? It’s on the house.”

Jax shook his head and started to sit.

Turgo nodded and turned to leave.

“Wait!” I called. “Water. For him.” Come to think about it… “I’ll take a couple shots, too.”

He left, and Jax frowned at me. “I can’t take anything. Not right before a match.”

I sat and let out a sigh. A knot twisted inside of me. I needed to know what had been said in that back room. “They aren’t for you,” I told him.

“Oh.” He smiled. “Planning on taking me up on that shared cell tonight?”

I fixed him with a pointed stare. “Start talking. What’d Chris say?”

“Nothing about the match. He told me Libby went to see him.”

I scooted next to him. “She did?”

A haunted look came to his eyes. “Yeah. She offered to be one of his whores if he’d let her boyfriend off the hook.”

My eyes went wide. “What’d he say?”

“No. He held up his end of the deal. He told me to crush my opponent, and he’d do one better: he’d make her boyfriend dump her if he wanted to keep gambling with them. Knowing that dipshit, I bet it’d work too. He’d toss my sister to the curb for the next big game.”

I frowned. “He’s probably betting on this match with you.”

Jax jerked a shoulder up. “I don’t care. As long as my sister is out of his life, I’ll do what I need to do.” He skimmed an eye over me. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” My fuzzies, butterflies, and twisted pretzel insides were getting along famously. “I’ll be fine. So Chris didn’t say you had to throw it?”

“No. He said to crush him.”

“Oh.” That was odd. “Who are you fighting?”

Jax shrugged. “I have no idea. We’ve been out of the loop. I’ll find out when they announce him, I guess.”