Paxton's Promise (Gloves Off #3)(38)

“No, I need the training. But maybe I can take a nap this afternoon?”

He passed me a full plate and a bottle of water. “I’ll think about it. After you finish eating, meet me in the gym. I’m going to go ahead and get started.”

After a couple bites of eggs, he slipped a piece of bacon into his mouth and headed out the door. I was half tempted to crawl back upstairs and lay down, but I couldn’t slack now. I needed the training and my title fight with Allie was the most important one of all. Once my food was gone, I rushed upstairs, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. My poor eyes were puffy and I looked pale. I was never pale.

My phone went off. Quickly, I dried my face and rushed to pick it up. It was Camden. “What do you want?” I answered.

“Damn, look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“I’m not in the mood, Striker. Apparently, Rage followed me to the track last night and left a calling card. I haven’t slept at all.”

“Are you serious? That dude really has some f*cking problems.”

“Yeah, I’d say so. Now, what do you want? Paxton’s going to be looking for me if I don’t get out there to him.”

“Are you two living together?”

“For the time being. I sure as hell don’t want to stay at my apartment by myself right now,” I snapped.

“Calm down, Gabby. I told you, I’m not going to let Rage get to you. Listen, Scar wants you to come in tonight. He’s moving next week’s fight up. I’ll be at your apartment at seven. Oh, and make sure to wear something a little more sexy.”

“What?” I spat. “I can’t come tonight. What am I supposed to tell Paxton? He’s going to start getting suspicious.”

Camden sighed. “Just tell him you’re going out with some friends. It’s not that f*cking difficult. You don’t answer to him.”

“I know that, asswipe. Maybe one day, when you get into an actual relationship, you’ll understand. He’s worried about me with this whole stalker deal.”

“I told you, I’m not going to let him get to you, not while I’m there.”

I scoffed. “Forgive me, if I don’t have much faith in you right now. I haven’t forgotten what you did to Ashleigh and your brother. For all I know you could be in on all of this.”

The line went silent, but then he came back on, his voice hard. “You’re right, I could be, but I guess you’ll just have to trust me. Besides, you have no choice. Don’t make me have to come hunt you down because that’s exactly what Scar will do if you don’t show.”

I didn’t have a choice. “I’ll be there,” I said, then hung up. I didn’t want to hear anymore. Regrettably, there was someone else I needed to call. When I dialed his number, he answered almost immediately.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Hey, Mason. I have a problem.”

“You mean, bigger than what you had yesterday?”

“Much,” I replied sadly. “Camden called and he’s picking me up tonight. Apparently, I’m scheduled to fight.”

“I thought it wasn’t for another five days?” he growled.

“The plan changed. But there’s something else that happened last night. While Pax and I were at the race track, we kind of slipped away for some alone time and when we were done I found a demolished black rose outside the door. What am I going to do?”

“Gabby?” Paxton called.

“Fuck,” I hissed. “Paxton’s coming. I have to go.”

“Dammit, this doesn’t give me enough time. I’m not going to know where you are.”

Then it hit me. Quickly, I rushed into the bathroom and shut the door. “They blindfolded me while I was there, but I did see the name Tate Industries and Supply on a building nearby. We were also by the coast. I could smell the salt in the air.”

“All right, I’ll look it up. Just play it safe tonight and win the f*cking fight.”

Even if I didn’t truly believe it, I said, “I’ll be fine. I have to go.” I hung up and turned the phone off. Paxton’s footsteps raced up the stairs and then he was in the room.

“Gabby, you okay?”

Turning on the water, I washed my hands and opened the door. Paxton was shirtless, his skin sweaty from working out. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him.

He leaned against the doorframe, narrowing his gaze. “Are you sure?”

I dried my hands on the towel hanging on the rack and laughed. Hopefully, I wasn’t being paranoid. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? Are you okay?”

He stepped out of the way so I could pass. “Actually, that’s why I came in to get you. Derek called and said he wanted to race tonight.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I plastered a smile on my face. If he went, it would save me from having to lie. “That’s great. You’re going to go, right?”

Nonchalantly, he shrugged. “I want to, but I want to make sure you’re okay about it.”

“Please, I’m perfectly fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’ll have fun. But right now, let’s get my ass in shape. I want you to show me how to fight in a real situation, like my life depended on it.” We started down the hall toward the stairs.