Paxton's Promise (Gloves Off #3)(42)

Pulling out my wallet, I set a wad of cash onto the bar. Derek and his guys watched on in concern. “I have to go,” I told them. “Something’s wrong and I have to get back.” Derek nodded and I didn’t waste any more time. Rushing out to my car, it roared to life, the tires screeching as I stormed out of the parking lot.

“Why can’t she unlock the gate?” I asked. I didn’t trust Camden and I sure as hell wasn’t going to give him the code.

“Look, just hurry the f*ck up and get here. She needs help.” And with that, he hung up and left me hanging. I had ten minutes to get back to my house and it was the longest ten minutes of my f*cking life. So many questions raced through my mind. Why the f*ck was she with Camden? And why couldn’t she talk to me?

When my house came into view, Camden’s car was parked outside the gate. I bolted out of my car and rushed up to his. Covered in sweat, he rolled his window down and the heat blasted out. Gabriella was in the passenger seat, draped in a blanket and passed out. Not only was she unconscious, but she was covered in blood.

“What the f*ck happened to her?” I shouted, running to her side of the car. Ripping the door open, I reached in and took her face in my hands.

Camden sighed. “It’s not her blood, Pax. We need to get her inside now.”

My body shook with rage. I wanted to kill him for whatever he did to her. Storming over to my keypad, I punched in the code and the gates slowly opened. Once Camden started in through the gate, I got back into my car and followed.

I carried her inside, taking the steps two at a time, and laid her down on my bed. Camden came in and went straight to my bathroom and turned on the shower. The steam started billowing out into my room.

“What happened?” I demanded, clenching my teeth.

“I’ll tell you in a minute, but we need to get her in the hot water. She’s covered in blood and she’s in shock.”

He tried to take the blanket off of her, but I pushed him out of the way. “Don’t you f*cking touch her. If it wasn’t for her, you’d be dead right now.”

“Yeah, well, take a f*cking number.”

Once I had Gabriella out of the blanket, her clothes were torn and she was covered in dried up blood. I carried her into the bathroom and slammed the door so I could undress her. Holding her naked body in my arms, I sat her on my lap in the shower and let the hot water beat down her skin. The blood washed away, turning the water a light red as it washed down the drain. She had it everywhere, even underneath her nails.

Taking the soap, I washed every square inch of her skin and hair. Thankfully, she started to come around and gasped when her eyes opened. She tried to fight me, but I held her harder.

“Sunshine, it’s me,” I murmured. “You’re safe now.”

After she was rinsed off and clean, I held her in my arms and wrapped her up in a couple of towels.

“Pax?” she whispered.

“Yes, I’m here.” Now that she was covered, I took her into my room where Camden still sat waiting.

“Is she okay?” he asked.

I walked right past him and pulled the covers away on my bed and laid her down, covering her back up. Her skin was cold, even after the hot shower, so I rushed to my closet and snatched some extra blankets. Once she was secured underneath, her breathing started to calm and she passed out again.

“You need to start talking, now,” I demanded angrily.

After having a chance to get a good look at Camden, I saw even he was covered in spatters of blood. I hadn’t seen him in a while, but I’d heard about the jagged scar he now harbored on his face. Running his hands through his hair, he went to the corner of my room and sat down in the brown leather chair.

“She’s been fighting for Scar,” he blurted out.

Eyes wide, I jumped off the bed, my fists clenched by my side. “What the f*ck do you mean she’s been fighting for Scar? How’s that possible? She’s been with me.” Not to mention, I thought Scar was in Vegas.

“She’s only done it twice, and I assume she had to lie to you to get away.”

Gabriella wouldn’t lie to me. She’d been with me every single day since she moved in. Then it hit me . . . the date with her mom. And then again tonight, when I was with Derek and his crew. Motherf*cker. No wonder why she’d been acting weird. “What is Scar doing out here?”

“After my fight with Ryley, he moved everything out to L.A. He knew from the beginning that he wanted to get here and blackmail Gabriella.”

“What happened to her? Start from the beginning and tell me everything.”

Camden sighed and hung his head back. “She did it for you. Scar threatened your life unless she did as he said. So, she did it. She agreed to three fights and after that you’d be set free. But as you could probably guess, that’s not the truth. The letters she’s been getting are coming from a guy named Rage. Do you know him? It looks like he’s had a fascination of her after seeing her the night of the fight in Vegas. He’s the one who wants you out of the way.”

So that was who it was. I’d heard of Rage, but I didn’t know the details. He wasn’t around when I fought at the Dark Side. I heard he was ruthless, and never hesitated to kill. But if he was there with Gabby . . .

“So help me God, he better not have touched her,” I stormed. “Has he done anything to her?”