Arden stared at me, his face blank. I saw his chest rise and fall slowly, as if he were centering himself.
“I think at the end of this, it’s going to come down to you and me,” he said. “After that, it’s no more than a matter of will.”
He looked me over briefly.
“And aim,” he added.
“You think that will be enough for you?” I asked.
“More than,” he replied. There wasn’t any bravado in the statement; he simply thought it a matter of fact. He had no doubt in his abilities, and I needed to throw him off his game.
“It didn’t keep you out of enemy hands in the past,” I said with a shrug. “It sounds to me as if you have a habit of letting people get the jump on you.”
His eyes tightened but only slightly and briefly. I was hoping for a stronger reaction, but frankly, I wasn’t accustomed to playing mind games. Any reaction at all out of this guy seemed to be a win.
Arden stood, took two steps to get around the table, and leaned over slightly to look me in the face.
“I hear you’re fighting for a kid,” he said softly. “Maybe when I’m done with you, I’ll put a bullet in his skull, just like his mother’s.”
Instantly, my hands were balled into fists. Once that happened, there was no more control left in me. I swung at him, made contact with his jaw, and sent him flying backward. I was on my feet and going for him a second later, but that was all it took for two of Moretti’s goons to grab my arms to try to hold me back.
It didn’t work.
I wrenched one arm out of the grasp of the guy on my right and used it to pop the one on the left hard enough to make him let go. I started to head back to Arden, who was on the floor and rubbing his chin but starting to stand back up again. Another hand grabbed my arm, but I couldn’t shake it off.
“Stop.” Landon’s voice rang clear in my head even before I realized he was the one holding me back. John Paul was on the other side, telling me to take it easy, that there would be a time and place for this, but not here, not now.
“Motherfucker,” I growled. I shook them both off of me though John Paul kept his hand on my shoulder as I stomped toward the door of the barn. I didn’t get far. A moment later, Landon was standing in front of me, blocking my passage.
“Just let me get the fuck out of here!” I snarled.
Landon glared, and I felt someone else walk up beside me. I turned quickly, and found myself looking at a very irate Joseph Franks.
Fuck.
“You press too far,” Franks growled in my ear. “I might need you for now, but don’t you pull something like that again, or I’ll blow your brains out and find myself another fighter.”
I wasn’t sure if the threat was serious or not, and I wasn’t going to take the chance that he was bluffing. Anything I said could be used against me, Raine, and my son at any time. Deciding to go for contrite, I glanced at the ground, then back up to him.
“I know,” I said, “I got it. Don’t you worry about a fucking thing—I’m taking all these motherfuckers out.”
“That’s more like it,” he said with a smile. It didn’t touch his eyes, but it was an effort, at least.
Deciding it was best to get out as soon as possible, John Paul escorted me out the door and back to his car.
“You are out of your fucking mind,” he said as he started the engine and began to back around the other vehicles. “That was seriously stupid.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered. I knew he was right, but I wasn’t about to admit it. I just wanted to get home to Raine. I leaned back in the seat, closed my eyes, and pretended to sleep the rest of the way back to Miami.
There was no question about it—Evan Arden was my primary concern. The others were going to fall quickly and easily, either to me or to Arden. A couple of them would probably take each other out, which was just fine by me. I wasn’t counting frags here; only winning mattered.
Last man standing.
As he had said, it would come down to the two of us. When that happened, it was going to be a matter of who found who first—a matter of my hands or his scope.
Unfortunately, he’d already gotten the drop on me once down at the beach. I couldn’t let that happen again. It wouldn't have happened if I had been on alert. I wasn’t going to fail in that respect when it came to the tournament. There was far too much on the line.
If he was serious about going after Alex…
I wondered if he had something to lose as well though, or rather, someone. Somehow, I doubted it. He didn’t seem the relationship type, and I couldn’t imagine any chick falling for a guy who was so cold, so blank. Yeah, I’d killed more than a few people in the past during tournaments, and I was going to do it again with good reason, but he’d killed a lot more people in service to Moretti and his family. What kind of girl would put up with that?
Well, Raine put up with my ass, so maybe it was possible.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Even if he did have someone he cared about out there, it wasn’t as if I could use that to my advantage—not now. The games were set, the territory chosen, and all there would be now was preparation for the fight. Once it was announced, no one was allowed to screw with the odds of which player would win.
My direction was clear. At least for now, Evan Arden wasn’t my concern.
Chapter Nine
Ice and snow surround me. I’m climbing the sheer face of a rocky cliff as the wind tries to blow me from the edge. I reach up and find purchase on the rocks above. As I pull myself up, I hear a shot ring out.
Across the plateau, I see a body. I rush to it, but I know it’s too late.
“Raine!”
What is she doing here? She shouldn’t be anywhere near the fighting…
I kneel down and reach for her cold hand. She doesn’t move. The sound of snow crunching underfoot catches my attention, and I look up to see the barrel of a rifle pointed in my face…
I woke in a cold sweat with a constricted chest. I had rolled away from Raine and all the way to the other side of the bed at some point during the night. I quickly fixed that by curling up against her side and pulling her fast against my chest. I threw my leg over the top of hers and just held on. For a few minutes, I panted and told myself over and over again that she was safe and warm.
A dream; not real.
It had felt real. Really fucking real. I had to fight against my body’s desire to shake uncontrollably as I calmed myself down and looked Raine over to make sure she was fine.
She was, of course. It was all in my fucked up head. When I had relaxed enough to allow myself to release her, I went out to the balcony for a cigarette. The smoke filled my lungs, and the nicotine relaxed my mind. The alcoholic inside of me tried to tell me to take a little drink to calm myself some more, but I told him to fuck off.
After watching her eyes when she’d found me drunk, there was no way I was ever going to put myself in the position to cause that particular look on Raine’s face again.
I smoked a cigarette and a half before I went back inside. I took a quick shower to wash myself of the nightmare and the stench of smoke before I crawled back into bed. I didn’t think I’d be falling back asleep anytime soon, but I was content to just hold Raine and tell myself that she was fine.
I’m going to make sure she stays that way.
When morning came, I didn’t say anything to her about my nightmare. She probably knew anyway because I looked like shit whenever I had been up most of the night. She also made an extra-large pot of coffee when she went into the kitchen, but she didn’t ask why I hadn’t slept. She knew I’d tell her when I was ready.