Dominick leans back and props his expensive loafers onto the desk.
“Whatever I want, huh? Don’t think you have anything I want, Mr. Slade.”
“Name your price.”
“You don’t have enough.”
“Try me.”
He stares at me in silence while spinning his gold pinkie ring with his thumb.
“Ten million dollars, cash.”
Shit. That’s a lot of money. My chest constricts. This is a lost cause. I can’t afford that. If I sell my house, my cars, everything I have in savings . . . dammit, that’s still not enough.
“Or,” he looks at Blake then back to me, “we could make this interesting.” He taps his bottom lip with his finger.
I’d give anything to bust that lip open.
“I’ll tell you what. You want to win my daughter? Throw your title fight.”
His words suck the air from my lungs.
“Fuck me,” Blake whispers.
“You boys must be aware of the odds in this fight. You’re the favorite to win. If I put enough money on Del Toro, and he wins, I could become a very rich man. You lose that fight, I’ll release Raven.”
“Done.” My answer bursts forth without hesitation. I would give up anything for her, including my life’s dream. She’s my dream now.
“I have one stipulation. The fight must go three rounds. You can’t just walk into the octagon with your hands at your side. Make it believable, as if you’re fighting to win.”
Blake steps close and Dominick’s bodyguards follow suit. “That’s impossible. He goes out there to fight. Del Toro’s down.”
Dominick’s eyes stay focused on mine. “That’s what makes it a challenge. Are you up for the challenge, Mr. Slade?”
“I’ll do it.” I can do anything if it means being with Raven.
Blake murmurs a string of foul words while depraved satisfaction shines in Dominick’s eyes. He reaches out to shake my hand. I hesitate.
Rage rides me hard, and I know if I touch this man I may lose it. I picture Raven’s smiling face and take a deep breath. I force my hand forward and shake his, harder than necessary.
“It’s a deal,” he says. “Are we done here?”
“No, one more thing.” I place both palms on the edge of the desk and lean forward, looming over Dominick. His bodyguards step up close, flashing their weapons under their suit coats. “You stay the hell away from Raven. I don’t want you to contact her, threaten her, or even think about her. You got someone on her, you call them off. She’s mine. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. Whatever. It. Takes.”
The all-consuming buzz has me shaking with the need to f**k this guy up. Blake reaches from behind me and pulls me back by my biceps. I lean forward on pure instinct.
“Come on, man. You got what we came for. Let’s get outta here.” Blake drags me backwards, my piercing scowl locked on Dominick.
Yeah, good idea, before I kill this bastard.
I rip free of Blake’s hold and leave the room.
“Good night, gentleman.” Dominick’s cackling laughter fades as we walk down the hall.
I’m a bomb, live and loaded, ready to rip the shit out of anyone that looks at me wrong. My muscles coil, pulse racing.
I shove the front door open and hear the satisfying smack as it slams against the exterior wall of the club.
“Easy, man,” some douchebag college kid says standing with a group of his pissant friends.
I stalk over and step right up in his face. “The f**k you say?”
“Nothing. It’s cool.” The kid shifts and steps back into the safety of his friends, unaware they’ve all backed up a good ten feet.
My lips curl. I advance a step.
“Come on. Don’t make the poor bastard crap his pants in front of his friends.” Blake’s tone is joking, but he doesn’t move to touch me. He knows better than to put a hand on me when I’m this close to lighting shit up.
Dropping the little punk will make me feel better. Nothing satisfies the beast within like a good street fight—until recently. There’s one thing that works even better.
I turn away and hear him exhale a “Thank you, Jesus” as I head to my truck.
“Breathe, brother.” Blake’s voice comes from behind me.
“Raven. I need her. Now.”
Sixteen
Raven
In shock, I stare silently as Eve tilts her head, smiling with affection to the man at her back.
“Raven, this is the guy I was telling you about, Vince. Vince, this is my best friend, Raven.” Eve introduces us like we’re at a dinner party.
Vince leans forward, sucking Eve’s earlobe into his mouth. Her eyes flutter closed and a soft moan escapes her lips. His eyes lock on mine as his lips peel back over his teeth, and he sinks them into her ear.
Eww.
“Nice to meet you, Raven. Eve has told me a lot about you.”
That’s why he looked at me so familiarly yesterday. He’s been feeding information about me to Dominick. No doubt Eve has told him everything. I groan as I think of all the things I’ve told her, things I confided in her about my life.
I bet he’s the one who told Dominick that I had fallen in love with Jonah, that I was staying with him every night, that I was a virgin.
Vince is Dominick’s Ass-In-The-Hole.
He had this planned: having Vince stalk me, violate my personal life to gain leverage against me, taking advantage of my best friend, her loving heart and beautiful body, to spy on me. I lock eyes with Vince, but talk to Eve.
“I just needed to make sure you were okay. I hadn’t been able to get ahold of you and I worried.” The words flow without emotion. My mind churns, processing how wrong this is. “I’ll let you guys get back to it.”
“Wait, are you sure you’re okay?” Her words come out on a moan as Vince cups her breast right in front of me. I have to get away from here.
“Yeah, I have to go.” I run to my car, wishing I had the strength to tell Vince off. His blatant attempt to make me uncomfortable worked.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Rave!” Eve yells and I slam my car door shut. My hand hits the lock button and I fire up the engine, my tires squealing as I pull away.
Shaking with uncontrollable force, I grip the wheel tighter. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse.
I want to tell Jonah about Vince and wrap myself in the safety of his strong arms until the hurt goes away. I crave his touch like an addict. It doesn’t make any sense. He’s with another woman. How disgusting can I be? Pining after a man who has lied and cheated?
I hate myself for what I am and how I feel. I’m Dorothy, skipping happily down the Yellow Brick Road of self-loathing. Blasting the radio, hoping the comfort of the music will be a decent substitute for the man, I grimace. Skeeter Davis sings “The End of the World,” and for once, I understand her pain.
Waves of despair wash over me. The negative emotion, from my childhood until now, bears down. I want it to end, desperate to release my tortured soul from this doomed life I was born into. I would gladly give up this fight. Maybe Jonah and I aren’t that different. I’ve been a fighter all my life too. But I don’t fight against people. I fight against feeling worthless, ashamed, and unlovable. I’m sick of it, and at this point, I’d welcome death.
Morbid thoughts swirl in my head when I hear the faint chime of my phone. I dig it out of my backpack, grateful for the distraction.
One new text.
Raven, I need to see you. Tried calling but no answer. Call me ASAP. xJ
He must have called me when I was at Eve’s door. But why? What could he possibly want after a night with her? My phone rings in my hand.
In no shape to drive while talking on the phone, I pull over and check out the caller ID. Tears spring to my eyes as I read the words, “Jonah Calling”.
I should throw my phone out the window and go home, but I can’t. The pitiful girl in me wants to hear his voice. And why is he calling me now? The phone continues to ring. He could be calling to confess, to end things officially. Or . . . what if he’s changed his mind?
Hope creeps back in, an energy that ignores my misery.
I have to know.
I squeeze my eyes shut and press the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Baby, hey.” I relax against the soothing tone of his words. How did I think I could live without this? “I need to see you. Are you at Eve’s?”
“Oh, um, no, she uh, had a date. I didn’t want to intrude.”
Silence.
“Jonah?”
“You’re at your place? Alone?” I hear the accusation in his voice, chasing away the calm. Bitterness burns in my chest, squashing optimism and reviving my broken heart.
How dare he act like I’m a child. He was at a strip club. With Candy!
“No, I’m not home. I’m out. Why?” My clipped words come out harsher than I intend, but oh well.
“Where are you? I need to talk to you.”
“You’ve got me on the phone. So talk.”
More silence. I wait.
“Raven, what’s going on with you? You sound, I don’t know, pissed or something.”
Is he joking?
“How was your meeting?” I say, my voice laced with acid.
“It was good.” He draws out his words cautiously.
Yeah, I bet it was.
“Oh, yeah? Good, huh? I bet it was. I bet it was real good.” The sarcasm in my voice is so obvious I sound completely ridiculous.
“That’s it, Raven, where the f**k are you? I don’t know what’s going on, but this attitude you’re throwing is pissing me off.”
“Oh, God forbid.”
He growls, and I know I’ve upset him. Ha! Now he knows how it feels.
“You want to know how my meeting was? It was perfect. Better than perfect. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”
Did he just say that being with Candy was perfect? Better than perfect? That jerk!
“You’re a liar!”
“What? What the f**k are you talking about?”
I’m breathing heavy, and anger keeps me from articulating an answer. All I want to do is scream.
“What is it, baby?” His words drip with sarcasm. “You run out of shit to talk? Those sweet little lips of yours can’t keep up with you being a bitch—”
I gasp. Loud. “What did you call me?”
“Fuck. That’s not what I meant—”
“No, Jonah. You just called me the b-word. I can’t believe you just called me that!” The tone in my voice is so high I’m surprised my windows don’t burst.
“Baby, calm down.”
“Do not call me baby. Not after what you’ve done. Not after tonight.” A whine slides up my throat and I burst into tears.
“Raven, you’re scaring me. Where are you? I’ll come to you.”
I whimper and sob, knowing I should hang up, but lacking the power to say good-bye.
“Please don’t cry. Look, I’m sorry. It’s just been a long day, and I need to see you.”
I take a deep cleansing breath as Guy’s words flood my mind. This is it. The moment he was talking about. I swallow a shaky breath. I have a choice to make. Fight or give up.