Paxton's Promise Read online

  THE NIGHT WENT by in a blur, but I had to pretend everything was okay. Left and right, I looked over my shoulder, sensing his presence like the fucking plague. He was there watching me and I had no clue who he was. I was glad when Paxton wanted to leave.

  As soon as we got back to his house and he was in the shower, I checked the doors and the alarm a gazillion times to make sure everything was good. I didn’t like feeling watched and I sure as hell didn’t like someone stalking me.

  It was now morning and I’d watched the sun come up, with Paxton sleeping beside me. He’d held me in his arms, but even as I had laid there, I was scared.

  “How many cups of coffee have you had?”

  The coffee machine finished spitting out the last of my pumpkin spice and I took a sip. “Three, but who’s counting?”

  “How can you be so tired? You look like you haven’t slept a wink. You’re not getting sick are you?”

  I yawned and took another gulp. “Your mouth is moving and all I’m hearing is that I look like a pile of shit.”

  Paxton chuckled and finished up our eggs and bacon. He’d wanted to make breakfast, so I happily let him. “No, you don’t look like shit. You just look like you’re about to pass out, even after drinking all of that damn caffeine. Do I need to take it easy on you today?”

  “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 fucking 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 fucking 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 fucking 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.

  “Why are you asking that?”

  If I was going to be fighting dirty, I wanted to know how to do it, especially if I needed it to defend myself. When I didn’t answer, he stopped and turned me around by my shoulders.

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked.

  I almost reached up and tucked the hair behind my ears, but refrained. “No,” I lied. “I just want to make sure I’m prepared, you know, in case something ever happened to me. I know how to fight, but that’s not going to cut it if someone really wanted to hurt me. I figured with your experience, you’d have a few tricks up your sleeve.”

  Chuckling, he put his arm around my shoulders and led me outside. “I swear, your brother is going to kick my ass when he finds out I’ve corrupted you.”

  No, he’ll thank you for saving me.

  BEFORE PAXTON LEFT, I kind of hinted that he should maybe go out for drinks after he and Derek were done racing. I needed to make sure I had plenty of time to get back before he did. Luckily, he’d showed me some moves that could possibly help me out. One was how to gouge someone’s eyes out. I prayed I wouldn’t have to ever do it, but if it came down to me or my attacker . . . I’d sure as fuck do it in a heartbeat.

  I packed my ‘sexy’ clothes in a gym bag because there was no way in hell I was going to wear it out. Scar was just going to have to settle with seeing me in a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt for the time being. Once Paxton pulled out of the driveway in his blue race car, I sat by the window and watched the gate close. Thankfully, it wasn’
t dark out yet, but it was going to be soon. There was something about night that made things more menacing. It was always the time when the evil came out to play. I think that was why I never liked Halloween much.

  The time was closing in on seven o’clock so I hopped into Paxton’s Hummer and headed on the way to my apartment. When I got there, Camden hadn’t arrived. Making sure the doors were locked, I sat there and waited, scrolling through my phone at the latest news.

  Someone banged on the car window making me yelp. “What the . . .” Clasping my chest, I blew out a nervous breath and waited for my heart to calm. It was Cliff. I rolled down my window and huffed, “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing,” he said, leaning on the window. “I thought you weren’t supposed to come out here alone?”

  Camden chose that time to pull up on the right side of my car, gesturing for me to get in.

  Furrowing his brows, Cliff gaped at him before settling back on me. “Who the hell is that now? You’re not in trouble again, are you?”

  Grabbing my bag, I shook my head and put my hand on the handle. He stepped back so I could roll up the window and open the door. “No trouble here.”

  “For some reason, I don’t believe you. I didn’t get hit over the head for no reason the other day.”

  “Cliff, just leave it alone,” I warned. By now, Camden had gotten out of his car and circled around the Hummer.

  “Gabby, let’s go.”

  Cliff stepped protectively in front of me. “She’s not going anywhere without me.”

  Camden snorted, reaching for my bag and I let him take it. “Gabby, do you want to handle that for me? If I do, it’s not going to be all peaches and cream.”

  “You can’t come with me, Cliff,” I said, walking past him. “There are rules and you’ve already been in the crossfire because of me.”

  “I don’t care.” Grabbing my arm, he turned me around. “I can get you out of here, if you just say the word. Something’s wrong, I can feel it.”

  I wish I could tell him, but it would only endanger him more, including myself. “Please, just drop it,” I hissed low. “I have to go with him. I don’t have a choice.”

  Gritting his teeth, he let me go and I got in the car with Camden. He pulled us out of the parking lot and passed me a blindfold. “You know the drill, babe.”

  Rolling my eyes, I put it on and sat back in the seat. If memory served me correctly, we had about thirty minutes until we would reach our destination. “I assume you don’t have any guns or weapons in your bag?” he asked.

  “No, but I wish I did. Maybe I could put the worthless fuck I’m about to fight out of his misery quicker.”

  Camden chuckled. “I have no doubt you’ll do that tonight. Scar’s picking men he knows you’ll beat.”

  “So are you trying to say I should thank him for not handing me over to Rage?” I snapped.

  “He just wants his money and if you beat these men, he gets it.”

  “I can’t imagine the kind of trouble I could get into doing this shit. I’d be kicked out of the UFC for sure.”

  “Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen,” he said. A few seconds passed but then his voice dipped low. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What?”

  “It looks like your friend decided to follow us.”

  This can’t be happening. “What are we going to do?”

  The sound of Camden’s phone beeped as he dialed out a number. When I heard the sound of a voice on the other end, I could tell it was Scar. “We have a problem,” Camden growled. “Apparently, we have a tail. Some dude who’s friends with Gabby.” After more words were spoken, Camden hung up and sighed.

  “What’s going on?”

  “It looks like your friend just bit off more than he can chew. He fucked up, Gabby. If he gets in, I don’t know if he’s going to make it out.”

  “He’s just trying to protect me, Camden. I can’t let anything happen to him.”

  “There’s nothing you can do. As soon as we get inside the gates, it’s all out of our hands.”

  After the thirty minutes were up, the car came to a stop and Camden helped me out. My heart lurched with guilt, especially when I heard Cliff’s voice in the distance. It disappeared all too quickly.

  Camden pulled me along. “I really hope you brought something else to wear besides those fucking yoga pants.”

  “Yes,” I spat. “I was afraid Scar would make me fight naked if I didn’t.”

  “Several guys have requested it, but Rage was the one who got you out of it.” We got inside and he pulled the blindfold off. “He doesn’t want the others looking at you.”

  Or having sex with me. He made that abundantly clear when he left a disfigured rose outside of the announcer’s box. The guy was seriously insane, delusional. I had no words. Scar’s office was just down the hall, but when I looked behind me there was no sign of Cliff. I could only pray he was okay. The door to Scar’s office was open and inside he sat at his desk, waiting on me.

  “So we meet again,” he said with a wolfish grin on his face.

  “Not by choice,” I grumbled.

  “And it seems you brought a problem with you this time. Now, how am I going to handle this?” Pursing his lips, he gaped at me, tapping a finger to his lips.

  “I’ll take responsibility for him,” I blurted out. Camden pinched me in the side and I hissed. He obviously didn’t like that decision.

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Scar asked.

  “Yes.”

  “All right, it’s his life on the line if you lose. I hope you’re prepared for that.” Lowering his gaze, he busied himself with the stack of papers in front of him.

  “So you’re going to kill him if I lose?” I gasped.

  Scar didn’t even acknowledge me. He just waved his hand in the air dismissively. “Take her away, Striker.”

  Gripping my arm, Camden dragged me out of the office and down the hall. “Camden, stop. If I lose, you can’t let Scar kill him,” I cried.

  “There’s nothing I can do. It’s just the way things are here.” He opened the door to one of the cells and pushed me in. “Change clothes and I’ll be back to get you soon.”

  I was so angry and terrified, my body shook. Cliff’s life was in danger and his fate rested in my hands. Tonight, there was no playing the innocent female. If I had to win the fight, I was sure as hell going to do it my way.

  WHEN CAMDEN CAME back to get me, his eyes went wide when he took me in. I ripped up my yoga pants and T-shirt so that it would give me the movement I needed, but still the amount of skin exposure Scar wanted. My hands were wrapped and I was in full warrior mode. No smile, no sign of weakness, just me and the task at hand. I was going to make my opponent suffer.

  “Gabby?”

  I had thought Camden was going to help me; that maybe there was a heart inside of him somewhere. Unfortunately, he was just like the rest of them—a murderous, money hungry, piece of shit. For one night, I was going to give in and let my anger fly. I would show them all, including Rage, what my rage looked like.

  “Sorry, Striker, Gabby’s not here right now. If Scar wants a fight, he’s going to get it. And if Rage wants a helpless female, he’s going to see I’m not that girl. I’ll fight him and everyone else who tries to fuck with me and Paxton.”

  Camden stepped out of the way so I could pass. “I need to tell you something.”

  I stopped in front of him, but kept my gaze toward the end of the hall. “I don’t want to hear shit from you,” I sneered. “I don’t need your help or anyone else’s. All of you can go to hell.”

  Camden jerked me out into the hallway and pinned me against the wall. I yelped as the breath whooshed out of my lungs and his fingers grasped my chin tight, tilting my face up. “I may be a monster in your eyes, Gabby, but there’s something you need to know. I was walking by Scar’s office and I heard him talking to someone. I don’t kno
w who, but I think it was Rage.” Letting my chin go, his eyes darted up and down the hall and then he leaned closer. My gut clenched.

  “They want to go after Paxton,” he said. “It’s been their plan all along. Rage wants to fight him and kill him. That way he’ll get to you.” Camden put his hand over my mouth when I gasped and put a finger to his lips. “Be quiet,” he hissed.

  When I nodded, he removed his hand. “How do they plan on getting him here?” I had the sinking suspicion I knew.

  He sighed. “By the look in your eyes, I think you already know. They’re going to use you as bait. I’m telling you this because I need you to be prepared. Paxton needs to know. You have to tell him what’s going on.”

  This whole time, I thought I was saving Paxton. How could I be so stupid? “When are they planning on doing this?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure. You guys just need to be ready. But right now, it’s your turn to fight.” Grasping my arm, he led me down to the end of the hallway and opened the door. The energy pouring off of the crowd around the ring made me gag. It was thick with the stench of malevolence and sex. I wanted them all to suffer.

  “We’ll be ready,” I murmured low. “Have no mistake about that.”

  The man in the ring was dressed in a suit for Christ’s sake, and pacing around the ring. He must be trying to fulfill his fantasies of being Mr. Fifty Shades. He had a flogger in his hand and everything. The thought of him using that on me, or anyone, made me sick. I wasn’t the type of girl to like that stuff. If two people wanted it, that was one thing; but with him using it on me for torture, it just pissed me the fuck off.

  With his hand on my arm, Camden led me through the crowd, but I jerked out of his hold. “I don’t need help to get into the ring,” I hissed low. “I’m more than happy to get in there by myself.”

  Still, he kept his pace beside me. “Focus, Gabby. You’re pissed, I get that. Don’t let your anger blind you. Just kick his ass and be done.”

  “Don’t worry, I know exactly how I’m going to make him bleed.” And I was going to make him bleed a lot.