Paxton's Promise Page 14

  Paxton sighed. “I know, but I’m so goddamned furious at him right now. To be a part of something like that is unforgiveable.”

  “You used to be,” I whispered.

  “Not like that. I would never have approved of them making women fight men. I was the one who fought fuckers like Rage, the ones who liked to torment women and children.”

  Turning in his arms, I looked at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “That’s what I did when I fought in the underground. I took on worthless cocksuckers who liked to rape women and children. There were men who would come in and brag about that shit all the goddamned time.”

  Tears blurred my vision. “Oh my God. That’s horrible.”

  “Needless to say, I challenged them. I didn’t even need weapons to fuck them up. I was angry to the point I snapped each and every time. There was no holding back.”

  I reached up to touch his cheeks but he averted his gaze. He knew what I was about to ask. “Did you kill them?” I asked softly. There was no judgment or accusation in my tone. If he killed them, I wouldn’t think differently of him. Because deep down, I wanted to kill the guy I fought last night. People that liked to hurt, kill, and rape innocent people shouldn’t be allowed to live.

  “Paxton?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. After the fights were over, the men were taken away. I never knew their names, so I wouldn’t even know if they showed up on the news. But let’s face it, they didn’t give me the name Reaper for no reason.”

  “Paxton, look at me, please,” I begged. Reluctantly, he lifted his gaze and clenched his jaw. Now I knew why he didn’t want to talk about his past. It pained him to think about it. “I’m not going to judge you. I love you. If it makes you feel any better, I wanted to kill the fucker I had to fight last night. I probably would have if Camden didn’t pull me away.”

  Resting his forehead to mine, Paxton breathed me in. “When I saw you covered in blood, I can’t begin to tell you how terrified I was. I didn’t know what was going on.”

  “I’m sorry you had to see me that way. I was so angry and disgusted with what I had to do. I just snapped seeing all of those men who got hard up over watching a man attack a woman. He wanted to flog me, so I turned the flogger on him.”

  Paxton huffed. “And even now it’s not over. We need to call Mason and tell him everything that happened.” He kissed me on the lips and then slid out of bed. “I think I know of someone else who can help, but I need you to be okay with it.”

  “Who?” I asked curiously.

  Sliding on his boxers, he pulled a pair of shorts out of his drawer and put them on. “He’s someone you don’t like very much. In fact, no one likes him right now, but he might be the key we need.”

  “Who?” I repeated.

  Once he had his shirt on and headed for the door, he sighed and turned around to face me. “Kyle,” he admitted hesitantly. “He owes it to us to help.”

  “What makes you think he’s going to?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s worth a try. I’m sure he knows who Rage is and if he does it’ll help us. I have to try.”

  Even though I didn’t want that cocksucker helping us, I nodded. “Okay, I trust you. I’ll call Mason, while you deal with fuckhead.”

  As soon as he disappeared down the hall, I laid back in bed and closed my eyes. It felt like a war was coming and I was right in the middle of it. But then thinking of war made me think of Cliff. Oh my God, I don’t know if he’s okay. When I left last night, I was out of it.

  My phone was on Paxton’s dresser so I bolted out of bed and fumbled with the keys. They shook so bad I could barely dial. Once his number was punched in, I waited for him to answer. When he didn’t, I called again . . . and again. He never picked up.

  “Fuck, this can’t be happening,” I cried. This time I texted him.

  Me: Call me back ASAP!

  Me: I have to know you’re ok!

  Please let him be okay.

  I HADN’T TALKED to Kyle since everything went down with Kacey. All I knew was, he could barely walk and was in a wheelchair. The fucker got what he deserved. I didn’t want Gabriella to hear our conversation so I headed out to my garage. He most likely wasn’t going to answer the phone, but I had to try anyway. After I dialed, it rang about four times. I was about to hang up when his voice came over the line.

  “What the fuck do you want?” he snapped. “To rub it in my face how I fucked up and everyone hates me?”

  Typical Kyle. “Leave it to you to think it’s all about you. I’m not calling to rub anything in your face.”

  “Then why are you?”

  “How are you?” I asked. He used to be one of my closest friends, and I could only imagine how it must feel to be helpless.

  He scoffed. “Like you care. I’m stuck in a fucking wheelchair, how would you feel?”

  “Have you talked to Kacey?”

  Kyle huffed, but then his voice turned weary, defeated. “No, she won’t talk to me. Not that I can blame her. I’d do anything to have her forgive me. I didn’t know Liam was going to do what he did.” He paused. “Have you talked to her?”

  “No, I’ve been a little preoccupied with some things. I have some questions for you though.”

  “Ah, so you need something from me.”

  “Yes, and I’m hoping you’ll help me. Do you know a guy named Rage? I heard of him a long time ago, but I never met him.” The line went silent. “Kyle?”

  “I know him. I’m just wondering why you have an interest in him.”

  “Who is he?” I asked. “What’s his name?”

  “Like I’m going to tell you that. The dude’s fucked up in the head. If word gets out that I told you, my crippled ass will be dead in an alley somewhere.”

  “It’s better than Gabriella turning up dead,” I thundered. “But I guess I’m not surprised you don’t want to help.”

  “Wait, what does Gabriella have to do with this? Please tell me he’s not stalking her.” When I didn’t answer, he knew the truth. “Fuck me,” he stormed. “What has he done?”

  “Let’s see, he wants to kill me and he’s been sending her black roses and cryptic messages. Not to mention he’s been following her.”

  “Goddammit. You need to keep her away from him. The guy’s been on the run for years. From what I’ve heard, he raped and stabbed a woman because she cheated on him and then turned around and mutilated the guy before killing him too. It’s fucked up.”

  “And now he’s after me and Gabby. Please, Kyle, I need to know his name. I have to know what I’m up against.” And to see what all we can find out about him. We had no clue what he looked like and if Gabriella didn’t know, then he could be anywhere.

  “Are you going to fight him?” he asked.

  “Yes. He’s going to challenge me. I have to make sure he can’t ever go after Gabby.”

  Kyle sighed. “Permanently?”

  “If that’s the only way to make sure she’s safe, I have no issues ending him. He’s no worse than the other men I’ve fought.”

  “You were always so noble weren’t you? Always wanting to fight the bad guys.”

  “Please, just give me his name.”

  The line went silent and each second that passed I wanted to rip out his throat. I shouldn’t have to beg to get a fucking name, especially when that person wanted to kill me and do God only knew what to Gabriella.

  I was about to hang up and just say fuck him when his voice came back over the line. “All right, I’ll give you his name. This guy fights dirty, Emerson. You need to be on your guard at all times.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  “His name is Josh Davenport. That’s all I know about him. I’d seen him around the Dark Side at times, but never actually spoke to him. He kept to himself.”

  Sighing in relief, I headed back inside so I could give Gabriella his name. She would need it to give to Mason. “Thanks, Kyle. You probably just saved our lives.”

  H
e sounded different on the phone, almost like he was lonely, needy. I shouldn’t feel sorry for the guy because he got what he deserved, but with his willingness to cooperate I couldn’t help but be grateful. After I hung up the phone, I rushed inside to Gabriella who paced my bedroom floor, holding her phone in her hand. She had one of my T-shirts on tied at the waist with a pair of leggings and her midnight hair pulled high into a ponytail.

  Last night, she experienced what it was like to turn to the darkness. It had changed her and I could see it in the determination in her eyes. They were going to pay, and I was going to see it through.

  “Have you talked to Mason?” I asked.

  “Only briefly. He said he was going to call me right back. I’m just waiting on him. So what did fuckface say?” She hated Kyle and probably always would. Hell, I wanted to hate him, but if the information he gave us was solid, then I’d be indebted to him.

  “He gave us a name,” I informed her.

  “And you believe him?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and approached her. “I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot.”

  From the look on her face, she didn’t have much faith as she paced my bedroom floor. Her phone buzzed, and she took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s Mason. Here we go.”

  Now, all we had to do was wait and see what we had to do next.

  “SO YOU’RE SAYING this guy’s name is Josh Davenport?” Mason asked. He was already in L.A., but laying low like he suggested we do until he got all of the facts.

  “Yes, that’s the name Kyle gave Pax.”

  Mason scoffed. “I can’t believe he called that fucker. If he’s screwing with us, I’m going to make sure he can’t walk for the rest of his goddamned life.”

  “Paxton thinks he’s really trying to help us and I have to trust him. As much as I hated turning to Kyle for help, I think it was the right move.”

  Mason already knew the timeline and every single thing that’d happened over the course of the last two weeks. His team was all prepped and ready to go at a moment’s notice. So, if Paxton had to fight tonight, they’d be ready. That gave me some sense of relief.

  “All right, Gabby, I’m going to study this timeline and I’ll call you back sometime this afternoon. I dropped off the trackers with Carter early this morning. You and Paxton need to go by there and pick them up as soon as you can.”

  “We will. Thank you, Mason.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. This isn’t over. There’s still a lot that could go wrong.” Mason was a realist, but I was an optimist. I had to believe everything would be okay. Good always triumphed over evil, right? Or at least that was how I saw the world.

  Once we hung up the phone, I sat down beside Paxton. “We need to run by Carter’s. Mason left us some trackers there, so he and his team can follow us.”

  Getting to his feet, he pulled me up by my hand and put his arms around my waist. I relaxed into him and laid my head on his chest. “I swear I never thought being with you was going to be so difficult,” he teased.

  “Hey,” I exclaimed, playfully trying to push him away. He held on tight and wouldn’t let me go. I didn’t want him to let me go. “I can’t help it if some deranged lunatic is obsessed with me. You are more than welcome to walk away. I’ll fight Rage all by myself.”

  Letting me go, Paxton took my face in his hands. “I’m not going anywhere, Gabby. As long as you want me, I’ll be here.” He smiled and kissed me, before leaning his forehead to mine.

  “Then I guess you’re not going anywhere.”

  “Except to the gym,” he said, pulling me out of his room. “We need to get to Carter’s and get those trackers. We have to be ready. I’m not taking any chances where you’re concerned.”

  As soon as we got outside, the tension rose. I never knew when we were being watched, but we both kept vigilant. I tried to keep the weight of impending doom from pressing me down, but it was overwhelming. There was something brewing and I knew it was going to happen soon.

  When we got to Carter’s, we stayed and worked out like we would on any other day. Apparently, Carter was told to put the package inside my gym bag because after we were done, I saw it inside. Everything was supposed to be normal and we pretended it was.

  “What’s in it?” Paxton asked. We were already on our way back to his house and since no one could see us, I opened up the envelope. Inside there were five little transmitters. I already knew we were supposed to put them in things we would keep on us at all times.

  “It’s just the trackers,” I said, pulling one out. Since I drove the Hummer around, I placed one under the seat, just in case. That left us two each to put on our person.

  “Okay, so that leaves two for you and two for me. Make sure you hook them on something you’ll have on you at all times.”

  I sealed up the envelope and put it back in my bag, so they were secure until we got to Paxton’s house. It was closing in on midafternoon and still no word from Cliff. I was worried about him.

  “What’s wrong?” Paxton asked.

  I pulled out my phone and texted him again. “Cliff still hasn’t gotten back to me.”

  He sighed. “Do you want to ride by the apartment and see if he’s there? We can check out yours as well.”

  “Yeah, let’s do that.”

  Paxton turned the Hummer around and started toward my place. My nerves were shot. I had no clue what we were going to find, and I prayed it wasn’t going to be anything bad. Knowing my luck, it would be.

  Paxton drove us into the parking lot. “Fuck,” I hissed. “His truck isn’t here.”

  After we parked, Paxton and I both got out and went straight for the stairs. “Just because his truck isn’t here, doesn’t mean he’s not.” When we got up to the third floor, I rushed straight to his door and knocked. A minute went by and I knocked again. Nothing.

  Paxton put his arm around me. “Come on, Gabby, he’s not here. Let’s go check out your apartment and get out of here.”

  Reluctantly, I let Paxton lead the way. Luckily, there was nothing amiss at my door. No notes or black roses. I half expected to see a dead cat, or a horse head hanging by my door. Since Rage got his name for a reason I could see him taking his anger out on animals. I bet he killed them when he was younger. What made me sick was, people actually did that shit and enjoyed it.

  When we got inside, everything seemed to be in place. It was strange being back there, since I hadn’t really been by in a while. Oddly enough, it didn’t feel like home anymore.

  “Does everything look okay?” he asked.

  The bananas on the counter were brown and mushy, so I threw them in the trash. “Yeah, it looks the way I left it. Let me check my room and then we can go.”

  As soon as I hit the hallway, I knew something was wrong. The door to my bedroom was shut. I hadn’t left it like that. Paxton stopped and stepped in front of me. “What’s wrong? You tensed up all of a sudden.”

  I nodded toward my room. “I didn’t shut my door. Someone else did that.”

  Paxton’s gaze narrowed and he pushed me back toward the kitchen. “You stay here. I’m going to check it out.”

  Instead of arguing, I nodded and let him go. While I was at it, I went and locked the front door. Nervously, I stood there tapping my foot, waiting to hear Paxton say something. When he called for me, I rushed back there. Inside my room, everything looked the same. My bed was made, the blinds were down, and everything was still on my . . .

  “Something’s missing,” I pointed out. There was a spot on my dresser where a framed picture used to sit. You could even see the empty spot where the dust had collected around it. Someone had come in and taken it.

  “What was it?”

  “A picture of me and Ashleigh,” I growled. “And that fucker stole it.” I remembered the day we took it. Ashleigh and I were at the beach with Colin and Bradley. Colin was the one who took the photo because we were covered in seaweed. It was my favorite picture. “So help me God, this shit needs to end. I c
an’t imagine what would’ve happened if I was here.”

  “Do you see anything else missing?” he asked. Paxton walked around my room, but I knew he wouldn’t know if anything went missing. My heart sank when I noticed my jewelry box, moved to a different spot. When I opened it, there was indeed a ring missing. It was my high school graduation ring.

  “He has a ring too,” I hissed low, slamming the box closed. “There’s no telling what all he took. He probably took some of my underwear. Sick bastard.”

  Paxton put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “We’ll get your stuff back. I’m going to make this fucker pay for what he’s done.”

  I traced the place where my picture used to sit. I was going to make him pay too.

  BY THE TIME we got back to Paxton’s house, Mason had called back with an update. I put him on speakerphone so Pax could listen in while I made us club sandwiches.

  “My guys are looking up information on Josh Davenport. I should have something on him later tonight.”

  “Speaking of him,” Paxton spat, “it looks like he broke into Gabby’s apartment and took some of her things.”

  “It’s escalating, sooner than we expected. Thank fucking God she wasn’t there,” Mason thundered. “After studying the timeline, I think it’s what you thought all along. When this guy sees you two together, it sets him off. Take for instance, the night at the race. He knew what you two were doing in the announcer’s box and then the next day they want you to fight.”

  “So what do you suggest?” I asked. “If he watched us today all he saw us do was go to the gym and to my apartment.”

  “Or are you saying we need to do something scandalous?” Paxton cut in.

  Mason chuckled. “Well, don’t go off and start having sex in the middle of the Manhattan Beach pier or anything.”

  Paxton’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “I think I have it. Leave it to me,” he said. “I have the perfect idea to get him fired up.”