Page 99 of Saviors

Nausea rolled through me, my mouth watered as I took him in. He wore only loose gym shorts and tape on his knuckles. But what was once white was now almost black from blood and dirt. Crimson splashes scattered across his sweat soaked chest. A drop had slid down, leaving a trail through his solid abs.

Memories smacked into me. Blood on a different person’s knuckles. My blood. My pain.

“No!” I shouted as he stepped closer.

His gray eyes swept over me, but his feet stilled. I watched as his fists clenched at his sides as I walked backwards towards the door. I had to get out before he shifted all that anger on me. Before, another guy I thought was nice turned evil.

“Don’t do that, belladonna.” His tone held a hint of regret as I retreated. “Don’t pull away from me.”

For the first time since meeting them, I didn’t want to listen to their orders. “What the fuck was that?”

I hated how broken my voice sounded. I wanted it to be a shout instead of a distraught gasp.

My hand curled around the knob as I waited for his answer. Somewhere inside, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but staring at him like this. Like he was a warrior from battle, was twisting the signals in my brain.

He ran his fingers through his buzzed hair, sending droplets of sweat into the air. “A fight.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “I’m not fucking stupid. Why? Why were you fighting him? Why were they watching?”

His tongue swept over his bottom lip as he thought. And it wasn’t sexy. It felt dirty. His hesitation made me believe he was searching for another lie to feed me.

“For money. Not every business we own is legal. Ares is an underground fight club, and I’m the undefeated champion.”

Legal. Money. Champion.

The words floated through my mind. Telling me all the things I’d been too afraid to notice.

They were criminals. Violent. They used people for money. Used their pain for profit.

Like Simon had used me.

I’d spilled my secrets to them. My own misery. Lived with them. Fucked them. And I’d never really known them. I wasn’t aware of how awful they were.

I had no idea this violence could live in them.

Maverick stared at me. His shoulders straight. His jaw tight as if he was proud of his business. But his eyes pleaded with me to understand. The soft grays I’d started to fall for had returned, begging me to pretend this didn’t matter.

It mattered. They’d lied. Now I wasn’t sure what to believe. I didn’t know who they were, and I didn’t want to find out. I couldn’t. And I couldn’t stand by while they hurt people.

I twisted the knob, escaping the bathroom and him.

“Violet.” He lunged forward; his arm outstretched as he reached for me. I jerked away before his bloodied hand could touch my skin.

“I said no!”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. His eyes hardened. His chest rose with an angry breath. “You also said you wanted this. That you wanted us.”

My palm clutched my tumbling stomach as I put more space between us. I’d been stupid. Naïve. Damaged. “I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know you hurt people.”

“It’s not like that.”

He could tell me everyone wanted to participate in the fights. But I knew the real truth. You only did something like that when you had no other choice. When you needed the money to survive. You only rely on people like him when you were desperate. As I had been.

“It’s exactly like that. You lied to me.”

“We never—.”

“You lied!” A hot tear slid down my cheek. I didn’t bother swiping it away. Didn’t try to pretend that I wasn’t hurt. I was in so much anguish it was hard to breathe. Hard to think. “You used me.”

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