Page 63 of Borden 3

I felt his stare. “I feel really protected right now, Emma.”

Ignoring him, I began to take a step. His hand shot out to grab mine, squeezing it hard, prompting me to look at him. “Why do I have a feeling you know what’s down that hall?”

My heart skipped a beat. “I don’t.”

“But you’re hoping so.”

I paused, staring at him intently now as I solemnly said, “I don’t want to be right, Hector.”

He held my gaze for a beat longer before dropping my hand. I liked that about him. If it were Gerry, he’d have marched me the hell out of here. Hector would only be doing this if he wanted me to feel free and not like some burden pushed upon Borden’s men.

I walked down the wide corridor, my heart pinching in my chest when a distant sound caught my ear. It sounded like a shout. An angry shout. Hector’s hand found me again. He gripped my arm. I expected him to hold me back, but he simply held on, like he needed to have hold of me in case something happened. It both irritated and warmed me.

Finally, my flashlight shone on a set of double doors. We stopped in front of them. I looked down at the handle, second guessing myself now. More noises sounded beyond the door. Other shouts. And then bangs of some sort. I kept my gaze on the handle, the sound triggering memories from before. Of dark rooms and screaming boys.

“I got it,” Hector said, though I felt like he wasn’t talking about opening the door. Compassion bled into his tone. He had my back, he was saying. No matter what.

I didn’t respond as I blinked away the memories. He gripped the door and twisted it open.

Light immediately filtered out, blinding me for a second. I quickly tucked away my phone as Hector steered me into a massive room. He stopped us a few steps in, and we took a few moments, taking in the scene.

There were at least a couple dozen people in here. Shouts erupted from all around the room, and they were certainly angry, but they weren’t the kind of angry I expected.

Wide-eyed, I watched a man swing a fist into a punching bag in one corner. Another was kicking at another one. Someone else was punching his fists against a man’s hand pads.

“Holy shit,” Hector said, whistling under his breath as he turned his head at something. I followed his line of sight.

There was a boxing ring in the centre of the massive room. Two fighters were inside the ring, their taped hands swinging fists at each other. They didn’t have any head cover. They were in loose shorts and shirtless. Both were jacked, circling one another.

“Don’t be a pussy about it!” one of them yelled.

I froze at his voice.

A chill travelled down my spine as my eyes locked onto the tall, blond fighter as he suddenly came at the other man. He swung his fist, landing it across the man’s face. A bunch of other fighters were crowded around the ring, watching closely. They watched in fascination, never once cheering as the fight unravelled in less than a minute. The dark haired fighter raised his arms, blocking the blond’s onslaught, but it wasn’t enough. He went for the ribs, and I tensed at the crack that echoed through the room. Even Hector’s grip tightened around my arm, his body tensing from the violence.

The blond man didn’t stop. He swung his fist relentlessly, until more cracks sounded into the air. The opponent shrieked angrily, his voice laced with pain as he staggered. He didn’t drop, though.

“Good!” The blond screamed at him. “That’s what I’m talking about, Mav! We don’t give up, do we? DO WE?”

The men around him suddenly came alive, shouting, “NO!”

“We give up when the opponent casts the final fucking swing!”

“YES!”

And he did just that. He swung his fist one more time, the movement fast, abrupt, knocking into the man’s head in such an earth-shattering way. The man fell face first, not even twitching as he landed at the blond’s feet.

The winner stared down at him, his massive chest heaving up and down for breath as he looked across the room.

Right at me.

My presence didn’t surprise him. In fact, he smiled broadly, glancing briefly at one of the men nearby. “Get him on ice.”

“Yes, sir.”

Then he began to move, climbing out of the ring. My heart lurched. Nausea swirled inside me as I turned to Hector. “Time to go,” I said sternly. “Now.”

Hector looked at me and then at him. His eyes narrowed. “Come then.”

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