Page 82 of Red Captive

Steel chokes out a laugh. “He is nowhere near aboveboard, but I do trust him.”

“That makes no sense.” I smile. It’s fleeting. “Arctic is going to make me go back to the Mainland. I know he is.”

“We don’t know that yet,” he sighs, “but I’m starting to think that it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

I shake my head. “No, you can’t be serious. It won’t work, I—”

“We’ll make it work.” He takes my hand, squeezes, and lets go. “I did some thinking while you were out of it. You should go and be with your family. You shouldn’t have to marry some asshole for money just to be able to take care of them.”

“I have to. I don’t have a choice. You don’t understand—”

“I’ll send you the money you need. It won’t be millions, but—”

“No way.” I shake my head. “That’s a hard no! I won’t let you. I’m not taking your—”

“Roscoe and I were talking earlier, and it looks like I have a couple of big fights coming up. I should make some good money—”

“You can stop right there.” I sit up, wincing. “I’m not taking your money, and that’s the end of that.”

“Jen, hear me out. I’m good at what I do. I’ve only ever lost one fight, and that particular loss was an accident. Roscoe has said that I can stay here for as long as I need. He is setting up a whole bunch of fights. His revenue went down while I was gone. I’ve negotiated better rates for myself. I can afford to help you. We can exchange numbers…stay in touch. I would expect you to go back to college to get your degree. You said you had to quit in order to take care of your mother. Now’s your chance to do all of the things you said you wanted to do, college included. You will eventually be able to pay me back. I’ll even add interest if it will make you feel better.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It is! Get a degree. Get a decent job, and then you won’t need me anymore.”

I will. I’ll need you.

My throat is too clogged up to speak right away. I clear it, trying hard to stop more tears from falling.

“I’ll find a way to see Arctic. I’ll fill him in on the situation and let him know you want to go back on the flight on Monday.”

I start to shake my head when there is another knock on the door.

We both look over there just as Roscoe walks in. He is frowning.

“What is it?” Steel gets up. He’s on high alert.

Roscoe shakes his head. “It’s pretty bad; you might want to sit back down for this.”

“Just spit it out.” Steel folds his arms across his chest, which is bare. Otherwise, he’s wearing a pair of faded jeans that fit him like a glove.

“Word just out on the street is that you killed one of the guards and that you kidnapped the human.”

“What?” Steel says. “Come again? I killed a guard?” He shakes his head. “That’s fucking bullshit. I did not kill that male.I messed him up so that he wouldn’t be able to give chase. He was alive when I went after Rex. I purposely didn’t kill him, even though my dragon was out for blood.”

“That male Rex was pretty beat up. He says he tried to stop you and failed. That you attacked him like a crazed animal.”

“That’s also a bald-faced fucking lie,” Steel growls. Every muscle pops. His jaw tightens. “He took Jen. I got Jen back from him, but he was fine. I didn’t touch so much as a hair on his head. I was too worried about Jen to go after him like I should have. I wish I had beaten his ass. But I told you all of this already.”

“And I believe you,” Roscoe says. “It doesn’t change what’s being said about you. It also doesn’t mean that there isn’t a bounty on your head…and a hefty sum, at that. Everyone and their goat are looking for you right now. No stone is being left unturned.” He looks at me. “Everyone is looking for you as well. There is a huge reward for your safe return.”

“Fuck!” Steel curses. “What now? What are you going to do? Are you turning us in?”

My blood runs cold.

27

Jen

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