Page 13 of Falling Hard

Chapter 4

Libby

Ilet out a gasp, and my steps faltered as I took in the sight before me, overwhelmed with how many people have actually shown up. There had to be close to a hundred people inside, all scattered around a decent-sized ring that sat in the center of the building. The air was buzzing with shouts from the onlookers engaged in the current match that contained two buff-looking men. The one on the right already had blood running down his face as he took a jab to the ribs. I looked away, flinching slightly, and took in my surroundings, looking for all the exits. I saw one way in the back and another on the right side, and taking deep breaths, I tried to stay calm as we bumped into peoples’ shoulders as we made our way through the crowd, getting closer to the ring.

Glancing behind me, I noticed the serious expression on Critter’s face as he scanned the crowd like he was searching for someone. My paranoia reared its ugly head as I glared at him, stopping altogether and causing him to bump into me.

“Okay, stop right there. Who the hell are you looking for? I know that expression on your face, the ‘I need to find this bastard and beat the shit out of him’ look.” I then put together the pieces of tonight’s events. “Oh, my God, you’re not here for the fight, are you? You’re here on club business! What the hell, Critter, you promised nothing bad would happen, and you’ve brought me here knowing full well your priority was to find whoever it is you’re looking for!” I was beyond furious! I couldn’t believe he would put me in this position.

“That’s it, I’m out of here. We are leaving. There’s no way this is going to end well for me!” I screeched frantically, throwing my hands up in the air as I attempted to go around him and back out the door.

“Hey now, hold up, Libby. Let me explain,” Critter said frantically, grabbing my arm and spinning me around to face him.

“Let you explain? Let you explain how you lied to me? Youlied. Why the hell would I let you explain? You know damn well you’re not supposed to involve civilians in club business, Critter. I’m so pissed off at you right now that I could straight up murder you.” I growled and shoved him away from me, scowling.

“Fuck, sometimes, I forget how damn observant and perceptive you can be. Okay, just calm down and hear me out. Emmie, your cousin, well, someone’s been stalking her, and now everyone’s looking for the guy, and that guy is going to be here. Hammer needed a few extra pairs of eyes, so I volunteered.” When he mentioned my cousin, my expression dropped.

“Someone is stalking Emmie?”

“Yeah. Hammer had put it down to her hallucinations, but then he checked the cameras, and sure enough, someone was standing at her window.” Critter let me in on what was clearly club business as the club was handling. “Emmie doesn’t know the person who is stalking her is real. Maiden is keeping an eye on her. I was planning on coming here, anyway, so I didn’t lie, I just didn’t tell you the whole truth,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

I paled slightly, nausea bubbling up in my stomach as I digested his words. My eyes darted around the building before glancing behind me to the ring where I was just in time to see the guy with the bloodied face punch his blond-haired opponent in the face, causing him to stumble back into the ropes. Looking back at Critter, I chewed on my bottom lip before nodding slightly.

“Emmie has a stalker, and no one fucking told me. What the hell, if you had just stated that from the very beginning, I would have come along a little more willingly. Fuck, she’s probably terrified. I need to tell my father to take me to her as soon as he’s finished with business here, and as for you?” I exhaled sharply. “I’m so frustrated with you right now it’s not even funny I knew, I just knew you were up to something. I should have stayed at the hotel so you wouldn’t have had to worry about me. You’re going to be in such deep shit when the guys find out you brought me here when you’re supposed to be working. You know what, let’s just go and get this over with so we can leave. I’m so pissed off at you right now. You shouldn’t have brought me here when you know damn well that shit could hit the fan.” I gritted my teeth, then turned back around, completely ignoring everything he was saying.

Eventually, he stopped talking and guided me through the crowd—once again.

Once we reached the front left side of the ring, Critter stopped and grabbed his phone, shooting off a quick text before nodding toward the fighters.

“That one there, the big guy with the short brown hair, is Mack, and the other one with the longer blond hair is Diesel. They are members of the Feud, a support club over in Alabama. Not bad, hey?” He winked, watching the match and glancing at his phone occasionally.

Shooting him a glare, I ignored him as I watched the fight, grimacing as Mack landed a pretty nasty punch to Diesel’s head, causing the man to fall onto his back. Mack quickly jumped onto his opponent’s back and pinned him, quickly ending the match.

“Come on, don’t be like that. I’m only here to enjoy the match and see if I can get a glimpse of this guy, not to act on it. I’m just helping to keep watch. Nothing is going to happen. We have a few minutes until the next fight, and I swear I’ll keep annoying you until you talk to me,” Critter stated with a grin on his face as he nudged me with his shoulder.

“What you really should be saying is, Libby, I’m extremely sorry for being a liar. I should have just told you the truth from the beginning. I should have trusted you to make your own decision especially since I’m asking you to do something I know makes you extremely uncomfortable in the first place,” I shouted. I smacked him in the chest and turned away from him, flinching every time someone bumped into me. As my agitation rapidly grew and my heart beat faster, I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes, and I shut them tightly, clenching and unclenching my fists. The air got warmer, and the room started to feel smaller as I tried not to bolt from my spot. Bile threatened to make its way up my throat.

Just as a full-blown anxiety attack threatened to take hold of me, a firm hand clamped down on my shoulder, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. A gasp escaped my lips as my eyes flew open to see a devilishly handsome man with long, dark-blond hair—which was pulled back into a ponytail—copper-colored eyes, and a cut that had Grit with a patch that said enforcer on it, looking back at me with concern etched on his face.

“Hey, you okay there?” Grit asked, frowning while looking past me at Critter.

Opening and closing my mouth, I debated telling him the truth or not. Fidgeting with my hair, I looked at Grit and saw the genuine concern on his face. An overwhelming feeling of calmness washed over me, and I knew I could trust him, at least to a certain extent. He had an aura to him that just screamed protector.

“I’m not okay. This asshole fucking lied to me, said we were just here to hang out and enjoy the fight and that he would stay by my side the entire night. I found out he’s really here for club business. You’re an enforcer, enforce the rules!!” I exploded, telling Grit all the details. “You’re not supposed to bring civilians along for club business. Just you wait until my father hears about this, Critter. If anything happens to me, you’re a dead man. Hell hath no fury like my father when you put his baby girl in danger, and that’s exactly what you’re doing. I still can’t believe you would do this to me!” I spat, turning to glare at Critter, who had gone pale as the truth in my words sank into his brain slowly.

“Wait just a minute, you’re not a civilian, you’re just as much a part of the life as I am, if not more being Rusty’s daughter and all! You can’t tell him I brought you here. I told him we were staying in all night, and if you tell him, he’ll skin me alive. Plus, you have Grit and me here to keep an eye out for you, isn’t that right, man!” Critter practically pleaded, glancing back and forth between Grit and me.

“Whoa, wait, you’re Rusty’s daughter? Hammer’s niece? Just wait right here while I have a word with Critter,” he grumbled as he stepped past me and grabbed Critter by the shoulder, shoving him just out of hearing range but close enough I could still see them.

“That will teach him not to fucking lie to you again, Libby. Yes, yes, I know that was a low blow, but Critter’s got to learn that actions have consequences. I wonder who’s up next,” I spoke to myself, scoring a few looks from people around me, which I was used to. The atmosphere in the whole building changed drastically as more people stumbled in, filling up the area around the ring.

I cursed to myself as I frantically tried to push my way through the drastically increased crowd. Everything seemed louder pushing closer to the ring, and people were bumping into to me from all angles. I had lost sight of Grit and Critter a few moments ago

A hard shove from behind sent me flying to the ground face first, and I barely had time to catch myself before a hand latched onto my arm, yanking me back up before the hard concrete rearranged my face.

Instantly, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and with eyes wide, I whipped around and yanked my arm out of his grasp, stumbling back a few feet. My left hand clutched my chest as I got a good look at the man. He had to be only five foot eight with greasy short brown hair and pale skin. He wore a black hoodie and dirty, ripped jeans, his eyes glassy and bloodshot like he was strung out on something, and he reeked of booze.

“Hey, be careful, darling. Wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours,” the man said as his eyes ran up and down my body slowly, lingering a little too long on my chest before staring directly into my eyes.

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