Page 20 of Duke
My stomach churns at the thought of him in the ring. And I want to watch the fight, yet I don’t. But Iwillbecause I refuse to let him go through this without knowing I’m here for him.
Mason steps in, inspecting Bear’s right hand—the one that he plowed through the wall earlier—and nods. “It’s gonna hurt. But nothing’s broken or anything. Just a little swollen.”
Bear lifts the hand that Mason isn’t busy wrapping and scrubs it through his hair. “Sorry about that, by the way. I was upset. I’m calmer now. Couldn’t see through the haze earlier. I was overwhelmed. Drowning.”
Duke sits down across the table from him. “No harm done. Hopefully, the reprieve will give you the ability to focus. Then we can figure out the rest later.”
There’s a tap on the door that has my heart plummeting somewhere into my gut. “Fifteen-minute warning,” comes a gruff, stern voice through the door.
All the air in my lungs whooshes out with relief, and I shrug when all three guys eye me like I’m crazy. “Sorry, I thought it was that bimbo Morgan again.”
Mason glances over his shoulder at me, giving me his signature devilish wink. “Don’t worry. Morgan has nothing on our upgrade. No doubt she’s here somewhere, though, so watch out for the claws.” He gives a little shudder that makes me laugh, which I’m positive was his intention.
I roll my eyes, playing along. “Sparkle Pants should stay far away from me. I have no problem breaking her pretty little nose if she sticks it in my business.”
* * *
The next knockon the door comes with a booming voice telling Bear it’s time for his fight. For the last fifteen minutes, he’s been stretching, jogging in place, and throwing some light punches—doing whatever he can do to warm himself up. I’m unsure if he’s physically prepared for this, but I also wonder from the strain evident on his face whether he’s mentally ready. Only time in the cage will tell.
I blow out a breath and get up from the couch to join the guys as they gather a few things to take out to the ring.
Bear pulls me aside to give me a quick kiss. “Thank you for being here,” he rasps. “I’ll see you when it’s done.” He presses his lips to mine again, and this time the act is filled with longing. Maybe he simply wants this to be done—I think that’s what I’m reading in his warm golden eyes. Reluctantly backing away from me, he leaves with one of the guys in charge of running the match.
Mason and Duke turn to me, Duke immediately leading with, “We didn’t discuss it, but I’ll stay with you.” I see it written all over his face, obvious as hell, that he wants to be out there with Bear. It suits my plan just fine.
Before I can respond, Mason hurriedly tells me with a worried grimace, “It won’t be longer than thirty minutes. Each round is only five minutes with some breaks and whatnot. Max three rounds. It might not even go that long.” He pauses, his eyes crashing shut. “Shit, I could stay instead this time. You should go, Duke.”
I press my lips together, trying to figure out how to do this. “Go. Both of you. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Duke’s brows dart sharply together. “We aren’t trying to imply—”
I close my eyes for a second and shake my head. “No. You don’t get it.”
“What don’t we get, Kin?”
“You don’t need to be in here with me because I’m coming out there with you.” I draw myself up, waiting for their reaction. And boy, do I ever get one.
“Are you out of your mind?” Duke looks at me in astonishment. “You were held at knifepoint last night.” His voice raises. “And they did who the fuck knows what to you. They drugged you.”
As if he’s completing Duke’s thoughts, Mason continues with the rant. “For all we fucking know ‘they’ are in the warehouse tonight. Did you think of that?” He looks at me with wild, crazy eyes, like I’ve tipped him right over the edge with my plans.
I let out a sigh, unable to ponder it at all when we have Bear to focus on. I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not fucking scared.” My gaze bounces between the two of them. “Look, we’re wasting precious time. Bear’s out there right now.Alone.Probably about to take on the most difficult fight of his life. You can watch over me out there just as easily as you can in here. And fuck all the people messing with me if they’re here and think what they did is going to faze me for one goddamn minute. I refuse to hide. I willnotbe intimidated.” My jaw tightens as I fling my hand toward the door. “He’s waiting for us.”
Duke runs a hand down his face, staring at me for a moment, but finally nods. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Jesus Christ. Okay.” Mason blows out a hard breath and waves me out the door.
They keep me between them as we hurry down the hall, cutting a path through the crowd toward the ring. Duke was right. Despite the fact that the usual clientele of these fight nights are people with obvious money, it’d seem there’s an entire contingency of unruly Sigma Iota Nu brothers waiting to watch this fight. The entire damn fraternity.Holy shit.My teeth clench together.What the hell?
The first fight I attended didn’t have this feel to it at all. I spot the other fighter, a guy with dark hair and darker eyes, preparing to enter the ring. He’s tall—but not nearly as tall as Bear—and absolutely ripped, his finely hewn muscles scattered with tattoos. He looks wickedly mean. Lethal. And even worse… cunning. Unlike the crowd, which is kind of going apeshit, this guy seems singularly focused on what he’s about to do. He takes interest as we approach, a brow going up when he spots me. And one look into his sinful eyes tells me he’s out for Bear’s blood.
There’s a small area on the far side of the ring where Bear’s standing with the ref, preparing to head into the cage. There’s a ton of crazy-loud cheering from the crowd as an announcer climbs in with the fighters, his mic at the ready.
His deep, theatrical voice booms out, echoing around the entire warehouse. “For our featured fight tonight, we have a special treat for you!” He pauses for effect, which totally works because everyone in the room goes bonkers. “Our challenger is none other than the one and only Wilder ‘Wild Man’ Emory from the Sigma Iota Nu! Please give him a warm welcome.”
The guy I know now to be Wilder lifts both hands into the air and makes a show of running around the ring, then climbing the inside of the cage and pumping a fist into the air, roaring as his fans cheer below.
The entire fraternity is here, sure, but just like Bear has us, Wilder has a couple guys with him, too. When he jumps down, they take some time to speak to him. Honestly, either one of them look like they could replace Wilder at a moment’s notice. I nudge Mason. “Who are they?”
