Page 96 of Rematch
He chuckled. “See, you’re misunderstanding again. I’m not giving Jayden up. As far as I’m concerned, he works for me and he’ll continue to do so. All I need from you is support in making sure he reports to his post.”
“I’m not giving you that. I pulled him out of those rings for a reason. I’m not going to just throw him back in because you say so. You have no authority here.”
“Careful, Max,” he said, taking a step closer, his cordial front falling. “Your last name won’t protect you here.”
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Scoffing, I mimicked his actions and stepped in his face. “You must not know I’ve never needed my last name to do a goddamn thing.”
He stared me down, trying to mask the surprise flying through his eyes. I bet he thought he could walk in here and punk me out with his seniority and intimidation. But, there wasn’t a man alive I was afraid of. If he wanted a fight, then I’d give him one. All he had to do was swing first.
“You’ll stay away from Jayden and Janelle,” I told him. “If I hear one of your men stepped within even five feet of them, I am going to crush every single bone in your body with my bare hands. Are we clear?”
He stood firm for a moment, unwilling to back down.
But when Adrian stepped up beside me in silent support of my threat, his lips pulled up into a smile. “Ain’t this some deja vu,” he muttered. Shaking his head, he finally took a step back. “You’re making a mistake, Guerra.”
“No,” I replied. “You did the second you tried to take advantage of my brother.”
He glanced between Adrian and me, his jaw muscles jumping in frustration, one last time before finally turning on his heel.
“You sure you don’t want to put a bullet in his head?” Adrian asked.
“Not yet,” I replied. I nodded at Tysir and Wesley, a motion for them to come over. “I need to get Jayden and his mother to safety first.”
Chapter 39
Audrey
Where is he?I thought as I looked at the door again. I’ve been pacing back and forth across the living room since I was dropped off at Max’s apartment.
In the car, Kiara noticed my bouncing leg and tried to calm me down. “Adrian won’t let anything happen to him,” she told me.
Although she was trying to be helpful, her words made me worry more. I didn’t know much about the dark side of the city, but I knew enough to understand how dangerous it could be. Max had already gotten hurt once. I didn’t want anything to happen to him again.
I heard the locks of the door click and hurried back to the hall. A wave of relief crashed over my body when I saw Max coming through the door. I ran over to him and threw my arms around him. “Max, thank God,” I whispered into his chest, breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne. I barely let myself enjoy it before pulling away. Cupping his face, I turned his head left and right in search of bruises. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
He lay his hands on top of mine. “I’m fine, Audrey.”
“What happened back there? Where did you go?”
“I had to take care of something.”
“Oh, don’t give me that vague bullshit. Tell me.”
He was silent for a moment, his eyes flicking between mine as he contemplated how many details he wanted to spill. “My brother… Jayden… He’s in some trouble, and I’m just trying to help him out.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Max averted his eyes. Gently, he moved me out of the way and walked towards the living room.
I followed him to the couch and waited patiently for him to answer the question.
Sighing, Max ran a hand through his curls, trying to find the right words to explain. “Remember the underground fight rings I told you about?”
“Yeah.”
“I actually reconnected with Jayden through those. I saw him there one night, fighting, and it…it reminded me of how I started down the road I’m on and I…I didn’t want that for him.
“So, I pulled him out, started training him, tried to push him down a better path. But, he’s on a tight leash. The men on his back don’t care about the money. Only control. And there aren’t many options on how to cut ties like that.”
