Page 52 of Craving the Fight (Gloves Off: Next Generation)

I shook my head. “I mean, I knew they were powerful and rich, but I never thought too in-depth on it.” Now I knew why Seth was busy; he was trying to help build his family’s empire. Once his father stepped down, he’d be the one in charge. At least, that was what I assumed since he was older than Nikolai.

Reagan cleared her throat. “Did you … um … did you and Seth ever sleep together?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly. “It was right after Ava and I moved in with each other. The guy she was dating introduced me to him.”

“Does Carter know you slept with the enemy?”

With a heavy sigh, I shrugged. “We never talked about it. I guess it’s one of those things you don’t really want to know.”

Looking down at the paused video, I swallowed hard and hit play. We watched more of the footage, and there were so many people throwing around money as if it was nothing. But then, the camera focused on the fighting ring in the middle of it all. A tall, muscular man was already in it, lifting his arms as if he’d already won. He was older than Carter—probably early thirties—with slicked-back midnight-colored hair and wild eyes. There were bruises on his face and chest, reminding me of how Carter looked this week. Then, the fighter’s attention turned to the right, and the camera followed his line of sight, straight to Carter who stormed toward the ring.

Shivers ran down my arms when I saw the outright hatred on his face, almost murderous. I’d never seen him look like that before.

“Holy shit,” Reagan gasped, “that doesn’t look like Carter at all.”

Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes briefly, trying to conjure up the true Carter in my mind. “No, it doesn’t.”

Carter hopped in the ring, his muscles tense as he paced back and forth with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Scar joined them and said something, but I couldn’t hear due to all the commotion. The second he exited the ring, the fight began. Carter charged first and punched the other guy right between his eyes, knocking him flat on his back, the sound echoing through the video.

“Holy shit, that’s insane,” a guy around the camera called out excitedly.

The other fighter lifted his hands to protect himself as Carter pummeled him, over and over, his arms moving so fast they were blurry on the screen. Carter landed a hit to the guy’s nose, and blood sprayed across the mat. The wildness in his eyes was terrifying as he beat the man’s face to a pulp. All I could see was blood.

Two men rushed into the ring to pull Carter off the man before the video stopped. The room fell silent except for the erratic heartbeat in my ear.

Reagan squeezed my arm. “Did he kill him?”

Tears filled my eyes. “I don’t know.” If the man wasn’t dead, he was close to it.

“All right, it’s time, Emma,” Reagan burst out, getting to her feet. She rushed into the kitchen to grab her car keys. “If you don’t tell the guys what’s going on, I will. Carter can’t do this on his own. We have to help him.”

She was right. After what I saw tonight, there was no way I could wait around to see what happened. I just got Carter back; I couldn’t lose him now.

* * *

Ethan and Braden lived next door to Ripp and Brooks, so we headed that way, knowing they’d likely be together. We found them at Ethan’s, eating pizza in the living room. Reagan and I could see them through the window as we walked to the door.

Ethan noticed us first and rushed to the door, opening it wide. The second he saw my face, he tensed. “Who died?”

“Nobody yet, I hope,” I said, walking past him into his house.

He followed Reagan and me into the living room, and the guys set their plates of pizza down on the coffee table in front of them. Braden stood, his gaze hard as he crossed his arms over his chest. Usually, Braden was a jokester, but I hadn’t seen that side of him all week. He was concerned about Carter; we all were.

“Where’s Carter?” he demanded. “He’s been ignoring me all week.”

I nodded. “Same. And I’ve been living with him.” Eyes burning, I met each one of their gazes. “I’m sorry about this week. I’ve intentionally kept you in the dark, but it’s only because I promised Carter.”

Ripp and Brooks stood and joined Braden and Ethan, all four more serious than I’d ever seen them before.

“He had a fight tonight,” I confessed to them, “just like he’s fought every night this week.”

Braden angrily ran a hand through his dark hair. “Fuck, man. Is he okay?”

Lips trembling, I lifted my shoulders. “I don’t know. I watched a video of him tonight, and I didn’t like what I saw.”

I peered over at Reagan, and she nodded. “Let them see it.”

Scrolling through my messages, I found the video from Nikolai and handed my phone to Ethan. “I think it’s time to tell you what’s going on.”

---