He pivoted back around, and his gaze swept down my body, which was now covered by the huge robe he’d thrown over me. When his eyes came back up again and met mine, they’d darkened a shade. “I’m well aware that you’re a woman. The scraps of material you’re wearing that are supposed to pass for a bikini made it more than clear. I could see just about every inch of your delectable body, including your pebbled nipples pressing against the top.”
One of the guys behind me chuckled, and I turned to direct my glare at him as my cheeks filled with heat. He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, and said, “I’m not laughing at you. I swear, it’s aimed one hundred percent at Saint.”
Saint?! Oh, crap! No wonder he was so strong he could pick me up and carry me as though I weighed no more than a small child. He had to be the reigning MMA champ who my brother had somehow weaseled his way into fighting against. I swiveled my head back to Saint and asked, “You’re fighting Vince Butler tonight?”
His eyebrows lifted as his head jerked back in surprise. “Yeah, I just found out about what happened to Sam. How did you know about the switch before me?”
“That’s an excellent question,” one of the other guys drawled as they all moved to stand next to Saint. I was all by myself, opposite the line of three hot guys in suits and Saint in nothing more than a pair of fighter shorts and a shirt that did nothing to conceal how muscular his chest was.
“I’m Knox Dawson, head of security for the Lennox,” the biggest of the suited-up trio introduced himself before jerking his chin at the other two. “This is Drew Lennox, owner of the Lennox, and Zack Parker, co-owner of The Artemis. Both of whom own this arena. As the hosts of the match, we have too much on the line to tolerate security breaches of any kind.”
Intimidated beyond belief by the three of them, I took a tiny step back and crossed my arms over my chest. A deep growl rumbled up Saint’s chest, and he stalked to my side, wrapping his arm around my waist to pull me close. “Knock it off. You’re scaring her.”
“Relax, Saint. I don’t think she’s the breach. I meant some Joe Blow on the payroll who’s running his mouth when he shouldn’t,” Knox explained. “Sometimes, guys get dumb around pretty girls and say shit they know they should keep quiet because they’re hoping to impress them.”
Saint’s arm tightened around me as I groaned, “Eww! That’s not what happened at all.”
“How’d you find out about the switch, angel eyes?” Saint asked.
“My brother told me,” I admitted softly, turning my head to search behind me for Vince because I knew he wouldn’t like me tattling on him to these guys. He’d already been on edge when I’d talked to him in the locker room, and I didn’t want to give him a reason to aim his anger my way.
Saint shifted his hold on me so I was looking at him instead of Knox, Drew, and Zack. I relaxed a little as I stared up at him. Even though Saint should’ve been the scariest of the bunch, I felt safer with him for some reason. “Who’s your brother?”
“Vince.”
My one-word reply dropped like a bomb into the silence surrounding us as I watched Saint’s dark eyes fill with rage. His nostrils flared as he looked over my shoulder at his friends. He took a few deep breaths before his gaze dropped back to my face, and most of the anger had drained from his eyes. “Did your brother get you the job as a ring girl?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed, thinking about how he’d had to pester me into doing it. I wasn’t comfortable walking around barely dressed, let alone in front of a huge crowd of mostly men when I’d be the focus of a lot of their attention as I carried number signs around the Octagon between rounds. Vince hadn’t cared about what I thought about it, not when I’d pull in five thousand dollars in one night since this was a pay-per-view match against the champion. I still hadn’t wanted to do it and had only caved when he’d warned me that if he didn’t find a way to pay off his gambling debt, then his bookie was going to come looking for me too.
He shifted his focus to Drew. “Pull one of the showgirls and have her take over as the ring girl for the match.”
“Hey, wait!” I cried. “You can’t do that. My brother got me the job, and I really need the money.”
“No way in hell are you going out there. Not when I’m about to kick your brother’s ass for getting you a job that has you walking around practically naked,” Saint growled. “Between what I’m being paid just to be here, sponsorship money, fight bonuses, and pay-per-view points, money isn’t something you’ll ever have to worry about again.”
My brow wrinkled in confusion as I tried to work through how what Saint made led to me not having to worry about money. The other guys were no help as they each nodded as though they totally got it. Drew pulled out his phone, fired off a message, and said, “They’ll have a new ring girl before the end of the first round.”
“Perfect.” I still hadn’t figured it all out when Saint dropped a kiss on the top of my head before pointing at Knox. “Take care of her while I’m up there.”
“Will do, man,” he promised. I watched Saint stride away before Knox gently gripped my elbow to lead me closer to the ring, with Drew and Zack following close behind us. The aisles were packed with people making their way to their seats, but everyone moved quickly to get out of our path, so it didn’t take long for us to reach the front row.
“This is us,” Knox explained as he lifted the reserved signs off four of the seats.
My legs felt weak, so I dropped onto the chair to his right that he pointed at without arguing. Rubbing my hands over my face, I sighed, “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“What’s your name?” Drew asked after a moment.
I hesitated, not really sure I wanted them to know my name, but then finally answered. “Angelique.”
“Well, Angelique. We’d tell you, but it’s more fun to discover on your own,” Drew said with a smirk as he took the seat to my left.
“It’s good for Saint that our wives aren’t here because they’d definitely fill you in,” Zack added, taking the seat on Drew’s other side. “And then you might get it in your head to run in the opposite direction.”
“Not that it’d do you much good,” Knox chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned back in his seat and stretched his long legs out in front of him.
“True,” Zack conceded with a nod. “But it makes it more fun for those of us enjoying the show when they try to resist.”
“I’m not sure what’s going on, but I know my brother isn’t going to like it,” I mumbled.
“I wouldn’t worry about him being pissed at you, Angelique.” Knox patted my shoulder. “Vince was already outmatched in the fight against Saint. Now that he’s managed to piss him off and make it personal, the little asshole is about to get what’s coming to him.”
A big part of me wanted to cheer at the thought of my brother being taken down a peg or two by Saint after all the trouble he’d put me through over the years. But not when his threats about what his bookie would do to me still swam in my head...unless Saint really meant it when he said I’d never have to worry about money again.