Am I high? Am I drunk? My mind’s gotten away from me.
If I’m honest… Jesus, I’m both, but not so much that it’s affected my ability to think straight. I’d know Tiernan fucking anywhere.
Before the match is even over, Vivian gestured for us to join her.
“Come with me, girls,” she said. “We have to keep you safe.”
Did she know something I didn’t? A minute later, as we followed her to the exit, the crowd began to scream and boo. The man was pummeling him, fists flying with a viciousness that went beyond a ring brawl. He’s came here to hurt him, maybe even kill him. I looked quickly around, only to find that bastard, Tiernan’s opponent, brandishing a fucking weapon.
I froze. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even bloody breathe, as I saw him attacking to kill. I was dimly aware of the crowd’s screams of fury, but I shoved them out of my consciousness. My only focus was Tiernan.
“He’s going to kill him!” I scream, but my shouts are drowned by the sounds of the crowd around me. I shoved off hands that reach for me, pushing my way toward the ring like a bloody maniac. What the fuck would I do if I get there? I couldn’t make it, of course, security guards holding me back.
“Aisling!” Klara grabs me and drags me back. She’s stronger than I realized. I try to shove her off, but she pulls me alongside her and Miss Vivian.
“He’ll kill him! He bloody will!” I scream, not even bothering to try to hide my crazy.
“He won’t, lass,” Karla says gently, though her touch is anything but. “Have a wee looksie, will you?” She jerks her chin to the ring. “His brothers are here. No one will harm him.”
And then the crowd goes wild, and even Karla stops jerking me away. Tiernan’s turned the match. He’s got the man under him, brandishing his very own weapon against him, and right then, right there, while I’m high as a fucking kite on drugs and adrenaline, my heart soars.
He’s bested him. He’s bloody fucking bested him.
And then I’m ushered away from the crowd, away from the noises, and into a brightly-lit reception room. Vivian shuts the door hard behind her, then swivels around and looks at us with wide, fearful eyes.
She’s about ten years my senior, with hair as black as ebony, high cheekbones, and full, cherry-red lips that are perpetually painted and glossy. Large silver hoops adorn her ears, bangles along her wrists damn near to her elbows. She jingles when she walks, with a sway to her hips, mesmerizing both women and men alike.
She snaps her fingers. “Sit, my loves.”
She points a long, pointed fingernail at the seats that are scattered around the room.
Where are we?
We sit. She paces the room and sighs, glances at the door and bites her lip. What the hell is going on?
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” she mutters, shaking her head. She lights up a smoke and takes a drag. “Bloody hell.”
“Miss Vivian?” One of the younger girls raises her hand.
Vivian whips her head around to look at her, as if just remembering we were there.
“Yes, love?”
“Is there a victor in tonight’s match?”
Vivian blinks, then runs her fingers through her hair. She blinks again, opens her mouth, then shuts it.
“There will be,” she says quietly. “The McCarthy representative.”
A low murmur goes through the crowd. A girl to my left mutters, “Would’ve preferred Cage, the monster,” but she’s in the minority. I want to slap her. Who would want anyone but Tiernan, and in all his muscled, powerful glory? Jesus.
“Not me,” another girl whispers. “Bloody hell, his opponent was so fucking hot.”
Oh no they do not.
I’m surprised by the sudden vehemence that rises in my chest. No one will go with Tiernan tonight. No one.
But how the bloody hell am I supposed to prevent that? I certainly can’t.
“You alright, Aisling?” Vivian asks me, her brows drawing together.
“Feel a bit faint is all,” I breathe. “Need to use the loo.”
Vivian’s eyes stay focused on me, but after a beat passes, she nods. “Aye,” she says. “Security surrounds us. You’ll be safe. Out this door, immediate left. Come straight back.”
I kinda feel like I’m back in grade school.
“I’ll go with her,” Karla says, but both Vivian and I protest at once.
“All set, thanks,” I say. “I’ll only be a moment.”
Vivian nods. “Better to go one at a time tonight. I want the rest of you in here at all times. Easier to keep track of you.”
I still have the distinct impression she knows something, but I can’t be chasing whimsical fancies, not when I’m out of my head like this.
I exit the room and go immediately left like she said, but my eyes are skating left and right.
I need to find him. I need to know if he’s okay.
“Y’alright, miss?” A security guard to my left asks me.
“Oh, fine, just need a breath of fresh air,” I say, flashing him my most winsome grin.
“You can’t go that way—”
“Be right back,” I say. I turn, and I run.
He shouts and comes after me, when a wall of McCarthy men turns the corner and I come to a screeching halt. I know them immediately by their size and ink, and damn it all, I don’t want them to recognize me. I duck my head and run past them, but their appearance stops the guard from chasing me.
One of them looks after me, but I don’t look to see who it is. I feel his eyes follow me. I see an open doorway nearby, and quickly duck in. I need to be able to observe them without being seen.
“Did you see that?” says a voice I don’t recognize down the hall.
“What?”
“Swear I bloody knew that girl.”
Their voices fade. I peek out the door as discreetly as I can. The guard’s gone back to his room.
Oh, God. The McCarthys have Tiernan with them. They’re walking toward an exit.
He’s alive. Thank fuck, he’s alive.
Now what do I do?
I look around and see an exit sign in this little room. I’ll make my way back home. I’ll text Karla to get my things. The McCarthy men aren’t taking any of us home tonight, that’s for bloody sure, and for some reason, that appeases me.
I push open the door and pause. I have the distinct feeling I’m being watched. I turn to look behind me but see only the vacant room. The McCarthy men have left, along with the bloody guards.
Is it safe out here?
I have to lay off the fucking drugs. I swear to God I’m imagining things.
When I turn, terror shoots through me when I feel a hand on my arm. I open my mouth to scream just as another hand clamps over my mouth.
“Don’t you fucking make a noise.”
I crane my neck to find the man I spent the night with glaring at me.
No. My pulse spikes.
“Think you got away, did you? Soon as I heard Vivian’s girls were coming tonight, I came to find you.”
I try to kick him but he’s too fast. He ducks the blow, removes his hand off my mouth, rears back, and slaps me across the face. I use the opportunity to scream. “Help! Somebody help me!”
“You bitch,” he growls, dragging me back into the room I just exited. I fight with everything I’ve got, shoving him off me only to have him return, angrier and more vicious than before.