Dangerous Game

by L. P. Dover

  Or there was something the Cartwrights weren’t telling us. “Have you seen their fighter yet?” Marco and Luca both shook their heads. I hadn’t even seen Cadoc or William yet. “I think I need a drink,” I said, getting to my feet. “I’ll be right back.” Isaiah followed me over to the bar and I ordered a straight vodka on the rocks. I tossed it back quick and hissed as it burned its way down my throat. “Want one?” I asked Isaiah.

  He shook his head. “Not tonight. Once this fight’s over, I will.”

  I didn’t know much about Isaiah, but he was loyal to Dominic and they weren’t even blood. “Have you decided what you’re going to do when Dominic leaves town?”

  Isaiah averted his gaze and shrugged. “Haven’t decided yet.”

  “Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.”

  A small smile spread across his face. “I wish I knew what that was.”

  I placed a hand on his arm. “You will.”

  Two women stumbled up to the bar, giggling and clearly drunk, but they ordered more drinks. One had platinum blonde hair and wearing a long, sequin red dress while the other had chocolate-colored hair and wearing a silky green gown. I moved over to give them space before they spilled their drinks on me. “Oh my God, he was seriously the best sex I’ve ever had,” the blonde said.

  I looked up at Isaiah. “I think it’s time to go.”

  The women continued to talk about the blonde’s latest conquest, but I stopped when I heard the name Cartwright. Isaiah glanced down at me and we slowly stepped back toward the bar. He kept his back to them, his body blocking me from view.

  “I’m so jealous of you right now,” the brown-haired woman said. Her voice was more high-pitched and nasally sounding than the blonde. It was easy telling them apart.

  “You should be,” the blonde laughed. “I watched him work out at the Cartwright’s gym and then afterwards, he fucked me right on the mat. I like it rough.”

  Stepping away from Isaiah, I joined them and giggled as if I was drunk. “I think I’m jealous too,” I said, fanning myself. “It’s not every day you find a man like that.”

  The blonde grinned. “Exactly. He’s one of the fighter’s tonight. Afterwards, we’re going out to celebrate.”

  “He must be pretty good if you think he’s going to win.”

  The bartender handed her another bloody Mary and she gulped it down. “How could he not? It’s Sean Porter. He’s the best underground fighter in the country.”

  The brown-haired girl smacked her arm. “Shh … you can’t just tell everyone that.”

  The blonde waved her off. “She’s drunk just like us. We’ll be okay.”

  I pretended to stumble on my feet and grabbed onto Isaiah. “Got that right girls. I’m about to order me another one too.”

  They took their drinks and waved at me as they walked away. Isaiah seemed impressed when he looked at me. “Nice job.”

  “Thanks. I need to find out who Sean Porter is.” Pulling out my phone, I texted the name to Gabriella. If anyone knew who he was, it’d be her and Paxton. I tried Googling him and came up with multiple arrest records for assault. According to the pictures of him, he wasn’t much bigger than Dominic, but there were multiple scars on his face. I turned my phone to Isaiah so he could see.

  Isaiah huffed. “Don’t know him.”

  I waited for Gabriella to text me back, but she called instead. I rushed over to the Corsino private table to answer it. Marco and Luca weren’t there anymore. “Hey,” I answered quickly.

  “Have you told Dominic who he’s fighting?” she asked, her voice frantic.

  My heart stopped. “No, why?”

  “Because he knows him. Sean Porter used to fight at the Dark Side. They hated each other. Actually, a lot of people hated Sean, including Paxton. The man who organized the fights never put Dominic against Sean. He knew he’d have the wrath of the Corsino empire run down on his head if Dominic was killed.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “Can Dominic win?” I asked, feeling my eyes burn.

  Gabriella sighed. “Porter doesn’t fight fair, Faith. He wins by being dirty. In a fair fight, yes, Dominic could absolutely murder him, but Sean doesn’t know how to fight fair. He’s going to have something up his sleeve.”

  “Thanks, Gabby. I have to go. I’ll text you later.”

  “All right, girl. Dominic can do this.”

  “I know he can.”

  Pulse racing, I hung up the phone and grabbed Isaiah’s arm. “Take me to Dominic.” There was only ten minutes left till the fight. Isaiah pushed through the crowd toward the Corsino locker room. When we got inside, Dominic bounced on his feet, punching the air with fast jabs. He had on a pair of red and gold shorts with the Corsino name on them. Reed, Micah, and Connor stood around him, pumping him up with music.

  Reed noticed me first and hurried over. “What are you doing back here?”

  “Dominic knows the guy he’s fighting.”

  Dominic jerked around, his eyes dark and animalistic. He closed the distance between us and grabbed me around the waist. “Who?”

  I held onto his arms, not wanting to let go. There wasn’t much time. Marco’s voice could already be heard in the pit, announcing Dominic as the Corsino fight. “Sean Porter,” I said quickly. “He fought at the Dark Side.”

  A deep growl vibrated in his chest. “I know who he is.”

  I squeezed his arms. “He fights dirty, Dominic. I thought your fights weren’t like that.”

  “They’re not,” he said, clenching his teeth, “but that’s not going to stop him.” He tapped my chin with his gloved hand. “Don’t worry about me. Once this fight’s over, the real one will begin.” He kissed me and rested his forehead to mine. “I love you, Faith. I promise not to leave you with Cadoc long tonight.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  Dominic let me go and Reed took his place. “Don’t do anything stupid tonight, you hear me? Is the tracker still in your bra?”

  It was just a tiny button looking thing that attached to the fabric. “Yes. I’m all set.”

  Isaiah gently grasped my elbow. “We have to go. Marco just finished Dominic’s announcement.”

  Dominic walked over to me one last time and pressed his lips to mine. “See you soon, beautiful.”

  I closed my eyes and listened to the crowd cheer as he made his way to the ring. Isaiah escorted me out of the locker room, and just as we were headed to our table, a figure stepped out of the shadows.

  “Good evening, my dear,” Cadoc greeted.

  Isaiah stepped up to my side, but I shook my head. “It’s okay, Isaiah. I need to talk to him.” Isaiah snarled at him and moved away to give us space.

  Cadoc chuckled. “I must say, I’m shocked right now,” he said, turning his sly grin toward Dominic. “I heard rumors that your boyfriend was going to fight, but I didn’t believe them.”

  “It’s a shame you couldn’t be up there with him,” I backfired. I would’ve loved to see Dominic kick his ass.

  Cadoc’s grin slightly faded and I loved that it hit a nerve. “I have to announce my fighter, but I wanted to make sure we were still on for tonight? Might be kind of hard to get by your bodyguard.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve done it before. I can do it again.”

  His eyes twinkled. “I’m assuming you didn’t tell Dominic?”

  I stared at him as if he bored me. “If I did, he’d probably have me handcuffed somewhere.”

  That amused him. “I have no doubt. It’s not like he’ll be able to stop us anyway once the fight’s over.”

  “You make it sound as if he’s going to lose,” I hissed.

  He shrugged. “Guess we’ll see.”

  Yes, we would.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Dominic

  Keeping my stare straight ahead, I stood up and rolled my neck. I had to block everyone and everything out. When I walked out of the locker room, there was a short hallway that opened up a
t the end that led into the pit. As soon as I turned the corner, the people exploded into cheers.

  There were no announcements or music blaring over the speakers like in normal fights you saw on TV. It was just me walking down to the ring with Reed, Micah, and Connor flanking me. Marco and Luca waited for us in the ring. I climbed up and they both slapped me on the back.

  “Good luck, son,” Marco said. “You got this.”

  Sean Porter was a psychotic piece of shit and a cold-blooded murderer. There was one night at the Dark Side I’d never forget. He was in the ring with another fighter and instead of fighting, he’d pinned his opponent to the mat and cut off his dick. The man had bled out and died while Sean stood there and laughed at him. That was the kind of things Sean did, and it disgusted me. The same night after that fight he tried to force himself on a woman in the locker room. I charged after him and only got one good hit in before we were pushed apart. The girl got away which was all that mattered, but I wanted to get in the ring with him and enjoy killing him. Unfortunately, the fight organizer wouldn’t allow it. He didn’t want anything happening to Sean. However, now, the time to punish him had come. Even if Cadoc didn’t know about my past with Sean, I had to be sure to thank him for the chance to put him down.

  I got a glimpse of Cadoc talking to Faith and it took all I had not to jump out of the ring and slam his head into the wall. He climbed up the steps into the ring and Marco handed him the microphone.

  “Hello everyone,” he called out. “We have a special night for you. It’s going to be a fight you won’t forget. I think the bets are up to ten million already.” The crowd screamed and he smiled as if his fighter had already won. “Do you want me to introduce the man fighting for the Cartwright name?” The crowd cheered again, but there were a lot of boos mixed in. Cadoc’s lips pursed and I smiled. He had a lot of supporters in the crowd, but none of them were from the other mafia families. I was the one who had their support and he knew it.

  Cadoc pointed toward the other side of the room. “Here is, ladies and gentleman. The man who’s going to win tonight’s fight …. Sean ‘The Sledgehammer’ Porter!”

  Sean bounced his way down to the ring, pumping his fists in the air with his face hidden by his black hood. He climbed into the ring and threw his robe into the audience. His back was covered in scars, even more so from the last time I’d seen him. He made his way to the center of the ring and I joined him.

  “We finally get our fight, don’t we Corsino?” Sean taunted.

  I snarled at him. “We do. It’ll be the last one you ever fight.”

  He smirked. “We’ll see about that.”

  Cadoc stepped up to us and grinned. “How about we do things a little differently tonight?” he announced over the microphone.

  The crowd cheered in agreement. Cadoc raised his hand to get everyone to quiet down. I knew he’d have something up his sleeve. “What the fuck Cadoc?” I hissed.

  He placed a hand over the microphone. “The people will love it and so will you,” he said, sliding his hand off the microphone. “How about we forget the rounds and do no intermissions. I’m sure everyone is in agreement that we’re ready to see who wins this thing.”

  “Yes!” everyone shouted.

  Sean grinned. “I’m game.”

  The quicker it ended, the faster I could get rid of Cadoc. I spread my arms out wide. “Let’s go.”

  The energy crackled like fire, but I only had my focus on one thing . . . to win. I blocked everything out and kept my sights on Sean, ready to strike when we were told to attack. Nothing else existed, except me and him.

  “Fight!”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Faith

  Dominic and Sean exchanged heated words, and I could only imagine what they were. It was clear there was some bad blood between them. Dominic attacked first and pummeled Sean, striking him hard on the side of the face. Sean laughed and spit blood onto the mat. Dominic didn’t stop there, he kept going.

  Sean reciprocated by rearing back and kicking Dominic in the shin, before slicing his hand across his back, blood pouring out in rivers and catching at the waistband of Dominic’s shorts. The crowd cheered in delight and it made me sick.

  Gasping, I tried to charge forward but Isaiah tightened his grip on me and leaned down to growl in my ear. “You can’t go up there. Don’t be stupid.”

  Fighting against his hold, I gritted my teeth, watching Dominic’s blood pour freely. “Don’t you see that,” I shouted, waving my hands toward the ring. “This has to stop. It’s not fair. There’s something sharp sticking out of his gloves.” None of my screams could be heard through the deafening noise of the people surrounding me. My gaze landed on Cadoc’s and he grinned triumphantly. The people at the Kazakov table stared on in disgust, clearly not happy with what was going on. I thought for sure Viktor would stand up for Dominic, but he didn’t.

  “I know it’s not fair,” Isaiah agreed. “None of this is. But Dominic agreed to fight. Now, let him do it.”

  I didn’t want to let him do it. I wanted him safe and away from this place. It was too brutal, too malicious. The world moved in slow motion as I watched Dominic and Sean battle it out, blood blinding my vision. All I could see was red as Sean sliced Dominic’s skin over and over with whatever he had in his gloves. Dominic never flinched, just kept striking and kicking like nothing was amiss, like he wasn’t bleeding out all over the mat.

  My breaths were all I could hear. I almost felt as if I was in a nightmare that I couldn’t awaken from. All I knew was that I had to get closer to the ring, to Reed and Micah. They would know what to do. The shouts from everyone around me echoed in my ears; it was so deafening I thought I’d go insane. Micah argued with William by the side of the ring and it looked as if they were going to fight.

  Sean had taken Dominic down to the mat and I couldn’t see a damn thing. Isaiah was so close I could feel his arm against mine, but I was quick. I took off across the room, hearing his shouts behind me. There were so many people I didn’t get far before he caught up to me.

  “Dammit, Faith. You can’t go up there. He’ll lose focus, you’ll make it worse.”

  I glared down at his hand on my wrist. “Do you like your balls, Isaiah? Because if you do, I suggest you let me go.”

  Focusing on the ring, he huffed and took my hand. “Fuck, I’m going to regret this. Let’s go.” He charged toward the ring and pushed us through the crowd a whole hell of a lot better than I could. The closer we got, the more scared I became. I could smell the blood.

  Isaiah got us over to Reed and Micah, but Reed had to hold Micah back from William. It was a madhouse. Cadoc sat back in his chair, enjoying it all while everything fell apart. There was nothing but chaos. Even people in the crowd started to fight.

  Marco rushed over to us and tried to keep me from looking in the ring. “Let’s get you out of here,” he shouted.

  “No,” I screamed as I pushed past him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  My heart stopped in my chest when I looked inside the ring. Dominic was on the ground with Sean at his back, holding something up to his neck. It was small and silver … a razorblade. Dominic’s eyes met mine and it was as if something inside of him clicked. The muscles in his arms tightened and he pushed against Sean’s hold. Sean’s arm gave away inch by inch and his smile disappeared when he’d lost control. Dominic took Sean’s hand with the blade and jabbed it up into Sean’s cheek, slicing his skin completely open. Sean screamed and slammed a hand over his face, blood oozing out between his fingers.

  Dominic was relentless. There was no mercy in those stormy gray eyes of his, only death. Instead of waiting on Sean to recover, he powerhouse kicked him in the side and Sean fell to his knees. Dominic slid down to the mat and wrapped his legs around Sean’s waist and his arms around his neck. Sean tried to speak, but couldn’t as his face turned bright red from lack of oxygen.

  Sean’s fight started to fade and his skin began to turn blue, but Dominic didn
’t look anywhere near done. “Dominic, no!” I screamed. “Let him go!”

  He squeezed his eyes shut as if he heard me, but didn’t know if he should listen. I shouted his name again and again until his eyes focused on me. It was as if everything became clear to him. Sean’s body fell limp in his arms and he let him go. Even if Sean deserved to die for what he did, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw his chest move; he was still alive. The fight was over and Dominic had won.

  I looked over to where Cadoc had been seated and he was nowhere to be seen. Marco grabbed my shoulders. “Stay here, Faith. I have to help Dom.” As much as I wanted to go to Dominic, I knew I couldn’t. I could feel Cadoc’s eyes on me and knew he was close. Reed met my gaze from inside the ring and I could see the hesitance on his face. I smiled to give him reassurance, but I was far from feeling it.

  The hair on the back of my neck tingled and the feel of a hand on my arm made me shudder. “It’s time to go, my dear.”

  Cadoc’s voice was as smooth as silk, but it was poison. Slowly, I stepped away from the ring and he kept his hold on me as we walked to the door. I wanted to take one last look at Dominic, but William stepped in my way and held onto my other arm.

  I was trapped.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Dominic

  There was blood everywhere, but I couldn’t feel a damn thing. I was numb. All I wanted was to find Faith. Sean had been taken away, and I hoped it was to a ditch somewhere. I wanted to kill him, but one look at Faith and I couldn’t.

  “Where is she?” I growled as Marco and Micah helped me out of the ring.

  Reed frantically searched through the crowd and sighed. “She’s gone. I watched Cadoc and William take her away.”

  Once we were in the locker room, I marched over to my clothes. “Let’s go. We can’t waste any time.”

  Micah grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down on the bench. “You’re not going to be any good to her like this. Now shut the fuck up so Connor and I can get you fixed up.”