by Chloe Walsh
"Any regrets?" Noah asked me in a soft tone.
"Nope," I whispered. "Not one."
****
Noah
I needed to leave.
My fight was in less than an hour and if I didn’t get a move on soon I'd be late.
But Christ, I was fighting my hardest battle right now, trying to force my body out of her bed. Because my heart sure as hell didn’t want to leave her. Teagan looked so innocent and carefree when she was sleeping that I wished I could just melt into the duvet with her and disappear right now.
A million different thoughts and emotions were rushing through me, driving me close to insanity. But the worst thought was about Teagan… about what she would think when she woke up and realized I was gone. When she figured out I wasn’t going to Ireland with her. Would she forgive me?
I hoped like hell she could because I was going to win her back.
I wasn’t losing the fight tonight.
I couldn’t.
Not when I had a future with Teagan to look forward to.
I would find a way of getting my mother away from George and then I'd…and then I'd go get my girl.
"I love you," I whispered into her ear.
I pressed a kiss to her cheek before gently sliding off her bed and creeping out of her room.
****
I practically guessed George had a hidden agenda when he told me to bring Teagan to the fight. At the time I'd just assumed it was his sick attempt at kicking me when I was down, but the second I walked through the doorway of the Hub it became perfectly clear what my step-father's true ulterior motive was.
"Messina." George's raspy voice echoed through the bar and I had to steel myself before looking over. "Get over here now, kid."
Inhaling a deep calming breath, I slowly made my way through the crowd until I reached the table full of George's associates at the far corner of the room.
JD was there.
So were Ellie and Reese.
Several other familiar faces looked up at me, but I didn’t care about them because my heart felt like it had deflated in my chest the minute I locked eyes on George's ulterior motive.
"Mom."
I looked hard at my pale-faced mother as she lolled against George's beefy shoulder. Her brown eyes were glazed over. Her skin was deathly pale and the veins in her arms were visible under her faintly bruised skin.
She stared straight through me like she was looking through a window.
"Mom," I said a little louder, ignoring the snide comments coming from JD and his dad, hoping to god she wasn’t too far gone this time.
Again nothing.
I stepped around the table, not giving a shit whose feet I stepped on, and knelt in front of her. "Mom, are you okay?" I rested my shaking hand on her boney knee and forced myself not to shake her. "Mom?"
"Noah, can I have a…." Ellie's voice drilled through my ears but I was having none of it.
"Don’t talk to me," I warned her. She'd sat back and allowed this to happen. She was as bad as her father.
"What did she take?" I asked coldly, forcing myself to push back the fear of seeing my mother in catatonic mode to the back of my mind. If I didn’t the fear would fucking choke me. "What did you give her?"
"She's fine," George chuckled darkly, clapping me hard on the back. "She's in better shape than you are – or at least than you'll be in by the time tonight's over."
A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck as I remained impassive. "What's she doing here?"
"Consider her presence arrière-pensée," JD growled from behind me.
"Or a strong incentive," George added before turning his attention to his guests. "Tonight we have a special engagement," he announced with a cruel smirk. "My best fighter against Mortico's,"
"A fight to the death," a deep gravelly voice said from behind me and every muscle in my body coiled tight. "You sure about this, kid?"
Teagan's face penetrated my mind and I found the strength to climb to my feet. Turning slowly, I faced the man I knew was Gerome Javi and smirked. "It's your funeral."
****
Teagan
"That bastard," I hissed as I stalked across the street and banged on the Carter's front door. I didn’t care if Kyle answered – I was too bloody furious.
The Carter's front door swung inwards and Logan's face smiled back at me. "Hey there, jail-bird," he teased. "How's the life-sentence going?"
"Where's Hope?" I demanded as I rushed inside.
"Out on a date with Jordan," Logan said, closing the door after me.
"I need your help," I told him in a no-nonsense tone of voice before pushing past him and making for the stairs.
Noah had given me the slip.
The dirty snake must have crept out when I was asleep – after many hours of against-the-rules-frolicking – because when I woke up my bed was empty and his car was gone. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Let Noah stay with those creeps and wreck his entire future?
I couldn’t. I physically couldn’t stand here and let that happen to him.
He was worth more than that.
He deserved better.
"Where's the fire?" Logan asked.
"At the quarry," I told him. "Noah's gone to the Ring of Fire to fight some guy named Javi and I need you to help me talk some sense into the idiot."
Logan's face paled, his entire frame stiffened and then he let loose a string of F-bombs that would've made his brothers proud.
"Javi – Gerome Javi?" Logan roared as he followed me up the stairs. "Jesus fucking Christ, Teagan, why didn’t you stop him? Javi's a butcher. He fights to the fucking death. He's a goddamn psychopath."
"I thought I had," I shouted back as I rushed into Hope's room and began rummaging in her closet. "He lied to me, Logan," I snapped as I pulled out a pair of denim shorts, a white tank-top torn at the mid-riff, and Hope's infamous thigh-high black boots. "We're supposed to be leaving tonight."
"Leaving?" Logan stood in the doorway of Hope's bedroom with his arms folded across his chest and a look of pure rage on his face. "Where?"
"Ireland," I told him as I pulled off my clothes and dressed quickly. "I can't watch his life unravel like this a second longer," I grumbled. I didn’t care that Logan was in the room while I was undressing. I presumed there was nothing I had that he hadn’t seen before and he'd never looked at me like that anyway. Besides, I had way bigger problems than Logan Carter catching a glimpse of my ass. "It's too unfair, Logan, and Noah deserves better. A shot at a future."
"I know," Logan whispered quietly. "I've been saying that for years."
"Our tickets are booked," I rambled. "He told me he was coming…" Sinking onto the bed, I pulled the boots up my legs and tucked our tickets and passports inside. "Why the hell would he go to the fight when I gave him a way out?"
"Because there's no way out, Teagan," Logan told me in a sad tone. "Not for him and he knows it."
"What the hell does that mean?" I demanded as I got to my feet and rushed over to Hope's closet and pulled out a black, tight-fitting leather jacket. I took a quick glance at my reflection in Hope's mirror and cringed. Yep, I was all kitted out for the Ring of Fire – not that I relished the thought of going to that hellhole again.
"Do you know why he fights for George Dennis and his family, Teegs?" Logan asked me in a soft tone.
"Yeah," I grumbled. "To keep his mom in treatment. He fights for her." I was mad as hell at Noah actually, but pissed or not I wasn’t going to sit back and do nothing. Doing nothing made me feel helpless and I didn’t do helpless. I was an action-type girl. "So get your keys," I told Logan as I brushed passed him and made for the stairs. "Because that's where we're going – to fight for him."
****
"His mother's illness isn’t his only reason, Teagan," Logan told me as he put the pedal to the metal and floored it.
I was sitting in the passenger seat of his dad's Mercedes and feeling completely badass as Logan navigated the beast of a car through the mou
ntains like a boss.
"What do you mean?" I muttered as I kept my eyes glued to the windscreen. Logan turned onto the dirt road and a rush of fear trickled through me. Holy crap, I was about to barge into an illegal fighting ring and kidnap the star of the show.
Did I have a gun at my disposal, or a knife, or even a freaking nail file?
Nope…
But what I did have at my disposal was far deadlier to a man than a gun and much more alluring than the blade of a knife.
I had boobs and a vagina.
I figured those particular popular body parts would come in handy when trying to entice my boyfriend to leave with me considering he spent as much time with his mouth on those parts as he did communicating with me.
"Did Noah ever tell you about his father?"
I stilled and turned to look at Logan. "I know his name was Antonio Messina," I told him. "I know he's dead."
"Do you know that George killed him?" Logan asked me in a level tone and I swear my heart stopped beating in my chest. "Do you know why?" he added in a soft tone, taking a quick glance at me.
"No," I whispered, clenching my hands together. "I didn’t know that…"
****
Chapter 23
Teagan
"Wait. Let me get this straight." I pressed my thumbs against my temples as I desperately tried to take on board what Logan was telling me. "Noah's life was traded for his mother's?"
"Antonio Messina was George's right hand man," Logan explained. "His best fighter, his faithful dealer…the whole nine yards."
"Wait, George deals drugs, too?" I felt my body break out in a cold sweat. "Of course he does." Laying my head back I let out a sigh. "I bet he sells women and murders puppies, too…"
"He dabbles in prostitution," I heard Logan say and I felt like weeping. "But as far as I know he's not into puppy slaying."
"How do you know all of this?" I demanded. "Did Noah tell you?"
"I have ways of finding out what I need to know," was all Logan replied before continuing with his tale of horror. "When Noah's parents met, their lives pretty much went up shit's creek without a paddle," Logan said with a sigh. "Apparently, Antonio had a soft spot for blondes and Noah's mother was one hell of a prize. It was the affair from hell," he told me. "Two extremely impulsive people, with addictive personalities living in a hazardous conditions with every type of lethal temptation at their disposal…"
"What happened to them?" I heard myself asking. "What did they do?"
"Drugs happened, Teegs," Logan replied sadly. "They fucked up – got hooked on heroin – and then they made the mistake of shitting on their own doorstep." Logan rubbed his hand over his face and sighed heavily. "When Noah was fifteen, his mother and father stole a shipment of heroin they were supposed to be delivering for George – they were caught."
"What happened?" I asked, barely breathing.
"George was so pissed when he discovered their betrayal that he put a bullet in Antonio without thinking twice about it."
"Stop," I screeched. "Just…stop for a sec and let me take this in."
Logan sat patiently beside me as I struggled to come to terms with what I'd just been told. We were parked a half mile away from the warehouse on the dirt road and I was having a mini breakdown.
"George killed Noah's dad?" I turned to face Logan, and looked him straight in the eye, praying he was bullshitting me. The serious expression on his face proved he was telling the truth. "I can't believe this," I muttered, shaking my head.
"Yeah, well neither could I when I discovered it," Logan replied calmly. "It's not every day a guy finds out his best friend's life is the price of his mother's."
"What?"
"You haven’t figured it out by now?" Logan mused. "I thought you would've…"
"Uh, no, sorry, Dr. Evil, I haven’t," I grumbled. "I'm from a small town in the back ass of nowhere. Things like this don’t happen to people like me…"
Logan smirked before shaking his head and continuing, "With his best fighter dead and a hugely important fight right around the corner, George found himself in a pickle – so to speak."
"A pickle," I repeated in a flat tone.
"George turned his sights on Noah." Logan shrugged uncomfortably. "He knew he needed Noah – he could see the potential in him – but he also knew he would need an… incentive in order to get Noah on board and fighting for him."
"So what, he used Noah's schizophrenic mother as an incentive?" I snapped. "Logan, that's sick."
Logan nodded slowly and I could see the anger in his gray eyes. "I know, and I couldn’t agree more with you on that, Teegs, but it doesn’t change the facts. In exchange for his mother's life, Noah agreed to step into his father's shoes… George married Kelsie, dumped her in a psych ward, tossed Noah a few bones in the form of visitation papers, and took total control of him."
"Why?" I demanded. "Why would George want Noah? He was only a teenage boy for Christ's sakes."
"A teenage boy who was groomed from birth to follow in his father's steps," Logan informed me in a tight tone of voice.
"You didn’t know him then, Teegs," he added softly. "Noah at fifteen was as ruthless in the ring as he is now. He was tossed in a ring as soon as he was old enough to block a punch – breed to inflict pain and cause damage. Noah Messina's path was written for him before the guy was old enough to comprehend what was happening…" Logan shook his disgust and let out a pained growl. "God, I hope he hasn’t fought Javi. That guy is a killer, Teagan. The only way to beat him is to take him out permanently….there is no other way."
"If that's the case then why is he here…" I screamed, gesturing in the direction of the quarry. "Instead of on the way to the airport with me?" My whole body shook as I stared at Logan, looking for answers. "Why didn’t he run with me when he had the chance?"
"I don’t know, Teegs." Logan stared at me for a long moment before finally saying, "I can only assume George has threatened him somehow – maybe with his mom, or maybe with…"
"Me?"
Logan nodded. "It's possible...shit, Teagan, get down…"
The passenger door of Logan's car flew open and I found myself looking into the cold gray eyes of none other than JD Dennis.
"Oh shit," I whispered.
He smiled darkly. "We were hoping you'd come, blondie."
Everything happened so quickly then I didn’t have a chance to scream before a sharp pain ricocheted through my temple and the darkness cloaked over me like a blanket of smothering fog…
****
Noah
I couldn’t look at my hands.
They wouldn’t stop shaking.
Javi's blood was smeared across my knuckles, my face, my fucking bare skin…
My stomach wretched even though there wasn’t a damn thing left inside it. I'd vomited more in the past twenty minutes than I had in the past eighteen years.
I didn’t think I could ever look myself in the eye again. What I'd done…oh Jesus… Clenching my eyes shut, I leaned against the bathroom mirror and forced myself to breathe slowly, but I started to gag again.
"Are you okay?" a familiar female voice asked from somewhere behind me and I didn’t have any fight left inside of me to tell her to go to hell.
"Noah," Ellie coaxed as she stepped up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You did what you had to…," She paused and sucked in a sharp breath before saying, "He would've killed you if you hadn’t…"
"Killed him first?" I managed to croak out. "Is that what you were gonna say, Ellie?" I turned and faced her and I could see the tears in her eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"You didn’t have a choice," she argued. I knew in some sick way Ellie actually cared about me, that's why she was here trying to comfort me, but it wasn’t enough. She was a part of them. I didn’t want her comfort. And now, because of her father, I was no better than those scumbags in the bar… "You're a survivor," she told me. "You're…"
"I'm a killer," I snarled before sh
oving past her and staggering out of the bathroom. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fucking think straight. My skin was crawling. I needed to get the hell out of here – get some fresh air, anything…
Pushing through the crowded bar, I kept my head down as I forced my way towards the exit. A few more steps and I would be…
"This is crazy…what the hell are we doing…You're so…wrong for me."
I stopped dead in my tracks as the sound of her voice resounded through me.
"Noah Messina, you are treacherous…"
As I turned slowly, I prayed with all my heart that I'd imagined her voice in my head. I was hallucinating. Fucking dreaming… I had to be.
But the image of Teagan's naked body writhing on the elevator floor projecting from flat screen television bracketed against the wall at the far side of the bar assured me I wasn’t.
My eyes were glued, fucking riveted to the screen in horror as I watched a naked version of myself plunging into my girlfriend…fucking her on the floor like a goddamn animal…
What the …
"I told you I'd make you sorry," Reese sneered as sauntered passed me. "You fucked her," she sniggered. "And I fucked you both. Enjoy the CCTV footage," she added cruelly. "Consider it the perks of working at the hotel and having access to the security cameras…"
That's why they wanted Teagan here tonight – to see this….
They wanted to rip my heart out of my goddamn chest…
The door of the bar opened inward then and JD came barreling through with Teagan in his arms. "Get your hands off me, jackass," she snarled as she kicked and lashed against JD's tight grasp. "You better run when I get my hands on you," she screeched before biting down on JD's arm.
"Bitch," he hissed, releasing her quickly, as he nursed his wounded arm.
"Noah," Teagan gasped the minute she saw me.