by Beth Abbott
It might not have been a dress she’d have chosen for herself, but it sure did make a guy’s eyes pop as she walked across the room.
“If you’re finished admiring Micky’s assets…?” Kris nudged him. “Maybe you can get your mind back on the fight.”
Kellen reluctantly turned his attention back to his teammates, but deliberately changed positions so that he could just about see Micky in his peripheral vision.
“Ok, well I don’t know if the team one fighters have just been picked for the skills they already had, or if they’ve actually been trained by someone for this event...” Abram murmured. “But if they’re being trained by someone at the moment, then they’re all going to be repeating the same pattern of punches and kicks. If you stay back for the first round, you’ll be able to see what the pattern is.”
“And if there isn’t a pattern, and the guy just comes at me like a tank?” Kellen asked.
“Then you’re gonna get your ass kicked.” Zach snorted. “Unless you focus and keep your speed up.”
“Look at the size of the guy.” Abs nodded towards the other team. “He’s tall, sure, but he’s at least fifty pounds lighter than you. They’ve probably given him the drugs to overcome his fear that you’re gonna pound his ass into dust.”
“And he’s gonna be thinking that as you’re big, you’re gonna be slow.” Kris continued. “He’s probably not gonna want to go to the mat, because he figures that’s where your weight is going to give you the best advantage. No, he’s gonna keep you on your feet, but he’s gonna come at you with kicks and side-swipes to get your legs from under you, so he can follow through with a knee to the jaw.”
Kellen’s aforementioned jaw dropped at his teammates’ assessment.
“Is that even a legal move?” He gasped.
Judging by the looks on his teammates’ faces, he guessed how stupid the question was.
“Right.” He nodded. “No rules!”
“Look, you just have to stay focused and fast.” Zach sighed. “Don’t blow all your energy in the first round. Pace yourself, because you could be fighting for half an hour or more.”
“Will do.” Kellen nodded.
“Come on then.” Kris nodded towards the punchbag. “Let’s get you warmed up.”
Chapter 39 – Hannah
“Here.” Danny tapped gently on Hannah’s shoulder.
She forced herself to look away from the screen to find her wonderful husband holding out a plate with some food, and a large mug of coffee.
“Thanks, baby.” She took them from him, but immediately placed them down on the desk, her eyes going back to the screen.
“Hannah, they’re taking a short refreshment break, so you need to do the same.” Danny scolded her. “You’re gonna burn out if you don’t eat and drink something.”
Hannah glanced away from the screen to see that Danny had picked up her mug again and was holding it in front of her.
“Ok, yeah.” She nodded, taking the mug again. “Sorry, you’re right. I just…”
“You just worry yourself sick over all the guys out there.” Danny finished the sentence for her. “Which should probably make me extremely jealous and angry, but it doesn’t. It’s just who you are and the way you’re made.”
“I’m just thanking God that you’re not one of them.” Hannah sighed. “If you think I’m freaking out now, multiply it by a hundred, and you still wouldn’t come close to how I’d be reacting if that was you in the ring.”
“Hannah, if all the guys are as good as Abram, then I don’t think you have much to worry about.” Candy reassured her. “He was so controlled and concentrated. He actually outthought his opponent. Sure, he took a few shots, and the other guy got in a few kicks, but way more missed than landed on target. He was awesome.”
“I don’t know how you can watch any of this and say someone was awesome!” Hannah shook her head. “I hate it, all of it. And thanks to the cameras the guys put up, I get to watch it in glorious technicolour, multi-angular, super-high definition, and with sound as well! Lucky me!”
“I was just talking to Jordan about that in the kitchen.” Candy leaned forward. “I know you’ll want to watch Kellen’s fight…”
“Damn straight!” Hannah agreed.
“Exactly so.” Candy smiled. “But there’s no reason for you to watch the fights that don’t involve our guys. Jordan and I could do that by ourselves.”
“Why would you want to watch the other fights?” Hannah frowned.
“We don’t actually want to watch them, but we need to scope out the opposition.” Candy shrugged. “Don’t forget, our guys will potentially be fighting them on Sunday, so anything we can pick up on how they fight, whether they prefer fists or feet, staying upright or mat-work, stuff like that will be really useful if we can pass it on to our team before they fight them.”
The thought of analysing the way these men fought left Hannah feeling a little nauseous.
“I don’t know how you can stand watching it, but if you can, it’s a job I’m more than happy to leave to you.” She admitted with a shudder.
Hannah took a sip of her coffee and glanced back at the screen.
At the moment, her team were on the practise mat, and from one of the camera views, she could see Kellen warming up.
It was hard for her to tell just by looking at the screen, but he looked to be moving quickly at least.
“Does Kellen look like he knows what he’s doing?” She looked to Danny for reassurance.
Always ready to be her rock, he stepped forward and slid back into the seat next to her, pulling Hannah onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her.
“Kellen knows exactly what he’s doing, Hannah, so you don’t need to worry on that score.” Danny smiled. “I know he wasn’t schooled by Alpha Company, but I’m told the Americans know a thing or two about training soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”
Hannah heard Tuck snort a laugh behind her, and smacked Danny’s hand for being a tease.
“You don’t have to sit here and watch, Hannah.” Candy pointed out. “There are enough of us to keep tabs without you putting yourself through it. You’ll gain nothing by watching that we can’t tell you about later.”
She’d heard this same thing over and over tonight, and the message was starting to grate on her nerves.
“I might not have a military background like the rest of you, and yes, it does make me sick to my stomach to watch them fight.” She conceded. “But they’re my team. I put them in there, and I asked them to do this, so the least I can do is watch them do their job to the best of their ability.”
So, can we please change the record?
Hannah patted herself on the back for keeping that last part to herself.
She knew the others were only trying to shield her, but she didn’t want to be shielded. Hannah wanted to know exactly what she was getting those men into, and if that meant keeping the wastepaper basket close by in case she hurled, well that was another minor detail she would keep to herself.
“Oh, crap!” Hannah turned to Abbey who was listening in to the audio feed from the ship.
“What?” Hannah reached over to lift one of the headphones away from Abbey’s ear. “What are you ‘Oh, crapping’ about?”
“Umm, well, don’t quote me… but I think I just heard our guys say that Kellen’s opponent might have just snorted something.” Abbey bit her lip. “They’re guessing it could be coke cut with meth.”
“They’re obviously trying to get him amped up ready for the fight.” Danny growled.
“If our team know they’re doing it, can’t they stop the fight or something?” Hannah turned pleading eyes to Danny. “Can’t we do anything?”
Danny smiled at her, his endless patience unswerving.
“Honey, this is an anything goes kind of fight, remember?” He tightened his arms around her. “It’s not like we can phone in a complaint, is it? And at least Kellen knows exactly what he’
s up against. Drugs might make the other guy hyper-aggressive, but they’ll also leave him vulnerable because he’ll start to think he’s invincible. Kellen won’t have any trouble taking this one out. He’s got a weight advantage, and his senses won’t be muddled.”
“I don’t know why, but I did at least expect Sergei Lebedev to want these fights to be reasonably fair.” Hannah sulked.
“You’re right, he should.” Danny chuckled into her ear. “After all, he’s Russian mafia. They must have some kind of moral code they live by, right?”
Hannah turned to her husband, trying to look as stern as possible so that he would realize she was actually giving him her best stink-eye.
“There’s no need to be snarky with me, mister!” She growled. “I just expected, with all the ringside betting that must be going on, that things would be kept somewhat on the up-and-up.”
“Any betting going on will be based on what the onlookers can see.” Tuck pointed out. “As long as they could all see him snorting whatever it was, then nobody has an advantage over anyone else. It would be worse if he’d been snorting that stuff before he left his cabin. Then the only people to know about it would have been his own team, and possibly the guy who hired them.”
Hannah turned back to the screen, watching the two men preparing for the fight.
“How long until they’re due to begin?” Danny asked, suddenly.
“Six minutes? Maybe seven?” Candy glanced at her watch.
“Good.” Danny wrapped his one arm around her and tucked the other one under her legs, lifting her up in one swift movement. “Excuse us for a few minutes, won’t you?”
Hannah gasped as she was swung up in the air, but she was too busy wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging on to protest.
In typical Danny fashion, he strode out of the door and down the hallway, past a bemused looking JT in the kitchen eating some of CJ’s southern-fried chicken, and straight on until he got to the utility room.
As Hannah stared up at his determined face, he pushed the door open, and then walked through, kicking it shut behind him.
Without hesitation, he sat her on top of the shelf above the washer.
Hannah watched his eyes flare as he looked down at her.
“Ok, I know I said that I didn’t mind that you were worrying about other men.” Danny began. “And I wasn’t lying. They’re your team, and our friends, and I worry about them just as much as you do.”
Hannah watched the frown etched into his forehead deepen.
“What I do mind, is that you’ve taken the responsibility for this mission so much to heart, that you worry about every little thing that could happen to those guys.” He continued. “They’re grown men, Hannah, and they volunteered for this shit. They’re not bound by a contract, or by service to their country. They can say no, or even quit any time they want to. Got that?”
Hannah couldn’t help but be a little surprised by Danny’s vehemence.
“Got it.” She confirmed.
“Then will you please stop worrying so much?” He pleaded. “You’re worrying me sick that you’re going to stress yourself into a heart attack or a stroke.”
Hannah’s breath caught in her throat as she realised how much her anxieties were worrying her husband.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I guess I’m not very good at being in charge of things.”
“Hannah, sweetheart…” Danny shook his head. “You’re amazing at being in charge of things. Hell, even JT was singing your praises to me this morning. But you have to learn to switch off your emotions while the operation is underway. Go back to being analytical and even spontaneous like you always used to be. You were just as effective then as you are now, just less freaked out by the thought of one of our guys getting a splinter or stubbing a toe.”
Hannah’s lip twitched at the thought of Kellen stubbing his toe.
“I’m not quite that bad, am I?” She hoped she wasn’t.
“Almost.” Danny nodded. “Promise me you’ll try and take a mental step back. I can’t stand seeing you so worked up.”
Hannah took a deep breath, and then blew it out slowly.
“There, see? Completely calm.” She smiled. “And I promise I’ll do everything I can to stay that way.”
“Thank you.” Danny leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. “All I need is for you to be Ok, and everything in my world is perfect.”
Hannah reached her hands around the back of Danny’s neck and gripped his short hair tightly.
“And all I need is for you to kiss me like the world is ending, and everything in my life will be perfect, too.” She smiled up at him.
“Only got three minutes left, baby.” Danny grinned. “Time for one good one.”
Danny didn’t wait for her response, his lips crashed down on hers as his hands slid into her blonde hair, wrapping it around his fingers as he turned her head slightly to get a better angle.
Hannah’s eyes fell shut as he teased her lips apart with his tongue, and when she tasted the coffee on his breath she almost swooned.
As she sagged against him, Danny stepped forward, and the kiss turned from passionate to electrifying in a split second.
Three minutes of this would probably set fire to her panties, and she felt a throbbing in her sex that she knew wouldn’t get any sort of relief until much, much later.
Hannah let go of Danny’s hair, so she could wrap her arms around him, pulling him as tight to her as she possibly could.
Danny responded, freeing one hand so he could crush her to his chest as their tongues duelled for control.
There was something almost frantic about the kiss that was both frightening and comforting at the same time.
Sometimes she marvelled at this desperate love she felt for her husband and wondered if any other woman on the planet was lucky enough to feel the same way about their significant other.
Then she thought about the love Danny had for her, and suddenly realised it didn’t matter how desperately you loved your partner, as long as you both felt the same way.
Never for one second in their relationship had Hannah ever wondered how much Danny loved her. She’d lay bets that there wasn’t a woman alive who was as worshipped and adored by her husband.
Hannah kissed Danny as passionately as she could, trying to send every bit of the love she felt through her lips and her touch. She needed him to know he was her everything.
The tap on the door pulled her out of the moment.
“Sorry guys, but you’ve got about two minutes before the fight starts.” Candy did at least sound regretful for interrupting them.
Danny lifted his head and stared down at her with such emotion.
“I’m so hard right now a light breeze could snap it off.” He growled. “We are seriously gonna finish what we just started later tonight.”
“Absolutely.” Hannah sighed, resting her head on his chest. “Possibly twice.”
Danny chuckled, and she felt the rumble pass right through his body.
“You know that you’re my everything, don’t you?” He murmured.
Hannah nodded.
“Lucky thing, really.” She turned her head and placed a kiss over his heart. “Because you’re my whole world.”
“Yeah?” Danny snorted a laugh. “Then maybe we’d better try for three later, just so you can convince me.”
Hannah pushed him back, so she could climb down off the shelf.
“I’ll look forward to it.” She grinned, knowing that the chances of him not being asleep after the second round were slim to nil.
Neither of them was getting any younger, but there was no need to remind him of it.
Chapter 40 – Micky
“Are we ready to start the second fight?” Sergei leaned over Micky’s shoulder, deliberately invading her personal space. “It’s important that my guests don’t lose interest in the entertainment or get too drunk to enjoy it.”
“You mean it’s important that they
don’t stop betting large sums of money on the outcome.” Mickey smirked, well aware that Sergei intended to milk cash out of every possible opportunity.
“The more activity, the less drinking, the fewer hangovers we have to contend with in the morning.” Sergei shrugged. “Don’t forget that this is a three-night package. We don’t want them burning out tonight and having no appetite for the rest of the weekend.”
“The first fight ended slightly early, so we’ve given them an extended break.” Micky pointed out. “The breaks won’t all be that long unless the fights are over quickly.”
“I’m not sure how long this one will last.” Sergei nodded towards the Polish fighter. “He looks so pumped up on drugs his head could explode!”
“You’re the one who sets the rules, Sergei.” Micky shrugged. “If you’d wanted the fighters clean, you only had to say.”
“What about the reward for the winning fighters?” Sergei scowled at her. “Have you made those arrangements as well?”
Micky turned and stared at him.
“Let me put it this way… I’ve done the best that I can under very trying circumstances.” She shrugged.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sergei demanded. “You had a container full of women to pick from!”
“Technically, I had less than a quarter of a container to pick from.” Micky frowned at him. “And as the day has gone on, that number has dropped like a stone.”
“Micky, I’m rapidly losing my patience.” Sergei growled at her. “What the hell is the problem?”
“The ‘problem’ is that whoever provided you with your cargo, neglected to consider the fact that humans can’t be transported the same way as refrigerators or car parts.” Micky snorted. “They were provided with food that was already rancid, and no sanitation. Most of them have been vomiting and suffering extreme diarrhoea for the last forty-eight hours, and thanks to being thrown around in the back of a trailer, they were all covered in puke and shit.”
“Fuck those imbeciles!” Sergei growled. “I gave them clear instructions that the women were to be delivered in good condition.”