Paxton's Promise (17 page)

I wriggled underneath him and halfheartedly tried to fight him off. He laughed at my failed attempts, infuriating me more. What if I wasn’t a fighter? What if I was really a helpless girl who was being used and abused like this?

His hand slid down to my breast and he squeezed, pushing it up to where it almost popped out of my shirt. “My wife never lets me bite her,” he murmured, staring hypnotically at my skin. “Just thinking about sinking my teeth into your flesh is making me so fucking hard.”

Eyes wide, there was no way in hell I was going to let him bite me. Licking his lips, he grabbed me by the shoulders, opening his mouth wide. Before he could strike, I looked over at Scar who nodded his head. Not like I was looking for his approval, but I was letting him know I wasn’t going to take anymore.

My arms were restrained, but I still had my hands. It just so happened, I didn’t have to play fair. I could be as dirty as I wanted and by God I was going to punish this fucker. Gripping his dick as hard as I could, I squeezed, twisted, and pulled until his body convulsed and he fell over, shouting in agony.

Quickly getting to my feet, I didn’t waste any time before drawing the blood I needed to win. Swinging my leg up, I brought it straight down with punishing force, slamming my heel into his nose. Blood sprayed across the mat and the nasty bastard was done; I had knocked his ass out.

Sighing in relief, I fell to my knees and silently prayed to God, thankful I’d made it through the first fight. Two more to go, and Pax could keep his life.

I was taken to Scar’s office and left there, when all I wanted to do was go back home and take a scalding hot shower. The door to the office opened and Scar strolled in with a wad of cash in his hands and a huge smile on his face

“I think this was a record night. You earned me close to a million dollars.”

“Congratulations,” I remarked dryly. “I’m ready to go home, can you get someone to take me back? I need to get there before questions are asked.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get home. Striker’s offered to take you. I had several people request to fight you, but I’m going to stick to my word and leave it to two more fights. The longer you stay around, the greater the chance someone recognizes you. I can’t have that.”

“When do I fight next?” I asked.

“One week. I’m going to go through the requests and pick out which one will benefit me the most.” He nodded toward the door. “Now go.”

Without wasting another minute, I bolted out of the chair, straight for the door. Camden waited just outside, his arms crossed over his chest, blindfold in hand. He didn’t even speak to me as I followed him down the hall to a set of doors. There we stopped and he put the blindfold over my eyes.

“I’m impressed,” he murmured in my ear. “I feel sorry for Paxton if he pisses you off.”

I didn’t even respond as he led me to whatever car he was using. He helped me inside and shut the door. During that short time alone, I leaned my head back and peeked through the bottom of the blindfold. We were definitely in an industrial section of town. I didn’t recognize it, but I did see a name on one of the buildings . . .
Tate Industries and Supply.

When Camden got in the car, he started us on our way. “You not going to talk to me?”

“I don’t know what to say,” I whispered. “How can you be a part of all this?”

“It’s all I have.”

“That’s not true. You have me and everyone else. So what? You made a mistake and did something stupid. Okay, maybe something really stupid, but I know your brother still loves you.”

“It’s too late for that. I’m not the same person anymore.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re Striker now. The Camden I know and care about is still in there somewhere. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have cared if I was given to Rage.”

He growled. “That’s not going to happen. I could give a rat’s ass if you fight tools like that jackass tonight, but handing you over to Rage is unimaginable.”

The blindfold lifted and he tossed it in the backseat. We were in his sports car and on the highway headed back to my apartment. “Who is he Camden? What am I dealing with? He’s left me messages with black roses all week. It’s freaking me the fuck out.”

His eyes went wide. “He’s been doing that?”

“What does it mean?”

“I’ve never seen or talked to the guy because he walks around with a hood over his head, but I’ve heard stories. I don’t know if any of them are true, but I’m not taking any chances where you are concerned.”

So it
was
Rage with the hood over his head sitting with Scar and the others. “Tell me. I have to know what I’m dealing with here.”

Sighing, he looked over at me and something passed in his expression. Concern? Fear? I couldn’t tell. “He’s killed people, Gabby. And not just anyone . . . they’ve all been women. I don’t know how or why, but that’s what I’ve heard.”

The bile rose like a jagged knife in the back of my throat. Not only was this guy a stalker, but he was a murderer too. Tears stung the backs of my eyes. “What am I going to do?”

He pulled into the parking lot of my apartment and parked. “I don’t know. Just be careful and don’t tell anyone about this. They will go after Paxton if you do. And then nothing will stop Rage from coming after you.” He nodded toward the Hummer. “Now get in and go straight to Paxton’s. I’ll follow you over there.”

I opened the door and stopped. “Why do you even care what happens to me?” I asked, turning to face him. “You obviously didn’t care what happened to your brother.”

“Ryley and I are a completely different story. I’ve never had a problem with you.”

He wouldn’t face me head on and I knew it was because he wanted to keep his scarred cheek away. He was clearly ashamed of it. Was he possibly ashamed of what he’d done?

“You can always come back to us, Camden. You and Ryley can work this out. If I can see the good in you after what you did to my best friend, then that has to be something.”

And just like that, he closed up on me, his gaze hard. “Don’t call me Camden anymore. It’s Striker. I’ll do everything I can to keep you out of trouble, but after that, I’m done. Now go.”

Camden had my bag in the back seat, so I grabbed it and got out. Once I got into the Hummer, I found my phone and checked for messages. I had only been gone for four hours, which was perfect. That was enough time to make him think I ate dinner and went to a movie. I had to face Paxton and pretend everything was okay when everything was far from it. It would be my biggest acting role to date.

Luckily, when I got back to his house, he hadn’t made it back yet. I had enough time to take a shower and crawl into his bed when I heard his car pull into the driveway.
Don’t be nervous.
Paxton’s footsteps sounded lightly on the stairs and when he opened the bedroom door the room illuminated from the hall light.

Quietly, he walked over to me and sat down, brushing a strand of hair off my face. “I know you’re awake, sunshine. I can see your eyes fluttering.”

A small smile splayed across my face. “I could be in REM sleep. Did you win?” I asked, opening my eyes.

He smirked. “Do you even have to ask? I kicked ass out there. Did you have fun with your mom?”

I answered while stretching and yawning, to help mask my lying. “Yes, we did. We’re going to do it again next week.”

“That’s good,” he murmured. “I’d do anything to be able to spend time with my parents again.”

A tear escaped the corner of my eye and it fell onto the pillow. I hated lying to him. “Will you hold me?” I whispered.

Paxton stood and lifted his shirt over his head and climbed onto the bed. “Gabby, what’s wrong?”

When he laid down beside me, I faced him so he could hold me tight against him. He smelled like exhaust from the race track, but I didn’t care. I needed to be close to him, to feel safe. “Nothing’s wrong,” I assured him. “I just wanted you to hold me. I missed you.”

Chuckling, he kissed the top of my head. “I missed you too, sunshine.”

“Did you lock the door on your way in?”

“Yes, and I turned on the alarm. Are you scared someone’s going to come here? You didn’t get any more messages today, did you?”

“No, I just want to make sure the door is locked. You can never be too careful.”

He held me tighter. “Trust me, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

It wasn’t just me I was worried about.

THE PARKING LOT was packed when we pulled up and everyone waved at us as we drove past. The moment he got out of the car, his fans flocked to him and asked for pictures. Some people in the spotlight snubbed their noses at their fans, but Paxton didn’t. He smiled and let them put their arms around him as he posed for picture after picture.

“You’re actually good at this,” I commended.

Grinning, he put his arm around me and turned me to face him. “Who would I be without them? Just some weirdo driving around fast in his backyard.” Pressing his lips to mine, he held me close and didn’t stop, even when people walked by and whistled.

“Get a room you two,” a voice called out.

Paxton guffawed and let me go, keeping his arm around my shoulders. The voice came from the blonde haired woman I saw hugging him the other night; his cousin, April. She had a smile on her face, holding the hand of a little boy, probably around six years old, with the same blond hair and blue eyes.

“So this is her?” she asked, smirking at Paxton.

“Yes, it is. She finally wants to be with me.”

I smacked him on the arm and bumped him with my hip. “Hey, it was a hard decision with you acting all hot and cold, you big pain in the butt.”

April held her hand out. “Yeah, well, that’s Paxton for you. He’ll do anything to get what he wants. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same to you,” I replied, shaking her hand. The little boy smiled shyly at me and moved behind her leg. “And who might you be?” I asked, bending down to his level.

April bent down and moved him forward. “Go ahead, tell her your name. Say, Adam.”

His little voice was just above a whisper. “Adam.”

He was the cutest little boy I’d ever seen. I didn’t want to have kids any time soon, but I sure loved to talk to them. Ashleigh was going to have two kids in a few months and I was probably more excited about that than I was at my first fight.

“Well, Adam, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Gabriella.”

“Are you Uncle Pax’s girlfriend?” he asked.

We hadn’t exactly discussed it, but I assumed I was. I looked up at Pax, lifting my brows. “Do you have the answer to that one, Uncle Pax?”

Scooping Adam up into his arms, he chuckled and looked at me. “Sorry, little man, but the girl’s taken. I tell you what though. Do you mind watching over her while I race? That way you can fight off all of the boys who try to kiss her.”

“Do I get to kiss her?” he asked shyly.

Paxton smiled and winked over at me. “We’ll see. She might let you give her a little kiss on the cheek. But now I’ve got to go.” He held up his fist for a fist bump. “Give me some luck, tiger.” Adam smacked his fist against Paxton’s and giggled when he set him down. “All right, sunshine,” he said, grabbing my hands, “I have to change and get ready.”