Player: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (85 page)

“
T
ake your time
; you don’t want to go all-in right away.”

I groan as the big man’s fist slams into my gut, doubling me over as far as I can go with my wrists chained to the wall behind me. Benson chuckles and shakes his head as Anderson’s fist connects with me again, making me see black spots with the air already gone from my lungs.

“
Easy,
Anderson, easy. The idea is to
hurt
him, not knock him unconscious on the third hit.”

Anderson’s face is still a mess - and I mean a fucking
mess
- from that night at the cafe, and it’s really the only consolation I’m taking from any of this right now. Black bruising still rings his eyes, and a stiff white plaster bandage covers his nose, making him appear like some sort of cartoon character. He makes a face at Benson before turning back and leering in close; “Aww, am I going too hard, you little pussy?”

I grin through the nausea and the throbbing pain in my gut as I look up at him; “Wait, aren’t you the crying guy that offered to
pay me
not to hit you again back at the restaurant?”

Logan snorts from the wall next to me, and I watch Anderson’s piggy red face go a shade darker as he turns and slams a fist across Logan’s face. He turns back to me, wiping his hand off with a towel; “Yeah, Benson, I’m gonna have to take my time here.” He leans in close, his black-rimmed eyes narrowing at me and making him appear ghoulish; “But I ain’t gonna take my time with that little lady friend of yours, you get me?”

The grin drops from my face, and red mist clouds my eyes. Instantly, I’m thrashing at my chains, heedless of and ignoring how fruitless a motion it is, because all I can think about it killing him with my bare hands in that moment.

Anderson laughs, stepping just out of reach of my bound fists and grinning wildly at me; “Oh yeah, me and her? We’re gonna have a
real
good time together.” I jerk forward again, snarling at him as the chains bite into my skin. Anderson laughs and then swings again, connecting with my face and knocking me back against the wall as he lets out a laugh.

“OK, enough of this.” Benson steps forward and pushes Anderson aside, and as I shake my head clear of the hit, my eyes suddenly focus on the glass and metal in his hands and I freeze.

He grins at me as he holds the needle out; “Hold him.”

Anderson storms towards me and doubles me over with another slug to the gut before he slams his forearm across my neck and holds me hard against the wall. My arms are chained outstretched on either side of me, and I start to roar as Benson steps closer to me, the needle in his hand and his eyes on my open, outstretched arm. Logan is thrashing at his restraints now, his eyes wild as the look of helplessness washes over his face.

“Remember what I promised you, Connors?” Benson steps closer and taps the needle against my arm. And suddenly, I don’t even need Anderson holding me down, because I can feel that suffocating, arresting feeling of helplessness start to grab ahold of me. I’m frozen, breathless and drowning as the metal and the sweet release it holds inside drags across my skin, and I’m staring at it with a mind-numbing blend of fear and hunger.

“I’m gonna ask you one more time, Connors; where the
fuck
are my diamonds?”

“Get the fuck away from him!” Logan growls, but I barely hear him as the rest of the world slides away into darkness. There is nothing except Benson’s voice and the sweet release the demon inside craves just millimeters away.

“
Where
are they?”

“I don’t- I- They’re gone.” I force the words from my mouth.

“Wrong answer.”

The needle moves up my arm to the crook of my scared elbow where the veins stand out the most. And I can
feel it
, and Goddamn if I’m not
ready
for it.

The door to the cell slams open and a man in a Blackriver tactical vest runs in; “Sir?”

Benson whirls, fury on his face; “
What
is it?”

The man swallows; “Sir, there’s- uh, there’s something heading right at the front gates you should come see.”

Benson frowns and starts to turn back to me; “Then
deal
with it, captain.”

“It’s a tank, sir.”

Benson turns sharply; “
Excuse me?
”

“A tank sir, and it’s headed right at us.”

And then I’m laughing. Logan looks at me like I’ve lost it, but I just grin and wink at him as Benson runs from the room; “Your sister is Goddamn nuts, you know.”

W
e’re coming
.

The tank bellows and rumbles around us like some sort of nightmare creature, belching black smoke and probably leaving a trail of nuts and bolts from here back to Fairuza Kartal’s house. But that doesn’t even matter, because the looming double-door to the fortressed monastery is coming
right
for us.

Or rather,
we’re
about to crash through
it
.

We can’t
shoot
it - as if we even knew
how
in this thing - but we’re barreling at it as fast as forty-five tons of steel and iron wrapped around a diesel engine can. And I’m pretty certain that when push comes to shove between a Soviet-era metal tank and a 12
^th
century wooden door, the tank is going to smash some shit
up
.

Or at least, let’s hope so, or this is going to be the most embarrassing rescue attempt of all time.

“You ready for this, darling?” I glance over towards Sasha, who looks absolutely insane sitting in the driver’s seat of the tank. With the goggles, the scarf around her neck, the cigarette dangling from her lips, and that persistent aristocratic accent, she almost looks like some sort of eccentric fighter pilot ace from the same war that this tank is from.

“Ok, I think I get it now,” I say, shaking my head.

“What’s that?”

“Why you and Bryce got along.”

She grins; “Enlighten me.”

“You’re both completely nuts.”

Sasha laughs as she turns towards me and winks; “Oh, dear, I am
far
crazier than that man could ever hope to be.”

I wince as bullets being to pepper the outside armor of the tank as we break through an old wooden fence and make the final approach, but Sasha just laughs and guns the engine into the highest gear, belching smoke as the thing roars towards the massive wooden gates of the stronghold; “Hold onto your ass,” She mutters.

The doors come rushing towards us, and I shut my eyes as my fingers dig into the seat beneath me;
here goes nothing
.

There’s a wrenching shudder as the massive tank goes crashing through the doors, splintering ancient wood and mortar across the courtyard as we come barreling through. There are men in black uniforms running everywhere, bullets falling like hail on the outside of the tank, and I can feel the rush of the adrenaline slamming through me. Sasha’s hooting out loud and she revs the engine as she points us towards the wall of the main building.

“How close to the outside wall are they?” I say suddenly, as she begins to roar the tank across the courtyard, Blackriver personal scattering away from us.

She’s quiet.

“
Sasha!
” I yell, the wall rushing towards us.

She shoots me a quick look; “Well how the bloody hell should I know?”

Oh shit.

We hit with the sound of a bomb going off inside my head. The tank lurches and wrenches wildly as we go crashing through brick and mortar, white stone dust pouring into the tank as the whole thing tips at an angle and comes crashing to a halt amongst the rubble. The ancient engine finally gives out as the rumbling, hulking thing shudders still.

I’m tearing at the handle to the hatch above, wincing as brick rubble tumbles onto me as I clamor out and jump down, peering and choking through the stone dust.

Please be ok, please be ok.

I’m whirling in the chaos of the crumbled room, whirling around in the ashen white dust choking the space.

Please be ok, Oh God, please be-

And there he is; kneeling in the rubble with chains dangling from his wrists. I’m crying out as I run across the room to him, kissing him and wrapping my arms around him as tears stream down through the stone-dust on my cheeks; “I love you.”

The words I haven’t said in forever, and yet here they are sounding like the most natural thing in the world to say right now. And I’m saying them over and over as I kiss him, holding him tightly to me and crying; never wanting to let him go, and never wanting to stop telling him.

“Took you long enough,” he says with a grin on his face, and I sob out a laugh; “I love you too,” He whispers, pulling me close and searing my lips with a kiss.

“Who the
fuck
taught you how to drive stick?”

I choke out a sob at the sound of Logan’s voice, and I turn and throw my arms around my brother; “
You
did, asshole, but I wasn’t driving anyways.” He winces; “Watch the arm,” he says, nodding at the askew-looking limb at his side. He chuckles and hugs me tight with the other as he nods at a broken spot on the wall right next to where the tank came through; “Well whoever was cut it pretty fucking close there, kid.”

“I-” I glance at Bryce and reach out to grab his hand before I turn back to Logan; “There’s something I need to tell-”

“Yeah, no, we’ve covered that,” Logan says with a grin as my jaw drops.

“I’m- I mean, Logan, I’m so-”

“You don’t owe me a thing you know, least of all an apology,” He says quietly, wrapping his arm around my shoulder; “I just want you to be happy and safe.” He arches a brow at Bryce; “
Happy and safe
; you got that, Connors?”

Bryce grins; “I’m on it.”

The top to the tank bangs open again, and Sasha comes sputtering out, frowning as she brushes dust and debris from her sleeves.

“What’s
she
doing here?” Bryce mutters.

“Oh, we’re friends now,” I say with a grin, wrapping my arm around his waist.

“Lovely to see you too, darling,” Sasha says wryly, jumping down from the tank and tossing him a handgun before she hands one to Logan. She suddenly frowns and kicks at the rubble beside the tank; “Oh, dear, is that?-”

“Anderson?” Logan says evenly. My eyes go wide as I turn towards him. He shrugs; “Like I said,” He nods at the jagged hole in the wall; “You cut it pretty fucking close there.”

Sasha shrugs; “Well, that’s what happens when you don’t keep your hands to yourself.” She looks up, totally calm; “Now are we quite ready to get the fuck out of here?”

Bryce nods; “Let’s go.”

W
e’re running
through the hallways of the fortress towards the vehicle port, Sasha and I helping Logan limp along and Bryce bringing up the rear, when suddenly there’s a shout from behind us.

I whirl, and my face goes ashen.

“Alright, enough of this bullshit!” The man with the silvered goatee and the piggish face has a thick arm around Bryce’s neck and a gun at his temple. He’s snarling, his face red with rage as he presses the gun against Bryce’s head, his eyes swinging wildly between him and the rest of us.

“
Where are they!
” He roars, clenching his jaw and tightening his arm around Bryce’s neck. I cry out and take a step towards them, but the man hisses and levels the gun at me; “Back up there, sweet cheeks.” Bryce growls and moves to break free of the arm around his neck, but the man who can only be Benson brings the gun right back to his head; “Easy there, Connors,” He spits; “Now
where
are they?”

“They’re gone.”

Benson’s eyes narrow into slits, his lips pulling back in a snarl; “
What?
”

“I said they’re fucking
gone
, Benson; long gone.”

Benson’s face goes a shade redder and he snarls viciously at Bryce; “You
spent them?!
”

“I gave them back; donated them to charities the first chance I had.”

Benson roars, yanking his arm tight against Bryce’s neck; “You
fucking
idiot!” He’s raging now, his eyes wild and spit flying from his lips; “You stupid, stupid fucking idiot!”

The dull roar in my head begins to grow louder and louder, until it begins to drown me; burying me under the force of it and dragging me under. Because suddenly, I’m seeing Bill all over again. The world starts to dim around me, going into slow motion, and suddenly it’s
him
standing in front of me.

“The fuck have you been?”

Only this time, it’s worse, because
this time
, it’s not just me. This time, I
have
a family, and he’s hurt them, again and again. This time, I’m watching him inflict the hurt onto someone I love.

“Don't you dare talk back to me you fuckin whore!”

And I’m done watching.

It’s a fluid move as I turn and grab the gun tucked into Logan’s waist. It’s heavier in my hand than I expected, the metal cold as my fingers wrap around the stock. But then I’m turning, the whole scene playing out in slow motion around me as I whirl back to Benson, raising the barrel in my hand, and leveling it at him.

“Oh,
knock it off
,” Benson says, rolling his eyes; “You’re not gonna
shoot me
, sweet cheeks.”

I’m trembling, my eyes locked on Bryce’s - locked onto the man I love as Benson presses a gun to his head.

“Run along home, little girl, before you make me do something to mess up that pretty little face of yours,” Benson says with a snarl.

“I swear to fucking God I'm gonna put some respect into you if I gotta burn it into yer skin!”

“Besides,” He says, winking at me; “We both know you don’t have it in you to kill anyone, right?”

The sizzling smell of my own skin, the bright, blinding pain that sears itself into my heart. And I’m screaming…still screaming.

And suddenly, everything just clicks. The sirens in my head go silent, the gun grows light in my hand, and the world drops away around me as my eyes lock onto Benson; “Wrong.”

The gun thunders with the sudden explosive release, the recoil thudding through my body with one deafening, defining moment. Benson falls back, and it’s almost like slow motion as I watch him tip backwards, as if falling through water, before he crumples to the ground.

And suddenly the world snaps back to normal speed as the whole scene goes silent.

I let the gun drop from my hand, letting it clatter to the floor. I’m falling, the world spinning around me before suddenly Bryce is there, catching me and wrapping me in his arms; “Hey, I’m here,” He murmurs, and I press my face into his chest, squeezing my eyes shut and letting the moment flow through me; “I’m here.”

And suddenly, for the first time in forever, the roaring inside of me is gone, and I feel something new entirely.

Peace
.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to look up into my brother’s face as he nods at me slowly; “You OK?”

I grin and grip Bryce’s hand even tighter; “I’m-” I take a shaky breath, finding my center, and breathing in the silence inside; “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s all going to be OK.”

And I know it is.

“Let’s go home.”