Meant for Me (A Second Chance standalone) (24 page)

“All right, everything is set to go for four o’clock,” he
said.

“Four o’clock?” I gasped, turning to face him. “That’s six
hours away. What are you going to do with me until then?”

Chase moved closer and moved the hair away from my neck so
he could speak into my ear, “Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’re going to spend a
little quality time with me. You might enjoy it.”

So help me, God, please don’t let him try anything with
me.
There was only so much fight one has in their body, and I was getting
close to my limit. A tear escaped the corner of my eye, but I knew I mustn’t
show fear. I was beginning to think I should’ve ran when I had the chance.

Blindfolded and with my hands tied in my lap, I sat quietly
in the backseat while Chase talked heatedly on the phone outside the car. I
couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I heard my name come up a couple of
times. The only thing that kept me sane was that at four o’clock I would see
Mason again.

“You’re awfully quiet considering the circumstances,” the
driver said, sounding curious. “Most people in this situation would be frantic,
but not you. I find that rather interesting.” It was the first time he’d spoken
since being in the car, except I wasn’t exactly in a talking mood.

Clenching my teeth, I sat up straighter and pursed my lips,
refusing to acknowledge him. He must’ve been watching me in the mirror because
he chuckled and turned around in the seat, making the leather creak as he
moved. “You’re angry. That’s a good thing,” he admitted. “Don’t worry, though; Chase
isn’t going to do anything to you. Our boss specifically said for him not to
and if he goes against that he’ll find himself in a ditch with a bullet inside
his brain. Anyway, I heard what you did to him at the party. I wish I could’ve
seen it. I never understood why he wanted revenge on Mason when he constantly
fucked other women behind his wife’s back. The ladies love him though.”

Disgusted, I spat angrily, “He’s a worthless piece of shit.
I should’ve hit him harder on the head with that bottle and put him out
permanently.”

“Would you have really killed him?” he asked in wonder.
Taking someone’s life wasn’t something I would do lightly, but if it came down
to my life or my attacker’s … I would gladly pick the former.

“If he tries to do me harm I will in a heartbeat. I’m not
anyone’s victim, especially his.”

Just about the time I finished saying that, Chase opened the
car door and huffed as he scooted in beside me. “It looks like we’re going to
Erick’s,” he suggested indignantly. “It appears he has a soft spot for Mason’s
bitch here and wants her in good hands before the fight. His exact words were
that I wasn’t capable of achieving that.”

That’s for damn sure,
I wanted to say, but taunting
him wasn’t a smart move.

“You know, it’s a shame Erick didn’t give me the chance to
fight for you,” Chase added, “but who knows, I might get lucky. I don’t know
why Erick even wanted to give Mason the opportunity to get ahead anyway. He
doesn’t deserve to win.”

“Wait,” I shouted. “Are you saying the fight is going to be over
me?”

Chase tapped me on the chin with a finger, saying, “That’s
right, love.”

“Well, what happens if Mason and the other guy don’t want to
fight for me?” I stormed impatiently.

I could feel his breath on my face as he moved closer,
whispering in my ear, “Then you, my lovely goddess, will belong to me for the
night if they don’t comply. I’m pretty sure they’ll both fight to the death to
keep you from me.”

My blood boiled.

“Who gives Erick the right to determine who I belong to?
That’s not his choice to make. I would rather rip out my own hair and choke on
it than spend a night with you. I do know how to fight and I will kill you if
you so much as touch me in that way,” I argued vehemently.

“Ooh, I like it rough, baby, but given who’s fighting for
you I hate to admit that I’m probably not going to get the chance. I haven’t
had any complaints from the women as of yet so I honestly think you’d enjoy
it.”

“Ugh …” I scoffed. “What about your wife? Aren’t you
married? How could you do something like this to her?”

“Easy,” he remarked flippantly. “I find a girl and I fuck
her. Have you seen the amount of women that flock to us after the fights? I’m
curious to see how you handle it after watching Mason get chased by countless
women day in and day out. You won’t stand a chance against a fresh piece of ass
every week.”

“You’re disgusting,” I sneered.

Chase and the driver both laughed. “I aim to please,” he
joked.

For ten minutes, I listened to Chase and the driver talk
about the fight, who they thought would win, and what they hoped would happen
to Mason. They still never told me who the other fighter was. Blowing out an
annoyed breath, I interrupted their joking and demanded to know, “I want to
know who the other fighter is. Tell me who he is.”

I had a feeling I already knew, but I wanted to hold out
hope that I was wrong. My suspicions were confirmed almost immediately when
Chase scoffed and answered, “Oh, come on Claire, I know you’re not stupid. You
know who Mason will be fighting, and one thing’s for sure, Wade’s determined to
see it through to the end. That boy is completely hard up for you. It’ll
definitely be interesting to watch him go against Mason, not to mention the
amount of money riding on this fight.”

“How much are we talking?” I asked, my voice a harsh whisper.

Chase chuckled and patted my knee. “Five million dollars,
baby. However, that’s only for a submission. The bloodier the fight, the more
money you get paid. Who would’ve thought that a piece of pussy would be worth
so much.”

Scooting as far away from him as I could, I leaned my head
against the window, trying to keep the bile from rising in my throat.
Did
Summer go through this same shit when her husband was killed?

“You know this is considered kidnapping, right?”

“No, it’s not,” Chase countered matter-of-factly, “you came
with me willingly.”

“You threatened me,” I shouted. “How is that willingly?”

“I didn’t force you to come. I just suggested that it might
be in your best interest. There’s a big difference there. You are more than
welcome to back out of this, except I wouldn’t recommend you do that. Erick has
a lot riding on this fight. He gets pretty angry when things don’t go his way
and bad things tend to happen when he gets like that, but when things do go his
way he’s very rewarding.”

Rewarding for whom?
I wondered. It sure as hell
wasn’t going to be me. From every angle of looking at this, it appeared I was
the one who suffered the most. The fate of my life for one night hung in the
balance between two men … my lover and a friend who used to be more.

Either way, I was going to lose.

I had to stay blindfolded until I was escorted into Erick’s
house and put in a room. Chase took off my blindfold and thankfully he left
immediately along with the guy who drove us. “Thank God,” I whispered to myself.

The room I was brought to happened to be a large suite with
a bedroom and separate sitting room. Everything was done in all golden hues
from the walls to the pale yellow bedspread on the king size bed. It was really
bright and sensual … not what I would imagine one of Erick’s rooms to look
like. The sitting room doors were open so I walked toward it and gasped, not
expecting to see Erick sitting on the couch, waiting for me.

“Now don’t you think this is better than spending your time
with Chase?” he asked smugly.

Glaring, I crossed my arms across my chest, pursing my lips.
“That all depends on what you have planned for me. From what I hear, you’re
threatening to hand me over to Chase for a night if Mason and Wade don’t fight
for me. I don’t think that inspires me to want to be anywhere near you.”

He patted the seat beside him and motioned for me to sit,
but instead, I walked right past him and sat in the chair on the opposite side.
“I’m not going to give you to Chase,” he explained incredulously. “I may be an
arrogant son of a bitch, but I would never give someone like you over to him.
He doesn’t exactly know that at the moment, and the only reason why I’m doing
it is so I can get a good fight out of your guys. They both hate him and
they’re not going to want to see you with him.”

Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and said,
“Now whoever the winner is, that’s who you will leave with. What you do after
that is your own business. I may like you, but I’m going to give you a fair
warning. If I so much as hear a peep out of your mouth about what went on
tonight after it’s all over I’m going to make sure you stay silent for a really
long time. Do you understand?”

Closing my eyes, I nodded, lowering my head. “I understand,
but what about Mason and Wade? One of them could get hurt or even killed.”

“Oh, I truly hope so,” he uttered honestly. “It makes for
good entertainment, and the guys know the risks. However, what you fail to
realize is that this whole thing wasn’t completely my idea. It was brought to
my attention by someone else.”

“What? Who?” I demanded. By the gleam in Erick’s eyes I
already had my answer.

“No, it couldn’t be possible,” I cried, shaking my head. “He
wouldn’t do that.”

“Believe me, sweetheart, Wade would.”

“What if I don’t cooperate and agree to the terms,” I
countered stubbornly. “What if I don’t want to be fought over, huh? Are you
going to kill me?”

Chuckling, Erick quickly got to his feet and slammed his
hands down on the arms of my chair. Gasping, I moved as far back in the seat as
I could, but he kept getting closer. His eyes looked almost black and the smile
he had on his face had turned into an evil sneer. “That is all up to you,
Claire, on if I kill you or not. Frankly, I think that’s a bit extreme
considering all you have to endure is just one fight. All you have to do is
suck it up and keep your mouth shut. However, if you want to be stubborn, I
have my ways of making you change your mind.”

“How?” I breathed, swallowing hard.

“Oh, Claire,” he murmured, closing the space even more. “I
researched a lot of things about you, sweetheart. How would you like to have
your vineyards and your winery taken away from you? I’m pretty sure I have the
means to come up with something, or better yet, how about Cooper Davis?”

Eyes going wide in panic, I clenched my teeth and hissed,
“What about him? He has nothing to do with this.” I couldn’t allow Cooper to be
brought into this.

“You didn’t think I’d find out about him, did you?” Erick
boasted. “Well, it wasn’t hard to do a search on you and see pictures of you
with him. There are plenty of them out there. So would you change your mind if
I told you I could get him kicked off the football team and have his career
ruined for the rest of his life? I don’t think he’d appreciate that at all now
would he, especially, if he finds out it was all your fault?”

He looked down at his watch and then back to me with a smug
grin on his face. “Tick-tock, Claire. I don’t have all day.” If he was
bluffing, I would have no way to prove it, but if he was telling the truth, I
could lose everything. There was no thinking … I had to do it.

“Fine,” I snapped. “I’ll agree to the terms of the fight.”

He patted me on the cheek. “I knew you’d see it my way, and
now that we’ve come to an agreement I’ll leave you to your thoughts. Mira, my
housekeeper, will bring you lunch here shortly and anything else you desire.
You’re not a prisoner, but I strongly suggest you stay put and not cause
trouble. I have cameras in all my rooms so if you do something stupid I’ll see
it.”

Slowly, he moved away from my chair and ambled toward the
door. Before he walked out, he turned to me one last time and grinned. “I hope
you enjoy the rest of your day.”

My reply to that was a certain middle finger and a scowl,
and I heard his laugh the whole way down the hall.

When Erick walked out of the room, he left the door standing
wide open. He said I wasn’t a prisoner, but he also said he had cameras in all
the rooms. That alone basically said I was being watched. My safest bet was to
stay put, so I did. Mira, Erick’s housekeeper, came in with a tray of food and
set it on the table in front of the couch while I was looking at the books on
the bookshelf. Mira was a middle-aged Asian woman, with short, black hair to
her shoulders and wearing a blue uniformed smock that reminded me of what hotel
maids would wear. She smiled kindly at me when I turned to acknowledge her.

“Your lunch, Miss Claire. If there is anything else you
would like don’t hesitate to let me know. You can reach me through the messaging
system by the bedroom door. You’ll see my name on the keypad and all you have
to do is press it and I’ll come.”

“Thank you, Mira. I appreciate that,” I said wholeheartedly.
I had no clue if she knew why I was actually there, but again, I didn’t want to
reach out to her and have everything come crashing down on me.

Mira left the room, and as soon as I lifted the cover on the
tray, my stomach growled and began to cramp. I was hungry, but there was that
gnawing fear of being poisoned plaguing the back of my mind. Groaning, I turned
back to the books and scanned the shelves. There were mainly books on art,
architecture, medieval castles, and Old English literature. I was pretty sure
Erick didn’t have any romance novels, but it didn’t hurt to look.

Frustrated, I lay down on the couch and stared at the
ceiling. “Would it have hurt to have a TV in here if I’m going to be stuck here
for five hours?” I mumbled to myself.

“There’s one in my room,” a tiny voice replied.

Bolting upright and grabbing my chest, I sucked in a shocked
breath as my gaze found a little girl in the doorway, smiling shyly. She stared
at me for a moment before tiptoeing in the room. “Geez, you scared me, little
one. What’s your name?” I asked delicately.

Looking down at the floor, she whispered, “Madison.”

Is she Erick’s daughter?
I wondered
.
She was
the most adorable little girl with blonde ringlets and bright blue eyes. What
made her even cuter was that she wore a pink tutu and purple leotard. She
almost looked exactly like me when I was her age.

Smiling back at her, I said, “You have a very pretty name,
Madison. My name is Claire.” Slowly, she made her way to the table and inched
closer to me, looking down at the food.

“Are you going to eat your lunch? Mira always tells me not
to waste my food,” she scolded with her hands on her hips. Biting my lip, I
tried to hide my smile because it looked like the little girl was being
serious.

To appease her, I sat on the floor in front of the little
table and slid the tray closer to me. There was a triple decker club sandwich
with a mound of French fries. Picking up my sandwich, I took a huge bite and
lifted a brow at her. “Are you happy now?” I asked her, talking with a mouth
full of food.

She giggled and sat beside me on the floor. “Can I have a
French fry, please?”

I pushed the plate over a little so she could reach it. “Of
course, help yourself to as many as you want, Maddie.”

She dug in and we both ate them all up before finishing the
sandwich together. “Are you my mommy?” she asked, gazing up at me with her
innocent blue eyes.

“Oh, honey, no I’m not. I’m just a visitor here today. Does
your mommy not live here with you?” I wasn’t about to tell her the truth of why
I was there, but it wouldn’t hurt to get more information on who she was. A
little girl like her didn’t need a father like Erick who manipulated and hurt
people.

Madison shook her head. “No, my mommy’s in heaven. I don’t
remember her, but I saw a picture of her in my daddy’s room. He told me it was
my mommy in the picture. You look just like her.” My throat closed up, and all
I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and take her away. It was strange to
think that Madison thought I looked like her mother. Even stranger was how
could a sweet thing like her come from someone like Erick?

Turning to her, I ruffled her little curls and lifted her
chin. “My mother’s in heaven, too, Maddie. I miss her every single day.”

“Will you be back after today?” she asked.

Sadly, I shook my head. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. I’ll
be leaving here in just a couple of hours. I have to go back home soon.”

“Where is your home?”

“It’s in California. I came down here to visit some
friends,” I explained.

“Is my daddy your friend? I don’t like his friends. Mira
makes me stay away from them and always sends me to my room when they come
over. I don’t ever see my daddy much.”

Not knowing how to answer, I switched the subject. If I was
being watched I didn’t want to get on the subject of her father or his people.
“So, Maddie,” I announced, pointing to her frilly pink tutu. “Do you dance? I
used to take ballet when I was little.”

She beamed and jumped to her feet. “I do ballet, too. Mira
takes me every Tuesday and Thursday. Do you want to see? No one ever comes to
watch me other than Mira.”

This little girl was breaking my heart. I never grew up in a
house where the housekeeper watched after me instead of my own parents. I
couldn’t imagine how lonely it had to be.

Smiling brightly, I nodded my head and motioned for her to
start. “I would love to watch you dance. Show me what you’ve learned.”

I watched her dance around the room and clapped every time
she finished a move. I even got up and taught her a couple of things as well.
“You are a terrific dancer, Madison. I bet one day you’ll get into Julliard and
be a famous dancer when you get older.”

She giggled and cuddled up next to me on the couch when she
was done dancing. “Can I come home with you to California? I want you to be my
mommy.”