UNBROKEN: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 2) (11 page)

“Okay.”

I turn around, my eyes falling on Tobias. “What?”

“You beat me again,” he nods at Rick, “and I’ll give her to you.”

I watch in stunned silence as they both reach out their bruised knuckles and shake hands like gentlemen.

Chapter 7

The Longest Night

The tension in the room is almost too much for me to handle. I can’t even remember how long its been since Rick turned around and left the office with a smug smirk on his mouth. Tobias hasn’t said a word since he agreed to give me up to a man that beat me and ruined my life and quite frankly, I’m happy he hasn’t.

“Claire—”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” I bite.

Tobias stands up a little taller, fighting hard against the pain coursing through his wrecked body. “He won’t beat me again, Claire,” he says.

“You said he wouldn’t beat you
the first time
, Tobias.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“And I am
not
your property,” I say. “You can’t just
hand me over
to whomever you fucking please.”

“And I won’t.”

“You sounded pretty darn willing just now!”

He takes a short step closer to me. “Claire, calm down.”

“Don’t you tell me to calm down,” I say. Tears attack my eyes again. I’ve honestly lost count of how many I’ve spilled this evening. “You fucked up, Tobias. This is
not
okay.”

“This is what you wanted, Claire,” he says.

I narrow my eyes into harsh slits. “What I
wanted
?”

“You wanted me in the ring,” he says. “Admit it.”

I let my jaw hang as I try come up with the right words, but the stream of consciousness turns to mush between my ears. “That… is…
so wrong
.”

“It’s okay,” he whispers. “I hold no delusions about you, Claire. I know you aren’t going to be happy with a factory worker on a farm for very long.”

“Where is this coming from, Tobias?” I ask.

“Keen observation,” he answers. “From the very beginning, this was what you saw in me.” He gestures to the bruises traveling down his torso.

I close my eyes. “Tobias… no—”

“It’s fine, Claire.” He takes my hands in his. I stare down at them and I see the fresh, red marks splattered across his knuckles. It’s an odd, but comforting sight, and I hate myself for it. “If this is the man you want, then it’s the man I’ll be.” He rights himself a little more. I watch for the pain to strike his eyes, but the pain never quite surfaces.

“You didn’t…” I mutter as it all comes together. “Tobias…”

“It’s a win-win for both of us—”

“You lost the blood duel on purpose?!”

“Keep your voice down,”
he says, his tone firm and rock solid. His eyes bounce to the door and back at me.

“Why would you do that?”

“Lillian will give you credit for bringing me back,” he says. “Once word gets out that a new
Alpha
overthrew the last one, people from all over will come out to see what happens next. Again, Lillian will credit you for that.”

“I don’t care about any of that, Tobias!”

He lays his red hands on my cheeks. “You become the Dame you’re destined to be and I’ll take back
Alpha
. That’s what you want, so that’s what I want.”

I bite my lip to keep from screaming. I look into his bruised and beaten face, shaking my head. “You didn’t have to… he could have
killed you
, Tobias!”

“He really couldn’t have,” he laughs. “I had it under control.”

“If this is what
control
looks like, Tobias, then I’m terrified for what it’ll be like when all of this hits the fan!”

“Claire…”

“No.”
I take a step back and his hands fall from my cheeks. “The next time you want to play make-believe, leave me out of it. Gamble with someone else’s life!”

“He won’t beat me,” he says.

“And what if he does?” I ask. “He’ll come for me and I’ll be obligated to go with him because it’s what
you promised him
.”

“I won’t let that happen. Win or lose, I won’t let that happen, Claire.”

I turn towards the door. “I can’t do this right now—”

He’s on me so fast, my feet nearly slip out from under me. He catches me in his arms with ease and holds me against his body, still coated with a layer of sweat and blood-splatter. “I did this for
us
,” he whispers. I turn away from him, but he stops me with a strong finger against my cheek. “Claire… I love you. I don’t know what I’d do if you woke up one day and didn’t love me back anymore.”

I take a breath, letting his words sink in. “You should have asked me first,” I whisper. I jerk my body out of his grasp and throw the office door open with one quick flick of my wrist. I leave him behind in the office and listen to the pounding of the crowd growing louder in my ears with every step I take back to the arena.

***

I cross my arms and lean against the door. Two fighters pound it out behind the cage in the center of the room, neither of whom I recognize. I count it as a blessing and move on. If I don’t know them, then I don’t have to worry about their faces getting smashed in, or worse.

What the hell was Tobias thinking?
Scratch that. I know exactly what he was thinking. I didn’t fall in love with him because of his scars. I don’t lust over his bruises and scratches. I take no comfort in lying awake at night, praying with each passing second that his internal bleeding isn’t so bad that he’ll fall into a coma and die because he refuses to seek help for his injuries. I didn’t fall in love with
Tobias the Untouchable
. He’s absolutely wrong about that.

Right?

“Is Tobias okay?”

I glance up to find the other freshman Dames flanked at both of my shoulders. “Yeah…” I answer through my teeth. “He’ll be just
fine
.”

They both let out deep exhales of relief. The one to my left extends her hand to me. “I’m Lisa, from Jefferson City,” she says with a perky voice to match her bouncing, brunette pigtails.

“Claire,” I greet. As I reach out, I realize there’s a line of dried blood on my hand and pause. “Sorry…” I mutter, pulling my hand away.

She laughs. “That happens a lot around here! Don’t sweat it.”

The other girl chuckles and smiles at me with big teeth. “I’m Kimi from Springfield,” she announces. Her eyes quickly bounce back to the ring, where a fighter with dark tan skin falls to the mat and rolls away fast to avoid the other’s knee to their jaw. “Dammit, Lisa…” she seethes, showing sudden anger in her eyes. “Your boy is
fierce
.”

“I told you!” Lisa chuckles. “My guys are going to destroy yours this season, just you watch.” She pauses and looks back at me. “Although, now that the
Alpha
is back in, I’m not so sure.”

“He’s not the
Alpha
anymore,” Kimi points out. “We all just might have to bow down to the new one.”

“You know him, right?” Lisa asks me.

I nod. “He’s my stepbrother.”

“No shit?” Kimi asks. “He’s not bad looking for a white boy…” She bats her big, brown eyes in his direction across the arena. He’s not glancing this way, of course, but that’s not about to stop the fantasy in her head.

I stare at Rick while the other girls continue chatting away, placing their bets on who will win and who will lose tonight. I realize I should be doing the same, but I honestly don’t have the mental capacity for it right now.

I thought Rick was out of my life for good, but somehow, he’s managed to weasel his way back inside. One thing is certain; he’s taking his place in the Midwest Alphas seriously. He’s larger and stronger than I’ve ever seen him. He’s trained for this, but it can’t be all because of the underground fame and glory the other fighters get involved for. I watch him as he stares up at the ring, his eyes locked on the intense fight in progress. Just like Tobias, he’s not here to socialize. He’s not here to take selfies with his adoring fans. He’s standing still with his arms crossed, obscuring the large, embroidered gym logo on his sweatshirt. He’s learning, taking in as much knowledge of his competition as possible in case he finds himself alone in the ring with them.

“Claire…”

Lisa and Kimi fall silent as Lillian’s deep tone carries above the call of the wild hoard. She stands above us with her thick-heeled boots and long legs, commanding the respect that she no doubt deserves.

“Yes, ma’am?” I say, letting my crossed arms fall to my side.

“I may have underestimated you,” she says, ignoring the other girls standing around me.

“Why?” I ask.

“You brought the
Alpha
back after all,” she winks.

I waste no time in arguing against it. “I had nothing to do with that—”

“You had
everything
to do with that,” she interrupts her eyes glazing me up and down. “Love is very powerful motivator. Don’t sell yourself short. I know I won’t anymore…”

She spins around and disappears into the crowd as quickly as she appeared. I hold back my anger. I’m not sure if I’m more upset at her for thinking so, or at Tobias for being correct in his assumption that she’ll give me credit for the whole damn thing.

“She talked to you…” Lisa says, practically star struck in Lillian’s presence. “You’re so lucky!”

“Dammit!”
Kimi calls out again, enraged by the fight unfolding. “My guy just tapped out!”

Lisa cracks her knuckles. “Looks like that’s two wins tonight for Jefferson City and two losses for Springfield!”

“It’s because of those
damn
Double Ex Kings…” Kimi growls. “They took all the good talent in Southern Missouri and left us scraps.”

My eyes bounce around the crowd until they fall on the black hooded sweater in the far corner. I can see Ryan’s nose poking out from beneath the dark hood, along with the edges of his chin as it wags back and forth. I shift over to see he’s talking with Amy. She stares at him with soft eyes, obviously and undeniably infatuated with him.

Lillian climbs into the ring and holds up her hands to silence the crowd. “That’s a solid win for that barbaric little monster!” she announces, pointing to the man from Jefferson City. “I think that’s what I’ll call you.
Keith the Barbarian.
The sounds menacing, right?” Her audience laughs and she lets them scream for him before finally raising a long finger to her lips. “We’ve come to the final fight of the night, everybody!” They let out an adorable boo and Lillian plays with them by wiping away a fake tear off her pale, alabaster cheek. “This one brings us full circle, ladies and gentlemen. At the start of the night, our
Alpha
was dethroned and
now
… he must fight again to stay in the tournament.”

I push myself off the door and watch as Tobias climbs into the ring to stand next to her. His skin, deeply red and bruised under the bright lights, stands out more than ever. I wasn’t expecting this, although I’m not exactly surprised. Of course she’ll make Tobias fight again tonight. When Rick beat Tobias, he was safe from elimination until next week’s match.

Tobias was not.

“Looks like your boy is taking on mine!” Lisa smirks with a quick tap on my shoulder. “Good luck. We’re undefeated so far tonight and you’ve already lost two of your boys.”

“Which ones?” I ask.

“Sam and Mike.”

I curse under my breath. So much for choosing the best line-up of fighters.

I grit my teeth and watch as Lillian invites the fighter from Jefferson City onto the stage. “Tobias…” she smiles. “You remember
Burt the Brute
?”

Of course I remember Burt. The first night I saw Tobias fight, he fought against
Burt the Brute
. Burt went down fast,
embarrassingly
fast. Tobias also made an example of him in public when he confronted him about the bruises on Amy’s face. I’d imagine Burt believes he has a score to settle with Tobias Eastwood and it won’t matter to him at all that Tobias isn’t at his best.

Burt looks down Tobias’ body and a grin slowly spreads across his small, smushed face. His laughter rattles my bones. “You look handsome as ever, pretty boy…” I hear him shout across the ring. I roll my hands into white-knuckle fists, clenching them hard until I can no longer take the pain of my nails driving into my palms.