Page 62 of Defending Mateo
The fight began.
And as he dodged the fist flying toward his face, ducked and weaved, and delivered a blow of his own, he slipped into the zone. Remain light on his feet, evade blows, and destroy the manstanding before him. He didn't know what had led the man to underground fighting, and he didn't care.
All he cared about was winning this fight to get one step closer to saving his girl.
Chapter
Twenty
August 22nd
10:12 P.M.
Ally winced as a fist slammed into Mateo’s gut.
Even though she was sitting twenty or so feet away from the ring, and there was no way she could hear the grunt she was sure had fallen from his lips over the roar of the crowd, she was certain she did, in fact, hear it.
Almost felt an echo of his pain.
Here she was, sitting safe and sound, whole and unhurt, while he was quite literally fighting for her. Fighting for her freedom and her life. Taking physical blows after already being beaten because he’d come after her.
As he weaved to the side, missing the next blow, and then delivering one of his own to his opponent, she wished he’d never come to Vanuatu to rescue her.
This washerfault that he was in that ring.
If he’d left her to be rescued by the Delta Force team, she never would have been in that beautiful blue water hole, they would have been safely at the airport, waiting on their ridehome. They wouldn't have been captured and returned to Azure, Mateo would still have been safely undercover, and he wouldn't have been putting his body on the line to save them both.
She’d been selfish.
It was stupid to ask for that moment in the blue water. At the time, the hole, surrounded by rock and thick, lush green vegetation, had been so peaceful that she hadn't been able to resist. After the loud chaos of the party and everything she’d had to do there, in addition to the week of hell being kept in a cage in Azure’s basement, she’d needed a moment of tranquility to wash it all away.
But that moment had cost them so much.
“Enjoying the fight,little mouse?” Griffin asked as he trailed a finger down her bare arm, making her shudder.
“Don’t call me that,” she said, a spark of defiance that was so unlike her lighting inside her.
“Isn't that what your boyfriend calls you?” Griffin drawled, not bothering to remove his hand. In fact, he settled it on her thigh, dangerously close to the lacy black panties he’d brought for her to wear.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, somewhat automatically. Not because she didn't love Mateo, or because she didn't want to figure out a way to work through her complicated feelings about the last six months, but because he was so much more than that.
The word boyfriend seemed far too inadequate for the strength of her feelings for Mateo, and for all they’d been through together. He’d taught her so much about herself, about her strengths and weaknesses, about what she wanted out of life. He’d helped her embrace her sexuality, pushed her out of her comfort zone, and shown her what it was like to be truly seen and heard for the first time in her life.
Maybe he’d hurt her more deeply than anyone else ever had, but he’d come after her, putting everything on the line to do so, and now he was fighting in that ring for both of them.
“No? So he’s fighting to pay off a debt and own you, but you don’t even consider him your boyfriend?”
“I don’t,” she said softly, watching Mateo’s every move, willing him to win, not so he could pay off the debt and own her as Griffin put it, but because she didn't want him to hurt anymore.
“What is he then?” Griffin sounded actually intrigued, which was the only reason Ally tore her gaze away from the ring to glance up at the large man. He was a little taller than Mateo, probably coming in at close to six feet six or seven, his white shirt strained across his broad chest, and his rolled-up sleeves showed off toned forearms. With his dark hair, golden brown eyes, scruff on his chiseled jaw, and sculpted body, he was an attractive man.
Well, he would be if he weren't a human trafficker.
She’d always believed that what made people beautiful was what was inside, the outside was just packaging. Sure, maybe a beautiful person could get their foot in the door in jobs, or relationships, but if they didn't have anything but a pretty exterior, in the end, people didn't like them, might use them, but didn't really care about them. Griffin was nice to look at, but the way he treated others made him dirty and disgusting, and she couldn’t wait for Mateo and Prey to topple his organization and bring him crashing down to earth.
“He says he’s trained you just the way he wants you,” Griffin continued when she didn't answer his question. The hand on her thigh drifted closer to the apex of her thighs until his fingers were pressed against her center. Not moving, not stroking, not seeking entrance. Just there. “He might talk a different game, but he sees you as property the same way that I do.”
“No, he doesn’t,” she protested.
