***
“Holy shit!” Brent clamps a hand over his mouth.
“Is he dead?” Evans gasps in horror.
Two in-house paramedics rush into the cage. One of them checks for a pulse on the fighter’s neck. The audience falls into an eerie silence as we wait. My heart thunders against my chest, nerves spiking in anticipation. What if Jax did kill that guy? It would be unbelievably tragic—
But at least he’ll end up in jail.
That’s better than any kind of revenge that I’d ever come up with. And the best part is I wouldn’t even have to do a single thing.
No, Sienna. You’re sick. You want him dead just so yourex can go to prison? What kind of person does that make you?
I suppress a shudder at those twisted, corrupted thoughts. Purging them from my mind, I shove my attention back to the paramedics, waiting impatiently for any kind of signal from them. And I’m not the only one; it feels like every person in this basement is holding their breath for a good outcome.
Finally, the paramedic raises a thumbs-up. A wave of relief sweeps through the crowd.
Jax spins in Kayden’s direction. He points to the limp body then to Kayden, and grins maliciously, as if saying That’s gonna be you soon.
I whirl around to find Kayden’s expression going completely rigid. He shoves his way out of the crowd and disappears in the direction of the exit. I follow him, matching his pace so I don’t lose sight of him, and when I’m out of the gym, I find Kayden pacing back and forth on the sidewalk anxiously.
“Kayden.” I step into his path and hold him steady, clutching his shoulders. “Kayden, calm down.”
He pushes my arms away in frustration, raising his hands to cup the sides of his head. “I can’t beat him, Sienna.
I can’t. Did you not see what just happened?”
“Yes, I did,” I say. “But you’ll be fine. You won against Lee.”
“Yeah. Barely. I made some sloppy mistakes in there,”
Kayden says, his throat clogging up. The vein in his forehead pulses when he squeezes his eyes shut. “I just couldn’t focus.”
“Why?”
His eyes slowly peel open. They are now bright with tenderness as they roam my face. “You know why.”
I step back, swallowing hard. I guess I do.
This has to end. Get him to focus, Sienna!
“Okay, listen to me,” I snap. “This is exactly what Jax wants: for you to get scared. Let’s not give him the satisfaction. I have faith in you. But you need to have faith in yourself, otherwise it won’t work and this deal will be for nothing.”
Kayden doesn’t answer.
He devours my eyes with his own, wanting badly to believe me, but it just doesn’t quite reach him. I know him enough by now to anticipate that when he’s in doubt, he retreats. He’s going to go back to his hiding spot and shut me out.
I’ll be damned if I let him do that to me again.
I’m not giving up on him. Not now, not ever.
“You’re stronger than that, Kayden. And you. Can. Do.
This,” I say, pinning his eyes with distinct focus. “You’re not going down without a fight. I won’t let you. Okay? Everyone’s out there fighting for something. You must be too. What are you fighting for? Who are you fighting for?”
His expression falters. “Sienna . . .”
His body stiffens in discomfort, denoting a sore topic, and I know better than to push him. In the end, I decide to drop it. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. But at least let me ask you this: Is it still worth fighting for?”