Page 27 of Splintered Desire

Isaac isn’t wrong, but the urge to tell him to get fucked is strong, nonetheless.

“Speaking of Zela, when was the last time we saw her today?” I direct the question to Isaac, and Jace seems more than happy to turn his attention back to the pit in anticipation of Vixen’s fight.

I won’t lie; I hope she’s at the very least left standing after her fight with Tank, but it’s not likely.

Tank is the best of the best; has been for years. But more than that, Tank has something to lose; he’s not just our best fighter in the ring but outside of it as well.

If he wants to pay back his debts, he knows better than to lose, and if that means him mangling a pretty little girl to do it, he will. I have no doubt about that.

Once upon a time, I would have never dared to pair them. I wanted Vixen as much, if not more, than Jace did, but something shifted in the last few weeks.

Someone changed something.

Our new ‘little sister’ has been filling my mind in every free moment I have to the point that I don’t have a free moment to think of Vixen outside of business.

I didn’t want to want her. I’d planned to keep my distance as much as I could, but she made that impossible. Zela defies me at every turn, openly and unafraid.

I’m not sure if I enjoy her backbone or want to fucking break it, but I know I need to do something.

That something might just be her.

“She left the house around five this morning with a duffel bag out the back door.” Isaac’s voice pulls me from my musing before it can get too deep. I growl in frustration, both at his words and his interruption.

“Where, oh where, could our little sis be going so early?” Jace singsongs as he moves back to his chair and collapses into it.

“Stop calling her that.” I hiss through clenched teeth, glaring at him. Most people can’t meet my gaze half the time, let alone when I’m angry, but not my brothers. Neither of the stupid fuckers is afraid of me despite knowing exactly the kind of monster I really am. I guess when we match, it’s not as hard to swallow the truth.

“You know, at first I thought you didn’t like me calling her that because you hated her, but now I’m starting to think it might be something else.” He raises a brow at me before thrusting his hips up off the chair, his lip trapped under his teeth as he gives me his best ‘bedroom eyes.’

I scoff and push to my feet, moving down the stairs before I even know where I’m going. Jace is right, and that pisses me off more than Zela’s continuous ability to evade us and her lack of fear of the consequences.

“I have an idea when you're ready to hear it,” Jace shouts after me, but I don’t stop, don’t even waste the time to flip him off the way I usually would.

I’m sure his sick little mind has plenty of ways to break her, and I might very well come back to this conversation later. But as for now, I want the chance. I want to find her and teach her a lesson she won’t soon forget.

Isn’t that what brothers are for?

Getting away is harder every week. Thankfully, Reed is always here early and lets me in, so I didn’t have to wander around for hours waiting. Isaac said he went looking for me at the school, which means I can’t afford to linger anywhere and risk being caught.

Today, I’d been so close to confiding in him, telling him what I’m dealing with in hopes that he’d help me. But that’s not fair to him. My brothers are his bosses, and asking him to lie to them for me isn’t only stupid; it’s wrong.

Besides, it’s not like he owes me a damn thing; he already does more for me than I deserve, if you ask me. More than most anyone else does, not since…

No.

I need to get my shit together, and thoughts of him won’t do that; they’ll do the exact opposite.

Stashing my schoolbooks away, I strip down to my shorts and sports bra and head to the little gym to work through all these stupid-ass emotions. There are still hours before the fights start, but I need to center myself, get my head on straight, and the only way I know to do that is physically.

Maybe I can even get Reed to hold the pads for a few rounds.

The day feels never-ending as I make my way back to my little locker room to collect my things. I’ve been up too long, running on adrenaline and caffeine, and I don’t see an end to it coming anytime soon.

Not with me giving them the slip again or my run-in with Jace.

I gulp down my water as I push open the doors, only to come to a grinding halt and nearly choke.

“You know, I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Foxy,” Jace says, without looking up as I walk back into the room that’s supposed to be only for the fighters. I’m not surprised to find him here, considering they own the place. What is surprising is that he’s here with some girl on her knees sucking his dick, and he doesn’t seem to notice.