Chapter Twenty

 

Dominic

 

Two fights down, one more to go. The pit was more packed this weekend, and with that more money.

“Cadoc wasn’t here for his fight. Where do you think he is?” Marco asked.

I’d wondered the same damn thing. With Faith being with Reed and secured on the top floor, there was no way Cadoc could get to her. That meant he was somewhere else. “I don’t know,” I huffed. That fucker always made a point to talk to me. I thought maybe I just hadn’t seen him, but when his fighter won, one of his nephews accepted the money on his behalf.

It was time for my house to fight. Taylor took his place in the ring along with the Rossi fighter. From the look of determination on the Rossi fighter’s face, it wasn’t going to be an easy win for Taylor. Micah rung the bell and the fight was on.

Marco nudged me with his elbow. “There’s the cocksucker now.” He pointed toward the door and in walked Cadoc with his nephew, William. Cadoc searched around the room and I had a feeling he was looking for me. William found me first and got Cadoc’s attention.

“Here we go,” I growled. “Let’s see what the bastard wants.” I had yet to find out what Cadoc wanted to discuss in our meeting, but I knew it wouldn’t be anything in my favor.

Cadoc made his way through the crowd toward mine and Marco’s private table. He stepped up to us, giving me that permanent eat shit grin he always had on his face. “You missed your fight,” I called out.

Cadoc shrugged. “Had some business I needed to take care of.”

William smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Corsino. What’s it been, two years?”

William was a cunt just like the rest of the Cartwrights. “Something like that,” I replied, not giving him another second of my time. I focused back on Cadoc. “I hear you want a meeting with me.”

Cadoc sat down and William followed suit. “I do,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “And not just you, but the other families, as well.”

That caught me off guard. “What are you up to?”

Cadoc and William smirked at each other, and then at me. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise,” Cadoc replied. “I’ll see you Wednesday at noon at The River Bistro. You can bring Faith if you’d like. I hear she loves a good restaurant.”

Anger boiled in my veins. I fisted my hand and pounded it down on the table. “I’m warning you, Cartwright. Leave her out of this.”

William leaned toward me, challenging me. “Or what? She might decide she wants something better. I, for one, would love to get a taste of her. She won’t be able to resist.”

It took all I had not to slam his head against the table. “Try it and you’ll find yourself with a bullet in your head.”

Cadoc placed his hand on William’s shoulder and they both stood. “That’s enough you two. Let’s go.”

They walked over to the Kazakov table and my body shook with rage. I was wrong. It wasn’t Cadoc who wanted Faith; it was William. I’d kill him in a heartbeat if he touched her.

“Calm down, son,” Marco warned. “He’s not getting anywhere near Faith.”

“I know,” I growled, watching Cadoc and William take a seat at the Kazakov table. The other families hated the Cartwrights just as much as we did, especially judging by the annoyed look on Viktor Kazakov’s face when Cadoc sat down at this table. “I don’t like them thinking about her.”

Marco squeezed my shoulder. “Keep your head on straight, Dominic. You can’t let anger cloud your judgment.” He leaned in close. “You have two FBI assassins at your disposal right now. Surely, Cadoc Cartwright is one of their targets.”

Shaking my head, I watched Cadoc make his rounds to the other families. “Unfortunately, no. Cadoc’s smart. My father was the only one the FBI wanted, but he made sure to end it before they could.” Cadoc manipulated people into giving him what he wanted. My father loved to kill people to show his power. As much as I wanted to resort to that, I couldn’t. Faith would never forgive me.

Marco huffed and sat back in his chair. “Guess we’ll find out what he wants on Wednesday.” Yes, we would. Until then, I planned on keeping Faith away from the city. The further away she was from Cartwrights the better.

The first three rounds of the fight were brutal but I could barely focus on it. My interest was on Cadoc and how he strolled around the pit talking to each of the families like he owned the place. He was too confident and I didn’t like it.

The screaming of the crowd brought my attention back to the fight. Taylor had his arms in the air with the Rossi fighter knocked out on the mat. Marco patted my shoulder and laughed. “Another win. We need to celebrate. Maybe it’ll get your mind off that cunt Cartwright.”

I shook my head and stood. “You go. Take our cut and disburse it between the guys. There’s somewhere else I need to be.” People congratulated me as I walked past, but all I could think about was the Cartwrights getting their hands on Faith. The things I thought were important suddenly wasn’t. The game had changed and I was ready for it to end.