Page 61

CASSIA
Dare and Remy help Crue up. He groans in protest. Jesus. Mace really kicked his ass.
“Guess the party’s over,” Rose says with a sigh, stopping at my side and watching them cart Crue’s battered and bruised body toward the front door.
“He’s going to be in so much pain.”
“Dare has the family doctor on standby,” she says.
I glance at her. “So he knew how it would go?” Do these fights happen often? Did I marry into some sort of fight club?
“Crue can fight, but Mace...” She trails off. “You heard Crue call him Wolf?”
I nod as we start trailing after the men. “I don’t understand the nickname.”
“Mace doesn’t like it. It came from when he used to cage fight.”
Well, that explains how Mace wiped the floor with Crue, but why doesWolfbother him? “Didn’t he get to pick his name, though?”
She grimaces. “I don’t think he had a choice.”
My chest tightens. “What are you saying?”
“It’s probably something he should tell you,” she murmurs, glancing around as we step into the hallway, checking to see if he’s nearby. “But Mace was forced into it when he was younger.”
“What does that mean? As in, his parents made him do it when he was a teenager or...?”
She shakes her head. “His dad did, when he was a kid, Cassia. Like, eight.”
My stomach drops. What sort of monster forces a child to cage fight? Throat dry, I swallow and make sure I didn’t misunderstand her. “His dad forced him to cage fight when he waseight?” The question is barely a whisper. If it’s true, it feels wrong talking about it.
Pursing her lips, she nods. “You should ask him about it sometime, but maybe not tonight.” She smooths her hands down my arms. “Are you okay? Do you want me to stay the night?”
“He doesn’t scare me,” I tell her.Maybe you should be worried,a voice in the back of my mind whispers. The way he shed all his humanity when he was in the zone? Any normal person would be scared of that type of violence. Some twisted part of me likes that he was mad at Crue for flirting with me. “He won’t hurt me.” Without a doubt in my mind, I know that’s true.
“Oh, babe, I know,” she says, shaking her head. “I only meant if you wanted someone to talk to.” Her confidence that I’m safe validates what I’m thinking, and I love the offer of support.
“I’ve cried all the tears I want to cry today,” I tell her. “I was feeling sorry for myself, but I promise I’m okay now.” It’s the truth. I’ve struggled with worse bouts of grief.
She wraps me in her arms. The hug warms my heart. “It’s okay to cry,” she reminds me. “But whatever you do, don’t think you’re alone. We’ll always be family, and like it or not, now you have a husband.”
I squeeze her back and we break apart, heading toward the front door. “Mace is MIA.” There’s no way I’m referring to him as my husband.
“Well, when you find him, tell him I said congratulations.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Whose side are you on?”
“I was talking about the fight,” she says. “But let me know when it’s okay for me to start rooting for you two.”
Humming, I tap my chin. “That’ll be around never o’clock, about not in a million years from now.”
Chuckling, she reaches for the door, but Dare is suddenly there. She makes a noise of surprise, and he grins like the devil, sweeping her into his arms bridal style.
“This isn’t our wedding,” she chastises him.
“Shut up and let me take care of you,” he counters, glancing at me. “Bye, Cassia. Call me if you need me.”
“Will do.” I shut the door and lean against it. The house is quiet. If I didn’t know better, I would think Mace left me here alone. Should I give him space, or should I go find him? What would I even say? I didn’t ask him to defend my honor. Although I don’t know what else was said about me earlier, Dare and Remy seemed to agree that Crue deserved the ass kicking.