“I still can,” I snapped back. “Maybe I should cut off his dick and see how he likes that.” The guy whimpered and I smacked him across the head. “Shut the fuck up! Hope you enjoy being raped and mutilated in prison because that’s exactly what you’re going to get.”
Mason drove us to the station and I happily tossed the fucker through the front door. If he didn’t get out of my sight immediately, it wasn’t going to be long before I did something I’d regret.
Mason slapped a hand on my shoulder and pulled me to the side. “Dude, you need to calm the fuck down. I know the guy deserves to get the shit beat out of him, but one more knock to the head could kill him. His punishment isn’t done, believe me. Now go outside and calm down. I got this.”
Once we were done at the station, we headed back to the hotel to pack our stuff. We’d been in Texas for a week, and during that time, I’d gotten one message from Hadley. I couldn’t stop replaying it over in my mind. What made it worse was, she wouldn’t return my calls.
“Still haven’t heard from her?” Mason asked.
Clenching my teeth, I shoved the rest of my clothes into my duffle. “Nope. But I’ve seen a lot of pictures of her and her boyfriend floating around the internet.”
Mason finished packing and sat down on his bed. “I thought she wasn’t dating him.”
I huffed. “That’s what she said, but every time I search for her on the internet, there’s a new picture of them together. It pisses me the fuck off.”
“What did her message say? You never told me.”
I signed into my voicemail and clicked on her message. “Here you go.” I tossed him the phone. It was on speaker, so I could listen to it again. I guess I loved punishing myself.
“Hey, Blake, it’s me. I got home safely and it’s been nothing but craziness since I got back. So . . . on the way home, I did some thinking. As much as I love you, I just fear that by being with me it’ll hold you back. If you’re seen with me and people find out who you are, you can’t exactly do your undercover work anymore.”
She paused and cleared her throat, her voice shaky when she spoke again. “I’m not going to ask you to give that up for me. I won’t. I love you so much, but if I have to let you go, I will. I’ll do it for you.”
Mason blew out a long breath. “She has a point. If you go to her, I don’t see how you could keep up this life. Are you ready to do that?”
“You didn’t give it up. You’re an MMA legend and still doing this work. How come you can have the best of both worlds?”
He slapped me on the back and handed me my phone. “Because I’m good at what I do, just like you. But think about it, I can’t go undercover anymore. And your face would be in the news all of the time. You’d be relegated to more of a desk job. It’s something I’m sure you could pull off, but that’s up to you if it’s worth it.”
Grabbing my bag, I headed for the door. “You’re right. And I know exactly what to do.” As I ran down the hall, I dialed Hadley’s number. It wasn’t a surprise when she didn’t answer the phone. Beep.
“I don’t know why you’re not answering my calls, but you will listen to what I have to say, even if I have to rope you in, like I did before. I choose you, Hadley. As long as I have you, nothing else matters. If you don’t want me, that’s fine, but I want you to say it to my face. I’ll be with you soon.”
Hadley
“Hey, babe. What are you doing out here?” Nick asked, elbowing me in the side.
The party was so loud, I’d went outside to catch a break and then realized I’d missed a call from Blake. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but they were happy tears.
“I needed some fresh air.” Which was true, but I also wanted to listen to Blake’s message. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
“Why are you crying then? Is there something you want to talk about?”