One Night of Sin(16)

“And before you assume the worst, I said no. They kept poking and prodding, using that peer pressure bullshit, bringing up old times. I stood my ground, told them I was sober now, and they left.”

Other people might have felt a burst of pride that Denny had resisted temptation, but not Gage. It was too late for pride. Denny could be clean for the next fifty years of his life, and it still wouldn’t erase all the shit he’d put Gage through.

“I think they were trying to knock me off the wagon.” Denny sounded sad, broken even.

“Why would anyone do that?” Skyler blurted out. “Deliberately try to tempt an addict—you are an addict, right?” When Denny nodded, her eyes flashed with anger. “That’s just cruel.”

“That’s Mitch for you,” Gage’s brother muttered.

“Who’s Mitch?” Her tentative question lingered in the air, spurring Denny to glance at Gage in surprise.

“She doesn’t know?”

He shrugged.

“Any of it?” Denny prompted.

“We only recently met,” Gage said gruffly. “I hadn’t gotten around to it.”

He felt her watching him but couldn’t bring himself to look at her. His jaw had clenched so tight his molars ached. Fuck. Bringing Skyler had been a mistake. He should have followed his instincts and stuck to his guns, damn it. He didn’t want her here. He didn’t want her involved.

Unfortunately, his brother took it upon himself to involve her. “Mitch O’Donnell runs the drug game in Southie,” Denny said grimly. “I used to deal for him.”

“Oh.”

Gage swallowed his rage. He hated that Skyler had to hear any of this. Hell, he could practically see his darkness oozing toward her like a puddle of black tar. He should’ve known better than to show her this part of his life.

“He’s also a fight promoter and part owner of the arena where Gage fights,” Denny added.

Skyler wrinkled her brow as she turned to Gage. “You fight for a drug dealer?”

He sighed. “O’Donnell is a respectable business owner on paper. And I don’t fight for him. I’m just repaying a debt.”

“My debt,” Denny supplied in a sour voice. “I messed up, and now Gage is paying the price.”

Skyler’s confusion seemed to heighten. “What did you do?”

Gage took an abrupt step toward the doorway. “We should go. Denny, thanks for giving me the heads-up about—”

“I stole from Mitch,” Denny cut in, focused wholly on Skyler. “I was a pathetic junkie and I smoked a shipment instead of selling it. And when you steal from O’Donnell, you don’t get a slap on the wrist. You get cement shoes at the bottom of the harbor.”

She looked alarmed. “He threatened you?”

“Of course.” Denny’s voice cracked. “But Gage struck a deal for me.”

He felt those big blue eyes on his face again. “He’s making you fight?” Skyler said in horror.

Frustration climbed up his chest and curled around his throat like a cold fist. “It’s not a big deal, Sky.” Christ, he needed to get out of here.

“Gage, it is a big deal.”

“I’ve got one fight left and then I’m done.” He spared a glance at his brother. “And then we’re done.”

“I know.”

Denny’s expression was so tormented he had to look away. Lord, he couldn’t breathe all of a sudden. And his hands felt like icy blocks.

“I’ll handle Mitch, okay?” Gage muttered. “But you realize what he’s trying to do, right?”

“He wants you to keep fighting for him,” Denny said flatly.

“Not gonna happen. But as a precaution I think you should leave town for a couple weeks. Normally I’d suggest laying low here in the city, but Mitch will just send someone to find you again. He’ll try to use you against me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m actually leaving for Maine the day after tomorrow. My girlfriend’s family has a house on the coast. We’re spending the month there.”

“Girlfriend?” It was almost depressing how little knowledge he had about his own brother’s life.

“Yeah. Maggie.” Denny’s eyes softened. “We met after I got out of rehab. She’s a middle-school teacher.”

Gage just nodded.

“I’ll leave you a number where you can reach me. I don’t have my old cell anymore, and I haven’t gotten a new one yet.”

With another curt nod, Gage headed for the door. It took a second to realize Skyler hadn’t followed, and he turned to find her giving Denny a quick hug. “Be careful,” he heard her murmur. “And stay strong, okay?”

Even though it grated to see her reassure a man who didn’t deserve it, Gage couldn’t fault her for it. The woman was a goddamn saint. He’d known it from the moment he met her.

“Gage.”

His brother’s voice stopped him at the door. “What?” he mumbled, turning to face Denny.

“I really am sorry. And I meant what I said three months ago. I will make this up to you.” An awkward pause followed. “I’ll prove to you that you can trust me.”

After a beat, he stiffly turned away from Denny’s sad gray eyes. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

…

“I still feel like we should have stayed. What if those guys come back?” Biting her bottom lip, Skyler glanced at Gage in concern, but his hard gaze remained focused on the road ahead.

“They won’t. Mitch was just testing the waters, trying to get a sense of Denny’s state of mind. He probably thought he could use Denny again to extend our arrangement, but now that he knows Denny can’t be pushed off the wagon, he’ll back off.”

Despite the reassurance, Skyler’s mild concern mutated into bone-deep worry. God, she hated, hated the thought of Gage putting his own life on the line for a mistake he hadn’t even made.

“How many fights did you commit to?” she asked.

“Ten.”

The response sent a jolt of anger spiraling through her, the volatile emotion directed solely at Gage’s brother. Yes, Denny had looked and sounded repentant, but as the weight of his actions suddenly sank in, Skyler couldn’t muster up any more sympathy. “Your brother should have taken responsibility for his own mistake.”

“It’s not that simple.”

She knew she sounded callous, but the realization that Gage was in physical danger because of his brother was too damn maddening. Besides, she’d always been a big believer in facing the consequences of your own actions.

“If a drug dealer wants to hurt him, then that’s his problem. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten involved with the drug dealer to begin with.”

“Not hurt,” Gage corrected, “Kill. O’Donnell and his crew don’t mess around, Skyler. They would’ve slit Denny’s throat and dumped his body in the river, make no mistake about it. He didn’t have the cash to pay them back, and he couldn’t have worked off the debt—a junkie drug dealer can’t be trusted. If Denny had been anyone else, Mitch would’ve killed him in a heartbeat, but Denny happens to be my brother, and Mitch has been dying to have some leverage over me.”

“So he spared your brother’s life just to get you to fight?”

“Pretty much. There’s a lot of money in MMA tournaments these days, especially if you’re good. And I’m good.”

She didn’t doubt it. Heck, she’d seen him knock a man unconscious with one punch tonight.

“Mitch and I grew up together, and he was pissed when I didn’t want to go into the drug business with him. He approached me when I first started fighting—he wanted to be my manager and hook me up with his trainer. When I turned him down, he didn’t like it one damn bit. So after Denny screwed up, Mitch had me right where he wanted me.”

It occurred to her that this was the most Gage had said to her at one time. No bare-minimum responses tonight, no attempt to hide the pain in his eyes. Seeing his brother had obviously upset him more than he’d let on.

“You’ve cleaned up a lot of Denny’s messes, haven’t you?” she said quietly.

His defeated nod brought an ache to her heart. “I’m just a regular old janitor. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve had to drag him out of the gutter. Dozens of ER visits, four ODs. I’ve cleaned up his vomit, wiped up his blood, stitched up his wounds.” Gage shook his head in visible disgust. “I tried to talk him out of going to work for Mitch, but Denny is a stubborn asshole and wouldn’t listen. But I’m done now. I promised myself that after I paid off his debt, I would never bail him out again. He’s on his own now.”

Skyler reached across the center console and touched his hand over the gearshift. She was beginning to understand where all his guarded intensity stemmed from, why he kept his emotions under lock and key and refused to speak about his past. Clearly he’d lived a hard life, sacrificing much of it for his younger brother.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” His abrupt apology startled her, and when he gave her a sideways glance, the shamed expression on his face stunned her even more. “I know I was harsh on him, but there’s no goodwill left in me anymore. I must have come off as an asshole, though, and I’m sorry.”