Frank shoved me into the backseat of a different SUV and walked around the opposite way to sit next to me. His smell was becoming putrid to me. Silva slid into the passenger seat and Kaz began to drive. I knew we were making our way to an underground fight and I didn't have a doubt in my mind that Lucas would be waiting, preparing himself to fight to -possibly-the death for me.

I closed my eyes for a moment as the wobbly driving made my head woozy. Or maybe it was the fact that I was about to watch Lucas get into another fight with Silva. Only this time, Silva was brimming with fierce anger. I could feel it in the car. He said absolutely nothing but the anger was radiating off of him.

The rest of the ride was completely silent. If I wasn't so quickly losing blood from my head, I would have started up a friendly conversation just to fill in the gaps. Hey, Kaz, ever try to make cinnamon glaze pancakes? If you let me go, I'll drop some off at your place. The words stuck at the back of my throat.

Kaz parked the car in the back of an alley and all four of us emerged. Kaz walked next to me into a sketchy looking, old building.

He turned to me discreetly and warned, "Whatever you do, don't talk."

My eyes widened but I nodded nevertheless. I trained my eyes forward as we walked into the building that looked like a rundown bar and saw a crowd of tattooed, burly men hanging around, smoking and drinking. I looked to the edges of the room where some women were lying on their backs on pool tables as men lay on top, pounding into them. Sex or abuse? I couldn't tell, honestly. It looked like both. I repeated the mantra Don't talk. Don't talk. Don't talk.

I found myself inching towards Kaz because he was my safest option in this room. And that said a lot. At least he didn't run me down in his truck.

Silva sat at a table at the far end of the room and a girl wearing a slinky outfit placed a bottle of scotch and some glasses in front of him. She poured out a drink for him and scampered away.

He took a swig from the glass and let out a loud, "Ah!" Before gesturing for us to sit down.

Frank was the first to plop his blubbering body into the rickety chair nearest to Silva, grabbing a glass for himself and downing the liquid, gulping loudly.

Kaz gently tugged on my arm so I knew I should sit down. My leg was about to give way so I was glad to have somewhere to rest. Kaz grabbed a glass and downed the alcohol himself before offering me a cup. I frowned, shaking my head at him. I wasn't here to be drinking buddies with these men.

Silva pulled out a cigarette, sheltering one hand around the object while he lit it with the other. He took a long drag and let out the smoke slowly in my direction. I turned my head away in disgust at the smell.

Silva raised an eyebrow, "Want a drag?" He held the cigarette over to me, twirling it in his fingers as he waited.

I shook my head, "No." Kaz nudged me under the table. "Thanks," I added as an afterthought.

He shrugged and continued smoking, not caring to blow the smoke into any other direction other than directly in my face.

Silva eyed me up and down slowly and I gulped as I edged a little closer to Kaz, his gaze making me extremely uncomfortable.

"What do you say we take a swing at the pool tables at the back?" Silva asked with a smirk set on his tattooed face.

I shuddered at the idea and I was about to tell him where he could shove his smirk when I felt Kaz's hand touch my knee momentarily. I remembered his warning: Don't talk. So I bit the inside of my cheek as hard as I could to prevent my mouth from spitting out what I wanted to say.

"Too bad for the busted leg and bleeding head," Kaz stated nonchalantly. So nonchalantly that if I wasn't privy to the conversation, I'd have thought they were talking about the weather. Not my rape.

Frank laughed, "That ever stop a man before?"

Kaz shrugged, "Definitely makes the experience less enjoyable when half the party is knocked out."

I began to chew viciously at the inside of my cheek, drawing blood as I did so.

Silva leaned forward slightly, his cigarette breath fanning across my face. "Hm. What do you say? Can I lay you across a table? Slowly remove your clothes?" He used his hand to reach for my arm, tugging me closer to him as his fingers travelled up and down my arm.

Kaz's hand gave me what I could only consider as a warning grip on my knee.

After a moment Silva withdrew his hand and chuckled, "She seems too timid for my taste anyway. Kind of surprising. I thought you had more spunk in you than that."

"When are we meeting for the fight?" Kaz skillfully changed the subject and for that I was forever grateful.

"We should head out now. See what your boyfriend thinks you're worth." Silva stood up and took a last swig from his glass before walking out the back exit of the bar.

Frank followed suit and Kaz remained next to me helping me up. My body now shaking for more reasons than just my physical state.

Before we exited the doors Kaz whispered, "He likes women who fight him. Whatever you do now, don't goad him on. It doesn't work with him, Emily."

I nodded meekly. I didn't have the energy to fight anyone now. I felt like I was going to pass out. My leg was aching and my head was throbbing.

We walked in the alleyway before reaching a crowd of people. The crowd was familiar but it was much larger than normal.

Kaz pushed his way through the crowd and I limped behind him as he kept a hand lightly on my wrist. It was either to make sure I didn't run away or so that I didn't get lost in the crowd. I wasn't in a place to fight it.

We reached the metal cage and I felt a jolt of relief as I saw Lucas's strong form standing there. His face was fiercer than I'd ever seen it. His muscles were rigid. His back was staunchly set. He was scanning the crowd fervently until his gaze met mine. His eyes softened and his face looked wracked with emotion. I wanted nothing more than to run into his arms at this moment.

He began to sprint towards me but Silva intercepted with a tut, "You stay in your cage."

Lucas's face was beyond livid. He was shaking with anger. I could tell he wanted to kill the man that stood a few feet away from him.

Silva came up to me, "Wish me luck?"

Screw being meek. I spat in his face.

He wiped his cheek with the back of his hand before guffawing loudly, "There she is! I knew I should have fucked you on that pool table."

Silva skipped into the ring and I braced myself for another fight.

Lucas held onto the metal caging as he gazed at me, "Are you okay?" He mouthed to me.

I nodded weakly in return, my leg losing some feeling.

"I love you. I'll fight for you," he stated passionately and I could hear him even over the crowd. His expression looked worried, but I wasn't sure if it was because of me or because of his fight. What happened to me if he lost? I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"I love you," I murmured in return as Lucas turned around to face his opponent once again.

~~~~

I know I said this was going to be the last chapter but Silva just wouldn't shut up. Blame it all on him.