Page 5 of The Game

He didn’t budge. “No name, no call down to the boss.”

I held in annoyance. “Malachi Hunan.”

He appraised me then let me inside, retreating to the desk where he made a call to someone. He came back to me. “Nice fight on Friday, Warrior.”

I propped up the wall and ignored him.

I never used to be an arrogant fuck, but I’d cultivated it like armour. Just like I’d learned to defend myself from those who would’ve done me harm as a lad.

The inner door opened, and another man appeared, this guy with a skeleton bandanna tied around his lower face. Instantly, I stood to my full six-five height.

He jerked his head. “Hunan, follow me.”

We travelled up a set of steps and through a darkened corridor, the faint scent reaching me of alcohol, cleaning products, and whatever fucking chemicals made the smoke they used in their nightclub. I’d been there once or twice, and in the strip club, though women taking their clothes off for money did nothing for me.

I’d visited because I’d heard the rumours about this place. About Arran Daniels who owned the building and operated the game that had caught my attention. Fuck, even imagining chasing down and claiming a woman had the side effect of making me hard. I needed to know everything.

We arrived at the closed door of an office. From the shelf, my escort handed me an iPad and a stylus.

“Read that while you wait. At the end of your meeting, sign it if you still want in.”

I squinted at the legal terms I’d never be able to work out. “Can’t I go in now?”

“Someone else is already being interviewed. Your turn after they’ve left.”

He stepped back and took a watchman’s position. I glared down the office door. Though I didn’t know the finer details of the game, what I’d heard had primed me. I’d be in competition with a big group of men. I’d have to fight to make my claim.

I’d win a lass who had every chance of being as obsessed with me as I’d let myself be with her.

So long as no one else got in my way.

Adrenaline bristled through me. One-on-one in a ring, I could take a man down in a single round. But in a mass brawl, I’d have to go out swinging. I’d need to use every bit of strength and cunning I possessed. Including intimidating them before the game even began.

Once the door ahead of me opened, I’d get first sight of one of my competitors.

And he’d see me.

Under my very gaze, the handle twisted. The door swung inwards. My muscles bunched, and my heart pounded, readying me to lay it on thick.

But it was a woman who appeared in the frame. Tall and elegant, she had a phone clutched to her ear and auburn hair up in a tidy bun that I immediately wanted to mess up. I catalogued her features. Slender legs and a tight waist. Her arms were bare of tattoos and her pencil skirt and white blouse pristine. No piercings. Barely any make-up. Shy-looking. A world away from the type of woman I was usually around in my arena of fights and training.

A goddamned angel.

Still talking to whoever else was inside, she said in a panicked rush, “So sorry. This is such bad timing. I’m on call for emergencies and I have to get back to the hospital.”

Fuck, her voice was soft. It shot lust to my dick as if she’d slid one of her hands around it.

“We can continue the appointment over the phone,” a man inside replied.

She gave a hasty nod then turned.

Our gazes collided.

A sucker punch of attraction almost floored me. If it did the same to her, she didn’t wait around to say. With a hitched breath and a flurry of heel clicks, my angel was gone.

“Mr Hunan, come on in,” the voice inside ordered me.

For a beat, I stared in the direction the lass had gone, inundated with the strongest urge to chase her down here and now. My dick begged me to move. My brain told me I’d be arrested if I tried.

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