Page 70 of Shattered Diamonds

The first round ends, and by the looks of it, the guy she picked, Viper, looks like he is getting his ass beat. I know better. She picked well but she doesn’t know that. My attention is on her when a commotion breaks out on the other side of the ring. I quickly turn to Joseph, snap my fingers and point, telling him to go check it out. I see Luca fly through the crowd from the opposite direction. I stand behind Haven and watch on, not wanting to leave her side unprotected but also knowing I should be over there. It isn’t until I hear someone yell, “Gun!” that I grab her arm and pull her through the crowd. It wouldn’t be the first time there was a side fight while the real fight was happening, and it won’t be the last, but when a shot is fired off and the crowd becomes chaos, I know I have to get Haven to safety. I’m two feet from the office door when I shove her in that direction, yelling for her to go inside and lock the door. She does exactly as I ask. When I see her enter the room and the door slams shut, I push my way through the crowd and head directly into the danger.

When I get to where there is a struggle happening, I see Luca pulverizing some dude. The gun is handed off to Giovanni as Luca rips the bloody guy off the concrete ground. Just as I turn to Joseph and order him to go to the office and check on Haven, some guy comes out of nowhere and sucker punches him. He’s knocked off his feet and blood spurts from his nose when he hits the ground. I instantly react, nailing the guy in the jaw before thoroughly working him over. Joseph quickly gets to his feet and wipes the blood from his upper lip, murder dancing in his eyes. Luca has the guy he handled up against the wall. He’s patting him down to make sure he has no more weapons. Giovanni orders Luca to take the guy to the back. He starts questioning the guy because he knows as well as I do that this was a setup, a distraction. But from what? We have had fights here before but nothing of this magnitude. Most viewers know whose event they are walking into. So, besides the few that are too cocky for their own good, everyone is pretty much on their best behavior. There’s a moment as I’m stepping towards the exit that I stop dead in my tracks and look towards the office. The door is still closed, but something tells me I need to get to her. I hand the guy that punched Joseph off to him. I yell over to Giovanni and tell him to call Antonio, who is at a dinner meeting with his father, Mr. Heart, our Don. I briskly walk over to one of our security guys who secured the cage and order him to announce the next fight so we can get everyone’s attention off the two men being removed. It’s still chaos in here. People are scattered all over. I can barely get through the crowd without shoving someone. Women are screaming and men are yelling for the next fight to start. It’s bedlam, and I’m even more suspicious of the madness happening now that the culprits have been removed. When a fight breaks out, it’s no big deal, but the gun being shot off is.

I’m just about to the office when one of our security guys tells me he has an issue. I glance over at the office door to make sure it’s still closed before I follow him to where he says there is a problem. He enters the hallway that leads outside. Another one of our security guys is kneeling down next to a girl who looks to be wasted.

“I gave her some water, but she keeps passing out. She can’t stand.”

“O.D.?” I question.

“Nah, she smells like a bourbon factory.”

“Who is she here with?” I kneel and give her face a couple of taps.

“I asked. She didn’t answer.”

“Sleeping beauty, wake up.” Her head rolls. “She’s more than wasted.” I give her face a harder tap. “Who are you here with?”

Her eyes spring open and then fall immediately after she mumbles. “Nicol.”

I stand to my full height. “Take her three blocks over to Lucky Sevens Deli and call an ambulance. Wait with her until you hear the sirens and then get in your car and wait to make sure they take her. She’s young. From now on, no more young females allowed in here.”

“Got it.”

I turn away and head back toward the ring and my office to check on Haven. The next fight is beginning. When I get to the open space, all has calmed down, and I find Haven standing at ringside by my office watching the fight begin. My insides burn. I head in her direction, furious, and step up behind her.

“I told you to stay in my office,” I harshly reprimand her.

She jumps in her spot then turns to face me. She seems nervous. It may be my demeanor because she has never heard me this angry. “I gave you an order, you disobeyed it.” My jaw clenches as I stare down my nose at her. Her full attention is on me and the fear I see in her eyes is not one I like.

“Someone knocked on the door. I thought it was you or one of your guys that needed the office. I opened it and no one was there but I noticed that everything had calmed down. I thought it was okay to come out when they called Ghost to the ring.”

“It wasn’t.”

Her palm slowly comes to my chest. “I’m sorry.” I watch her eyes melt with her apology. “I should have stayed in your office.”

I soften just a bit at seeing her genuinely upset at pissing me off. “Yes, you should have.” I run the back of my hand over her cheek while observing her nervous behavior.

“Demetri…” she breathes, the next words on the tip of her tongue vanish when I hear a deep voice behind me.

“Demetri.” I respectfully turn to my boss standing directly behind me with his son.

“What the fuck happened in here tonight?”

I step back from Haven and shake Mr. Heart’s hand. “Haven, you remember the Don of our family, Mr. Heart?”

“I do. It’s a pleasure seeing you again, sir.” She reaches her hand forward to respectfully shake his, but he pulls her in and kisses both her cheeks in greeting without letting her go.

“The pleasure is all mine, young lady.” He continues to hold her hand. “Are you okay?” He places his other hand on top of hers, caging hers between his. “You look a bit nervous.”

I watch the exchange between the two of them with mindfulness. He has also picked up on her jittery behavior.

“I’m okay.”

“It seems we’ve had a bit of a situation here tonight.”

Haven only nods.

“Has it been handled?” Mr. Heart turns to me.

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