Free Kissing the Canvas (Fighting For Love Book 3) by Evelyn Glass Page B

“I’m on my way. Get everyone together. I know what we need to do.” Morrison has been playing with fire, and he’s about to get burned.

 
    ADRIANA
     
    It is disconcerting to Adriana, as she is driven with a blindfold over her eyes. She has no idea of where she’s going or what’s going to happen when she gets there. She had been given a clean shirt and the chance to wash her face in a bowl to remove the grime from the basement. The fresh water also rinsed away the blood that caked her swollen lip from the punch that Mr. Elliott had so generously bestowed on her. The restraints around her wrists had been untied, as well. For one glorious moment, Adriana had thought that she was being let go. That was until Morrison had pushed something into the small of her back and told her that if she moved he would blow a hole through her.
     
    “Where are we going?” She tries to keep her voice level, but it’s hard since a gun is trained on her.
     
    “We’re going to see Grayson. I thought that’s what you wanted?” Morrison’s normal cool exterior seems to be slipping slightly, and Adriana wonders what might have caused it.
     
    “You’re taking me to the fight?” She’s breathless with anticipation. The idea that she’s going to see Grayson is almost unimaginable. She was beginning to think she was never going to see him again.
     
    “Don’t get too excited, my dear. If things go the way I hope they will, then you may not enjoy what you see very much.” Morrison hisses in her ear like a serpent, sounding like he’s actually excited about seeing Grayson get pummeled.
     
    “You’re a piece of work.” She mumbles, wishing—not for the first time—that she could have five minutes alone in a room with Morrison without being tied up and held at gunpoint.
     
    “I’ll take that as a compliment, Adriana.” He sounds like he’s barely even listening to her, as if his mind is elsewhere.
     
    “It wasn’t meant as one.” She doesn’t bother to tone down her responses; Morrison is clearly in his own head. She hears him moving around on the seat next to her, and it occurs to her that he’s fidgeting. This is a man who is stringent about the control he exercises in all things, but something or someone has made him nervous. She can only hope that the someone is Grayson.

 
    GRAYSON
     
    The setting of this fight couldn’t be any more poetic. The organizers wanted to go for something dramatic for the state championship, so they’d gone all out on creating a setting that would be talked about. They had decided to use a disused warehouse by the water, and they’d filled it with lights and props to make it look even more horrific. To Grayson, it looks like the kind of places that he used to fight in, kind of like the one where he killed a man.
     
    But he can’t think about that now. As he hears the announcer say his name, he walks through the tunnel, putting on his game face and raising his hands. West walks behind him, scanning the crowd, looking out for Morrison and Adriana. Out of the corner of his eye Grayson can see Willow and Tommy at opposite ends, moving through the crowd, on red alert for Adriana.
     
    “Good luck, Grayson.” West bows his head as he says the words, so that Grayson won’t catch the look of fear in his eyes. However, it’s too late for that. Now, all that matters is getting into the ring and doing what needs to be done.
     
    The announcer raises his arm, exciting the crowd, but Grayson isn’t listening. He’s focused on the crowd, but there are too many people and too much noise. It’s an assault on the senses, making it impossible to find the one person whom he’s looking for.
     
    The bell rings, and for the first time, Grayson takes in the sight of Dexter, ‘The Destroyer.’ They’re equally matched in terms of height and weight. Grayson has studied the way Dexter moves, how he fights, and the submissions that he uses. But he forces that knowledge out of his head;