Free One Shot Bargain by Mia Grandy

of her.  She was never going to convince him that there was more to her than sex and pool. 
    “Well lookie here.  It appears there’s an assertive side to mousy little Randa after all.  Too bad you didn’t have this kind of spunk when we were together.  Maybe then I wouldn’t have felt the need to supplement our relationship.”
    Randa visibly cringed when he said that, and he laughed at her discomfort.  She’d known he hadn’t been faithful, but to hear the actual words spoken out loud made it so much worse.  The self-doubt he had always been so good at triggering immediately began to set in. 
    “What I want…well, what we want actually…is for you to agree to throw the match.  We already have plans in place to secure our win, but I figure that you owe me for that little disappearing act you pulled with my supplies and my money.   Unless you want me to hunt you down and take it out of your flesh, you need to make sure you guys do not close the deal tomorrow.”
    Mike backed toward the room door, and as he spoke his last words, his hand closed around the knob and opened it.  Since he was still facing Randa he didn’t turn around in time to see Drake standing right behind him. 
    *
    Drake had gone down to the lobby earlier with the intent of trying to stretch his legs and get his mind off Randa’s predicament.  He didn’t know of a good way to show her that she was more to him than just a partner or a playmate.  In fact, in the short time they’d been together she had become more important to her than he would have believed possible. 
    When he thought that after this tournament she might go on her way and he might not see her again he got very anxious.  So, a few calls to his accountant later he had set up a scholarship for her at the local community college.  Nothing too fancy, just enough to cover the tuition for four years. 
    He picked up some flowers and was headed toward her door to tell her all of this when he noticed that there was a guy standing next to it with his ear pressed against the door.  Drake slowed his stride and set the flowers down on the floor as he walked up behind him and slipped his arm around the guy’s neck, pulling it up at such a steep angle that the guy only flailed about twice and then went limp. 
    Drake had studied a number of self-defense techniques over the years.  He’d ran into his fair share of people who were out to take advantage of him.  So, when the man went limp Drake laid him out in the hallway. 
    He immediately noticed that this was not the same man that was staring Randa down in the casino earlier that she had identified as Mike. This man was taller with a skinnier frame and long, blonde hair.
    Just as Drake was turning around to open the door it came open on its own.  In just the blink of an eye he noticed three things almost simultaneously.  First, this was the guy that had been stalking Randa earlier and the second was that he was holding a knife, and the final one was that Randa’s arm and shirt front were smeared in blood. 
    The white hot rage that started pumping through him at the thought of someone hurting her was more than he had ever experienced.  Just as Mike started to turn around, Drake grabbed the arm with the knife and slammed it into the door frame hard enough that he heard it snap as the hand was wrenched open and the knife clattered to the floor. 
    Mike screamed and started to run, but Drake turned him around and punched him twice in the face and then dropped him to the ground just as the casino security ran down the hall, their weapons drawn.
    Drake put up his hands and backed away.  He didn’t say anything as they cuffed him and led him down the hall.  He just looked back over his shoulder to see Randa’s face stricken with horror and confusion.  The flowers on the ground were now knocked out of their cheap plastic binding and spread across the hall as security personnel and Mike ended up dragging their feet through