to grab my bag from the floor behind me.
“We should go. It’s time you’re introduced to the businesses that paid for your pampered childhood.”
I didn’t wait for a response before exiting the car, only pausing long enough near the hood for her to climb down from her seat, slam the door shut, and walk up to stand beside me.
Her heightened pulse beat against my bones with every step we took toward the warehouse, her fear chasing a path up my spine and across my shoulders. I could feel her heated gaze on my back, and I swam in the electric fury I’d aroused in her when I warned her what fucking me would be like.
A smile curled my lips as the door to the warehouse slid open, my stare meeting the guard’s for only a moment as I passed. Lisbeth crept behind me on quiet feet, but her thoughts screamed within the silence.
Fear of this place.
Fear as to why I’d brought her here.
Fear of me.
It was as it should be. So, while she surveyed the warehouse around us, most likely misinterpreting how the large machines and empty conveyor belts were simply a front for the truth of its purpose, I allowed her to find momentary comfort that her family’s business was really just that.
When she finally stepped up to the door where I waited, I held my breath to slide it open and reveal the truth of the Rose estate.
The door crunched along its track, my eyes glued to her face as the room on the other side was exposed to her gaze.
I knew the exact moment confusion flooded her veins, my heart beating to taste it.
Stepping close but refusing to brush against her, I whispered, “Welcome to the pit, Lisbeth Rose. This is where men bleed and die so that you can remain on your precious pedestal.”
She stepped forward, head turning as she studied the rows of leather seats, the center ring dug deep into the ground with dirt covered floors and a few men sparring.
“What is this place?”
“This is the pit,” I answered as I stepped up beside her.
“My father made his money running a sporting event?”
I chuckled at her willful blindness.
“Something like that. You’ll see in a few days. But for now, take a seat and enjoy a few hours of doing nothing. I’ll be sure to make up for the momentary reprieve tonight.”
I led her to a seat, but grabbed her hip before she could sit down. Tugging her against me, I reached to tilt her chin toward Benny where he stood with forearms braced over the high walls of the ring near the door we’d entered.
“Do you see that man?”
Lisbeth nodded, her skin warm against my fingers.
“He’s guarding the exit. If you attempt to leave, he has my permission to stop you. And if he has to stop you, he has my permission to do whatever he wants to you.”
Her muscles locked, but not so much that I couldn’t turn her head the opposite way.
“The same goes for the man on the other end of the stadium. Two doors. Two guards. Both as brutal as they come with no respect for women. It’s your choice what you want to do while I’m distracted, but I thought I’d at least give you the warning.”
Sweeping my hand from her chin down along the length of her neck and over her shoulder, I gently shoved her into a seat.
She neither spoke nor looked up at me for the few seconds I remained standing near her.
Lisbeth’s prideful mask was back in place, her spine straight, shoulders squared and rigid, and her head held up as if she were the queen of this fucking place and everybody around her the subjects.
It made my cock jump to see it. Though whether I was excited to strip it away, or because I had a thing for bitchy women, I wasn’t sure.
In the end, it couldn’t matter. I had to prepare for the upcoming fight, and Franklin had been right in his concern that Lisbeth was a terrible distraction.
Leaving her where she sat, I crossed the distance of the arena, nodding once at Mason where he stood near the exit to the stairs leading down into the hidden depths of the pit.
Every fighter in the Rose employ was also a guard in the mansion or this place, their practice sessions rotated between their work schedules. While many of them often stayed in the guest rooms of the upper and lower floors of the