“De Luca junior had some interesting things to say, I’ll give him that, but I always check shit out. Got a shock when I searched your boat. What are you doing with that girl?”

“Protecting her from him.”

He raised a brow. “Looks like you’ve got a problem then.”

I looked around, feeling as if we were being overheard, but everyone was below, lost to the adrenaline left over from the fight. Not to mention the booze and drugs.

“Where’s he at now?” There was no point pussy-footing around this. Too much was on the line, mainly, Alex’s life.

He cocked his head. “A place where he can’t cause trouble.” Shelton paused. “I think we can help each other out.”

“How so?” A foreboding disquiet festered in my gut.

He turned his back to the crowd, and we moved further into the shadows. “Abbott and I have history. Let’s just say we don’t get along. He was a fucking power-hungry shark in the biz.” Shelton shook his head. “Shoulda been a goddamn bottom feeder.”

I let out an obvious sigh. Everyone knew Shelton liked to string people along with his talk, but I didn’t have time for his bullshit.

He planted a hand on my shoulder and leaned in. “We got a good thing going here, but the deep pockets are getting antsy. They want something different, something more exciting than you winning every damn match. Since you’re wanting to bow out, I need you to do it with a bang.”

“Get to the point, Shelton.”

“I’ll make sure you get your hands on De Luca junior before your buddy sends him packing to Mexico again.”

Damn Jax. Six months ago, he’d gotten to Zach before I could. Weeks later, when he returned a total mess over not finding any leads on his sister, I hadn’t had it in me to give him shit for interfering.

I shook off Shelton’s hand. “What the fuck do you want?”

He grinned. “It’s not what I want. It’s what you want. People talk, Mason. I heard you wanted that sonofabitch dead.”

“That’s my business.”

“As long as you’re living on my land, fighting in my cage, what you do is my business.” He paused, and the weight of that long beat roiled in my gut. “A match between two longtime rivals,” he said, raising a brow, “now that’s a fight. Personally, I think it’s the least you can do.”

I didn’t like owing people but owe him, I did. If not for him, I wouldn’t have a place to dock my boat, a cage to unleash my rage in, anonymity to hide behind. The network knew who I was—kind of hard to hide while fighting before their eyes. But the world at large thought I was missing, and before tonight, Alex had believed I was dead.