As if Shelton sensed the undercurrent of hostility still zipping back and forth between Zach and me, he instructed his goons to take Zach back to wherever they were keeping the fucker. As the other men herded him from the barn, he ground his teeth at being manhandled.

How do you like it, asshole?

Their exit left Shelton and me alone. I bunched my hands to keep from striking him. “This wasn’t what we talked about last night.”

“Sure it was,” Shelton said in a grating, humoring tone. “You want Zach, and I want a memorable final match worthy of you.”

What he wanted was a blood bath that lined his pockets. “You crossed a line by dragging Alex into it. She’s been through enough.”

“That’s just to get him onboard. Nothing personal. He thinks he’ll win, but I’ve got my money on you.”

“You might be willing to risk Alex, but I’m not.”

Shelton folded his arms over his massive chest. “I’ve got five hundred grand on you in this fight. That’s how little De Luca junior concerns me. I never liked his old man, and junior was never as good as you. He knew it. Everyone knew it.”

Even so, Zach had caught me off guard once already when he’d shown up on the island. Then a group of thugs had added insult to injury. But that was then, I reminded myself. I’d been fresh out of prison, hadn’t trained or fought for a while, and shit had spiraled out of control.

This was now, and for the past six months, I’d dominated inside the cage. I could win this. I knew it in my gut, believed it for one important reason; giving up Alex wasn’t an option.

And taking care of Zach was a necessity.

I tapped my foot for several seconds, mulling it over, trying to determine if Shelton could be trusted. “So when I win this, Alex and I are free to jet on out of here, right?”

“I have no intention of burning bridges, Mason. Not good for business, and you’ve proven to be good for business. It’s been years since I had a guy like you fight, so give me a good one before you up and quit on me.”

A siren blared in my head. What if I was too good for him to let go?

Stop being fucking paranoid, Mason. Not everyone’s out to get you.