The Fighter and His Tiger (Unexpected Love #1)

28. Friday Week Ten (pt2.)

28. Friday Week Ten (pt2.)

When Eli came back into the room, he was shirtless from his fight, sweat coated his body but he came straight over to where I was sat on the sofa, placing himself between my legs and cupping my face, "tigru?"

My eyes flickered up to meet his and I gave him a small smile. "I met Daddy dearest. He's a real peach," I stated, sarcasm lacing my voice

Anger flashed through Eli's eyes, but then they scanned up and down my body, "are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing worth repeating."

"What did he say, Rei?" Eli's voice was hard and I knew that he needed to know.

"Just stupid stuff like you're an asset and I'm a distraction," Eli stood at this, running his hands through his hair and cursing under his breath, "he knew my name, Eli," his eyes met mine, "how did he know my name?"

"Later," he crouched and took my face between his hands again, "but I need you to tell me what else he said. Did he threaten you, Reillyn?"

I met Eli's stare, unsure of how to respond, Mikael never explicitly threatened me but I sure as hell felt threatened. I mulled over whether or not to tell Eli but in the end, I just didn't want to lie to him, "he had a gun."

Eli pulled away, "fuck!" His blazing eyes met Cayden's across the room before he pointed at him, "where the fuck were you?" He shouted.

Cayden's hand rose in an 'I surrender' position, "I'm sorry, man, someone told me that shit was going wrong with your fight, I didn't know —"

"So you left her?!" Eli yelled again.

Choosing to intervene, I rose and placed my hands on Eli's arm, trying to tug him so that he would face me. When that didn't work I stood in front of him and grabbed his face in my hands, "Eli, calm down. Nothing happened, okay? I'm fine."

Still, his fierce glare never strayed from Cayden so I tilted his head, forcing him to look at me, "baby, calm down," his eyes began to lose their angry haze as they stared down at me.

"We're leaving," he stated gruffly before he grabbed his gym bag and stormed out.

"I'm so sorry, Rei," Cayden expressed

"You don't need to be, Cayden. He's just protective, he'll be fine by tomorrow," I gave him a soft smile and Max a quick hug before following in the footsteps of my angry boxer boy.

— — — — —

"Eli, this isn't the way home."

"I want to show you something."

After about 40 minutes of driving, we reached an apartment complex, neither of us said anything as Eli grabbed his gym bag and my hand and took me up to an apartment on the 7th floor. He dug a key out of his pocket and pushed the door open to reveal a simply furnished apartment.

The kitchen was to the left of the door, with a breakfast bar and all-black cabinets, complimented by white accents. The floor was a polished brown which contrasted with the black and white decor and as my eyes scanned the room I realised this apartment was Eli's. 

In the lounge in front of me, there was a black sofa with white cushions and Eli's leather jacket was draped across the back. The glass coffee table had his water bottle perched on top and I noticed his black trainers laying on the floor.

Stepping further into the apartment, continuing past the kitchen, there was a hallway with three doors. Pushing open the one on my left I discovered it to be a gym, small but sufficient enough for Eli. The door on the right was Eli's bedroom it was all black and grey, just like his one back at the Ryker house, and a bed stood proudly unmade next to a door I presumed led to an ensuite.