Chapter Twenty-One
The week had passed at an agonizing crawl. Aiden had barely slept and spent most of his time training in the barn. He took out his aggression on Xan and Johnny and the punching bag until they’d all given up, the guys verbally and the bag physically when it broke under his constant abuse.
Though his friends tried to keep him calm and stop him from thinking the worst, he couldn’t help but picture Vinnie with his fucking hands on Kat, bringing her worst nightmares to the surface all over again. He’d never prayed so hard in his life, but he was willing to try anything to keep her as safe as possible until he could hold her in his arms again.
An hour ago, he’d listened to Joey go over things one last time on how they planned to take Sicoli down and rescue Kat. Joey had pulled him aside back at the house and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Remember, your job is to look like you’re keeping the deal. If she’s not with Sicoli in the arena, she won’t be far. He’ll want her close by in case things don’t go his way. She’s his leverage.”
Though he believed in his friend and the plan sounded solid, Aiden had a hundred different things that could go wrong running through his mind.
“We’re gonna get her back, Aid, I promise you.”
“Yeah, but what condition will she be in when we do? They’ve had an entire week to do God knows what to her.”
“You love her?”
Aiden nodded. “So hard it scares me.”
“Then you’ll get her through whatever she needs to do to help her heal. Just like you did before.”
Aiden narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t gone into detail with Joey about his relationship with Kat. He hadn’t wanted to talk about her while she was being held captive because it only made him more volatile. “How do you know what I did before?” he’d asked skeptically.
“Because Xan has a big mouth,” Joey answered with a smirk. “Come on, it’s showtime.”
Now Aiden paced in the dressing room at the arena, taped and ready, waiting to be called out for the fight. Xander sat in the corner spinning a role of tape on his finger and bouncing his leg up and down at nerve-racking speeds.
Time was moving so slowly it might as well be going backward. When the door opened, he expected it to be someone to lead him out to the arena for the fight. Instead, he stared into the steel-gray eyes of the man he’d fantasized about killing a dozen different ways.
“What the fuck do you want, Sicoli?”
Dressed down in a pair of suit pants and a polo shirt, he still managed to look like a million bucks. He tsked in faux disappointment as he slid his hands into his pockets. “Such hostility, O’Brien. I’d think you’d be in a better mood considering this entire mess will be over within the hour.”
“That’s what you get for thinking,” Aiden said as he pushed each of his fists into the other palm to crack his knuckles.
Sicoli smiled, not fazed in the least by the snide remark. “I suppose you’re right. I just came by to tell you good luck.”
“Where’s Kat?” he demanded.
“Sully is watching her for now. You worry about your performance and I’ll worry about the girl.” He turned and opened the door, but before walking through it, he paused. “Oh, one more thing. There’s been a change on tonight’s card. Seems your original opponent broke his leg and couldn’t compete.”
No doubt he lost a fight with a crowbar. Aiden crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that so. And who have they found to replace him?”
“As luck would have it, Vinnie happens to be a trained MMA fighter. But don’t worry, he probably isn’t all that good, since he never made it to the professional circuit like you.” Sicoli grinned from ear to ear. “Then again, that doesn’t really matter, since we all know how the fight will end. Right, O’Brien?”
Aiden clenched his teeth and his muscles clamped down around his bones. The animal inside howled his desire to attack, to shred the man from limb to limb. Sicoli was strong, but he was a street fighter, nothing more. Aiden could have him in a rear naked choke in seconds, then squeeze like an anaconda until his windpipe crushed under the pressure.
But he had to keep his inner beast caged. Going vigilante wouldn’t do anything but stick him with a murder rap. He refused to give in to his temper and let the bastard win. The last time he lost his shit, Janey ended up losing her life. This time, he’d let Joey do things by the book.
“Right, Sicoli.”
“Then I’ll see you after the fight.” And with that, the crime boss left the room with a too-satisfied smile.
Xan clapped a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, then helped Aiden into his gloves. “Don’t let him get to you, mate. We’ve got the upper hand. You’ll have Kat back before you know it and that wanker will be behind bars.”
He shoved his mouth guard in and said, “Let’s do this.”
During the entire walk down the hall and into the arena full of cheering fans, all Aiden thought about was getting Kat back. He searched the crowd as he made his way down the aisle, but with everyone jumping up and down, it was impossible to see anyone in particular.
As soon as the ref finished rubbing Vaseline on him and cleared him for fighting, he ran into the ring and immediately turned his attention to the audience. Scanning the sea of people, he found Sicoli sitting in the front row on the opposite side of the cage, where Vinnie would be cornered. But Kat wasn’t with him.
Sicoli grinned like a fucking fox. He knew Aiden wanted to see her. The bastard enjoyed keeping him on the edge, holding her safety over his head. Rage boiled in his blood and hatred fueled his adrenaline pumping through his body. Holding eye contact with Sicoli, he started to bounce from side to side and shake his arms out, trying to stay loose for the coming battle.
Vinnie was announced as the replacement fighter, which most everyone booed. Being an underground tournament meant that things didn’t always happen by the book, but apparently bringing in a totally new fighter instead of bringing up one of the others from earlier rounds wasn’t appreciated.
Unfortunately, that all worked to Sicoli’s advantage. The more people who bet on Aiden to win, the more money he’d make when Aiden actually lost.
As Vinnie entered the cage, Aiden had to hold himself back from launching into a ground-and-pound on the bastard’s face. All he could think about was the way he’d touched Kat in the hotel room and what he might have had the opportunity to do to her all week long.
The ref called them to the center of the mat. As the ref started running through the rules, Vinnie took his mouth guard out and leaned in with a sneer. “I want you to know, I enjoyed the hell out of your redheaded bitch. I like it when they’re helpless.”
The comment was like clamping jumper cables to Aiden’s high-voltage battery. Sparks lit up his muscles as his right fist connected with Vinnie’s cheek. The ref stepped in, pushing Aiden back and reprimanding him for not waiting for his mark. Vinnie had been knocked back a few steps, but he righted himself without problem and smiled as he replaced his mouth guard.
At last, the fight officially started, but even though Aiden finally had the okay to hit the asshole, he couldn’t go balls-to-the-wall. Instead he had to leave himself open for hits and pull his punches, but not enough that the crowd would think he was losing. He never realized how difficult it would be to throw a fight. There was a delicate line he had to walk, and it was almost more taxing to do that than it was actually fighting.
The first round was pretty even, with both fighters remaining on their feet. The second round had a mix of stand-up and some grappling. Vinnie surprised Aiden with his skills in jujitsu. He’d assumed the thug didn’t know much, since he’d gotten the arm bar drop on him in Kat’s apartment. But then again, the guy had no idea who Aiden was at the time and wouldn’t have been expecting someone to try something like that.
By the end of round two, both of them had given each other plenty of injuries. Vinnie was sporting a swollen eye with a cut on his cheekbone from Aiden throwing an elbow when he had him pinned on the ground. Aiden had a cut above his right eyebrow from trying to duck one of Vinnie’s hooks that kept dripping into his eye. That wasn’t including the red rib cages and lower backs on both of them that would become bruises later from continuous body shots.
During the short break, neither fighter had a corner man to come in and ice them down, offer water, or stop the bleeding. Sully, the only other person in Sicoli’s party, had the unfortunate job of holding Kat hostage. And Xander and Joey were hopefully in the process of finding and rescuing her.
The bell rang and the ref called them back to the center. This was it. The last round. If his boys couldn’t find Kat before the end, he’d have to take the fall so her life wasn’t at risk. Joey had tried to reassure him that Sicoli wouldn’t kill Kat because of her worth to him in his sex-trafficking business. But Aiden had seen Sicoli’s temper that morning when the man took his frustrations out on his body before they brought Kat in. If Aiden didn’t deliver, he wouldn’t put it past him to fly off the handle and give Sully kill orders.
And there was no way in hell he was gambling with Kat’s life.
The ref gave them the signal and the clock started counting down from five minutes. Five minutes he had to allow the man who molested Kat to kick the shit out of him. Five minutes that would determine whether the trust he’d put in Joey paid off or only placed Kat in further danger.
Aiden threw the occasional halfhearted punch, but mainly left his guard down and took the hits Vinnie gave him, which were no love taps. The man had an arm like a cannon. Luckily, Aiden didn’t have a “glass jaw” and could take a hell of a lot without going down.
The crowd didn’t hesitate to announce their displeasure in the turn the fight had taken. Boos and angry shouts echoed in Aiden’s ears so loudly he couldn’t even hear Vinnie’s taunts anymore.
Aiden glanced at the clock. Panic struck him the same time as Vinnie’s fist connected with his ribs. White-hot pain lanced through his side as he collapsed to the mat. The booing grew louder as Vinnie started showboating with his arms in the air as though he’d already won. Aiden double-checked the clock and confirmed his earlier fear: time was running out. Less than a minute remained of the fight. But he couldn’t give up yet. He needed to give Joey as much time as possible.
Aiden got his footing before slowly unfolding himself while holding his left side. He was certain he had a few cracked ribs. It hurt just to breathe, much less move. But he couldn’t focus on the pain. He had more important things to worry about.
Stepping closer to Vinnie, Aiden brought his fists up in front of his face, silently telling his opponent he was ready for more. Vinnie growled, obviously pissed he hadn’t been named the winner by now. Too fucking bad, asshole. I’m not going down for you yet.
Fueled by anger, Vinnie threw punch after punch, forcing Aiden backward until he was stopped by the cage. Vinnie leaned into him and tried grabbing him in a way that he could slam Aiden down on the mat. Vinnie had the brute strength to do it, but Aiden was taller and was able to keep his center of gravity where he needed it to make the take-down difficult as hell.
So while Vinnie continued to soften Aiden with body shots to try and take him to the mat, Aiden just held his ground and watched the clock tick down with a sick feeling in his gut.
Thirty seconds…
He should have turned the bayou upside down and looked for Kat.
Twenty-five seconds…
He should have snapped Sicoli’s neck in his dressing room and then searched for her.
Twenty seconds…
Her fate—whether it was slavery or death—was on his hands. Tears sprung to his eyes.
Fifteen seconds…
He loved her…and he’d failed her…
Through the din of the crowd, he could almost hear her crying his name. His real name.
Vinnie threw a cross punch to the face, knocking his head to the side…and that’s when he saw her running down the aisle and, yes, screaming his name.
“Aiden!”
He blinked hard several times, making sure he wasn’t hallucinating. When he noticed Xander and Joey running behind her, he realized it was no trick. She was safe.
With the renewed strength of ten men, Aiden shoved Vinnie away from him as the clock ticked on nine seconds. Aiden pulled his right arm back, fueled by all his feelings of hate for men like Sicoli and his thugs who did nothing but spread their evil through drugs and abuse of power, then rocketed his fist toward Vinnie’s jaw.
BAM!
Aiden felt bone shatter beneath his knuckles and watched Vinnie’s eyes roll into the back of his head before he bounced off the fence and landed on his face. When he didn’t move a single muscle, the ref called the fight with two seconds left on the clock. The crowd went ballistic, but Aiden was too concerned with a certain crime boss who was now pushing his way to the back of the arena.
“Joey!” he called while pointing in the direction Sicoli had fled. “That way!”
Joey nodded, tossed a pair of cuffs over the top of the octagon, and took off after him as Xander ran back from the way they came, probably hoping he could cut Sicoli off from another way.
Aiden turned back to Vinnie, who was getting help from the ref to sit up as he regained consciousness. Aiden brushed the ref to the side and said, “Thanks, but I got this.” He hauled Vinnie’s ass over to the fence. Taking advantage of his dazed state, Aiden cuffed one of his wrists, then passed the other through the links of the cage and back to slap on the other wrist.
“There,” he said, as he thought of what horrendous things he could have done to the woman he loved. “Now who’s helpless, motherfucker?”
Again, Aiden pulled his arm back, ready to pummel the last breath from his body.
“Aiden!”
He froze except to turn his head toward the voice that was like a balm on his broken soul. She had dirt on her dress and yellowing bruises on her arms. Her eyes were shadowed with dark circles and her hair was disheveled. But even so, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
Vinnie coughed as he laughed, bringing Aiden’s attention back to him. “What’s so fucking funny?”
“Irony.” Breathing heavily, the man glared at him with one eye and said, “I know your story, Irish. You may have saved her today…but you’ll be the one to hurt her eventually. Just like that poor girl back in Boston.”
For a split second, his old fears sparked inside him. Aiden looked over at Kat, who stood with her arms crossed over herself as though trying to offer herself comfort. His heart swelled and for once, the animal inside him was more concerned with protecting and loving her than it was avenging her.
Lowering his fist, Aiden said, “Have fun in prison, asshole. Make sure you hang on to that soap.” He had a moment of satisfaction when Vinnie’s eyes blew wide with fear, then he rose and strode toward the woman he loved more than life.
She launched herself into his open arms, and he wrapped her up as tight as he could without crushing her. Her body trembled against his, and all he wanted to do was get her away from the madness surrounding them.
Hooking an arm under her legs, he held her close and made his way out of the cage, through the crowd, to the back. As soon as they passed through the double doors to the hallway, he saw Joey and Xander walking toward him with a handcuffed, dirty Sicoli.
“You got him,” Aiden said for Kat’s benefit. “It’s finally over.”
“Aye, we tackled the bastard in the parking lot,” Xan boasted.
Kat had kept her face tucked into his neck, but now she lifted her head to look at the man who’d terrorized her for months. Joey had a grip on Sicoli’s arm and yanked him to a stop as Aiden approached.
Joey gave Kat a sympathetic look and said, “He won’t be able to hurt you or anyone else now.”
Tightening her arms around Aiden’s neck, she asked, “How long before he gets out?”
“He’s not getting out, sweetheart.” Aiden threw daggers with his eyes at Sicoli. “Joey, here, is with the FBI now and he’s taking him in. Turns out he’s wanted for racketeering and sex trafficking in the state of New York.”
“Among other things, which is why he’s been hiding in the Tennessee mountains for the last decade,” Joey said. “He’ll spend the rest of his life in prison, Kat, I promise you.”
She nodded and laid her head down on Aiden’s shoulder again. She looked bone-weary. He needed to get her home, but first he needed to know she was okay. Giving the guys a nod of thanks, Aiden took her into the dressing room and locked the door before carrying her over to the couch, where he cradled her in his lap.
Stroking her hair, he steeled himself for the answers to the questions he had to ask her. “What happened when they had you, sweetheart? Did they… Did Vinnie…” Godammit, he couldn’t even say it.
She leaned back and stared up at him, her blue topaz eyes like fathomless pools. “No, Sicoli didn’t want ‘damaged goods,’” she said softly. “He wouldn’t let them touch me.”
Aiden heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Christ,” he whispered as he pulled her into a tight embrace. He blinked back the tears that came from holding her in his arms again.
“I can’t believe it’s finally over.”
“Believe it, kitten,” he said, gruff with emotion. “And I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again, I swear it.”
She maneuvered herself until she sat astride his lap and held his swollen, bloody face in her delicate hands. “Does that mean you’ll stop fighting me? That I can keep you without having to worry you’re going to push me away ‘for my own good’?”
“I’ve come to realize you’re a tough opponent, so I’m tapping out.” Aiden smiled, cracking the dried blood on his face. “I’m yours for as long as you want me, kitten.”
“Good. Because you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I don’t intend on ever losing you. I love you, Aiden.”
“Ah, sweetheart, I love you, too,” he whispered against her lips. “So fucking much.”
Unable to hold back any longer, he captured her lips and kissed her for all he was worth. Breaking the kiss, Kat stood up. “Come on. I want to go home.”
As she crossed the room, it hit Aiden that he’d come so close to never seeing her again. Never having the chance to watch her take command of a room full of drunken hillbillies or make love to her as she gazed into his eyes and touched his soul.
A short time ago, his life had been dull and monotonous, and he’d had no intentions of changing it. Now he couldn’t imagine life without her in it. She brought him joy and spontaneity.
And, miraculously, love.
With a hand on the doorknob, she turned and tilted her head with a curious look on her face. Then she asked him a simple question that held a lot of weight.
“You with me, Irish?”
Aiden grabbed his duffel in one hand and met her at the door. He kissed her then answered honestly. “Yeah, kitten. I’m with you.”
She smiled, entwined her hand in his, and they walked toward the parking lot and their new life…together.