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MY VICIOUS REFLECTION stares back at me as I stand in front of the mirror in my bedroom. The fury pulsates through my tightly-wound body. My heart is hammering in my chest from disbelief of how I allowed Fallon to dismiss me, yet again. Grunting, I punch the mirror so hard it shatters, tinkling to the floor in little sharp pieces. Blood follows, dripping from my lacerated knuckles onto the tiles.

What the fuck happened in that hospital or at the police station last night?

As I glare at the blood on my skin, my shallow breath eases, and I grab the first aid kit from the cabinet under the sink.

After I’m finished sterilizing and bandaging the cuts, Adriano shows up.

“I’m guessing it went well?” he states sarcastically as the elevator doors whoosh closed, and he pointedly looks at my bandaged knuckles.

Sitting on my sofa with my hand clutched in my hair, I barely acknowledge him, so he joins me.

“I’m completely in the dark about what happened,” I fill him in. “She just pushed me away for no apparent reason, and Wade was at her house. He stayed over.”

“Stayed?”

“Yes. There’s something between those two, something they’re not sharing with me.”

“You mean, she’s with him?” Cynical wrinkles line his forehead.

I shake my head in denial because I don’t believe that there was anything sexual between them. “I don’t think so. But this time I’m truly done. I can’t let her suck me in and push me away whenever she wants.”

“Just keep your distance,” Adriano suggests. “You were doing well before you saw her again on Friday. You didn’t drink, did you?”

“No.” The thought of having breakfast with liquor did arise, but I won’t take that risk.

If I start drinking, I won’t be able to stop because she’s right at the front of my mind. And I won’t put myself or the Syndicate at risk – drinking clouds my judgment, makes me not care about controlling a situation. And I need to hold on to the control; the underboss has to always be in control.

Most importantly, we need to find Ashton and end this. Then I’ll never have to see her again. I tell myself I only want Ashton because I want vengeance for him capturing and waterboarding me. But deep down, I know I’m doing it for Fallon too because I found out he’s been after her. Though it’s time I let her go for good; she’s definitely not mine to protect anymore.

“Want to work out?” Adriano asks, sensing my dark mood.

Clenching and unclenching my fists, I grimace slightly, but I can still hit the weights. “Yeah, let’s go downstairs to the gym. I need to release my frustration with her, and I desperately need some relief.”

My last confession brings out a smirk in Adriano. “Then we’re going to the house to have some fun tonight. We got new girls you haven’t seen yet. Bentornato, amico mio.” Welcome back, my friend.

I snort and have to let him down. “We need to revisit Club 7 tonight and get information on Ashton, maybe even find him there.”

His lips thin. “I hate that place. And on another note, even if we find Ashton, we can’t get into that hellhole packing our guns. The hostess won’t let us in.”

“I guess we have to be a little creative and find another way into the fight club.”

He’s still not convinced. “What about James? Do we tell him?”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I wonder what the hell’s going on with James. “I’m not waiting for clearance from him. He wanted me to take care of it; this is how I’m handling it. I still barely speak to James.”

“Me either. He called me once asking about Cam, and that’s the most I’ve spoken to him in weeks.” Adriano crosses his ankle over his knee. “Should we be worried?”

“For our lives, you mean? No.” I release a short laugh. “He’s too dependent on us. You and I ensure that business is good. Money is pouring in, and that cash solidifies our rank in the Syndicate. Without us, where would he launder his money? Security Simplicity is the largest company where he can easily invest his drug money. If he was preoccupied with Syndicate business, I would know. Salvatore told me he never speaks to him either. I’ll reach out to James when Ashton is out of my way. Then I’m calling off David and cutting all ties with Fallon. It’s time I move on, and the beginning of a new year is as good a time as any. This fucking year has had too many lows for me.”

Adriano lets his head fall back on the couch. “At least we already got the drug routes set up in southern Illinois, and it’s running smoothly.” Hesitating, he adds, “How do you suppose we get into the fight club with our guns?”

To answer that question, I get my phone out of my pocket and contact our hacker. “Henry, Adriano and I need access to Club 7 again; specifically the fight club, but is there any way we can get in with our weapons? Maybe through the main dance club or the sex club?”

Henry’s throaty voice is a clear sign that I’ve woken him up. “I’ll have to check, but there’s only a small chance that I can help you with this. That place is better secured than the J. Edgar Hoover Building.”

***

UNFORTUNATELY, HENRY couldn’t find another way inside the fight club of Club 7, so Adriano and I are walking through the same long corridor to be greeted by the same blonde beauty in her tight black suit dress. Again, we hand over our guns and step inside the elevator to start our descent, directly to the fight club this time. We’re not going through the upscale sex club first since we’ve been in the fight club with Sal, and therefore, we’re now granted access immediately.

The smell of dried blood, sex, and sweat permeates the air in the elevator before it even opens into the rounded arena of the fight club where only the center cage is brightly illuminated. People surround the cage and cheer two fighters on. However, one is about to be knocked out. Blood sprays from his nose as he receives an upper cut to the face, and a knife is sliced against the bare flesh right above his navel. The fighting style is primitive and brutal, reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Since it’s our second visit, no one welcomes us, and we are free to roam around.

As we careen through the crowd of hundreds and search the faces, I bend my head to Adriano’s ear. “We stay together. Look for Ashton. I have a hunch he’s hiding here. A man as careless as he is – who captured me without planning things through – can’t disappear this easily unless he has connections. And our only lead is that silver cross pendant. Let’s do one round quickly and get out. If we run into trouble, you stick to what we discussed.”

We start our route alongside the outer wall, but the walls are disturbingly decorated with women.

Adriano grimaces as we pass a woman, who’s strung up on a cross and being flogged by a leather-masked, muscled man.

“This shit is so weird and random,” he comments with wide eyes.

“I know. I wonder if Sal couldn’t make a choice among a fight club, a BDSM club, and an upscale sex club, so he just opened them all and decided it might be a good idea to combine the BDSM and fight club. What do they even do here? They fight and fuck, then fight and fuck some more?” I’m not judging, to each his own, but this place is something else.

“I have no idea, but seeing how busy it is here, he must make a ton of money. There’s your pendant.” Adriano suddenly jerks his head to the neckline of a petite, naked Asian lady, next to the woman being flogged, sitting on the lap of a man and blocking him from our view.

As she’s facing us, the man’s hand snakes around her middle, between her thighs, and he slips two fingers inside.

“She’s beautiful.” Adriano gawks at her breasts.

I laugh because I don’t even think he’s seen her face yet. Raking my hair back with one hand, I scan the area, but there’s considerable ground to cover since this place is enormous.

“Fuck. The pendant is too common; maybe we’re just wasting time—” I halt immediately as the Asian woman leans back, revealing the man who’s pleasuring her, and I grab Adriano’s arm. “Turn now.”

We both turn, and I lead us into the crowd. “It’s Ashton with the Asian woman.”

“So it was him last time,” he says.

“It seems so, but it was highly coincidental that I spotted that pendant here the first time with Sal. Maybe Sal knows something more?”

“Yeah, I have a feeling it could’ve been planned too.” He looks around warily. “What do you want to do? We have to procure a weapon.”

“We haven’t had much success lately finding the people we need. We lost Danny and Collopy – which turned into a mess. Although it’s a risk to steal a weapon in here, I don’t want to take the risk of letting him run free tonight. If he disappears, I’m afraid we won’t track him down again this easily.”

“Okay,” Adriano comments. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Get me a weapon too.”

I nod and make a beeline for the fighter just stepping out of the arena who pocketed a small knife.

“Hey man, great fight,” I greet him quickly before others start talking to him.

The guy’s out of breath and wipes blood and sweat off his hands and face with a towel. “It was a long one.”

He shows me his teeth, and I smile back, pretending to be one of his fans, most of whom are gathering behind him, so he turns to receive more compliments.

I brush past him discreetly and steal the knife from his pocket, slipping it into the sleeve of my suit jacket and striding back to Adriano who’s still watching our target.

The girl rises and holds her hand out to Ashton. Today, he’s dressed casually in jeans and a black t-shirt, and he’s looking around distrustfully, but the woman is also distracting him. Checking Ashton’s physique, I notice that he’s pretty muscular and wonder whether he’s a fighter here.

Adriano holds out his palm, silently demanding his weapon, as others continually brush past us.

“I only got one knife.”

Disappointed, he raises both eyebrows, but I purposely move my attention to Ashton who’s guiding his female companion toward the other side of the arena.

“We split up,” I order and beat a path through the masses of people to ensure I don’t lose them.

Suddenly, Ashton halts in his tracks and his head whips around. I duck, but he clearly sees me and picks up his pace.

Adriano’s already lost in the crowd, so I can’t signal to him.

Then Ashton leaps to the edge of the rounded wall with the woman’s hand still clasped in his and opens a door.

Fuck! He must know this place well because the door is camouflaged by the drawings on the wall, and he knew right where to go; I wouldn’t have spotted an exit there.

Pushing people out of my way, I quickly put my foot in the door before it closes and inspect the area around me, but everyone’s too mesmerized by the fight, and there are no women strung on the wall in this part of the arena to draw attention.

Slipping the knife into my hand, I enter a corridor illuminated with red lights. Ashton dives around the corner at the end of the hallway as the door falls closed, and my shoes click off the concrete when I run after him.

As I round the corner, I collide full-on with the Asian woman and steady her with my free hand just as Ashton’s fist comes toward me over her shoulder and connects with my eye. Blurred lines block my eyesight as I stumble backward, and the woman is thrown on me, causing me to lose my grip on the knife. The blade clanks on the floor behind me, so I push her to the side but take another hit to my temple.

“Motherfucker!” I shout while I’m seeing stars from his blows.

Groaning, I drive my fist into Ashton’s stomach, injuring my already-bruised knuckles. The impact makes him bend forward so that I’m able to pull up my knee into his nose.

Giving me no time to recuperate, he head-butts me and slams my back against the wall with his arm pressed against my throat. I gasp for air as sweat trickles down my hairline. This guy’s most definitely a fighter here because he’s exceptionally strong.

“How the fuck did you get in here? How did you find me?” He’s out of breath, with a crazed, but frightful, expression.

Sharp pains flash through me, but I manage to grin, which he answers by swinging his fist into my left side. The blow reverberates through my entire torso, yet anxiety only sets in when his eyes shift to the knife on the floor. He lunges for it and snaps back up so fast that I don’t even get time to kick him. He swivels around and slices the knife against my upper arm. Even though I leap away, he still reaches me, cutting my sleeve and skin. Then he edges toward me with the knife in hand, and I step back, anticipating his next move.

“Who the fuck are you?!” Ashton spits.

“Are we still on that?” I insult as we round each other.

I’m buying time, hoping that Adriano spotted us disappearing into this hallway. Unexpectedly, Ashton swings at me, and I move away too slowly, so he slams me onto the ground, knocking the breath out of me. But I grab his wrist to keep him from slicing the knife into the artery in my neck as he uses his overpowering strength to press the tip into my skin.

“Luca!” Adriano’s voice rings through the corridor as his steps become louder.

Ashton jumps up and flees into the opposite direction. Craning my neck, I see him turn the corner, and I lunge up just as Adriano finds me.

“Where did he go?” Adriano asks.

I point behind me, and he’s about to chase after him when another voice surprises us, and Santino rounds the corner and steps in front of us with an impassive look on his face.

“Fat Sal would like to talk to you two.” Irritated, Santino glances at the Asian woman huddled in the corner and gestures for us to follow.

We go back to where we came from and are escorted to Sal’s office one floor up. I grimace as I check the cut on my left upper arm. Thankfully, it’s not deep, and it’s not bleeding too badly. I tear off the torn bandage from my knuckles, and that’s not really bleeding either.

I hurriedly instruct Adriano before we enter Sal’s office, “FYI, Ashton’s a fighter here. You talk.”

This will throw Fat Sal off even more as to what our rank is in the Syndicate. Last time, I did all the talking. In the Syndicate, the highest ranking member usually takes the lead in every conversation. It’s a clear sign of power and hierarchy; most men thrive on it and want as many others as possible to know how powerful they are. We, the Chicago Syndicate, don’t give a shit about any of that. And at the moment, all I care about is getting us out of here alive because I’m not sure Sal will be as lenient as last time.

Sal twirls his phone in his hand and leans back in his leather chair, glaring at us. “Sit.”

We don’t sit down.

As Santino shuts the door, Sal continues, “You fucking use my own weapon in my club!”

He addresses me, but Adriano starts to talk, “Sal, do you know why we came here looking for him?”

Shocked, Sal’s attention moves to Adriano.

Mission accomplished; he’s thrown off.

His eyes turn to slits. “Enlighten me, please.”

Adriano answers, “Ashton Banks, your fighter, captured Luca several days ago because he’s been misinformed about his brother’s death.”

“His brother?”

“Alex Gentry; they’re stepbrothers but apparently they were close because Ashton’s looking for vengeance everywhere – in all the wrong places.”

Sal lets the phone drop on the desk and scratches his thick finger behind his ear. “How did you know he’s one of my fighters?”

“I didn’t, not until tonight. The first time you showed us the fight club, we spotted Ashton with a silver cross pendant. That pendant was hanging from his neck when he waterboarded Luca.”

I inwardly smile, proud of how in tune Adriano and I always are as he provides the same answers I would.

“Hmmm, that’s quite coincidental,” Sal remarks.

“Our thoughts exactly,” Adriano says. “Look, we don’t want trouble, but we needed to find him fast because he’s a threat, and now we’ve lost him again.”

Sal’s quiet for a long time before he speaks, “I actually like you. You two got balls. Nobody ever comes in here asking questions, let alone has the audacity to start a brawl in my fight club. I can read between the lines, and let me tell you first that it was coincidental that you saw him that time. I wanted to show you around, but something came up – that’s why I had to come back to my office. And I’m sure you two can understand that if Chicago Syndicate members visit us, we’re kind of on edge. I know your reputation.” He pauses for dramatic effect, but neither I nor Adriano twitches a muscle. “Alex Gentry was Ashton’s lover. I didn’t know he was his brother, stepbrother, whatever.”

Well, that makes a lot more sense as to why Ashton’s so hell bent on revenge.

His eyes shift to his phone when an alert beeps. “Ashton already exited the club. That’s strange. All the guards were specifically ordered to look out for him.”

I clench my fist. “Fuck!”

In a confused tone, Adriano says, “But he isn’t gay. I saw him with a woman in the fight club.”

“No, he’s bisexual, and he and Alex had specific tastes. They were both sadists. I’m not sure exactly what his relationship with Alex was, but I do know they fucked a lot – with each other and everybody else here.”

I bring my palms together, linking my fingers, and take the lead in the conversation from Adriano. “We need to find him. He’s also a liability to you now because he’ll realize that you let us go,” I presumptuously state.

“Ah, he was a losing fighter anyway. And I’m pretty pleased with how your hacker handled deleting any trace of Camilla Guillermo’s connection to my establishment.”

Adriano flinches at the mention of Cam’s name.

Sal’s obviously fishing to see if he can contact my hacker when he has issues within his organization. “Fine, you call one of us”—I point my thumb to Adriano and then to myself—“when you need Henry, and we’ll make sure our resources are available.”

The corner of Sal’s lip tilts up. “I like the way you work: direct and to the point. Deal.”

Oh no, I also want something from you, Fat Sal.

“But,” I add. “I need to find Ashton. Soon. You’re my best chance of capturing him quickly.”

“Done.”

“Have all your men looking for him.”

“Done,” he confirms.

“Okay, I need to leave now because, as you can see, that asshole cut me.”

Santino opens the door for us.

“Keep in touch, Sal.” I end the conversation on a light note, and Adriano and I race outside to his car.

Once I’m inside the vehicle, I lift my shirt and gently press my fingers into my side. “Shit, this is going to hurt tomorrow.”

Adriano grabs my arm, and I look up to see him staring, so I follow his gaze to the front entrance of the club where James is walking out.

“Isn’t that James?” he asks unbelievingly.

“What the fuck? Yes!”

Our gazes snap to each other and then back to James, who’s moving to his car across the street.

“What’s he doing here?” Adriano blurts, completely stunned.

“No idea. This is strange. We were reprimanded for coming here, but he goes in there alone?” What’s James up to? “Let’s not confront him yet. I want to see if James mentions his visit himself,” I instruct.

Adriano nods and pushes the key into the ignition. “You should text Doc to meet us at your penthouse for your injuries.”