Fucking. Women.

Fists clenched, I walk down into my club. It’s Saturday night, and the fighters are ready to make me some money. People move out of my way as I shuffle through the crowd, stopping at the door that leads into the locker rooms. One of my security guards, Jason, is standing by it. He nods when I stop. “Linc, how’s it goin’ tonight man?”

“Fuckin’ peachy. Those fighters ready?”

He shrugs. “Last time I checked they were nearly there. You goin’ in?”

I nod and he opens the door. I step inside and four men look up at me; one of them is Slater, my younger brother. He still insists on fighting, even though he’s found Ellie and they’ve seemed to settle down together. I think he likes it. She, however, does not. She isn’t a fan, and she refuses to come and watch him.

Can’t say I blame her.

Rare to see women in here, unless someone brings them in to share around, if you know what I mean.

My dream became reality when I started my garage, and it is thriving. Rumblin’ Knights brings me in more than enough cash to get by. But this, the fighting, the blood and the sweat—this keeps me sane. It keeps everything in order. It keeps me focused. I’ve made a fucking lot of mistakes in my life, including fucking over the wrong people when I was younger and trying to pull my family from debt. Then, I cost Slater the love of his life when he tried to fix it, and Ellie got taken.

Never forgive myself for that.

Not until my dying days.

It’s why I let him fight. He wants to be here, he wants to keep fighting to make money for their future, I’m not going to stop him.

“Hey,” Slater says, moving away from the other three men and walking over to me. “Got some information on your boy, Nicolai.”

“Yeah?” I say.

“Yeah. Few fellas that come in here used to go to his club before it shut down. Said they knew him. One of them said Nicolai isn’t even his real name. Not sure why he wasn’t going by his real name, but if we can track it down, we’ll be able to find him.”

“Who was it that knew him?” I ask, feeling frustration bubble in my chest.

Shouldn’t be doing this. I have enough on my plate. But something about this case ... It speaks to me. Like I know I need to help the girl out, even if she is a giant fucking pain in my ass. And she is. She really fucking is. But she’s also sassy, and she sparks something inside me that has been long dead. Not to mention, the woman has the kind of ass you could stare at for days. Don’t get me started on her fucking tight pussy.

My dick might just be leading me.

But fuck, whatever.

“Name is Timothy. He’s in the crowd tonight.”

“Find him when you’re done with your fight, send him to me. Want to know if he knows anything else.”

“Don’t think it’s goin’ to be hard to track down this guy,” Slater murmurs, “I think the real question is going to be, how fuckin’ safe is he? No one just changes their name for no good reason. He must have had a reason, and usually those reasons aren’t good.”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “Right about that. I’ll look into it. In the meantime, fight hard, brother.”

Slater grins. “Always do.”

I walk out of the lockers and into the crowd again, eyes scanning it. My gaze zones in on a man, standing in the corner. Don’t get me wrong, it ain’t unusual for people to be standing around, keeping to themselves, but this man is staring at me. Straight at me. Eyes locked on mine. Something in his face that doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Do I know him? Have we got unfinished business? Fuck me, I’ve kept my nose clean for a fucking while now, so unless he’s a cop ...

Fuck. Is he a cop?

I walk toward him, and he moves, like a fucking snake. Within seconds, he’s gone. I move too, faster, trying to catch him before he leaves. But by the time I even reach his corner, he’s fucking gone. Out of sight, and completely out of my way. Fuck me. If that’s a cop, we’re in for some trouble. I know they’re trying to shut me down, they just haven’t yet figured out where I’m doing it. They know I’m doing something. Had more than one around my shop. Underground fighting is a big no no. But I keep it careful, everyone who comes in here knows not to mess with me, it’s secure, and so far, we’ve had no problems.

So if that asshole isn’t a cop, then who the fuck is he, and what does he want?

I do another lap around, just to be sure, but the fucker is gone. Long fucking gone. Why was he standing there watching me? Was that Nicolai? Nah, way too fucking old to be Nicolai. And he would have said something. No, that was someone else, only I can’t figure out what the hell he was doing in my club, staring at me like that.

I need a smoke.

I make my way out of the underground basement. I’ve got security everywhere. At the garage. Hell, I even have men watching from down the street. If a cop was nearby, or someone was snooping around, they’d call me. And I’d have this place cleaned out in five minutes flat. I thought of everything when I built it. Not stupid and all that. Which boads the question, that man that was staring at me, must have passed security, or they would have alerted me.

Which means he had a good story, a good background, and they weren’t suspicious of him. Undercover cops usually stand out like a sore thumb; ask them a few routine questions, and they usually answer in a way that alerts security that they’re trying to get in. There is just something missing ... maybe the fact that they live a clean life, and this world ... it really doesn’t make sense to them, even if they think they understand it.

And that shows.

True to God.

You know a man that is rough around the edges.

My phone rings just as I pass the entrance and am on my way back to the garage. It’s security from out front of Rumblin’ Knights.

“Talk to me.”

“Got a girl here, wantin’ to speak to you. Says her name is Shania.”

Fuck.

Could tonight get any worse? All we do is fight when we’re together, and she is far from fucking honest with me, hell, I don’t even know why I’m fucking helping her, to be completely truthful.

Like I said, something about her speaks to me.

It’s just hard to hear what it’s saying over the bickering.

“On my way.”

I hang up and move through the back doors of the garage and then through the office and out the front. Standing under my neon light, chatting happily to Pax, my security guard, is Shania. All fucking five feet of her, curves and fucking luscious skin. Hair that makes my dick fucking hard just looking at it. And eyes that penetrate the darkest parts of me, which is exactly why I avoid looking into them.

She turns when she notices me, and my eyes drop to the low cut shirt she’s wearing that pushes her tits out. Does she want to drive me fucking crazy, because that’s what she’s doing. And I swear to fuck she knows it. I’m curious about Shania’s story, and fuck does she have one. It’s written all over her face, there is a truth behind her eyes, a horror she keeps hidden. Whatever went down between her and Nicolai, it damaged something inside her.

My question is, what? And how fucking bad.

“I’d say it’s a pleasure to see you,” I murmur, pulling out a cigarette and bringing it to my lips, “but, well, it ain’t.”

She crosses her arms, throwing a hip out to the side. “I feel the same, which is exactly why I’m here. After the other night, I’ve been meaning to pick a bone with you ...”

“Pick away, sweetheart. Got a good bone waitin’ for you.”

Her cheeks flush and anger flares in her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, asshole. I was drunk. I do stupid shit when I’m drunk. It won’t happen again. And the reason I’m here, straight and simple, is because you’re not welcome on this case anymore. I thought you could be trusted, but the way you announced what could have been private information made me realize that you can’t be. So, I don’t want your help. In fact, I want you away from it completely. Stop digging. Stop looking. Just stop.”

I stare at her, my eyes hard. “First of all, lady, I’ll do whatever the fuck I want. I announced what was a pretty easy to find piece of information. Anyone in that club would have found it.”

“Yes,” she cuts me off, wiggling her finger, “but they wouldn’t have told everyone!”

“Are you done?”

She crosses her arms and huffs.

“As I was saying, it was a fairly easy to find piece of information. And as for me being off your case, no thanks, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Why?” she shrieks, throwing her hands up. “You can’t force yourself into my life, Lincoln Knight.”

“I’m curious.”

“You’re curious?”

I nod. “Yeah, I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“About what turned you into the sassy, overbearing, smart-mouthed little shit standing in front of me right now.”

Her nostrils flare, and fuck, it’s adorable. So fucking sweet.

“I swear to everything ...”

“What?” I challenge, crossing my arms. “What exactly are you going to do about it?”

A frustrated squeak, and then, “I’ll annoy you so bad, Lincoln Knight, that you’ll wish you never met me.”

I snort. “We’re already there, sweetheart.”

“You’re impossible,” she mutters, shaking her head. “I can’t deal with this. I came to say what I had to say, and now I’m done.”

“Long way to come and say what you wanted to say, you sure you’re not here for something else?”

Her cheeks go red with anger. “Eat a dick.”

I grin, baring my teeth. Her cheeks just get an even deeper shade of red. She’s fucking sweet when she’s angry. I’d love to take her into the garage, bend her over a car, and fuck her until she can’t think, see, or feel anything but me. I’d enjoy taking that pussy again. Sweet, and tight, and fucking lovely around my cock. And the way she moaned, true to god real, not a fake ass moan that bitches think you want to hear.

No, she meant it, she felt it, and fuck ... my dick is getting hard.

“I’m leaving.”

“Chat soon,” I call after her as she spins and storms off.

“No you won’t, I don’t need your help!” she calls out, flipping me the bird over her shoulder.

“We’ll see about that,” I mutter to myself, then turn and walk around the corner where my security guard went to no doubt get away from the bickering. He’s smoking and offers me one right away. I take it and light it up, leaning against the wall. “Want to go and make sure she gets to her car safe?”

He nods, grinning, and disappears.

Fuck.

She’s getting to me.

~*~*~*~