Fighting For Irish (A Fighting for Love Novel) (Entangled Brazen) (25 page)

She swung her gaze to him, her blue eyes swimming in the tears he knew she prayed wouldn’t fall. He hated yelling at her, but if Sicoli took her up on her offer, she’d be lost forever. He’d have no way of finding her. No way of saving her.

“This was never your fight,” she said to him. “I can’t let you risk your life for me anymore. I love you too much.”

Behind her, Sicoli got to his feet and crossed to the foot of the bed. “This is touching and all, but you’re both forgetting that I’m the one making the rules here. So this is how it’s going to work.”

Sicoli gave a signal with his hand. Sully drew near with a roll of duct tape while Vinnie grabbed Kat by the arms and hauled her away from the bed. Shit was about to get real and he had no idea how to stop it.

“You’re going to fight the championship fight in the Four by Four on Saturday.
This
time you
will
go down in the third round. And to make sure you do, I’ll be holding on to the girl until it’s over.”

“Don’t worry, Irish,” Vinnie sneered as he dragged a meaty paw down Kat’s neck to her breast and gave it a hard squeeze. “I’ll take good care of her for you.”

Kat elbowed Vinnie in the solar plexus then back-fisted his face when he instinctively hunched forward, just like Aiden had taught her in the barn that day. Before Vinnie knew what hit him, he’d had the breath knocked out of him and a swollen lip. Unfortunately the hit hadn’t been hard enough to incapacitate him. He recovered from the shock quickly and backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the floor.

Aiden saw red and struggled against his restraints as he roared with an all-consuming rage. “You motherfucker, I’m gonna—”

Before he could describe his plans to choke Vinnie with his own intestines, Sully landed a cross-punch that damn near snapped Aiden’s head off. He heard Kat scream his name and beg them not to hurt him anymore as the pain lanced through his skull and the coppery tang of blood flooded his mouth. He’d just barely spit it out when Sully slapped a length of tape across his lips.

Aiden felt like a pressure cooker about to explode. The beast inside him raged. His nostrils flared and his chest heaved with rapid breathing. If it wasn’t for the metal cuffs restraining him, he’d have torn each of them limb from limb for making Kat cry, much less trying to take her away.

As Vinnie yanked her back to her feet, Sicoli adjusted his shirt cuffs under his suit and doled out parting instructions. “If I were you, O’Brien, I’d focus on what you need to do this weekend in the fight. You do that, and all this will be over. I’ll take my money and my associates and neither of you will ever have to see me again.”

Placing his fists on the mattress, Sicoli leaned in, staying just far enough away that Aiden couldn’t head-butt him into next week. Cold gray eyes revealed the black soul of a man who viewed others as pawns he could use and manipulate to his advantage.

“You even
think
of double-crossing me and I’ll toss that bitch to the wolves until there’s nothing left of her. Understood?” Aiden gave the barest hint of a nod. “Good,” he said with a couple of pats on Aiden’s cheek. “Then I’ll see you Saturday. The key to the cuffs is on the desk. Housekeeping will make their rounds in a couple of hours.”

Sicoli turned and signaled to the other men. As they prepared to leave the room, Kat tried desperately to keep eye contact with him. She apologized to him over and over as she cried. He cursed the tape over his mouth that prevented him from telling her it was going to be okay. That he would save her. But all he could do was watch as they took her away from him.

It took three hours before a woman from housekeeping entered the room. Thankfully she didn’t scare easily. Instead of running screaming from the room as he’d expected, she muttered a few choice words in another language and rushed to help him.

Once he was free, he hurriedly dressed—which wasn’t easy, since his arms were numb—and grabbed his wallet and keys from the room safe. He took out two hundred dollars and gave it to the maid for her help and her discretion, then gathered the rest of their things and prepared to hightail it out of there. But before he could start the drive back to Alabaster, there was one thing he had to do.

Picking up the phone, he dialed a number and held his breath while it rang. After four rings, he was about to give up when a voice as familiar as his own came over the line.

“Patterson.” Aiden’s throat constricted, making it hard to answer. “Hello? Anyone there?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Hey, Joey. It’s uh—”

“Jesus Christ,” he cut in. “Aid? That you?”

Aiden peered over his shoulder. He was uncomfortable enough making the call; he didn’t need an audience to add to it. But the maid was busy stripping the bed of bloody sheets while humming to herself. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“It’s been, what, five years? You were wicked good at dodging me. I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.”

He tensed his jaw and immediately regretted it when a sharp pain struck him like another punch. Between his injuries and talking to his ex–best friend, Aiden needed some Vicodin and a Glenlivet. “I know. I was a huge coward. Believe me, you couldn’t have done or said anything to punish me more than I did myself,” he said, gazing out the window. “But I still shouldn’t have denied you the opportunity to try. It’s your right.”

“You’re such a fucking asshole, you know that?” Finally, the anger Aiden expected had seeped into Joey’s voice. “You think I don’t know that what happened to Janey was an accident? You loved her like a sister. You woulda never hurt her on purpose.”

Aiden frowned. “So then why all the attempts at getting ahold of me?”

“Because I’d just lost my sister, and I needed to grieve with my best friend, you selfish fucking prick. I needed you, but all you could think about was yourself and your guilt.”

Holy shit.
Aiden reeled. Joey was right. He’d been a selfish coward, only thinking of himself—his guilt, his pain—when he should have been concerned for the man who was like his brother.

Regret stung the backs of his eyes. Pressing his thumb and forefinger against his closed lids, he strained to get his words past the lump in his throat. “Joey, I’m…I’m so goddamn sorry, man. You’re right and I don’t deserve it, but I hope that someday you can forgive me.”

A sigh came through the receiver. “I forgave you forever ago, Aid. You just never gave me the chance to tell you.”

Aiden felt like he’d finally broken free of the steel band that had been slowly squeezing the life out of him since the night of Janey’s death. He took a deep, cleansing breath for the first time in forever and vowed to himself to be a better man going forward. “Thanks, man. I’m gonna make it up to you, I swear.”

“Fuck that shit,” Joey said. “I don’t need you to bake me cookies or wax my car. I just want my brother back, you feel me?”

“Yeah,” he answered, relieved. “I feel you.”

“Good. Now how ’bout I meet you at Paddy’s for a beer?”

“I’m not in Boston, Joey. I’m in Louisiana,” he said, staring at Kat’s purse. “And I need your help.”

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
tsk
ed 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?”