Guard (The Underground Book 3) (5 page)

“That’s crazy. What are the chances?”

She smiled. “Just think, we might have crossed paths in infancy.”

“Yeah, I doubt that. Unless you spent a lot of time touring orphanages.”

“We did.”

He angled his face to one side. “What year were you born?”

“Eighty-four.”

“Huh. Same year as me. All of us guys, actually.”

“Your friends who are fighters?”

“Yes. There are six of us.”

“Did you grow up in the same orphanage?”

He shook his head. “No. As a matter of fact, we were raised in six different orphanages all over the country. We never met. What we had in common was our strength and good health and agility. Anton Yenin brought us all over to the US when we were eighteen.”

“What for?”

“Good question. Presumably to give us a better life. He taught us to fight and gave us the skills needed to work construction on the side. But as the years have gone by, none of us actually believes we were brought here without an ulterior motive.”

She shuddered. “What on earth do you think he had in mind?”

“No idea. But we aim to find out, and I don’t doubt all this shit going on is tied together. The man has something extremely sinister going on in that lab of his. It has something to do with me, the rest of the guys, and the homeless people.”

“And now me.” She wrapped her arms around her.

He set a hand on her thigh and squeezed. “It would seem so.”

His warmth raced through her body.

She glanced down at his grip and bit her lip. He was so kind and gentle under the rough enormous exterior. And she was falling for him. She willed his hand to remain on her leg, anchoring her. Supporting her. Warming her. It was more than warmth, though.

Her sexual awareness jumped to life every time he touched her.

Or was she just twisting a bizarre situation in her mind? After all, her mind wasn’t totally clear. She’d been drugged for weeks. Her world was still a little hazy. Who fell for some guy they hardly knew in such a short amount of time?

»»•««

Haley sat in a metal folding chair along the side of the gym, watching the dozen or so guys work out. She put her feet up on the railing in front of her and leaned against her knees.

She’d never seen so many buff men in one place before. In fact, she felt a strange sense of peace inside their space. Not a single person on earth would dare to approach her as long as she was in that gym. Or if they did, they would be in for a rude awakening because it was clear any man in the room could take out any bad guy with one hand.

The first thing she’d done when she got situated was call her boss. Terrance Shorter had been worried sick about her. He’d called the police when she’d gone missing.

She explained briefly what happened to her, and Terrance was appalled. He told her to take all the time she needed to recover. Her job wasn’t going anywhere.

Not surprising. Social workers were a dime a dozen, but the ones willing to work at a shelter and help the homeless were few and far between.

While she was marveling at the number of times Mikhail spent punching a bag hanging from the ceiling, an older man pulled up a chair next to her and sat. She turned to face him and flinched reflexively when he spoke.

“Haley, right?”

Who was this guy? His accent was Russian, similar to Mikhail’s. She freaked out a little.

He smiled though, and held out a hand. “Abram Gromov. I’m Mikhail’s manager.”

Ah, right
.

She shook his hand and then faced the ring just as Mikhail slid under the side and started bouncing around.

“He’s one of the best. Is this the first time you’ve been here?”

“Yes.” Today was the first time she’d been awake long enough since she met him.

Abram was about fifty and built like any guy currently working out. He looked older, and too much time in the sun had weathered his skin. He was balding, but his hair was still dark brown. “You a fan of MMA?”

She shook her head. “Never seen it before.”

His smiled widened. “You’re in for a treat, then. Be right back.” He winked as he stood and walked away, heading toward Mikhail. When he got to the side of the ring, he spoke to Mikhail and the other fighter who had entered, but she couldn’t hear his words.

Mikhail nodded as he stuffed his mouthpiece in and adjusted his gloves.

Haley hardly blinked. He was like a bronzed statue with his bare chest and his chiseled waistline. She’d never been a fan of tattoos, but on Mikhail they were hot. One side of his chest was covered with the most intricate tattoo. Items that reminded her of some sort of warrior. All woven together. She could make out lightning, a spear, a shield, a helmet. It was gorgeous.

As he squared off with the other man, she realized they were evenly matched.

Abram returned to her side and leaned forward next to her, setting his elbows on the railing. “You want a little MMA 101?”

“Sure. That’d be great.” Otherwise, all she saw were two men throwing punches and kicks. How would it be possible to determine a winner in a real fight?

“The man sparring against Mikhail is Leo.”

“Oh, right. He was at the clinic the other day.”

“Yes, but I didn’t figure you remembered that.”

She smiled. “Not really, but I remember the name.”

Abram nodded. “Leo fights this Friday. Ivan and Mikhail don’t fight for two more weeks.”

She winced. The thought of Mikhail doing this in a real venue unnerved her. “Where do they fight?”

“The underground. Usually literally, in speakeasies that are a holdover from the early 1900s. The venues are rented, and the guests are invite only. I’m sure one of the guys will take you if you want to go watch.”

“Maybe… They don’t get caught?”

“Rarely. And even if the police did bust up a fight, they wouldn’t bother to arrest anyone, especially not the athletes. They generally turn a blind eye to the entire scene.”

“And people bet on the fighters?”

“Yep. It’s very lucrative. That’s why my boys do it.”

“Uh-huh.” She set her gaze on Mikhail as he spun around and kicked Leo high on the chest.

Leo stumbled back but regained his footing quickly.

Abram winced.

Haley turned toward him, frowning.

Abram swung a hand through the air, dismissing himself. “Don’t mind me. I’m just watching Mikhail take that hit. He took a few kicks harder than that last weekend. I’m surprised he isn’t still hurting is all.”

Abram changed the subject. “They’re a good match. It’s like an art watching them together.”

She wasn’t quite ready to call this gross sport an “art” form, but it was interesting. “What are the rules?”

Abram chuckled. “There aren’t any. Not really. But if a fighter wants to stay alive outside of the ring, it’s best not to hit below the belt, gouge the eyes, or ram the kidneys. Fighters frown on that. Otherwise, it’s a free-for-all.”

She held her breath. Jesus.

Leo landed a series of jabs to Mikhail’s biceps, and then the two of them bounced out of range for a moment.

Mikhail moved back into position first, hands held high. He swung at Leo and missed as his friend dodged the punch. But while Leo was unsteady, Mikhail leaped into his space and wrapped his arm around Leo’s neck.

Haley winced.

“Chokehold.”

“God. How do they keep from killing each other?”

“They know what they’re doing. Don’t worry. Neither of them has ever harmed anyone permanently in the cage.”

When Leo slammed an elbow into Mikhail’s chest, Mikhail released him and jumped back. He fell against the side of the ring for a second, causing the four parallel ropes to spring outward before he bounced back.

Abram’s face scrunched up again, and then he sighed. “That’s one tough motherfucker.” He twisted to look at her. “Oh, sorry for the language.”

Haley smiled and returned her gaze to Mikhail, who hesitated for a second. “How safe are those ropes? They don’t look like they would hold him.”

Abram chuckled. “This is actually a boxing ring. MMA is fought in a cage with eight sides of fencing. In the gym they’re using this space for safety. Don’t worry, the ropes will hold.”

Mikhail held up his guard again and bounced toward the center. When Leo got close, Mikhail threw two right hooks into the side of his head. Leo retaliated with a hard punch to Mikhail’s cheek. Or maybe his eye. Mikhail shook him off and spun around with another kick.

“He has an impressive leg kick,” Abram commented.

“Leg kick? Isn’t that redundant?” Haley would have laughed, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the brutal play in the ring.

“I suppose. That’s just what they call it. Mikhail is The Warrior. He’s always on guard.”

“The warrior? What does that mean?”

“That’s his fighting name. The Warrior.” Abram pointed at Mikhail’s stance. “See how he always pulls his arms back up in a perfect guard position?”

“He looks like a warrior,” she muttered. And the tattoo she’d admired on his chest comprised of images she would associate with a warrior.

“Yep.”

They went at each other for longer than Haley could believe possible. How did they have the stamina?

Finally, they were done, and Mikhail ducked between two of the ropes to exit the ring beside Leo. They patted each other on the back and then tugged off their gloves and spit out their mouthpieces.

As Mikhail walked in her direction, she scrunched up her face.

“What did you think?”

“Gross.”

He chuckled. “Gonna grab a shower. You okay for a few more minutes?”

“If my choices are to ride in the Jeep with you all sweaty and smelly or to wait for you to clean up, then I’m good with waiting.”

He chuckled again as he walked away. His arms were so damn large they stood out from his body. But no matter how freaked out she was about the fighting, there was no denying the guy was sexy as shit.

Mikhail glanced at Haley several times as they drove to Katie’s clinic. “So, here’s the thing. Katie’s helping the FBI figure out what happened to you, but you need to keep that under wraps. We don’t want anyone to realize any of us is involved in trying to capture Anton Yenin. Least of all Yenin himself.

“He has eyes on us. All of us. He doesn’t trust us, and rightfully so. We don’t trust him, either. I’m used to it. He’s had us followed for years. I didn’t realize the FBI was on our heels also until Monday night. But they are. And it’s impossible to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. So, we keep a low profile, especially you.”

She nodded, not saying a word.

He didn’t know if it was a good sign or a bad sign. Undoubtedly she was still processing everything. “I know this is a lot to take in, and you didn’t ask for this problem. But it landed in your lap anyway, and even though you were rescued from Christianson’s house two days ago, you aren’t safe.

“Yenin doesn’t like people to escape his clutches. In fact, one of our friends, Dmitry Volikov, took his woman and fled the country to hide. That’s how far Yenin will go to get what he wants. As of today, the last two of us fighters who remained in Yenin’s good graces have left Vegas to join us here in Chicago.

“You’ll meet them next week. Sergei and Nikolav. They’re both escaping Yenin’s clutches to get better work fighting for Abram Gromov up here in Chicago. Neither of them knows anything about the FBI investigation yet. I’m sure they’ll be brought into the fold soon, but until then…”

“Got it. I won’t say a word about anything.”

He hated putting her in this position. He hated her being in any position that put her in danger. But that ship had sailed, and now she had to be brought up to date, and fast. There was no other way to keep her safe than to be blunt about it.

He was worried about Alena, but Ivan was with her. And hopefully Nikolav or Sergei would take a position by her side too. Not that there was any doubt. The six of them were like brothers. They would never let each other down. They’d been training and fighting together for over twelve years. And they’d spent over half that time pondering Yenin’s motives among themselves.

Mikhail pulled up outside Katie’s clinic and glanced around subtly as he rounded the Jeep to let Haley out. He took her hand to help her down, and she squeezed his fingers.

It was difficult to force himself to release her when there was no longer a good reason to continue holding on to her. But he managed as he tugged the door to the clinic open.

Leo was in the waiting room. “Hey. I was just about to lock the door.”

“Are you the clinic’s bodyguard now?” Mikhail chuckled.

“Self-appointed.”

Mikhail snickered. “How’d you beat us here?”

“Maybe I drive faster. My car is cooler.”

“Whatever.” Mikhail shook his head. Leo was in love with his Trans Am.

Leo turned toward Haley as he locked the front door and set an alarm. “You look much better than on Monday.”

She flushed at his compliment, a gorgeous shade of red that ran down her face and neck.

Mikhail couldn’t help wondering how far it extended, and he had to close his eyes for a second to get a grip.

“Katie’s in the back. Come on through.” Leo nodded toward the door that opened to a hallway at the back of the waiting room.

Mikhail set a hand on Haley’s lower back as they followed him into the hall and then to the right where he knew Haley’s office was located. If he wasn’t mistaken, Haley leaned toward him.

He needed to rein in his attraction for this woman before he got himself in trouble. She needed protection. And she would flip out and kick him out of her apartment in a heartbeat if she knew half the thoughts he was entertaining in his head.

“Hi.” Katie’s desk faced the door, and she smiled and jumped up from behind it as they entered. “Come on in. Ignore the mess. Pease, sit.” She pointed at the love seat against one wall as she rounded the desk.

Mikhail guided Haley toward the small sofa that had seen better days and sat next to her while Leo took the uncomfortable olive-green, fiberglass chair against the wall. Katie pushed a few papers aside and heaved herself onto the top of the back of the desk.