CAGED (Bad Boy Romance): THE UNDERGROUND

by Alexx Andria

  “Yes.” Carlos nodded. “Dray said Molly should arrive by tomorrow night. Same details as usual.”

  Dray was Davonte’s contact for the import of the drug Molly into Detroit.

  Dray packaged the shit in liquor bottles with false bottoms so if anyone took a peek into the crates, it would simply look like a delivery of alcohol to the club.

  This shipment was worth about one hundred thousand on the street.

  Davonte had gotten smug. He only had two guys assigned to the club tomorrow night to make sure the transaction went down smooth.

  If it was true that McAvoy had Terrance, then it wouldn’t so hard to take care of Davonte’s guys and divert the shipment to Terrance as a show of good faith.

  But then I’d have to get the fuck out of Dodge until shit blew over or else Davonte was going to come for my head first.

  “You got that stash of cash?” I asked Carlos.

  “Yeah,” he said, plainly nervous. “You sure about this?”

  “No, but it’s now or never. Terrance is the only fucker brave — or stupid — enough to go up against Davonte. I say let those two motherfuckers duke it out and leave me out of it.”

  Carlos looked ready to piss himself but he trusted me and he was loyal.

  I knew I could count on Carlos doing exactly as he was told.

  Now I just needed McAvoy to come through with his end of the bargain.

  Time was running out.

  If Terrance’s people weren’t blowing up my phone in the next couple of hours, I would know that McAvoy had made promises he couldn’t keep.

  And I was going to turn the fucker into Davonte.

  In this world, it was kill or be killed.

  And as Roberto had learned the hard way…I ain’t dying for no one.

  Chapter 29

  Damon

  The morning broke earlier than we were ready.

  My bones ached in a way that reminded me that I’d spent half the night fucking Charlie senseless.

  And there was no way I was going to complain about that.

  She seemed even more beautiful than before.

  I didn’t know how that was possible but Charlie looked like a fucking angel, her red hair splayed out on the flat, pathetic excuse for a pillow, the sunlight picking up golden glints like clover honey in the jar.

  Her eyes fluttered open and she caught me staring at her like a crazy person.

  Charlie blinked and surprised me with a shy smile that made my heart stutter.

  Stretching, she grimaced slightly, admitting, “God, I’m sore,” which only made me want to scoop her up and hold her against my chest all morning.

  Jesus, I’d turned into a sappy asshole.

  “You hungry?” I asked.

  “Starved.”

  “Me too.” There was a small diner down the street. It seemed safe enough to grab a bite. “Get dressed and I’ll put some food in your belly.”

  Charlie nodded, warning me, “I can put away some food. I’m so hungry I could eat a pancake as large as you.”

  A smile broke my seamed lips as I pictured my little hottie plunking herself down to a flapjack my size. “I’d pay to see that,” I teased.

  Charlie giggled and climbed out of the bed, torturing me with an absolutely boner-causing view of her hips and tits, and quickly shimmied into her jeans and shirt.

  I swallowed my disappointment but my cock was already making life uncomfortable in my pants.

  Too bad. Food first.

  I ignored my boner and we walked to the diner.

  The mom and pop place smelled of bacon and coffee, two smells that made my stomach immediately growl.

  It wasn’t much to look at but the food was probably the kind some country grandma made — hearty, made with butter and cream, and landed like a lead balloon in your gut — basically, my favorite.

  My head on a swivel, we took a booth seat away from the window, and while I was ready to eat, I didn’t like being out in the open.

  Too much to lose at this point.

  The last few days had been a flashpoint of clarity.

  I couldn’t believe I’d been so blind, plodding through my own life with blinders on.

  If I’d been paying attention, I would’ve seen the signs long ago that Manny had no plans for my future, that he’d been using me for as long as my body would hold out.

  I guess the fucker hadn’t expected me to last as long as I had.

  My shoulder ached as a reminder that I’d sacrificed my body along with my hopes and dreams a long time ago.

  I looked up and found Charlie watching me.

  Her gaze was soft yet vulnerable, as if she weren’t sure how to act around me now that we’d explored every inch of each other’s bodies.

  I didn’t blame her.

  We were both in uncharted territory.

  I didn’t keep girlfriends.

  Communication had never been my strength.

  As a kid I’d had a speech impediment.

  Until I grew big enough to beat the shit out of anyone who dared to bully me, I’d learned to remain quiet.

  But I wanted to share things with Charlie.

  My tongue felt suddenly tied, like when I was a kid, so I did what I normally did.

  I remained silent.

  Charlie didn’t want silence.

  “Why’d you protect me that first night?” she asked.

  “I don’t remember.”

  “There had to be something that made you react. Had we seen each other before?”

  I searched my memory but came up empty. The truth was, I had no idea why I chose that moment to charge into the situation and snatch Charlie away from her fate.

  All I knew was that I’d do it again.

  “You had a black eye,” I recalled. “They were dragging you into the back. I guess I thought they were going to rape you or something. Maybe I thought if Ma were alive she’d be so devastated if I sat back and did nothing while a woman was being roughed up.”

  It was a guess – and a good one, at that — but only God knew why I intervened.

  “I never truly thanked you for saving me,” she said. “You have no idea how scared I was.”

  “You were giving them a run for their money,” I said, cracking a small smile at the memory. The little spitfire had planned to go down swinging and that was hot as hell in my book. “You might not have needed me after all.”

  I was teasing her. We both knew what would’ve happened. Charlie’s warm smile reached her eyes and I swear she had a glow about her. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t leave me to test your theory.”

  Our food arrived and just as promised, my girl tucked into her plate like a wolverine.

  Her voracious appetite made me think of other things her hunger sparked. Everything about Charlie was intense. She was the most alive human being I’d ever met.

  I didn’t have much experience with virgins but I’d expected her to be more delicate after everything I’d done to her body.

  But hell no, my woman was a quick study with a wicked curiosity.

  My woman.

  I knew I was messing with fire.

  Charlie wasn’t mine just because I’d popped her cherry.

  But even as I told myself that, the discordant tone that twanged inside my head said differently.

  Charlie was mine.

  I’m not sure how she felt about that but when this was all over — if we survived — I guess we’d have to figure it out.

  In the meantime, I had to keep her safe.

  “What happens if Terrance doesn’t take the bait and call Chantel?” Charlie asked, wiping her mouth after inhaling her pancakes with extra syrup. Man, the woman had a sweet tooth. “I mean, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do while he’s making up his mind.”

  “Keep our heads down, keep a low profile,” I answered. It was the best I could offer. We both knew our fates were completely at the mercy of two fickle people. “We can hide out at the motel until tonight.”

&
nbsp; Charlie chewed her lip, unhappy with the prospect of remaining in that cramped motel for longer than a minute. “I need clothes,” she said finally. “We have to go back to my place.”

  “No.” Charlie had to know that was a stupid idea. “Your house isn’t safe.”

  “I know, I just…I don’t know, I can’t spend all day in that motel room. It makes me claustrophobic thinking about it.”

  My hackles went up. “Sorry princess, better accommodations aren’t available.”

  Her gaze flew to mine with a scowl. “Don’t get pissy. I’m not saying I don’t want to be around you, I just don’t want to be stuck in a roach motel. Cut me some slack, will you?”

  And this was why I didn’t keep relationships — I sucked at the talking thing. “Sorry.” I was out of my element. “I’ve got cash. I’ll buy you new clothes.”

  “You would do that?” she asked.

  “Of course. It’s Davonte’s money. I say we blow it on whatever we want. It might be our last hurrah, anyway.”

  Charlie laughed. “I like that idea but we should probably save some of it in case we need to book it out of town.”

  “Smart,” I concurred but I liked the idea of buying her new clothes much more. Being sensible had never had a reputation for being sexy.

  All jokes aside, I realized I wanted her to know something. It was important enough for me to risk ruining the mood.

  “I plan to run The Underground different than Davonte.”

  Charlie stilled, dropping her hands into her lap as she processed my admission.

  Finally, she said, “I know you would. It doesn’t change how I feel. That place killed my brother. I’ll never have any love for cage fighting.”

  “It wasn’t the cage that killed your brother. He never should’ve been in the ring with his opponent. I want to bring The Underground to the surface and make it legit for kids who want that future, for real. I don’t plan to use and abuse them like Davonte does.”

  She cast a wounded look at me for crashing our good morning but I needed her to know that I wasn’t like Davonte. My intentions were pure, even if she didn’t like them.

  “What are you asking me, Damon?”

  Hell, I didn’t know. Her forgiveness? Her understanding? Maybe both. “I just wanted you to know that I was different.”

  Charlie inhaled a deep breath and said, “We should go.”

  My cell rang and I checked the caller ID.

  It was an unknown number.

  I answered.

  “Your contact was eager to cooperate. You weren’t blowing smoke up my ass.”

  I mouthed, “It’s Terrance” to Charlie then said, “You two going to meet and discuss options?”

  “Yes. She happens to like Thai food. I like her already.”

  “Sounds like everything is falling into plan.”

  “Yes, well, not everything is as neat and tidy as it seems.”

  I quieted, my gut clenching. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what Terrance was about to say.

  “Chantel had her own demands. I couldn’t say I disagreed.”

  “Oh? What’s she want?” I would’ve thought Chantel happy with the idea of not having Davonte on her ass every month but I should’ve known Chantel would get greedy.

  “She wants Davonte dead. Seems she’s got a personal beef with him.”

  “What’s that got to do with me?” I asked, sweat starting to bead on my upper lip. I had a bad feeling.

  “We need bait.”

  Charlie.

  “Your little woman will work perfectly.”

  “No.”

  “This isn’t a negotiation.”

  I could feel Charlie becoming restless. She sensed my agitation.

  “You’ll say you found his little runaway bitch and you’ll set up a negotiation. You’ll tell him that you are willing to trade her for ownership of The Underground. He’ll respond with threats but if he really wants the woman, he’ll try to arrange a meeting. When he does, give him the address I am texting to you now. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  The line went dead.

  Charlie pounced. “You look like you’re ready to puke. What did he say?”

  “He wants me to use you as bait to lure Davonte to a specific location.”

  She paled. “What?”

  “I told him no but he didn’t take my answer seriously.”

  I quickly shared the rest of the details.

  For a long moment Charlie simply sat there, thinking. Then she surprised me with a nod, saying, “I think he’s right. Davonte won’t quit. He never will. He’ll chase us forever and this is a way to put him where he belongs — in the ground.”

  “You’re okay with leading a man to his death?” I asked.

  “No. But Davonte isn’t a man. He’s an animal and yes, I’m okay with helping to put down a rabid beast. Frankly, it feels like a public service.”

  I regarded Charlie with something close to wonder.

  There wasn’t an ounce of reluctance in her clear-eyed gaze.

  Charlie had already come to grips with the knowledge that Davonte was bad and the world would be a better place without him. I responded by kissing her hard, saying, “You’re a fucking bloodthirsty woman. Remind me to never to piss you off.”

  She laughed against my lips. “You were right; you aren’t dumb, after all.”

  Chapter 30

  Charlie

  Davonte fell in line easily with the plan.

  The dumb fucker was so assured that he was untouchable that he didn’t even put up much of an argument when Damon presented the terms of the exchange.

  Of course, Davonte didn’t actually plan to hand over The Underground to Damon, it was all smoke and mirrors.

  We both knew that Davonte planned to kill Damon as soon as he produced me.

  That’s where Terrance and Chantel came in.

  And please, God, I hoped they didn’t fuck us in the end, because we were putting everything we had in their hands.

  The address, an abandoned shoe factory, tagged with countless layers of graffiti, littered with trash left by vagrants and misfits, was the perfect place to commit a murder.

  If I felt a tiny pinch of conscience at my part in all this, I squelched it.

  I was doing this for Tommy, but also for myself.

  Davonte was a sick individual. The world wouldn’t weep for his loss.

  Maybe I was playing God, but what choice did I have if I wanted to survive on my own terms?

  Besides, Davonte had created this karma, not me.

  It was nearing dusk as we pulled up to the factory.

  The atmosphere was creepy and I half expected a killer clown to emerge from the shadows to slice and dice all of us.

  Clowns were fucking scary.

  Whoever thought clowns were appropriate for kids’ parties had to have been on drugs.

  I was babbling inside my own mind to take away from the fear lodged in my brain.

  If I’d had anything in my stomach I would’ve crapped my pants with nervous diarrhea.

  Thankfully, I hadn’t eaten much after we’d gotten the call from Terrance.

  We were about to commit a crime.

  Up until this point, I’d been the victim in Davonte’s game.

  Now, I was an accessory.

  I tried not to let fear scare me from my purpose.

  A car rolled up and I instinctively reached for Damon’s hand, needing to hold onto him for courage.

  He squeezed my hand gently, telling me silently that he was there and nothing would happen to me.

  I took courage from his solid strength.

  And even though I’d accused him of being no better than Davonte, I knew in that moment, he’d never been anything like Davonte.

  Shame at being so blind curdled my insides.

  Because unlike Davonte, Damon had no interest in spilling blood.

  Even a rat like Davonte’s.

  Davonte emerged from the car, walking into the waning
light of the factory’s first floor.

  Accompanied by his usual henchmen, Davonte was smug in his belief that he couldn’t lose.

  “Damon,” he tsked, looking as if he truly were disappointed by Damon’s supposed failure. “You really should’ve just stuck with my offer. You could’ve made a lot of money at my side.”

  “Cut the shit, Davonte. You were going to kill me as soon as I delivered Charlie.”

  Davonte spread his hands as if caught. “Guilty. But if it means anything, I was actually considering having you on the payroll. You’re an impressive guy. Just having you around might’ve been enough to make some men piss themselves. But in the end,” he gently tapped his healing nose “I just couldn’t let your disrespect go unpunished.”

  Then Davonte’s gaze fell to Damon’s hand gripped in mine and his lip curled as he processed the scene. “Well, well, well. Isn’t this cute? Let me guess…you’re in love? Have I gotten between two star-crossed lovers? How fucking tragic. I think I might puke.”

  I wanted to spit at Davonte but I remained quiet, too afraid to make a wrong move. Where were Terrance’s guys that were supposed to intercept Davonte before things got out of hand?

  In the movies, the bad guy got taken out by the sniper or a hail of gunfire.

  But we weren’t in a movie and a bad feeling had begun to creep up my neck.

  “Charlene, I was going to make you my wife,” he said to me with a feigned air of sadness. I couldn’t contain the revulsion I felt. Davonte’s gaze hardened at my obvious rejection. “Now you’re going to be my whore. I’m going to chain you to my side and let the lowest of the low fuck you raw. How does that sound?”

  I felt the low rumble of rage coursing through Damon at Davonte’s taunt and I silently begged Damon to remain calm. Davonte’s men had guns. We had nothing at this point because it was starting to look as if Terrance had backed out.

  We were alone.

  Damon and I both knew it. We could feel it in our bones.

  We’d been set up.

  Maybe Chantel had turned on us and Terrance had lost interest.

  Panic drove at my brain.

  If I didn’t do something, Damon was going to try and fight his way out of this and end up dead.