Underground Fighters Trilogy Boxed Set

by Aislinn Kearns

  “McCready sure is a sonofabitch.”

  Kat let out a laugh. “Yeah, no arguments from me.”

  They fell silent for a moment. The sound of music and laughter spilled from the bar. Beyond the pool of light shining on the cars, darkness lay beyond. This wasn’t a good neighbourhood. Spider liked to drink here because it was halfway between the gym and McCready’s mansion, but also because he felt at home amongst the clientele. Kat didn’t mind a good bar, but this wouldn’t be her choice for when she had her first drink to celebrate her freedom.

  Not long now.

  “So, what were you studying?” Wyatt asked. “When you gave it all up.”

  “Nursing,” she said with a wistful smile. “I wanted to help people.”

  He eyed her. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

  Kat shuttered her emotions. “Well, I was different then. Idealistic. Naïve.” She nearly jumped off the hood of the car. It was stupid of her to have stayed out this late, anyway. She’d been drawn in by the remembrances of her old life, of happier times.

  He shook his head, as if denying her words. “I think you’d make a good nurse. You’d be calm under pressure and could make the tough calls.”

  Kat studied him, but he seemed perfectly serious. A tingle started all over her, starting in her heart. Wyatt really did seem sweet. Damn it.

  “What about you?” she countered. “What did you do before you started inserting yourself into McCready’s world?”

  He shrugged. “This and that.”

  Kat hummed. So, he did have secrets. That didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was he’d been so open about his plans for McCready, but didn’t want to talk about his life before. Whatever he was keeping from her must be big.

  “Come on. It can’t have been that bad.” She nudged him with her shoulder, and again goosebumps skated along her arm. She was glad her hoodie hid her reaction to his touch.

  Wyatt’s eyes softened. “It’s not. But it’s one of those things you don’t want to know, because you’ll have to decide whether or not to tell McCready.”

  “Oh,” Kat breathed. Her heart flipped. And before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned over and pressed a kiss against Wyatt’s lips. It was as much a thank you as it was an act of attraction. Gratitude that he’d seen her, knew her, and treated her like a human being.

  But she also couldn’t resist that soft look in his eyes, even more so than the intense gazes he’d given her before. It made her feel soft. Wanted. Cared for.

  And she’d had to be so hard for so long.

  Their lips touching sent a slow roll of heat through her, like creeping lava consuming all in its path. It wasn’t lightning, or fireworks. But it was far more powerful. Inexorable and unavoidable.

  Wyatt’s hand slid into her hair, cupping her face as he returned the kiss. She sank into him, enjoying the feel of his body against her. His heat and hardness. The kiss deepened and she wanted more, wanted to strip them both and live out the fantasies that had been plaguing her for days.

  She wanted.

  For the first time in a long while, she wanted something—someone. She couldn’t even remember the last time it had happened. She’d lived in a fog for so long, focused on survival. Wanting hadn’t even played into it.

  The thought surprised her so much that Kat broke the kiss and sat back. She stared at Wyatt for a long moment, searching his face for…something.

  She shouldn’t be doing this. McCready wouldn’t want her giving her favours without his permission. And she shouldn’t want to. It wasn’t the time, or the place. Kat needed to focus on her freedom, not on this man she knew so little about.

  “Why are you even here?” she asked, suddenly desperate to find something about this man she didn’t like. She hadn’t wanted to know, not really. Not if it put him at risk because she would have a weapon to sell him out to McCready if she chose to. But now she needed the details. Needed to know if his reasons were honourable, or if he was here for a selfish reason like all the rest.

  Wyatt’s gaze locked on hers. For a moment, she thought he wouldn’t answer, that he’d still be focused on the kiss. But then he sighed and some of the tension drained out of him. “I have a sibling, too. A brother. Or maybe I had one. Either way, McCready knows what happened to him, and I need to find out.”

  Kat sucked in a breath. “What was his name?” She shouldn’t be asking, shouldn’t know the answer. McCready would kill her if he found out she knew something about Wyatt and had no intention of telling him. But Kat had to know.

  “Dean,” Wyatt answered.

  “Oh,” Kat said, and suddenly things made sense. “You’re looking for him.”

  Wyatt nodded. “You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?”

  Kat shook her head, distracted by the way light from the bar’s floodlights reflected off Wyatt’s dark eyes.

  “But you know him?”

  “We met. I don’t think we ever talked, though. He never made it into McCready’s circle, though he tried, so I only saw him fight. And he had a similar style of fighting to you, now I think about it.”

  A ghost of a smile played on his lips, but it was tinged with sadness.

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  Kat cast her mind back. “About a year, I think. One day he simply disappeared. That happens a lot with people close to McCready.”

  Wyatt scowled. “And it doesn’t bother you?”

  “Of course it does,” she replied testily, the remaining heat from the kiss draining out of her. “But what do you want me to do? Confront him about it? For all I know they’re in Tahiti. And if they’re not, then I don’t think I want to join them by stirring up any trouble.”

  Wyatt’s jaw worked. “I need to find out what happened. Even if I have to stir up trouble,” he replied, emphasising the words with a sneer.

  Kat glared at him. “You want to judge me? Fine. But at least I’m still alive.”

  “Kat, you might not want to see this, but you’re part of the problem. By protecting yourself, you’re protecting McCready and his status quo. If you all stood up—”

  Kat leapt up from the car’s hood, fury rising. “And who do you expect will stand up with me? Spider? Weston?” She gestured angrily at the sleeping men in the car. “It’s everyone for themselves, Wyatt. We all know what it takes to stay alive, and that’s to stay on McCready’s good side. One wrong move and I could end up in a ditch with your brother.”

  She stopped, snapping her mouth shut. But it was too late, the cruel words had tumbled out. Wyatt’s face grew stricken. He slid off the car and took a stumbling step back.

  “I’m sorry,” Kat murmured. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Wyatt’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t reply.

  “I need to go,” she whispered, her heart cracking. She slid into the driver’s seat of the car and started the engine. The headlights spotlighted Wyatt where he still stood, staring at her.

  She hadn’t meant to hurt him. But she was so sick and tired of being judged. Of being afraid every minute of her day. Of making tough choices to stay alive and getting crucified for it. She did what she had to do so she could survive, and no one should fault her for that.

  But if that was the case, why did she feel so damn guilty?

  Chapter 7

  The next morning, Kat was returning to her room from the kitchen with a mug of coffee when she spotted Ruthie outside by the pool, staring off into the distance with her arms wrapped around herself. Kat’s heart cracked at the sight. She looked so alone and vulnerable.

  Sighing, Kat changed direction and slipped out the sliding door. Ruthie spared her a glance as Kat settled beside her, but then she pointedly turned her face back to the view.

  It was a nice view, all things considered. McCready’s house was on a rise, so they could see across the city and to the horizon.

  “I’m sorry about what I said to you yesterday,” Kat said eventually.

  Ruth
ie gave her a disbelieving look. “Will you take it all back?” There was a lot of bitterness in her voice for one so young, who just yesterday had been so naïve.

  “No,” said Kat after a while. “But I could have explained myself better.”

  Ruthie turned to leave. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  Kat caught her arm. “Please. I want to help you.”

  Ruthie tightened her jaw, eyeing Kat. Eventually, she acquiesced with a nod and unexpected relief ran through Kat. Why was she so determined to help this girl? None of the others who had come and gone during Kat’s time had affected her this way. But every time Kat looked at Ruthie, she saw her sister instead. And she knew that if Larissa was in this position, Kat would do anything she could to help her survive.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested, casting a glance up at the camera mounted on the roof’s overhang above them. It was trained directly on them.

  Ruthie followed her gaze and shuddered when she spotted what Kat was looking at. “Let’s.”

  Kat led her around the garden, pointing out various plants and hidey spots throughout the yard. She waved to a gardener as they passed, one of the few outsourced workers McCready hired. No one outside his inner circle was allowed inside the house except during parties, so he used women like Kat as his maids. But the garden he wanted looking perfect, since it was the first thing people saw as the came up the drive to the house, and McCready liked making an imposing first impression. So, he hired people with more experience than he could get from those he blackmailed.

  Kat learned early that the gardeners were paid well for their silence.

  “How long have you been here?” Ruthie asked eventually.

  Kat sighed. “Nearly five years. My term is up in a few months.”

  “So, you’ll be going home?” Ruthie asked excitedly.

  “Yes, hopefully. If they’ll have me.” She didn’t say that she’d barely spoken to her family since she’d got here. Her sister’s guilt at sending Kat here, mingled with her parent’s disgust at what she was doing, created a firestorm of unpleasantness each time she called. She only picked up the phone on rare occasions when she didn’t think she could go on, to remind herself who she was doing this for.

  Besides, McCready closely monitored her calls. He didn’t want any of his slaves organising a revolt, or otherwise betraying him.

  “Why wouldn’t they have you?” Ruthie asked, tears springing to her eyes.

  “It’s complicated,” Kat hedged. “But that doesn’t mean it’ll happen to you. I’m sure your father will be glad to have you home.”

  Ruthie blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the tears. “Yes, I suppose so. But whether I’ll want to go home to him is another story.”

  Kat nodded. Ruthie had every right to be furious at her father for getting her into this situation, and she’d never dream of telling her otherwise.

  “The important thing is that you will leave here,” she said instead. “And one day, I hope, all of this will seem like a horrible dream, a time away from our lives we can lock into a box and never think of again. But first we have to survive it.”

  Ruthie glanced warily at Kat. “By survive it, you mean go along with it?”

  Kat’s mouth twisted into something like a smile. “Yeah. By whatever means necessary.”

  “I don’t think I can,” Ruthie whispered, though less defensively than when they’d spoken of it yesterday. “The way that Spider guy looks at me…I’ve managed to avoid him so far, but I don’t know how much longer it’ll last. And I don’t think he cares that I don’t want anything to do with him.”

  Kat swallowed, her gut twisting unpleasantly. She knew Spider liked them young and innocent, and once he’d used them enough that they became cynical and hard, he mostly ignored them. It was part of the reason Kat had been so quick to shut herself down—Spider had soon lost interest in her.

  “I’m glad he hasn’t managed to corner you yet,” Kat said. She had Wyatt to thank for that. He’d taken Spider and Weston out for drinks last night, and they were too busy nursing their hangovers this morning to bother any women.

  Kat was surprised to find she meant the sentiment. Part of her had taken Ruthie here to tell her to get the worst of it over with—rip the Band-Aid off—but the thought of Spider mauling this girl made her sick to the stomach.

  Maybe Wyatt had had a point. Maybe she’d been thinking of herself too long. It wouldn’t hurt for the women under McCready’s control to have some kind of solidarity, or strength in numbers. It was worth her considering.

  She’d have to be careful who she considered for the group, though. Some of the women had been here a long time, well past when their sentence came due. Kat didn’t know whether it was a Stockholm Syndrome situation, whether they’d drunk the Kool-Aid, or whether they just had nowhere else to go. But either way, not all McCready’s victims hated him. Many were loyal. It baffled Kat, and saddened her.

  She and Ruthie slowly made their way back to the house.

  “What am I going to do?” Ruthie asked softly before they made it back to the house.

  Kat squeezed her eyes shut, just for a second. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s best.”

  “You won’t help me?”

  Kat made a strangled sound. She thought of her own sister—the one Ruthie reminded her of so strongly. If she risked McCready’s wrath to help Ruthie, she’d never see Larissa again. She had no doubt McCready would destroy her for even the slightest hint of disloyalty. Could Kat give up her sister, her parents, her hope for a better life, to help one girl?

  “I don’t know,” she said again, voice tight.

  She glanced at Ruthie to see the younger woman looking at her with wide, hurt eyes. Ruthie turned her head away to hide her tears and strode back into the house, leaving Kat to wallow in her shame as she followed.

  She made it back to the house and was in half a mind to seek out Ruthie—to do what, she didn’t know—when Spider’s voice caught her ear. It was coming from the open office two doors down, the same one Kat had caught Wyatt in that first night they’d spoke.

  “I don’t remember what we talked about, okay?” Spider gritted out, clearly frustrated. It sounded like he’d pressed this point a few times already.

  Kat crept closer, her ears trained for the reply.

  “You must remember something,” growled McCready. “You were with him for hours.” They were talking about Spider and Weston’s time with Wyatt last night. Did McCready suspect Wyatt of pumping Spider and Weston for information?

  “And I was drunk,” Spider shot back. “If I’d known you’d wanted a report, I would have kept my wits about me.”

  “Well, next time, be smarter and figure that out before I have to tell you. Wyatt would be an asset. He’s a good fighter, and smart.” The smarter than you was implied. “But maybe he’s too smart. I need to know before I offer him the position.”

  Spider openly sighed. “Just test him already. Then you’ll know.”

  McCready made a disgusted sound. “Not yet. Not until I know for sure, either way.”

  “But—”

  “I won’t run the test,” McCready interrupted him. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t run a test. Do you understand now?” Kat’s blood went cold. What were they going to do to Wyatt? Or, knowing McCready, what would he make Wyatt do?

  Kat swallowed painfully. Wyatt didn’t deserve whatever was about to happen to him. He was only trying to find his brother. But McCready would kick him out in a second if he got wind of Wyatt’s investigation, or if Wyatt failed any tests. And that would mean Wyatt might never find out what happened to his brother.

  Should she warn him? Kat didn’t know. It would be a risk, a big one. And it might make Wyatt’s position more precarious if he suspected McCready was attempting to entrap him. People got fidgety when they were anticipating something bad. If Wyatt acted nervous, McCready would know immediately someone had told him about the impending tests, and it would be pretty obvio
us who that would be. Kat would then be putting herself in danger, too.

  To make it worse, McCready would wonder why a man with nothing to hide would need to be warned about any tests. He’d immediately suspect that Wyatt had ulterior motives, and that Kat would know what they were.

  She could blow Wyatt’s investigation if she was careless.

  Could she trust Wyatt to keep his cool? And keep her secrets?

  Maybe.

  Spider chuckled. “Right, let me know what you want me to do.”

  “I will, if I need you. But for now, try to remember what you spoke about last night.”

  Spider grumbled. “I told you, I barely remember anything. We talked about chicks, about fights we’d seen, we laughed over that mouthy do-gooder who used to hang around until—”

  “Mouthy do-gooder?” McCready interrupted, sounding on high alert.

  “Yeah, that…Dean? Was that his name? I don’t remember how he came up, but he did.”

  “What exactly did you say?” McCready asked in a dangerous voice.

  A rustling sounded, like Spider had shrugged. “Nothing important. I didn’t say what happened to him or anything. You know I’d never spill your secrets to someone who isn’t in.”

  “Did Wyatt seem particularly interested in this topic of conversation?”

  Silence drew out for a long moment and Kat held her breath. It was as if a blade hovered over Wyatt, waiting to strike, and Spider’s next words were the only thing keeping it airborne.

  “Not particularly,” Spider said eventually, and Kat let out a breath of relief. Wyatt was safe for another day.

  “Fine,” McCready snapped, suddenly impatient. “Go take care of that business we discussed earlier. We have another party this weekend.”

  Kat straightened. Their interview was over and she was obviously eavesdropping on the conversation. She had a spilt second to decide whether she should go forward, past the door as if she’d only recently come back into the house, or turn back and hide.

  There was only one choice, really. She’d never make it out of the corridor before Spider came out and spotted her. So she stepped forward as if she’d been travelling this way all along.