Underground Fighters Trilogy Boxed Set

by Aislinn Kearns

  Chapter 17

  Wyatt pulled up out the front of the same bar he’d taken Spider and Weston to. Kat shivered at the thought of the two men. Spider was most likely dead, and Weston would be out for vengeance.

  But Kat couldn’t regret what she and Wyatt had done. Spider had deserved punishment for what he’d done to her, to the other girls, and what he’d nearly done to Ruthie. Maybe that made her cold and heartless. Maybe it was a sign she was broken beyond repair. But all Kat could think about when she thought of Spider being dead was good.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked, staring up at the flickering neon sign.

  “You’ll see,” Wyatt replied, opening his door and stepping out into the cool night. He was still only in the track pants she’d given him to sleep in, his bare chest on display. Kat took a second to admire his sculpted athlete’s muscles by the light of the floodlights before she, too, left the car. She clutched her phone to her stomach, which she’d grabbed while Wyatt had been fighting Weston and Spider.

  Wyatt took one look at her bare legs peeking out from under her sleep shorts and frowned, though his eyes raked over her body hungrily. Kat’s nipples pebbled from his hot look and the cold air.

  “On second thought, perhaps you’d better stay out here.”

  Kat folded her arms across her chest and gave him a haughty look. “You’re not leaving me behind. Not now.”

  “You specifically said you didn’t want to come in here last time, and now with you dressed like that…” His voice trailed off as if he was distracted by all her bare skin. Kat grinned, warmed from the inside by his obvious interest in her.

  “I’ll be with you,” she countered.

  Wyatt sighed. “We don’t have time to argue, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Wait!” she said.

  Wyatt turned back with a confused frown. “What?”

  Kat waved her hand near his head. “Do you really want to go in there with blood all over you?”

  His gaze cleared. “Oh. Probably not.” He chuckled and strode back to the car. Kat followed him, her bare feet protesting the dirt and rocks on the ground.

  Wyatt opened the trunk of the car, revealing two gym bags. This must be the car Weston and Spider took to training. Wyatt dug through them, pulling out a towel and wiping the blood off his head. Luckily, the wound had already stopped bleeding, so it wasn’t as bad as Kat had feared. Next, he dug deeper, pulling out a shirt, a pair of track pants, and some trainers.

  He sniffed the shirt. “Clean,” he pronounced with some surprise. Then, he pulled it over his head. He held the track pants up against her, but the waist came up to her shoulders. He threw them back in the bag.

  Next, he measured the shoes against the sole of his foot. They were close enough to his size, so he pulled them on. The other gym bag was better for her—Spider’s, she suspected, since he was much shorter than Weston. The top was too big for her, given Spider’s breadth, but the track pants were okay if she rolled them up at the ankles, and even the shoes were only a size or two too big. With his socks on, Kat could almost pretend they fit.

  Kat tried not to think about the fact that she was probably wearing a dead man’s clothes. Even if they’d simply been Spider’s, it would have still creeped her out. But she was definitely more confident walking into that bar now she was more covered.

  Wyatt closed the trunk and set off towards the bar. Kat hurried to follow him, not wanting to be too far from him.

  It was close to 3am. Kat shivered in the cold, the darkness beyond the floodlights pressing in. Who knew what lay out there for them tonight, now McCready was after them. She didn’t know where they were going, or what they’d do. But at least she and Wyatt were together. She trusted him to keep her safe.

  They stepped inside the bar, and the smell of stale beer and sweat hit her instantly. Kat tried not to gag and breathed shallowly through her mouth. Men’s eyes riveted on her, eyeing her bare shoulders, though she was standing behind Wyatt. She instantly regretted stepping inside this place. She’d forgotten how awful it was.

  Wyatt held up the keys to the Ferrari. “Hey!” he yelled. More eyes turned in their direction, as bleary as they were curious.

  “Anyone want a slightly dented newer model Ferrari for five hundred bucks?”

  The bar fell silent as the patrons eyed Wyatt. Kat studied their faces. Most seemed to be deciding whether or not he was for real.

  “I’m serious,” he said, as if sensing their doubt. “We’ve run into some trouble and need to offload it quickly.”

  “Is it stolen?” someone asked from the back.

  Wyatt hesitated. “Yes. But from a criminal who won’t be too concerned with getting it back. He’ll have bigger fish to fry, and there’s a ninety percent chance he’ll be in jail for life by next week.”

  Still, the crowd was silent.

  “Come on. It’s only five hundred bucks. The car is worth more than five hundred thousand, with all the upgrades on it. All you need to do is switch the plates and shave off the VIN number.”

  Wyatt waited, silent and patient, until one man stood up. He was tall, with a beer gut and an impressively long beard streaked with grey. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and counted out the money as he manoeuvred around the tables towards them.

  He finally reached Wyatt and stopped. Wyatt reached up to take the money the man held out between two fingers, but when he tugged the man didn’t let go.

  Kat’s heart pounded in her throat.

  “I find out you’re fucking with me, I will kill you.”

  Wyatt smiled. “I wouldn’t blame you.” He looked completely unconcerned.

  The guy let go of the money and Wyatt handed him the keys. The man slipped around Wyatt and out the door.

  “Holy shit,” came his voice from outside, sounding impressed.

  Wyatt turned to her, grinning, and Kat couldn’t help a thrill of satisfaction from coursing through her.

  The Ferrari’s V12 engine roared to life, and then wheels squeaked as it sped out of the parking lot.

  Noise filled the bar as people went back to their conversations, ignoring Kat and Wyatt.

  “So what now?” she asked.

  “Now, we find a bus to take us as far away from here as we can get.”

  Intense tiredness fell over Kat at his words. They’d barely had any sleep, and the bus ride sounded long. But she steeled herself and nodded.

  “There’s one around the corner. I’ve seen it when I picked Spider and Weston up.”

  They walked over in the direction she pointed, shivering in the cold. An hour later they were on a bus heading to the other side of town. Kat was drifting off, her head bumping lightly into the cool window, when a thought crossed her mind. She rocketed into a sitting position and grabbed her phone.

  The line rang, and rang, and Kat was afraid she wouldn’t pick up. It had been hours since she’d left McCready’s house, since he knew she’d betrayed him. What if he’d gone straight to her sister’s?

  Kat had been so stupid. She should have called the second she’d left the house. But between the car chase, Spider’s potential death, and ditching the car, she hadn’t thought of it. She’d been too focused on her own survival, and now her sister might pay the price.

  But finally a groggy voice answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Larissa, it’s me.”

  “Kat? What the hell?”

  Kat swallowed, bracing herself for what she was about to say. “Sweetie, you know when I talked about an escape plan? Well now’s the time.”

  Kat felt a pair of eyes on her and glanced to the left to see Wyatt across the aisle, watching her closely with hooded eyes. She dismissed him for the moment, focusing on her sister.

  “Kat, it’s ass-o’clock. Can’t this wait a few hours?”

  “No,” Kat bit out. A twinge of guilt hit her for the abruptness in her voice, but her sister needed to know how important this was. “I already left McCread
y a few hours ago. He might come for you any minute. You have to get out before it’s too late.”

  “Kat…” Larissa protested, but the sound of rustling sheets came through the line. Kat breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she wouldn’t truly relax until she knew her sister would be safe.

  “I’m serious, Larissa. He could kill you in revenge for what I did to him. Or he could kidnap you for bait. I can’t risk that.”

  “Okay,” Larissa said, sounding more awake. “I’m going.”

  “Call me if you need anything,” Kat said urgently. “And text me when you’re safe.”

  “Will do.”

  They hung up. Kat stared at the phone for a second as if she could simply will her sister to be safe through the force of her want. Then, she turned to Wyatt.

  “She has to be safe,” she told him in a cracked voice.

  Wyatt’s gaze softened. “A few more days and McCready will be behind bars where he can’t hurt anyone.”

  “And what do we do until then?”

  “Hide. Wait.”

  Kat swallowed back tears and nodded. She might be on the run and afraid, but she was finally free. For the first time in five years she wasn’t beholden to that man and his whims.

  And Kat realised she was afraid. She had no safety net, nowhere to go, no one to help. Except Wyatt. She slid her gaze over to him. One look at her face and he stepped out of his seat and squeezed in next to her. Kat lay her head on his shoulder and let the tears fall. He bundled her closer, wrapping an arm around her and placing a comforting kiss on her brow.

  “Shhh, we’ll be okay. We all will. I promise.”

  “What will we do, when all this is over?”

  Wyatt was silent for a moment. “Whatever we want.”

  That’s what frightened Kat. What did she want? She’d never allowed herself to think about it, instead focusing on the here and now. Her future was open to her. It should have been freeing, but instead it was terrifying. Too much choice, too many potential mistakes.

  Would she even be able to be normal after what she’d been through? With a job and a house and a mortgage? A normal woman with a normal relationship?

  And children? Could she bring a kid into this world, knowing the worst of what the world had to offer? She glanced at Wyatt. Maybe. Maybe she could see herself having a child with a good man. A man who would protect her and their child.

  She tilted her head to study what she could see of Wyatt’s face. His strong jaw, his three-day growth. Her stomach flipped, and her heart expanded at the sight of him.

  It was that feeling more than anything which gave her hope. Maybe, after everything, there was a chance for her.

  The question was, would he want her, too? She knew he desired her, but was that enough? Could he overcome her past and start a relationship with her? Kat didn’t voice her questions aloud. Instead, she snuggled deeper into Wyatt’s chest and let herself, just for a moment, dream.

  Chapter 18

  Wyatt took them to a no-name motel on the other side of the city, picked at random from the few in the area.

  “McCready doesn’t, to your knowledge, have tracking on your phone, does he?”

  Kat shook her head. “Surely he would’ve used it when he wanted to know where we were earlier, right? When we were at the cemetery?”

  Wyatt nodded, relieved. “Yeah. Yeah, he would have. Good thinking.”

  They stepped up to the bored-looking clerk, who gave them a once-over, but didn’t mention their bedraggled appearance. Clearly, this was a man who had seen a lot in his seemingly-few years.

  “What kind of room?” he asked, chewing on his gum. “Double?”

  “You got a twin?” Wyatt asked.

  The clerk gave him a disbelieving look. “Nah, we aren’t that kind of place.”

  Kat hesitated to ask what kind of place, exactly, this was. But though it looked dingy, it was clean enough for a night or two. For a brief second she missed McCready’s pristine white mansion, but she immediately shoved that out of her head.

  “Then…” Wyatt glanced at her. “Separate rooms?”

  Kat shook her head, immediately panicked at the thought he might leave her, even to go one room away. “Let’s share.”

  Wyatt’s gaze softened, and he smiled. He turned back to the clerk and requested a double room after all, then handed over some of the cash the man in the bar had given them earlier. They headed up to the room the clerk indicated. It was cramped, and had the faintly-musty smell of a room that hadn’t been aired in a while. But once Kat cracked a window it was bearable.

  “Thank you for agreeing to share with me,” Kat said over her shoulder, not able to look at Wyatt. Now she was here, confronted by the reality of the double bed, she wasn’t so sure she’d made the right choice. What if he didn’t want this? Didn’t want her?

  She’d have to lie next to him all night, wanting to touch him and not allowed to.

  “Of course,” Wyatt said from behind her. “You must be tired. We should catch a few hours of sleep.”

  She turned, then, searching for the words to tell him she didn’t want to sleep. She was too amped up, from the events of the night, with fear of her sister, and the lust coursing through her veins at the sight of him.

  He was lying on his side on the bed, propped up on one elbow. His broad, tattooed chest was on full display, Weston’s t-shirt crumpled next to him, and Kat’s mouth watered.

  “What do your tattoos mean?” she asked, delaying the inevitable.

  Wyatt glanced at himself. “This one,” he said, pointing to the one across his chest, “Is for my brother.”

  “Are they…angel wings?” she asked hesitantly.

  He paused for a moment. “Yeah.”

  His solemn face told her everything she needed to know. He believed his brother was dead.

  Kat nodded, tears springing to her eyes. “And the others?” she asked, trying to distract him.

  “Oh, bits and pieces I thought were cool. Nothing as meaningful as that one.”

  Kat nodded. “Youthful indiscretions?”

  He tilted his head back and laughed. “Something like that.”

  “Were you a wild kid?” she asked, suddenly curious about him. She tugged off Spider’s tracksuit pants, readying herself for bed.

  Wyatt turned, lying on his back to stare up at the ceiling. “Nah, I was the good kid. Disciplined. I got into martial arts first, and liked the structure of it. Dean was always the wild one. He liked travel, and adventure. It’s why he went into the military. Thinking back, we shouldn’t have let him go.”

  Kat took a few steps and sunk down next to him. “Why do you say that?”

  Wyatt shrugged. “When he came back, he was different, never quite the same. I think he was trying to deal with stuff in his own way. Trouble is, that took him straight to McCready’s door.”

  “You think he had PTSD or something?”

  “Maybe. Maybe he simply had trouble adjusting. But when he came back he craved adventure almost more than before. He was almost manic with it. Desperate. Either way, he would have been an easy mark for McCready to pick on.”

  Kat eyed Wyatt for a long moment before voicing her next question. “Is that why you’re going to all these lengths to find out what happened to him? Guilt?”

  Wyatt tensed and didn’t look at her, still staring up at the ceiling. He was silent for so long Kat was sure he was ignoring her on purpose. But then he let out a long breath.

  “Maybe. I never thought of it like that, but maybe.”

  Kat reached out a tentative hand and threaded their fingers together. Wyatt squeezed hers in return.

  “You have to forgive yourself. Whatever Darrell finds, or doesn’t, it isn’t your fault.”

  “I could have done more,” Wyatt said in a hoarse voice. “I should have done more to protect him.”

  “He was his own man, Wyatt. I know you did what you could. He would have known you were there for him, but he chose not to take the help that wa
s there for him. That’s not your fault.”

  Wyatt’s grip on her hand was almost painful as deep emotions played across his face, but Kat didn’t dare let go.

  “I miss him,” Wyatt said eventually, voice barely above a whisper.

  “I know,” Kat replied. She twisted so she was lying next to Wyatt, facing him, even as he continued to stare at the ceiling. She reached out and ran her hands through his hair in a soothing gesture. Wyatt’s eyes fluttered closed, so she did it again. And again.

  Slowly, the tension drained out of him. Kat’s arm ached from holding it up for so long, but still she ran her fingers through his hair.

  She was almost convinced Wyatt was asleep when his eyes suddenly snapped open and his gaze fastened on hers. Her breath caught. Desire burned hot in his expression, lighting a fire within her. Kat didn’t dare move, afraid it would break the spell. She kept stroking her fingers through his hair. This time the gesture wasn’t one of comfort, but one of desire.

  “Kat,” he groaned, and her core tightened at the need in his voice. “You know how I said I wouldn’t sleep with you until you could say no?”

  Her stomach tumbled. “Yes?”

  “Well, will you sleep with me tonight?”

  Kat’s stomach clenched and the hot flames of desire raced beneath her skin at his words. This was it, the moment she’d been dreaming of. She grinned, leaned down, and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Yes,” she whispered, her lips moving against his, light as a feather.

  A shiver wracked him. “Okay,” he said, but didn’t move, didn’t breathe.

  Kat kissed him again, shifting so she lay across his chest. His breath caught in his chest as her breasts pressed against him.

  “Can I touch you?” he murmured. He lifted his hand and let it hover close to her skin, waiting for permission. Their gazes locked.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  Slowly, he moved his hand until his fingers trailed lightly down her arm. She shivered. When was the last time she’d been touched with such care? He didn’t grab her, his hands weren’t rough. Instead, he did exactly what he’d asked permission for—touched.