Vengeance: MMA/Ink Romance (KO Ink Book 1)

by Harley McRide

  “Why do you want to know, sweetheart?” Fin asked her as she stared at the picture.

  “Manny Sanchez had that same tattoo and I even think on the same wrist,” she said and looked up at us.

  “Hector’s brother, I didn’t think he was still around here. We haven’t run into him since we’ve been back,” I said.

  “Boss, you haven’t run into Hector either?” Jet said.

  “True. Are you sure Manny has the same tattoo, baby. It could be someone else.” Even as I said it I knew it was Manny, it was all starting to come together.

  Hector had taken care of Manny, he was younger and if I remember right, a lot meaner. Who knew what the kid could be into now? Besides murder since Harvey died from the shooting.

  “How do you know, Brook?” Fin’s voice took on a hardness when he spoke, one I could relate to. No coincidence now. Fuck.

  “He shot my mom and killed Harvey, didn’t he?” Brook’s voice lowered.

  “We think so, baby girl,” I said and put my arm around her, should have known our girl would put it all together. “You going to be alright?”

  “That is Manny, he showed the tattoo off when he came back to school after he had been in juvie for a year. Said his bunkmate inked it for him. Everyone thought it was dumb, it looked bad. Told us it was to signify some rope they had to climb. Doesn’t look like a rope and he got really mad when one of the boys told him it looked like a vine. We were sophomores then. He’d been sent away when he beat some kid at the movies ‘cause the boy bumped into him and he spilled his popcorn. It was dumb but the parents of the boy pressed charges and the judge was tired of seeing Manny in the courts. He was always getting in trouble. Once he got back, he settled down some but then dropped out before our senior year. No one knew why. I haven’t seen him since so I thought he’d moved away or something.” When Brook finished and moved her hand off the photo, Jet put it in the folder and rose.

  “Well, I’m going upstairs to the computers and see what I can find out about this Manny Sanchez.”

  “I’ll be up in just a minute to help. I got some other work to do too,” I said as Jet walked away.

  “You want to go with Tony, sweetheart, or you want to stay down here with me?” Fin asked.

  “I can watch the desk and answer the phone if you have stuff to do,” she said, then looked at me. “Your guys are going to find him, aren’t you?”

  “Sure are, baby girl. Count on it.” She smiled and I leaned down, put her face in my hands and kissed her. “See you in a few. I will be upstairs if you need me,” I said when I pulled back. She and Fin both nodded and I headed to find answers. Brook had inadvertently given us a new route to follow.

  Fin

  Brook sat down behind the desk and immediately started straightening everything around it. It had been a break in the dead ends the guys had been hitting, looking for Hector. Hopefully the new info about Manny would help, if not with finding Hector, then at least to find Manny and make him pay the price for shooting Ms. Maddie.

  I waited for Brook to fall apart when she’d figured out Manny was the shooter, but our girl was strong. She always had been.

  “You okay right here?”

  “Sure, go do whatever you gotta do and I will be right here,” she looked up and smiled at me. I couldn’t help it, I leaned down and kissed her and, for the first time, I wished I didn’t have to help some of the guys out. I just wanted to take her home and enjoy being with her. If I told my brothers that, I would never live it down.

  “Okay, yell if you need me. Going to help with the guys.”

  “Don’t let them hurt you,” she yelled as I walked away, making some of the guys who were close chuckle.

  Xavier punched the bag—one, two, one two—jab right, jab left—as I held the bag. Damn, was it just over three years when I was the one doing the hitting while someone else held the bag?

  “Harder, you hit this bag like a girl. Come on, man, show me what you got.” And he did.

  “That’s what your sister yells.” Xavier laughed and laid into the bag.

  “You do know if you said that shit outside this gym, my brothers and I would beat you to a pulp, right? Now quit dickin’ around and hit it with all you got.” I dropped my hold on the bag and stepped out of the way to watch as he sent the bag in motion. The bag was attached to the ceiling and floor by a spring load mechanism, keeping it in place while giving the mobility to move and bounce back with each punch. It kept whoever was using its attention because if they lost count in their moves and faltered, the damn thing would bounce back and take you out. I loved that bag, there were days it was like being in the ring with an opponent that would come straight at you with no mercy and it made you glad the thing had no arms.

  “Keep it up for twenty minutes and then hit the showers, call it a day,” I said, walking away to the ring where Jamison was working with his sparring partner.

  Franco had the clipboard marking down weak areas on each fighter to work on later. I moved around the gym and every time I did, it brought back the days I would spend here. Mic was tough on us, he didn’t take any shit in his gym and when you stepped in the ring, he expected total focus, nothing less. Win or lose, the fighters that came out of Mic’s gym were some of the toughest around.

  I looked over to the desk and there was no Brook, as I scanned the gym she walked out from the back, a basket that held towels in her hands. I looked at my watch and we’d been in the gym for three hours, it was getting close to dinner.

  “Whatcha doing, sweetheart?” I would do anything to keep the smile she currently wore on her face, always.

  “I got bored. Going to take these to the washing machine I saw in the storage as I was looking around the place. You don’t mind, do you?” Brook said. Like I would argue with her over helping. Fuck no, I like that she was interested in helping out and didn’t seem to mind being in a place that smelled like sweat no matter how much you wiped down the equipment.

  “No, baby. Carry on.” She laughed and headed to the storage room and I was going to do one last walk through before taking her home. Best idea in the world.

  Brooklyn

  Towels were in the dryer, now I’d gather all the trash, it was the last thing I could find to do. I’d even wiped down the weight room equipment when I found it empty. And I had enjoyed myself. I could see where some might think this was menial labor but honestly, who wouldn’t want to get paid while you got to watch hard body men move around, wearing next to nothing.

  It was great for a woman. They should advertise these places as sex therapy for couples. Send each woman here once a week for an hour, then make her go home to her husband. Bet that would cure some of those issues men complain about the women in their lives not having a sex drive. Well, at least that is what is in the magazine articles I read.

  I smiled to myself because fuck yeah, I had two of my own personal panty dropping men. I couldn’t wait to learn everything about them. I felt Fin’s eyes on me and looked up. He pointed to his wrist and flashed his hands opened twice. Twenty more minutes. That works, ‘cause Jet had come down fifteen minutes ago and told me on his way out that Tony would be down in thirty, they should finish at the same time.

  Grabbing the large trash bag, I headed for the door. The dumpster was in the parking lot on the side of the building. By the time I dropped that in and came back, my men should be ready to go. Lugging the bag, I went out the door.

  Freaking dumpster door would only be cracked open, I sat the bag down to pry it open further and I didn’t even hear the footsteps on the pavement.

  “Ah, Brooklyn Macaroy, imagine finding you out here and taking out the trash. And all alone.”

  Before I could scream, he grabbed my arm and slapped a hand over my mouth. I kicked but he dodged and tightened his grip.

  “You’re going to walk around the side of the building with me or I will leave you laying in this parking lot. It’s Fin I want, but I will get him with you or without you. Got me?” I nodded
and he started to lead me away when a car gunned it across the parking lot and skidded to a stop, the door flung open and I could have cried when Mel, the woman I had just met and was completely in awe of, jumped out. She was buff and we had talked about what she was doing here at the gym. It was really interesting talking to a woman who liked to train. She was prior military, and I really liked her attitude, it was inspiring. I relaxed a little when she got close enough.

  “Motherfucker let her go!” Mel yelled and thank God, Hector dropped his hold and took off around the building where he was leading me to.

  Mel stepping toward me, and Tony’s and Fin’s “Brooklyn” was the last I heard as I passed out.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Brooklyn

  “You know your shit,” I heard Tony say as I attempted to open my eyes. Damn, my head hurt, what the heck had happened?

  “Thanks,” I heard a woman’s voice respond. I knew that voice, I thought and finally opened my eyes to see Fin staring down at me intently while Tony and Mel were talking. I looked around for a second and realized I was in Tony’s office.

  I moaned and moved. “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?” Fin frowned.

  I thought about it for a second. I had been cleaning up, taking towels to the laundry, and then the trash…my eyes widened and I remembered Hector. He had been waiting outside for me, it had been creepy.

  Tony came to the side of the couch as I struggled to sit up. Fin helped me gently and whispered into my ear softly, “Easy, baby girl.”

  “Mel,” I said and looked at the woman who saved me. “Thank you so much, I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”

  The woman nodded and then I continued but stared at both Tony and Fin. “It was Hector, he said he wanted Fin but that I would do. He wanted me to go with him or he was going to kill me.”

  Tony looked at Fin who seemed to barely be keeping it together. “Hector and his brother need to be taken care of. How are you feeling?”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “You fell against the side of the building when Hector let you go, it caused you to hit your head kinda hard. We were worried and about ready to call a doctor,” Fin said stiffly.

  “I’m fine,” I said, running a hand over my head finding a little bump. “It only hurts a little, I’m sure if I take a few aspirin I will be as good as new.”

  “You sure?” Fin said, looking worried.

  “Yep,” I said, not wanting them to worry, what I said was true, I only had a little headache, it would go away. I wanted to talk about Hector and what they were going to do. “Are you going to call the police?”

  Tony looked at Fin and then he said, “No, baby, right now we need to make sure you are protected, and the easiest way is to not send the police after Hector right now. It could spook him, besides, this is personal.”

  I bit my lip, I didn’t want them to get hurt, but I also trusted what they were doing. All day today I had watched and observed all of them. Each of the businesses were successful, and I was impressed. Tony had four crews of men, and he still needed more because of all the clients who had been calling him. Fin and the gym were drawing more and more people into it, especially since Fin was working with the MMA Board to make his gym an official training facility for them. And Slinging Ink constantly had people in their chairs, and Mike told me the waiting list was more than three months to get into see him. All in all, this place was awesome.

  “Okay, I trust you,” I said softly and then looked as something passed across both men’s face. Whatever it was it wasn’t good. But then Fin stood.

  “Sweetheart, rest for a while, I will be back.”

  Fin tried to smile but I could tell he was holding in his anger right now, then he kissed me on the forehead and stood and began to walk out of the room.

  He got to the door before Tony called after him. “Make sure you tell Jet what is going on, he is lead on this.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked Fin.

  He turned and looked seriously pissed when he said. “To find Hector, he may be a prick, but he is still well known, and he has to be training somewhere, that is how we will find him.”

  Tony nodded and looked at Mel and said, “So do we have a deal?”

  “A deal?” I asked, everything was just going on around me and I had no clue what the hell any of them were talking about. Fin was pissed, Tony was determined, and I was clueless. Yeah, not a good feeling.

  Tony looked at me with a smile. “Yeah, baby,” he said. “I asked Mel if she would like a job with the security company once she out-processes from the military, her tour has ended. The thing is, right now she has some spare time, she wants to put her roots down here. So for now, she is going to work for us. She is good, and also she is trained already, I need someone to look after you when we aren’t there, and Mel would be the perfect candidate.”

  “Because she’s a woman?” I asked confused and Tony grinned.

  “Although I will admit that I don’t like the thought of the guys around you so much, that didn’t factor in my decision. I had already been thinking about it, but seeing her in action, she would be an asset to the company, and yes the perfect guard for you while she is available.”

  I looked at Mel who was standing there looking a little tense. Something was bothering the woman but honestly, as long as it had nothing to do with me, I agreed she would be the perfect person. I could also see her as being a friend, and someone I could confide in. I loved Mia, but she was my only friend, suddenly with these two men I looked at my life and saw how secluded I had made myself. Maybe it was because I was shy, or maybe it was because they were bringing me out of my shell and I could see where I lacked in my life. I wanted more, I wanted a close knit group of friends, and a family.

  “I agree; she would be perfect,” I said and could see the relief that passed over her face. Wow, this strong woman had been worried that I would refuse her as a guard? Yeah, we would get along great.

  “Good,” Tony said and then pushed the bangs off my forehead. “Are you sure you don’t want to see a doctor?”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “I’m sure, go do your thing, I will find some aspirin and then rest here. I won’t get in your way, just let me know when we are leaving.”

  Tony stared at me intently but then nodded and looked at Mel. “Come on, let’s get the paperwork filled out and then Jet can get your training going.”

  The woman nodded and followed Tony, but she looked over her shoulder and grinned before she left. I couldn’t help myself, I laughed.

  Fin

  “Where is he?” I growled at one of the men who hung out at a rival gym. It hadn’t taken me long to find where Hector was, the asshole was too fucking arrogant to hide.

  It had taken me literally three hours to find him, and once I did, I called Tony, making sure that Brook was covered before I dealt with this. When I was assured, I went directly to the gym. When I walked in, I saw several people I knew, they greeted me with a head nod. Then I stalked right back to the office and walked in without knocking. Only one man had been in there, and he was currently pinned to the fucking wall by my forearm.

  The man’s eyes were bugging out. I knew I looked fierce, and I didn’t give a shit, everyone was going to know not to mess with what was mine, and Brook was mine and Tony’s. “Upstairs.”

  “What the fuck is upstairs?” I growled. The place was similar to my own gym but not as nice and it definitely didn’t have the good equipment, and from the outside it didn’t look like there was another floor. So saying Hector was upstairs was suspicious.

  “In the back there are some stairs, there is a room up there, Hector trains up there by himself,” the guy choked out.

  I pushed my forearm in a little bit more and watched as the man’s face turned purple. I finally said, “You pick up that phone to warn anyone I will know. Mind your own business and I will leave you alone, fuck with me, and it will be on, trust me
you do not want to cross me.”

  The man nodded and I released him. “Play this smart,” I warned again before I walked out of the room and walked right to the back of the gym. The stairs were where he said and I looked up and then looked around the gym, no one seemed to be paying attention to me, which was good. I only wanted to deal with Hector.

  I could hear someone upstairs shuffling around. I paused and listened, it had to be Hector, and he was in the middle of lifting weights. Fucking asshole, he didn’t even give a shit he had tried to kidnap our woman. He wasn’t worried about the police, arrogant prick.

  I walked slowly up the stairs making sure I didn’t make any noise to warn Hector I was on my way up. I could see the floor and Hector was facing the wall, his back to me, fucking idiot. In a flash I ran up the stairs, grabbed the wire of the weights with one hand and Hector’s head with the other and pulled him close.

  I had surprised him, which was the only way I was able to slam the fucker on the floor right in between the casing that held the weights, so he was looking up at the weights I was now holding with only my hand. I put my foot on his neck to keep him still and then let the weights drop a little bit, and grinned when the asshole flinched. That is right fucker, you are at my mercy now.

  “Hey fucker,” I growled and leaned down and pushed my foot a little harder on his neck. “I hear you wanted a word with me?”

  The man snapped back, “Fuck you.”

  “Yeah well, I don’t have time for that, and seriously, dude, I don’t swing your way. I missed you, Hector, you know, all these years I never thought one moment about you, but apparently you have been thinking about me, jealousy is such a bad habit. Now, tell me what the fuck you want, and why the fuck you touched my woman,” I said.

  “Your woman?” Hector sneered. “She is a nice piece of ass, I figured since you were into sharing, you wouldn’t mind. And the only thing I thought about you was hoping and praying I would see you in a pine box where you belong. You and your fucking brothers think you are so goddamn cool. Everyone kissing your ass, it is disgusting. Everyone is going to see you for what you are, a fucking loser, man.” Hector laughed in a chillingly evil way, he was fucking crazy.