"You should have fucking checked!” Keane shouted.
His man took a quick step back, bringing him in line with the others. They were standing in a group together in the bar. Keane, his men, and a few of the others who were in the bar when Ndari disappeared, including the bartender. He’d stuck around to find out what happened to Ndari. The bartender was feeling some extra guilt, since he was the last person to speak to her.
"You need to use your head," the bartender told Keane. "You have plenty of enemies in this town. Just fucking think about it for one minute, stop your damn shouting, and figure out who might have her."
Everyone fell silent. Keane paced the bar, his heavy boots hitting the floor. Thud, thud, thud, in one direction. He pivoted, and walked back in the other direction, thud, thud, thud.
“Eoin.” Keane stopped and pierced the bartender with a glare. "It has to be fucking Eoin. Does he still operate in this town?"
"He's the biggest man in town," the bartender replied with a grimace.
"It's gotta be him. Where do I find him?” Keane shoved a hand through his ruffled red hair. Shit, he could usually think so clearly in these kinds of situations. But when it was his girl's life on the line, his brain scrambled like eggs. "She's so fucking mouthy, she's gonna get herself killed."
"No one's going to kill her." Jacob stepped forward and took his life into his hands by placing a comforting arm around Keane's shoulders. "She might be mouthy, but she's endearing. She’d be a hard one to kill, and I know, because before I met her, I'd just as soon have killed her on principle for being such a hoity-toity Princess."
"Don't know that you're helping man." One of Keane's other men muttered.
Before they could discuss it further though, the door swung open and someone stepped through. All eyes turned to the man. He was tall, thin, pock-marked, rat-like. He had a downtrodden twitchy look about him, the type of look that only drugs could produce. This was their messenger.
Within seconds, Keane was on top of him, one fist in the guy’s face and the other in his gut. The man tried to shout something, but Keane pummeled him. “Where’s she at, you motherfucker?"
Jacob pulled him off the man before Keane could kill him. "He's can’t give you any information if he's dead," Jacob chided him.
"You’re getting on my fucking nerves," Keane growled at him.
Jacob took a quick step back.
Keane paced back and forth, breathing deeply in an attempt to harness his rage. Jacob was right, if he didn't calm down, he was going to kill the messenger, which could get Ndari killed. He had to use his fucking brain, whatever brains he had left after a lifetime of getting hit in the head.
Finally, he was able to turn and speak to the guy in a somewhat civil tone. He gripped the man by the collar of his T-shirt and lifted him up off the floor, slamming him into the wall. The entire bar shuddered with the impact, and the guy gasped for breath.
"I'm going to be really patient here, my friend. You have one chance to tell me where my woman is, or I'm going to put you through this wall."
“Eoin wants you to fight," the guy said quickly. “Wants you to fill in for one of his prize fighters down with an injury. He'll give you the girl when you're done."
Keane dropped the guy in disgust and stepped back. "I would've done the fucking fight for free if he'd just asked me. Instead, that motherfucker has dug his own grave by taking my girl. You can tell him I'll fight tomorrow, because I need a good goddamn fight. After I win, he’s a dead man."
Keane picked the guy up by the back of his T-shirt and belt, kicked the bar door open and threw him so hard that he bypassed the sidewalk and hit the street, rolling out into the middle. The tires of an oncoming vehicle squealed as the driver swerved to avoid him. The guy lurched to his feet and lunged towards a parked car, flinging himself inside and taking off.
Keane turned to give his man a look.
"On it, boss."
His guys would follow the little rat to wherever Eoin was keeping Ndari. Keane was going to get his girl back, he was going to have a good fight, and he was going kill the motherfucker that thought he owned this town.
Chapter Nineteen
Ndari leaned back on the lounge chair and rested her feet on the footstool. In her hand she held a second chocolate mint martini. Beside her, on a fancy little table, sat a bowl of chocolate covered almonds. Sprawled out in the chair next to hers was her new buddy, Eoin. She didn't know if their friendship would last, after all Eoin was about to have a very large, very angry redheaded mercenary bust through the door, but she was willing to see where their friendship might go before Eoin’s imminent and grisly death.
"So, you actually believed that Keane just up and left his family, his home, and all of these stellar friends?” she said, sarcasm tinging her voice on the last words. "No, Mister Bond Villain, he wouldn't have done that. Despite his many failings including but not limited to his belief that weaponry can and should be concealed beneath a tuxedo, his lack of patience with anyone who says no to him, and his thirst for murder, he has integrity. And it goes right to the core of him."
"Then what the fuck happened to him?” Eoin asked, confusion in his voice. He had been explaining to Ndari that he and Keane were not only shady work acquaintances but had been very good friends back in the day. They watched each other's backs while they rose to power in the underground scene of Dublin.
"I'm not entirely sure, all I have is gossip and conjecture to go on,” she said, tossing a couple of the chocolate almonds into her mouth and crunching on them. "Keane isn't exactly forthcoming about that time in his life, but I was able to glean some tidbits from his boss’s wife, who is an absolute fount of information. If you ever need a hacker, she’s your girl. I’ll give you her card.” She searched through her purse for Xsource’s contact information, realized that Jaya hadn’t gotten any cards printed, then continued, “Apparently, in his early 20’s Keane accepted a lucrative contract to join an elite soldier-for-hire squad in South Africa. He did his job, but he did a little bit too well. The man who contracted him decided that he couldn't let an asset as good as Keane go. An explosive device was embedded in his neck and he was told that if he tried to leave or if he stepped over the line he would be killed."
"That is some fucked up shit,” Eoin said with a shake of his head, taking a sip of his martini. "So, he disappears from Dublin, gets himself pressed into duty in Africa and has been gone ever since. Has he been a slave for the entire 20 years he was gone?”
Ndari liked the sympathetic turn this conversation was taking, but she was a little bit uncomfortable with airing Keene's dirty laundry without his permission. She told herself it was for the greater good of their relationship that Eoin know about Keane’s past.
"I'm not sure how long he was forced to work for that man. I do know that the device was eventually removed from his neck by a sympathetic party, and that he had a little bit of fun with his old boss, which ended up leaving a rather large position open in his old mercenary unit. From what I understand, he freed the other men that had been forced into service and they became his loyal followers. Many of them still work for him."
She could see the gears turning in Eoin’s brain and she hoped that she wasn't making things worse. She needed Eoin on their side, but she didn't want him to decide that Keane could be useful to him in other ways. If there was one thing she had learned about her Irish lover it was that he valued freedom above anything else.
Eoin straightened in his seat and glanced down at his phone. "I have a meeting with your boyfriend." He looked at her, narrowing his eyes shrewdly. "I was going to keep you here. But according to my man Keane is eager for the fight. So, I'll give you the choice; you can come while I negotiate with your boyfriend, or you can remain in the comfort of my home enjoying whatever luxuries you choose until you are reunited."
She was really starting to like this guy. It would be a shame if Keane felt the need to disembowel him. She glanced around, a little mournfully, as she not
ed that some of those luxuries included wall-to-wall bookshelves, a pool table, and a huge flat screen TV that she would just bet had every streaming service available. With a heavy sigh she set her martini glass aside and stood, straightening her skirt.
"I'm ready to go when you are," she told him.
When they arrived at the fight club, or whatever Eoin called the dirty, smelly, cold warehouse that she was escorted her into, Ndari decided she had some serious doubts about her choice to accompany him. She pulled her jacket tighter around her waist and wrapped her arms around herself. Eoin took her arm and walked with her toward the front. That's when she saw the ring, a big square area on a platform that was surrounded by a cage.
Oh oh, she'd seen this movie before, and it didn't end well.
"I think maybe I should go back to your penthouse," she said, eyeing the area with trepidation. There weren't even seats. Where were the spectators supposed to sit down? Was it just going to be a mob of people shouting and screaming until someone was beaten to a bloody pulp? Yes, she had definitely seen this movie and she wanted no part of it.
"You'll be fine," Eoin assured her.
Before she could respond, a roar ripped through the warehouse startling her. Eoin's men, who had been protecting them, whipped their guns out and searched for the cause of the roar. Ndari knew exactly what was coming their way and she was more than happy to stand there and wait for it. They didn't even have to wait for the fight to start, there was going to be a bloodbath right now.
"Hold your fucking fire," Eoin shouted. "Put your fucking guns away, don't shoot my fighter."
Eoin’s men hesitantly reholstered their guns but they didn't look happy about it, especially as Keane bore down on the group, rippling muscles on full display. There were a few men at Keane's back as well, including the bartender that Ndari had bonded with the evening before. She wondered if she could wait out the upcoming fight in his warm and welcoming bar.
Eoin threw up his hands and said quickly, "I don't want to quarrel with you."
"That is exactly what you fucking wanted," Keane bellowed as he flung himself towards Eoin, gripping the other man’s collar and slamming him into the cage at his back. The cage shook and shuddered and made a god-awful sound.
Ndari tensed as every man in the room pulled a gun. She believed about half of the weapons were pointing at Keane and the other half at Eoin, though she couldn't be positive since the two men were standing so close together. For his part, Eoin didn't try to defend himself from Keane; he kept his hands up in a surrender position and allowed Keane's anger.
"I made a mistake," Eoin said to Keane. "Thanks to your girl, I now know that you didn't just up and leave us high and dry 20 years ago. She was quick to educate me on my assumptions."
Keane pulled him away from the cage and then slammed him into it even harder. Eoin’s head bounced and Ndari felt a little nauseous for the man. "You keep your fucking eyes and your dirty mind off of her. The Princess is off limits."
"She really is a Princess?"
Ndari rolled her eyes. Why did no one ever believe her until her Princess status was confirmed by someone else? As far as she was concerned, she looked like a Princess, acted like a Princess, walked like a Princess, talked like a Princess. She was a goddamn Princess and no one could take that away from her. She wanted to tell Keane to kick Eoin’s ass for doubting her.
"You don't have to fight if you don't want to," Eoin said to Keane. His gaze drifted to the men standing behind them. "Put your fucking guns away, I'm not going to ask again."
Keane eased his grip on Eoin and took a step back, eyeing him thoughtfully. Without taking his gaze off Eoin, he held his hand out to the side. With a grin Ndari flung herself at him, grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her up against his body. She snuggled into him and pressed her nose into the leather of his jacket. It felt so right being in his arms again. Even though they had been separated for only one evening, it felt like too much. If anything could have convinced her that they were a solid couple, it was having to spend those few hours apart.
"I'll fight," Keane growled. "But when I win, I want 50% of the earnings. And you let both me and the Princess go, no hard feelings.”
Eoin nodded his head thoughtfully. "That's fair."
"What's fair is if I kick your fucking ass, rip your arms off and make you eat them. But I'm trying to be more civilized around my woman, so you're gonna luck out, and I'm gonna rip the arms off your fighter instead."
"These are no kill fights,” Eoin said quickly, worry in his voice.
"A man can live without his arms,” Keane said dismissively, swinging around to walk away, Ndari tucked against his side. “See you at the fight tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty
Ndari’s fears were realized the next night as they entered the arena and she discovered that, much to her horror, she was expected to stand, not sit, because there were no chairs. She was escorted to Eoin, directly next to the cage and well within the spray radius. She was about to turn to Eoin and ask for a new place to stand, like outside, or maybe in the fancy hotel room Keane had rented them for the night, when she saw Keane being ushered through a side door and led towards the cage.
It suddenly occurred to her that he could actually be hurt doing something like this. He seemed like such a capable and confident man, the thought of him losing or getting hurt seemed absurd. She eyed him, watching for nerves, watching to see if he gave any indication that he didn't want to be part of this fight.
Keane looked happy as a clam, grinning from ear to ear as he surveyed the huge crowd that was shouting, stomping their feet and screaming for his blood. It was clear that the man was in his element. Any concerns that Ndari had for him fled, he had this in the bag.
Keane stopped inside the cage, walking from end to end punching the air. The booing crowd seemed to fuel his bloodlust. She noticed that although he wasn't wearing any gloves, his fists were taped. She didn't know why. She’d never really had anything to do with fighting before except to watch the movie Fight Club. Maybe the tape stopped his knuckles from cracking against his opponent’s forehead. She would have to remember to ask after the fight.
A huge roar went up in the crowd and she twisted around to see what everyone was screaming at. A huge mountain of a man was being escorted through the throng of people. This guy was so big he made Keane look like a toddler and she hadn’t thought that was possible. Keane was a big man. But this guy, he was bigger.
"So, you like your opponents to be evenly matched then?" she asked Eoin sarcastically.
He shrugged, unconcerned. "Makes no difference to me," he said, his eyes on the cage. "They're all willing. And the bigger the man – "
"Yeah, yeah, the harder they fall, right?" This guy really was a Bond Villain. So cliché.
Eoin chuckled. "No, the bigger the man, the bigger the payout at the end of the fight. For some reason we always get more bets on the big ones."
Oh, she forgot about the betting! "Where do I place my bet?"
Eoin laughed. "You intend to place a bet? I assume on your man?"
"Of course," she said briskly. She opened her little purse and pulled a roll of bills out. "This should be about $10,000. I want double or nothing on Keane."
His eyes bulged a little, but he took the bundle of bills from her and tucked them into his back pocket. "Double or nothing," he said under his breath, shaking his head.
A big bald guy with a tattoo of a woman across his shoulder came over and said something to Eoin that she couldn’t hear over the cacophony of noise filling the warehouse. Eoin nodded his head and flicked a hand toward the cage. She took this to mean the fight was about to start. She eagerly turned her eyes to where Keane was watching her carefully, a warm glow in his eyes. She grinned, blew him a kiss and winked.
She held her hands up to her mouth and shouted, "I have money riding on you! You better win this!"
He bowed and gave a fancy little wave of his hand. "Whatever my Princess commands."
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Before they could say anything more, before she could wish him luck or good fight or whatever it was that a person said to a fighter, the bell rang. And just like that the fight began.
10 seconds later the fight ended. Keane was standing over his victim shaking his head. He looked over at Eoin in disgust, his eyes narrowed. Ndari could read his mind, he wanted someone better than this, he wanted a fighter worthy of his attention.
Eoin looked stunned, then he looked pleased, then he looked more pleased. Ndari didn't really like the shrewd look in his eyes. As though he was counting dollars in his head and thinking about a future filled with more dollars. Oh, hell no, she needed to disabuse him of the notion that he had found himself a new permanent fighter. She was about to say so, when Keane shoved the door of the cage open and strode to where she was standing. He’d barely broken a sweat during the so-called fight. He gathered her against him and kissed her deeply. She went up on her toes and kissed him back.
"Let's get the fuck got here,” he said. “Want to have you to myself." He grabbed her hand and tugged her away from Eoin.
"Wait!" she yelled, yanking on her hand. "My money! I won. Double or nothing. I want my money."
She wheeled around and stuck her hand out towards Eoin. He chuckled and jerked his head at a man who strode over to them. "20 large for the lady." He nodded toward Ndari. The guy’s eyes bulged in surprise as he looked at her. She liked to think it was her beauty that made him pause, but she suspected it was a large pile of cash he was counting out for her.
She smiled and took the fistful of bills from the man, shoving them in her purse. "Nice doing business with you," she said to Eoin and reached out to shake his hand.
Eoin give a full-throated laugh and shook her hand, then leaned in to kiss her cheek. A split-second later Keane was shoving Eoin away from her with a growl.
Eoin threw his hands up in surrender and shook his head. "She's all yours, man. I wish it was otherwise, but I understand. You find a good woman, you keep her. I'll see you around."
The Princess and Her Mercenary: A Driven Hearts Novella Page 11
