Chapter 29 Evie
I really loved men when they were fighting.
The sweaty, bloody, half-naked bodies could melt a girl’s resolve faster than any pickup line. That pure focus—like their world narrowed to a single punch—was magnetic.
So when Asher mentioned we might find more connections at an underground fight club run by one of his clients, I didn’t hesitate.
What I hadn’t known was how Rook and all the guys already knew about it and had kept it from me.
“You’ve been coming here for how long?” I asked, narrowing my eyes as Rook pulled me aside.
“A few years here and there.”
“And what? You couldn’t stand me around all the time, so you all snuck out?”
He ran a hand down his face, clearly not in the mood. “Evie, this place isn’t exactly on the tourist brochure. It’s rough. It’s violent. Not somewhere I wanted you hanging out.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to decide what I can or can’t handle. Especially not when everything lately has been dangerous. You’re not Dad,” I muttered, the old phrase slipping out before I could stop it.
He stilled for a beat. “Maybe not, but I promised him I’d keep you safe, and I always will. Being here isn’t safe.” He must have caught me glancing toward the ring. “And you’re not here to watch guys fight or be pissed about secrets—we came for answers. Stay focused.”
I bit my tongue. He was right, even if I hated it.
“I love that you’re around all the time, Evie,” he huffed. “And we don’t come anymore really anyway. There were some nights I needed to relax and not worry about . . . anything. Not only you. Anything.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “That still doesn’t make me feel great. You are saying I annoyed you so much you had to get away from me.”
“I was annoyed at making sure you were safe. It keeps me on guard every second of the day. You don’t bother me—if anything, I think I could say I enjoy hanging out with you.”
When I looked back up at him again, he was smirking. “Okay, maybe it’s fair because I could easily say you annoy me some days, too.”
“Hey! I specifically said you don’t annoy me.”
“Fine. I won’t hold it against you, but I better not hear anything about keeping me safe tonight. We have stuff to do.”
We were chasing shadows like Anderson, but I was chasing more.
If this place could bring me closer to the truth I was after, I wasn’t going to get distracted.
Yet there Aiden was, everything dangerous and safe wrapped into one beautiful package.
Every movement was sharp and predatory as he scanned the crowd and I couldn’t look away.
The fight had already begun. Sweat, blood, and danger wove through the dimly lit warehouse like a living thing.
The walls trembled beneath the bass of a song I didn’t recognize, and the crowd pressed together in a mass of restless bodies, their eyes glued to the fight in the center of the makeshift ring.
The energy was feral, intoxicating—I wanted to reach out and grab it, let it burn through me.
Another feeling nagged into my mind, one that had planted itself there days ago and hadn’t left.
The feeling of eyes on me when they shouldn’t be. Of someone moving when I moved, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I couldn’t shake the feeling and I tried to lean into it, knowing someone was after me and I needed to be on alert.
I couldn’t get lost in it—any of it. I wasn’t here for the thrill or the spectacle. I was here to find Anderson, to confront him, to figure out if he knew anything about my parents. Only then could I cross him off the list and move on to the next name tied to Veritas.
Patterson, F.
And god only knew who that was. This wasn’t going to be as quick an investigation as I’d hoped it would be.
A man went down in the ring with a sickening crack.
Blood splattered the concrete. The crowd roared, surging forward with rabid excitement.
I braced myself against the crush, but Aiden’s arm banded around me, pulling me back into his chest. The hardness of his body met the soft curves of mine, and for a heartbeat, the fight was forgotten.
He spun me around, his chest to my back as we looked over the crowd.
“The girls are over in the front row of Asher’s seats. He has extra security in the area, so you will be safe if Anderson shows up. Stay put.”
I laughed as he pushed me toward the row of seating with Regan and Harper.
“Why do you continue to tell me what to do and think it’s going to work out for you?”
He leaned down, his lips at my ear. “Because if you listen, I play along and give you what you want. So why wouldn’t you sit and be good?”
“You’ve teased similar things before but never follow through. Why would I believe you now?”
He ripped me back into the crowd, bodies pressing around us as he turned me back to face him.
“Evie, fucking behave tonight. Do you know what would happen if you were hurt? Or worse, killed?”
“Your life would be immensely better?” I asked.
He paused, searching my face, but I didn’t know what for.
“My life would be so fucking dull, Evie. It would be empty. Be safe for me—not because I tell you to, but because I need you to.”
My mouth dropped open. Those words had to be one of the nicest things Aiden had ever said to me. I couldn’t find any words, my chest heavy and throat tight.
“What if I have to do something, even if I want to listen?”
“No.”
Before I had any time to think more, Aiden pushed me back to the path, leading me to my seat without another word.
“Trouble?” Regan asked, her eyebrows jumping up as Aiden looked me over before disappearing into the crowd again.
“I don’t think so. I’m being escorted everywhere because someone might want to kill me. Or kill us? I’m not sure, but as always, Aiden was forced to be the bodyguard.”
“Forced? Right,” Harper said, rolling her eyes.
Hero shifted, leaning forward from his seat behind Harper. “He’s not forced because the only other option is watching over Harper, and that would include getting your foot run over like I did earlier tonight. For once, you are the safer option, Evie, so Aiden is happy to be at your side.”
“Wow, Harper, really coming in to steal my place,” I said with a grin as she scowled.
“He wanted me to move one of the bikes so he could get his out, and then he started yelling at me. It’s not like I did it on purpose.”
He leaned in again, closer to her now. “That’s what you always say, but you’re a jinx. A curse on my life.”
“I hope I ruin every damn day for you forever, then.”
The crowd went silent. The boom of the announcer filled the space around us.
It wasn’t a professional ring by any means, but it was permanent enough.
And Asher had installed professional speakers around the entire warehouse.
There wasn’t a single inch of this place that would miss out on the energy of the fight.
He announced the first fighter as a large man stepped into the ring, glaring at the crowd. I couldn’t tell if he just looked mean or really was mean, but I was into it either way.
The next guy walked out, a familiar grin on his face.
“What the hell is Mason doing?” I asked.
“And why does he look so good doing it?” Harper added.
I only nodded, taking a hard look at Mason. A sheen of sweat was already beading over his chest.
“Did he really decide to fight when he got here?”
Hero’s eyes narrowed. “Considering he is here most weeks for fights? No, I don’t think it was a new thing.”
I turned in my chair, my eyes narrowing.
How could I be this shocked so many times in one night?
With the threat of Anderson being close tonight, I was hoping it would be a rhetorical question.
“You’re serious?”
“The man likes to spill blood.”
I turned back in my seat, glancing between Mason and scanning the crowd.
I needed to find Anderson. That’s why I was here—why we were all here—but I needed to get to Anderson before anyone else.
Rook still didn’t know what I was looking into and I planned to never tell him. He did his part of letting our parents rest—now I needed to do mine.
I sat back without a word, my eyes wandering back to the fight. Mason was electric, jumping forward with ease. His punch landed with a loud cheer from the crowd.
Aiden’s eyes found mine the moment I needed him—he was always there when I needed him—the thought settled something in my bones.
I could do this. I could confront Anderson.
Mason landed another hit, the sound of fist meeting bone snapping me back to reality. The crowd roared, but I barely heard it as Aiden stepped closer to me.
A flicker of movement caught my attention across the ring and behind the crowd, a sharp suit that stood out in a sea of shirts and hoodies.
I needed to look for Anderson—I even needed to check if the man in the suit was him.
Aiden brushed against me, warm and steady, his fingers brushing mine, his grin daring me to linger. I could stay a few more minutes, feeling him edge closer, letting the world shrink to just the two of us.
And then I’d act.