Chapter Ten
Cillian
As I showered and dressed, preparing to go to the gym, my body ached. A night with Rebecca had been quite the workout.
The woman was hot with a capital H, and she had some serious sexual energy going on. Damn it, she’d been up for double penetration without any hesitation. No having to work up to it, she’d taken us both, something we loved big time.
And then she’d curled up in my arms, Finn spooning behind her, and slept the way I knew she needed to after the fright she’d had with her stalker.
Bastard.
He was breathing his last breaths, that was for certain.
“Hey, you nearly done in there?” Finn banged on the bathroom door.
“Yeah, I’m done.” I flicked the lock and stepped out. The scent of bacon hit me.
“She’s cooking.”
“And she’s good at breakfast as well as dinner if that smell is anything to go by.” My stomach grumbled.
“Hell yeah.” Finn clasped my shoulder and grinned. “Won’t be long. And don’t forget, we’re sparring with two of the guys from Fist Pump this morning.”
“Ah, yeah, I remember. Should do us good, you know, with the fight coming up.”
“Yeah, we need to be on top form.”
“What we gonna do about Rebecca? Take her with us?”
“No choice. I don’t want her out of our sight, not until we find out exactly who this asshole is and take him out.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her.”
“Bro, if I were you I’d ask. She’s not the kind of woman who likes to be told what to do.”
“She might have to just get used to being told.” I chuckled and went down the stairs.
“Morning, beautiful.” I curled my arms around Rebecca’s waist and nuzzled her neck. She smelled heavenly; powder and flowers, perhaps coconut, too.
She was stirring scrambled eggs. “You hungry?” she asked and leaned back against me.
“For food or for you?”
She giggled. “Food, surely you had enough of me last night. We were at it until the birds were starting to sing.”
“I think you’re exaggerating.” I cupped her soft breasts and squeezed. “But for your information, I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” She wriggled from my grasp and reached for the kettle that was singing on a gas ring. “What do you have planned today?”
“Whatever you have, didn’t we agree that you shouldn’t be alone until we’ve tracked this asshole down?”
“Suits me, I haven’t got much on. Walk and a movie?”
I shrugged and started to butter some toast. “Though we ought to go to the gym, train maybe. Would you like to come with us?”
She studied me for a moment and stirred coffee. “Watch you train?”
“Yeah, we’ll do some sparring, maybe some weights.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I reckon I could suffer seeing you sweat and flex your muscles.”
I laughed. “Good, as long as it’s bearable for you, let us know if it’s not.”
Two hours later, I was stepping into the fight arena, which was basically a octagonal cage, black leather, toughened edging and a big red snake’s head printed on the suspended base.
My shorts, complete with groin guard, were black and so were my gloves, though my chest was bare. I adjusted my mouth guard, also black, and hopped on the spot. Having already warmed up, I wanted to stay that way.
Aran Roberts did the same, and from the corner his brother watched, the way Finn did.
I glanced at Rebecca. I’d never seen anyone more out of place in a gym.
Not that it was a bad thing; she was just so feminine.
Pretty and soft and delicate, not just how she looked but how she spoke and moved.
That hadn’t gone unnoticed amongst the testosterone-fueled guys mooching around, she was drawing plenty of attention.
But the assholes better not act on their obvious attraction, because I was ready for the fight if they were.
“You ready?” Aran smacked one fist into the opposite palm.
“Best out of three?” I asked.
“Sure.”
I nodded at Phil who flicked the timer on to five minutes.
Aran was straight at me, which was good, this was training for a big fight. I didn’t need a gentle approach.
He went for a leg takedown that I avoided and countered with a punch to his kidney.
He barely seemed to notice and ducked down for a clinch. I wrapped my arms around his torso, and we hit the deck with a thud.
“Get the point,” Finn shouted and slapped his hand on the cage base.
I went for a guillotine choke, a specialty of mine, and after a few minutes of battling—the guy was big and a wriggler—I got him into position.
The watching crowd went wild. Phil shouted out the seconds, and then Aran tapped out.
I released him, and he sprang up, cat-like, his cheeks red.
“You okay?” I asked.
He gave a thumbs up sign and sucked on his mouth guard.
We went again. Everything else left my mind. This was all about the fight, the training. Pre-empting my opponent’s next move and then adjusting my own.
He got me down. I grunted as his weight flattened on my chest. But then I twisted my hips one way and my torso another and shook him enough to roll on top of him and lock his arms. He struggled and fought, got one free. Soon we were up again, jabbing, sending round kicks into the air, sparring.
“Time!” Phil yelled.
We knuckle fisted, no hard feeling, and then walked to our respective brothers.
“Are you hurt?” Rebecca looked up from outside the cage. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks a little paler than before.
I spit my mouth guard into my hand. “Sure, we’re just training, nothing to worry about.”
“But it’s so…violent.”
“It’s MMA, doll, that’s all.”
“I just never…I never knew what it was really and…”
I squatted down so I was face level with her and smiled. “It’s what we do, what we’ve always done, and these guys are good which means we get a decent training session. Go sit in the office if it’s freaking you out.”
“No, no, I’ll be okay.”
“Finn, you’re on,” Phil shouted.
“Always.” Finn shoved his mouth guard in and jogged around the cage.
Leo Roberts joined him, and the five-minute timer started.
My focus was on the moves, nothing else; we’d dissect later, work out what we could do better, what we should have seen coming.
Leo attempted a leg takedown when Finn went for a thigh kick. Finn hopped on the spot three times, before shaking him off and instantly going for a looping overhand punch. He got lucky, unbalanced Leo, and they both rolled to the floor.
Arms and legs seemed to wrestle independently of each other, Finn dropping into a defensive sprawl several times.
Eventually, he performed a guard pass and took a dominant position, pinning Leo to the base.
He was breathing hard, his muscles were tense, and a sheen of sweat sat on his body.
The hair at the nape of his neck was damp and slick.
Probably not what Rebecca had imagined when she’d said she’d come to the gym.
Leo did a cute move and knocked Finn off. The crowd were shouting and jeering, all expert, it seemed, in what the fighters should do next.
Before any more points were scored, the five minutes were up. Sometimes it was the longest five minutes in the history of time, sometimes barely a blink. All depended on who we were facing down.
Finn stomped up to me, spit out his guard, and took the water I offered. He poured it into his mouth, swallowed, and winked down at Rebecca.
In a matter of seconds I was up again, a fast-paced round that gave me the chance to practice rear choke defense and a sequence of trips.
Finn did his second and third round, and then all four fighters stepped into the center of the cage, minus gloves, and shook hands.
“Good session, guys,” I said. “Thanks for making the trip.”
Both brothers were sweating and breathing fast.
“Any time, you guys make us up our game.”
“You gonna come watch next weekend?” Finn asked.
“If we’re invited.”
“Of course.” Finn slapped Aran on the back. “I’ll leave tickets on the door for you, bring dates if you want.”
“Really?” Leo gestured in Rebecca’s direction. “I’m not sure how much your date has enjoyed it.” He glanced between me and Finn. “Whose is she anyway? Yours or Finn’s?”
“We’re letting her choose.” I laughed. “And nice car you came in. New?”
“Yeah, got it for a steal.” Aran gave a smug smile
I wondered just how much of a steal it had been. The Roberts brothers were known for being slippery with their interpretation of the law. Nothing nasty, just dodgy dealings, and who were we to judge?
“You be careful, those wheels are a police magnet, they’ll stop you for doing twenty,” Finn said and laughed.
“Yeah, I know.” Aran groaned. “Might not keep it long.”
“Thanks again,” Leo said. “We’ll shower and head off. See you next weekend. Be careful, yeah.”
“You, too.”
We said our goodbyes.
“I’m gonna do some weights,” Finn said, “then cool down.”
“Sure, you do that.” I’d done my weight quota pre-match.
“Hey.” I walked over to Rebecca who was tapping on her phone. “All okay?”
“Yes, just messaging Amy, she was checking in on me.”
“She’s a good friend.”
“She really is.”
“Want a coffee? Cold drink?”
“I’ll grab some water.”
We wandered to the cooler.
“After this, wanna see our place?” I asked.
“Sure. I’d love that.”
“It’s not exactly conventional.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I suppose it’s a bit of a collective, a few owners. We have the top floor, a studio.”
“And the rest of the building?”
“It’s kind of a safe house.”
“Safe house?”
“Yeah, for people down on their luck.”
“What kind of people? Homeless? Criminals?”
“No, women, vulnerable women.” I paused. “Sex workers.”
She stared at me with her drink halfway to her mouth. “What?”
“There’s a few of us, we got sick of seeing how these young women were considered expendable.
They’re so vulnerable on the street, nobody even cares if they get beaten up or murdered, so we decided to do what we could and give them a safe space to work and a chance to get a new career if that’s what they wanted. ”
“It sounds very commendable.”
I could sense the questions piling up in her sharp mind.
“You’ll understand more when you see it, it’s a happy place.”
“It’s…it’s a brothel, Cillian. You live in a brothel.” She rubbed her temple.
“Above one, technically. We have the top floor, the attic rooms.” I shrugged trying to show her it was no big deal. “You’ll understand, I promise, and Mitch will be there, you’ve met him already.”
“Mitch?”
“The cop who came to your rescue last night, he’s one of our best mates.”
Lucky for us, the sun was shining, and Andrew and Chelsea had a barbeque going at the end of the long tree-lined garden at Rose Cottage.
Trixie had a blanket spread out, and her young son, Romeo, was playing with his brightly colored toys. She’d picked herself up enough to be allowed contact with him every Saturday afternoon which was great to see.
“Hey,” Finn said, plonking down a bag full of sausages, steaks, corn, and beer. “You beat us to it, we were going to light up, too.”
Andrew turned, tongs in one hand, beer in the other. “Want some? Kebabs are ready.” He looked from me to Finn and then Rebecca who was applying sun cream to her arms over at a table. “I’m sure there’s enough but I’ll cook up more.”
“Great.” It smelled amazing, and I was hungry.
“You brought your woman?” Andrew raised his eyebrows. “The lawyer?”
“Yeah, Rebecca. And we’re not letting her out of our sight, what with her having a stalker and all that.”
“Don’t blame you.” Andrew’s attention slid to Chelsea who was putting olives into a bowl. “I don’t like her being out of my sight either.”
I popped the lid on a bottle of beer.
“Any more information on the stalker?” Andrew asked.
“No, but we haven’t done our own research yet. We’ve got a couple of names, or rather Rebecca has. Possible suspects, you know.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“We’ll see what the cops come back with, but we’re not going to give them long to act,” Finn said.
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d wait this long.” Andrew flipped a steak.
“Guess we’ve been busy.” I let my gaze drift down Rebecca’s sexy body. Her jeans hugged her ass to perfection, showing off its roundness, and her bright pink t-shirt hugged her tits which I knew needed no padded bra to be that awesome.
Andrew chuckled. “I can imagine. Very busy.”
Finn was introducing Rebecca to Chelsea, and I could see the instant warmness between them.
Rebecca was a smart cookie, so was Chelsea, they would have lots to talk about.
The wine and beer flowed. Phil appeared and dug straight into a steak, and then Jamie showed with a new security camera to replace a broken one in the back corridor. He also tucked into the meat on offer.
It was a happy group, easy conversation, good food, and surrounded by tall old trees and singing birds.
I sat on a picnic chair, between Finn and Rebecca, and enjoyed a sense of contentment. It wouldn’t last long. It never did. Soon I’d be ruminating about the stalker, or some injustice, or an unsolved case, but I took moments of peace when I could get them.
“Who is that?” Rebecca asked, her eyes widening as she stared past me, her corn halfway to her mouth.
I turned.
A massive guy, head to toe in leather, was stomping over the lawn. His brow was low, and his eyes stormy. His fists were clenched.
I set down my beer, scanning him for a weapon.
Finn stiffened at my side and sat forward, seeming to coil himself up ready to spring.
“Vince!” Chelsea, who was sitting on Andrew’s lap with her arm looped around his neck, swiveled and then jumped up.
“Ah fuck,” Andrew muttered. “Just what we need.”
“Who is that?” Rebecca whispered her question this time.
It was then I remembered where I’d seen the guy before. “It’s Chelsea’s brother, he’s an MC member.”
“Really?” She glanced from Chelsea to Vince, clearly struggling to put them together as siblings.
“You!” Vince stomped into the center of our group and pointed at Chelsea. “Are coming with me, now.”
“What? No I’m not.” She scowled at him. “Piss off.”
He made a strange growling sound and grabbed her arm. Snapped her to him.
Andrew jumped up, his face going from relaxed to furious in a second. “What the fuck, Vince?”
“She’s coming with me. I’m not having her here, in this place, anymore, I told you that, prick. I gave you a fucking warning.”
“What did you call me?” Andrew’s fists clenched, and I knew he was holding himself back. Punching his girlfriend’s brother would give rise to domestic problems that he could likely do without.