Spotting my mate Ryan over on the mats, I made my way toward him, my hands shoved firmly in the pockets of my hoodie. I’d known the guy for a long time, him and his mate Cole. We’d butted heads on the wrong side of the tracks a few times, and now they were trying out for the Australian Ultimate Fighting Championships, otherwise known as the AUFC. Their coach was none other than Ash fucking Fuller. Assholes.

“Kane,” Ryan called out as he saw my approach.

I didn’t mind Ryan using my real name out here in the real world. I didn’t really want to go around advertising that I was Rebel. At The Underground, fuck yes, but not out here where I could easily become a target. Kane Sturgess was just another deadbeat unemployed scum sucker…nothing special about him.

Slapping my hand into Ryan’s I shook, thumping him on the back. “Sup?”

“You finally made it,” he replied, letting me go.

“You know how things are.”

“How are things down under? Raking it in?”

Ryan knew I fought at The Underground, and he was smart enough not to let on that he knew. He had brighter, more regimented aspirations than I did, so he was never interested in slumming it, even if the money was good. Anyway, if the AUFC found out, he’d be kicked before he even got to fight a qualifier.

“Great,” I replied with a grin. “Bloody brilliant.”

“I see you’ve still got all your brain cells, so that’s a bonus right there.”

“Asshole,” I said with a laugh. “Where’s Cole?”

“He’s out today, so it’s just me. You wanna stick around for a session?”

“Sure.” Didn’t see anything wrong with hanging out with a mate in a state of the art gym. No problems at all.

I unzipped my hoodie and tossed it on the floor against the mirrored wall before kicking off my shoes and tossing my T-shirt onto the pile. Ryan heaved up a medicine ball, ready for some warm ups.

“You should come and train here,” he said, assuming the position. We’d toss the thing back and forth a few rounds before moving onto other stretches.

“Here? I don’t think they’d let me.”

“Why not? Coach fought at The Underground.”

I shook my head. “And now he’s affiliated with the AUFC and you guys. Don’t think it’d fly if he knew.”

I caught the ball and wondered if I were a little more straight-laced like Ryan, maybe Charlotte wouldn’t have run away like she did.

“Just keep your mouth shut. If no one knows, then no harm, no foul.”

My lip curled. Chicks loved the bad boy, but they never took them home for more than a night. Did I want more than a night? Training in this place felt like trying to date a classy woman. You didn’t just mess around with it.

The medicine ball slipped through my fingers and landed between my feet. Fuck. I picked it up and tossed it back to Ryan.

“What’s up with you?” he asked, catching the ball. “You’re off with the fairies, mate.”

“It’s nothin’.” I didn’t want to tell Ryan, of all dudes, what my problem was.

“C’mon, it’s a chick, right?” I threw the ball back a little too hard, and he caught it with a laugh. “It’s a chick. Never thought I’d see you wound up over some bird.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Neither did I.”

“Who is she?”

“Charlotte.” Just saying her name had my dick stirring.

“Who’s Charlotte?”

“Dunno.”

“You don’t know?” he scoffed. “How does that work?”

“She was at The Underground.”

“She saw you fight?” he asked, straightening up. “For real?”

“She was right there.” I held up my hand, pointing to the floor right in front of me. “Then she was gone.”

Ryan grimaced. “In over her head?”

I shrugged, it was the same conversation I’d had with the chick from the bar, Lori. “Maybe.”

“You’ve got it bad,” he said, cracking a smile. “You never drop the ball. And for a chick you don’t even know, for fuck’s sake.”

I grunted, tossing the medicine ball. He caught it easily but that was the point. I wasn’t into hurting another dude and ruining his chances at pro just because he said something I didn’t like. That would make me a dick.

“I want out,” I said. “The Championship is in a few weeks, and I’ve got a good shot at being in it. If she doesn’t come back before then…”

“What do you mean? I thought you were making good money there.”

“I never wanted to stay there, mate,” I said. “I just wanted to make some money to start over someplace else. That Championship is worth a couple of mill.”

Ryan let out a slow whistle. “Fucking hell.”

“It’s already becoming more trouble than it’s worth.” The Underground was always rough and full of bad news, but there was tension between the ringleaders and that always meant blood, guts, and fighting over money. Any one of those things was trouble, but all at once and with the amount of cash that place turned over? The whole operation was teetering on the edge of an epic turf war if someone didn’t step up soon.

“What do you mean?” Ryan narrowed his eyes. He knew the stakes as well as I did considering we grew up in similar circumstances. Dickhead kids on the wrong side of the law.

“The head ref, Max, is having trouble with one of the other guys,” I said. “Looks like it could blow out.”

Ryan shook his head. “Keep as far away from that as you can, Kane.”

“I know. Last thing I need is to get on the cops’ radar.” With my record, there’d be no asking questions. They’d slap a number on me and chuck my ass inside. Guilty as charged.

“There are better things, you know.”

I stilled, holding the ball. “Like what?”

“Try out for pro, mate. You’re more than good enough.”

I snorted. Try out for the big leagues? In what universe would I be able to find a sponsor who’d stoop to throwing their lot in with a criminal? Not this one.

“Ash could help you out. He knows a lot of guys.”

My lip curled into a sneer. “I’ll fight my own fuckin’ battles.”

Ryan shrugged, turning away from me. “Suit yourself, bro.”

The straight and narrow had never suited me, at least where fighting was concerned. I was all about the freestyle and taking it to pro? There was discipline, and then there were rules. I lived in the ‘rules were made to be broken’ camp. Disqualification and a bad rep was what awaited me in the AUFC.

I just had to stick it out at The Underground until the Championship and fingers crossed I would end up with the title and the girl.

Charlotte had to come back. If she’d felt one iota of what I did when we were in that hall, then I knew she would. It was just a matter of time.

I just had to wait it out.

Chapter 7

Charlotte

A pig in a den of wolves.

The cops equaled pigs insult was one that I’d hated from day one. When a drunken perp, who’d become violent, begins to oink at you, it’s hard not to become the poster child for police brutality.

Despite the very crystal clear warning that Hunter had given me, I found myself back at The Underground, more determined than ever to prove all those imbeciles wrong. Sires, Howard, Frommer, Hunter…they’d all be fuming that they weren’t the ones cracking this nut.

Despite the trouble I was risking, my gaze ran over the crowd, looking for the one man I probably shouldn’t be getting any closer to. Not physically, anyway.

Rebel was nowhere in sight, but I saw his name scrawled on the board as being scheduled to fight, so he had to be around here someplace. At the thought of him being in the same building as I was, I felt a shiver run down my spine and right into my lady parts. I’d had a good go at easing the tension last night and this morning, but nothing seemed to scratch that itch.

Deciding a drink was in order, I threaded my way through the crowd and headed to the bar. Just like the other night, the place was packed and pumping. It didn’t seem to matter which day of the week it was, every day was a big one when they had a stream of people waiting to fight and another wanting to watch it.