With sweat pouring down his body and his breaths still coming hard and fast, Aiden aimlessly scanned the mostly booing crowd. Underground tournaments were hotbeds for big-time gamblers, and apparently Bulldog had been favored to win. Looks like he wasn’t about to make any new friends tonight. Fine by him. He had no intentions of being buddies with anyone. He just wanted to win his fights, collect the money, pay off Sicoli, and keep Kat safe with him.
He shook his head. Those head shots must have been worse than he thought. He couldn’t keep Kat with him. He was making her safe by paying off her bogus debt, then he was sending her on her way with a decent chunk of cash to start a new life somewhere else. That was the plan.
Finally, everything was over. The ref dropped his arm and the crowd was getting pumped up for the next fight. Aiden stepped out of the cage and met Xander, who gave him his duffel bag.
“Nice finish, mate. Let’s do it a little sooner next time, eh?”
“Whatever you say, coach.” Hoisting the duffel strap over his shoulder, he looked up and saw the last two guys he wanted to see: Sully and Vinnie. They stared right at him as they moved through the ebb and flow of the crowd toward him. “Xan, we gotta go. Out the back, come on.”
Xander glanced in the direction of where Aiden had been looking and needed no further explanation to follow him in the opposite direction. They made their way through the sea of people to the back where the fighters had rooms to get ready in. A quick jog to the end of the hall had them through the back door and out to the car.
As Xander steered the Nova out of the parking lot onto the main road, he glanced over at Aiden. “Wanna tell me who the fuckers were we just ran from?”
He plunged a hand through his hair and stared out the open window. “Those are the guys collecting for Sicoli. I’m planning on paying them off with the money I get from winning the tournament.”
“You mean if you win the tournament.” Aiden glared at his friend. “Okay, fine, when you win it. It’s a damn good thing I like the girl. I wouldn’t throw away my chances at starting up my career again for just anyone.”
“What are you talking about?” Aiden asked. “How is fighting in the underground tournaments getting you your career back?”
“You’ve heard of Victor McManus, right?”
“Yeah. He’s one of the most sought-after managers in the MMA circuit. What about him?”
“He’s looking for fresh talent. Raw talent. And it just so happens he’s scouting at the Four by Four. He was there tonight. No doubt you made an impression on him.”
“I’m not looking to make an impression on anyone, Xan. I’m only doing this to get Kat out of danger.”
His friend cut him a sidelong glance. “How much of this is to pay off a personal debt to Jax and how much is because you’re falling for the girl?”
Aiden disguised a wince by dragging a hand down his face. That question hit a little too close for comfort, and he didn’t want to give the answer any serious thought. He and Xan had already had a frank discussion about keeping his hands off Kat now that Aiden had pissed all over his own boundaries with her. He’d been relieved to hear Xan had never set his sights on her in the first place.
“I owe Jax. And it’s not as if I had anything pressing going on in my life. I’ll see this through. Make sure Kat is in the clear and safely back with her sister. Then I’ll go back to Boston where I belong.”
Though he said the words, he didn’t necessarily feel like he belonged in Boston anymore. His desire to go back to what he knew had lessened more and more as the weeks he’d spent around Kat went by. And after the way the past week had gone, he was having a hard time picturing himself back in his old neighborhood at all anymore.
Hearing her call his name—his real name—as she came beneath him had almost done him in. Three words that never should’ve entered his mind had damn near tumbled from his lips in the aftermath of that moment. Thank Christ he’d had enough presence of mind to bite his tongue before he’d made a fool of himself.
But a close brush with humiliation hadn’t dampened his libido in the slightest. He’d spent the rest of the night alternating between talking with her about the most mundane things and making love to her in new ways. They’d learned little things about each other like favorite colors and foods and movies. Then they’d learned about each other in much more carnal ways. Like what made them moan and gasp and go absolutely fucking mindless.
As they’d lain together in the early morning hours, exhausted and spent, she’d kissed his neck before whispering, “Thank you for my night. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”
She’d been saying good-bye. His throat had tightened with a knot of emotions, but he forced himself to focus on the fact that he couldn’t let her leave before he paid off the debt.
“What if,” he began, his voice not more than a rasp in the dawn, “we could have more than one night? Would you stay?”
She angled her head on his shoulder to look up at him, but he continued staring at the ceiling. “Aiden—”