As they started toward the back entrance to the bar, two guys stepped around the corner. “Hey, there he is. O’Brien,” called the taller of the two, “how’s it going, buddy?”
Irish stopped short, grabbing ahold of her arm to pull her level with him. He tensed and angled his body to put himself slightly in front of her. She wondered at his discomfort, since the men obviously knew him. She didn’t think anyone around here knew his real name except her and Xander.
“Gentlemen,” he answered. “What are you doing here?”
“Don’t be so rude,” the man admonished. “Why don’t you introduce us to your lady friend?”
The muscle in his jaw jumped. “This here is Sydney,” he began. Kat was relieved when he used her alias. Despite supposedly being in the clear, she wasn’t quite ready to let all her walls down yet. “Syd, this is Sully and Vinnie. They’re—”
“Independent agents keeping an eye out for new talent at the Four by Four,” Sully finished for him.
That’s when it dawned on her who they were. “Oh, Vinnie!” She turned to Irish. “He’s the one you were telling me about, right? The one who could get your career going again?”
Irish shook his head, but he didn’t get a word in edgewise. Whereas Vinnie was apparently the strong and silent type, Sully was obviously very used to directing conversations.
“You must mean Victor, am I right? He’s the manager on all the fighters’ radars these days.”
Victor! Victor…Victorrrrrrr…Macknis? Manis? Something like that. God, she was terrible with names. At least she’d remembered it started with a V. “Yes, that’s who I meant, I’m sorry.”
Sully waved his hand dismissively. “No apology necessary. We actually work for Victor. Didn’t he call and tell you we’d be coming?”
“No,” Irish said. “Must have slipped his mind.”
“Well, no matter. We’re here and we’d like to discuss some business options with you.”
Irish narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly but inclined his head in agreement. “Syd, take my pack and put it in my locker for me when you go in, will you?”
Pulling him toward her, she spoke quietly enough so only Irish could hear. “But I want to hear what they have to say.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble with Lou and I need you to ask Johnny to cover for me for a few minutes.” She opened up her mouth to argue, but he didn’t let her get that far. “Please, sweetheart, go inside. I’ll give you the highlights later, okay?”
Kat released a dejected sigh. “Yeah, okay.” Not only did she want to hear what the agents had to say, but she also thought it would be better if she stuck around to make sure Irish didn’t sell himself short to potential investors in his career. She didn’t think he’d totally bought in to the idea of getting back in the cage professionally, and she wouldn’t put it past him to subconsciously sabotage any second chances tossed his way.
“You know,” she said to them, “he’s been training really hard since entering the tournament and he’s only going to get better. I know Victor wouldn’t regret investing in him. Anyone who watches him fight can see he’s a born champion.”
Sully slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and rocked back on his heels. “Oh, I know. I saw him last Saturday. He fought like his life depended on it.”
Vinnie the Silent cracked a smile and eyed Irish. “Or like someone’s did, anyway.”
Taking her hand, Irish led her to the back door to the bar and opened it for her. “Thanks for the endorsement.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
He looked down at her, the corners of his mouth tipping up just a bit. “I know.”
Kat placed a hand on his chest for balance and raised on her tiptoes. Pressing her lips to his, she hoped the kiss would infuse him with some of the confidence she had in his abilities. She pulled back, whispered a quick “good luck,” then walked into the back area of the bar.
The haze of cigarette smoke hung like a veil in the hall, stirring above her as she passed through it. She heard Lou talking to the bartenders in the main room so she slipped into his office. After hanging her purse in a locker, she unzipped Irish’s pack to get out the comm-link he used to speak with the other coolers. Just as she was hanging his pack on the hook, his cell phone started to ring.
Did he usually carry his phone with him while he worked? Kat chewed on the corner of her lip and waffled on whether to get it or not. The call went to voice mail, so she decided to take it to him so he could see if it was anyone he needed to speak with. As she pulled it out, she glanced at the lit screen. It read “Missed call from V. Maris.”