Passing His Guard

“All right, son. Hang tight and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As Aiden paced the floor, waiting for Marcus to arrive, guilt assailed him when he thought of the argument he’d had with the old man a few days ago. He’d told Coach he wasn’t his father, but the truth of it was, that man had been a better dad to him than his own ladder-climbing, turncoat of a father had ever been. The only time that man had shown any interest in him was when it suited his agenda to do so.

He’d done everything for that man, trying to earn his love and respect. He’d become a lawyer because his father wanted him to. He’d taken over the family business because his father wanted him to. It didn’t matter what he did or how hard he tried, nothing could ever please that man. Now he wanted him to marry a woman he’d never met in some fucked-up twelfth-century archaic union. And that, my friend, was where he drew the line. Fuck you—sayonara—go to hell. That shit was not happening.

But of course, his father hadn’t listened to him. Instead, the asshole signed Aiden’s name to a marriage contract for a shitload of money being fu

So fourteen months ago, when Aiden accidentally and luckily discovered what his father had done, he up and walked away from his rich-bitch life and moved out to Vegas to pursue his own dream of fighting in the CFA. Aiden had been brawling his whole life. He boxed throughout high school, and once he’d graduated and started attending Harvard, he moved into mixed martial arts. When he wasn’t buried in law books, he was training in the gym. He’d been fortunate to meet Cole Easton shortly after moving to Vegas. Cole had introduced him to Marcus, and the rest was history.

Cole and Aiden had hit it off, becoming fast friends and sparring partners until his recent injury. Del Toro was newer to the Cage Fighting Association and had stepped in as his partner to replace Easton. It was no secret Del Toro was having trouble adjusting to civilian life. No one knew the specific deets about what got him discharged from the military, and he wasn’t talking. But as far as sparring partners went, Aiden couldn’t complain. The guy was out of his weight class, but in truth, there weren’t a lot of fighters willing to pound with the guy for fun.

Life was good, his career was taking off, and he had all the pussy he wanted. And then, just like a bad fucking pe

It didn’t matter that those few stolen minutes with Rya

It’d come as a staggering blow when in minutes, that woman had driven him mindless with need. And then to discover just as quickly, it was all a lie . . . Fuck, he hadn’t been that furious since he’d uncovered his family’s plot to betray him. Even now, the memory of her kiss haunted him. Thinking of her body pressed so perfectly against his made him hard all over again. His balls ached with the need for release. He’d never felt breasts so soft, tasted lips so sweet, or touched a pussy so tight and wet . . .

Her scent still lingered on him, and despite himself, he occasionally drew a deep breath, relishing the rush of breathing her in all over again. He really should go shower, but damn, he wasn’t ready to part with her yet. As pathetic as that seemed and as pissed off as he was, he couldn’t stop thinking about the woman who, for the first time in his life, had truly made him feel alive.

Huh . . . maybe she did have a magical vag, after all.

Rya

There was no point in ignoring the call that had become as predictable as the rising sun. He would just call again, and again, and again until she answered. It did no good to change her number. The calls always came in on her business number, and unless she wanted to put herself out of a job, she had to keep herself available for people to contact her.

Some days he was more courteous than others, but the message was always the same—pay up or else. Exhaling a sigh, Rya

Years of suffering from the loss of her mother had eaten away at the man who had once been her hero—her rock. Axel Andrews had been an honorable man in whose footsteps she’d wanted to walk. It was why she’d become a private investigator and her father’s business partner. If she’d only known how easily her world would fall apart. She’d seen how quickly a life could unravel at the clipping of just one key thread—her mother had been that catalyst for her father, and Rya

By the time she realized just how badly things had gotten, it was too late. Andrews Private Investigation Services was nearly bankrupt, and her father was drunk more than he was sober. In the last months prior to his death, he’d spent his days and most of his nights gambling at the Lion’s Den, one of a chain of clubs owned by Vincent Moralli. It was no secret Moralli was Mafia. While doing a missing-person investigation last year, she’d discovered he was also the proprietor of an illegal fighting circuit as well as being heavily involved with drugs and prostitution.

She’d reported her findings to the police back then, and she had never heard another word from them. So should she really have been surprised when she couldn’t get the police to look into her father’s death? She’d suspected at the time the police were being paid to turn a blind eye to Moralli’s dealings, and after being warned off by the officer last week, she was sure of it. Rya