The Fighter (The High Rise, Book 1) Read online

  He looks me up and down, an amused look on his gorgeous face. “I didn’t say that.” He now gets a sack and puts a couple potatoes into it before moving to the bell peppers.

  I pick up a sack for my own veggies and let myself pretend for a moment that he and I are together picking up what we need to make dinner, wondering how that’d feel. We already have this energy between us that it almost seems like it’d be easy. And just when I’m thinking it might be kind of nice, he stops and looks at me, his dark eyes on mine, sizing me up.

  “If you were sent to check up on me, I’ll tell you now it’s a waste of time. You know where I am. Just walk down the hall, knock and come on in. I’ve got nothing to hide.” Now he smirks. “We could even make it interesting if you want. I wouldn’t mind helping you work off those cupcakes.”

  Whoa. “What are you suggesting?” God. My first thought is, Yes! Take me! Then I tell myself that was rude and I need to act offended. Ugh. As I study him, I find I’m a little bit pissed but not at his proposal. No, I’m ticked because I can’t figure him out. I’m usually so good at reading people but he’s a total mystery.

  He scrutinizes me right back, pursing his lips and tilting his head to the side before grinning and stating, “I’m suggesting that if you wanna keep your ass looking good in that skirt, you’ll hit me up.” He angles his head even farther to the side and I realize he’s looking at my butt as he mutters, “Damn.” His eyes twinkle when they meet mine. “I’ve got the perfect exercise for you. Involves lots of thrusting if you’re interested.” At my frown he adds, “But maybe not. It might be too much for you.” He chuckles before walking away.

  Did he just turn me down for something I wasn’t planning on doing anyway? Or was that a dare? And wait. Was he talking sex or exercising? Good grief. This guy seriously has me confused. I’m still frowning as I pick through more vegetables, bagging and placing them in my cart.

  As I move down the bins I wonder who he’d think would send me to check up on him anyway. And check on him for what? So many unanswered questions with this guy. It’s got me curious, but I’m uncertain if I want to know the answers. And I’m really not sure I want to poke the bear because no telling what’ll come out of his mouth then.

  Four

  This woman is totally throwing me off my game.

  I was the quarterback in high school who scrambled on a third and twenty-seven to score the State Championship winning touchdown for crying out loud.

  The same guy who had to get up and speak at one of the Los Angeles Kiwanis Clubs in front of hundreds of people thanking them for a college scholarship I received.

  The man who, at one of my building sites had to talk a jumper down off a beam that was fifty feet in the air for fuck’s sake.

  Yet this female who’s damned near a full foot shorter than I am, who I outweigh by at least a hundred pounds, has got me tied up in knots. Has me saying suggestive shit to her I know I shouldn’t, then turning around and being a prick to her because I’m irritated about my own indiscretions.

  What in the fucking hell is wrong with me?

  And swear to God when I saw her in the store earlier, like some teenaged boy I just about popped a fucking boner at seeing her gorgeous ass in that goddamned skirt she wore. I’m twenty-seven yet I found myself struggling to keep from embarrassing myself in public. Jesus. And then her sassy attitude all but did me in. I’m so torn it’s not even funny. The way I see it, only a few things can happen between us. She’ll either end up completely hating me, which is highly likely, or this thing between us lands us in bed and we fuck until I get her out of my system.

  Or there’s always the last option of my jacking off regularly to thoughts of her while maintaining a distance. Yeah. That’s so not ideal.

  I’m on the veranda of my apartment where I throw a couple of foil-wrapped potatoes on the grill to bake before adding the steak. All this working out has me starved half the time and a good steak will definitely hit the spot.

  While I wait on the food, I make a call to my brother to see how he’s doing and to let him know everything’s pretty much going as planned. “Everything’s all set,” I say.

  “When’s your match?” Aaron asks.

  “Saturday. Hey, what about this Craig Crowley guy?” I inquire asking about the guy who runs the weight room. He seems like a prick but if I can get some use out of him it’s all good.

  “He’s Kyle’s fuckin’ lackey. Real douche. But you might be able to get some info from him.”

  “Good. I’ll stay on him then. An unexpected piece to the puzzle fit in today.”

  “What was that?” he says.

  “I met Kyle’s niece. Man, she’s something else. Has this whole innocent act down like she’s clueless about what goes on here,” I reply leaving out the part about how I’m drooling all over the chick.

  “Is she pretty?”

  “What does that matter? She’s the fucking enemy,” I scoff even though I want to tell him that, hell yes, she’s gorgeous. Legs up to here, big brown doe eyes as well as long auburn hair she’d worn in a ponytail when working out this morning, not to mention her perfect fucking ass that looked great in that skirt she wore tonight.

  “Maybe she’s not involved. I never saw a woman around when I was there,” he states.

  “What am I supposed to do, ask her if she’s part of a corrupt moneylending enterprise that also hosts an underground fighting ring that almost killed my brother and if not, would she go out with me?”

  He laughs. “That would do it.”

  I rub the bridge of my nose, annoyed. “Anyway, come to find out, I’m on the same floor with her. She lives right down the hall from me. If Crowley won’t cooperate, I’ve been thinking that all I gotta do is get close with her, somehow get her to give me passwords to his computer then I can snatch her keys to get into Kyle’s office. I’ll bet the self-important prick keeps his shit’s all out in the open anyway, not afraid of being caught at all. I’ll get into his computer and delete you, mark you off as paid-in-full in the books and you’re off the hook.” It’s probably more complicated than that but that’s the ultimate plan. “I might be outta here sooner than I thought.”

  I hear Aaron let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Heath,” he whispers into the phone. “This means everything.”

  “You’d do the same for me.” I hear Isabelle fussing in the background.

  “You need to come see your niece soon.”

  “I know. This club across the street has had me buried for the last month. But I should be able to make it by Sunday since Saturday’s the club’s opening,” I remark.

  “I’ll let Kamryn know. We can do lunch or dinner and she’ll make her coconut cream pie.”

  My relationship with Kamryn has been strained since Aaron got hurt but I know she’s a good woman who loves my brother, so I need to make an effort. It sounds like she will too since coconut cream is my favorite.

  “Sounds good. I’ve gotta put the steak on so I’ll let you go.”

  “She’s sorry, Heath.”

  I sigh. “I know she is. Tell her not to worry. I’m gonna fix this.”

  We hang up and I feel the anger inside rising because every time I talk to him, I get pissed again at this situation.

  I think about when I first met Laney’s Uncle Edward and he agreed to cut me some slack, telling me he wouldn’t charge interest on Aaron’s loan for the time he spent in the hospital or for another two weeks which I requested so I could train since I hadn’t fought in years. He was unusually compliant, but I knew it was only because he’d easily make up what he was losing through my fights and in the interest which would start up again soon. We also made the deal that I’d live in the apartment building free of charge for six months (even though I plan on taking care of shit sooner than that) which he stated was his way of paying for Aaron’s hospital bills, to which I agreed because it was a convenient locale for my current job site and several others I had coming up. I kept the cabin at Big Bear, whi
ch is where I stay most weekends, but I went ahead and let my studio apartment across town go, planning to use the money I’ll save on rent to pay off Aaron’s hospital bills that the insurance doesn’t cover.

  But Edward Kyle and I have a tricky relationship. First of all, on my end, I don’t have a lot to work with. It’s not like I can go to the cops about him and his family. What would I say? My brother borrowed money from them and now he can’t pay them back? Loaning money isn’t illegal even though I’m sure there’s got to be some organized crime syndicate backing the Kyles, I just don’t have any proof of it. Also, the fighting might be illegal but if I alerted the authorities, who’s going to fucking talk? These guys are trying to pay off loans. They’re not going to rat themselves out. But honestly? All I really care about is getting Aaron out from under the Kyle’s control. And I’m not about to get on the bad side of the Mob or whoever’s running this shit by becoming an informant. But if their whole operation happened to fall down around them while I’m at it, I’m not going to say I wouldn’t be happy.

  On the Kyle’s end, Edward specifically, he sees I’ve stepped in to help Aaron out and he’s good with that. All he wants is his money. He’s not going to fuck shit up by telling me no. But he also knows that since Aaron ended up in the hospital from fighting for him, there are things I could do to make his life hell. I’ve let him know I’ve got friends on the force who’d be more than willing to start an investigation into what he’s doing. They might not get to the bottom of everything he’s mixed up with but they could at least shut his fight ring down. Fucker would probably just relocate which would only be an inconvenience for him, but it would be something. And it might prompt them to look at him further. So for now, he’s willing to play nice and I plan to take full advantage.

  With all that, clarity punches me in the gut waking me up to how ridiculous it is that I’d even contemplate any kind of relationship with Laney Kyle.

  Fuck them. Fuck all the Kyles.

  The next morning I’m in the weight room by the usual time, six a.m. I’m working out with Matt, an older man I met here a couple weeks ago who’s routine is similar to mine. We’ve started spotting each other on various lifts but haven’t talked a lot.

  I know that Laney will be here in forty-five minutes to stretch out then jump on the treadmill alongside a blond woman who I’m assuming is her roommate.

  I hate that I’m looking for her but any red-blooded man who saw her in those shorts would look too. And God forbid she has on the running tights. Those fuckers have the capability of making me crawl a mile just to see her amazing ass in them. Yeah. They look that good.

  I’m on my third set of squats when she comes bouncing in and I grit my teeth when I see she’s wearing tights. Fuck.

  I watch as she laughs with the blonde while they stretch. I also observe several men walking by making no secret of checking out her ass which makes me want to throttle them. When I start my fourth set, it’s then that I realize she hasn’t glanced my way even once and that pisses me off even more.

  Christ. What the hell’s wrong with me?

  I continue my workout choosing not to pay her any mind telling myself again she’s the enemy and I need to keep my guard up.

  This all goes well until thirty minutes later I drop down from doing military pullups to see Laney laughing and talking to some muscle head who’s looking at her like he wants to fucking eat her up. The way she’s smiling at him has my stomach roiling and my fists bunching, just itching to connect with the dude’s face.

  “You know her?” Matt asks, noticing I’ve stopped my workout.

  I grab a towel and wipe my face muttering, “Not really. I know her dad owns Kyle Properties.”

  Matt nods then he and I both witness her giggling and smacking the guy flirtatiously on the chest at something he’s said. Swear to fuck I growl.

  “You box?” Matt asks.

  I look over at him and know I must look as angry as I feel because he draws his head back and raises his brows in surprise. Shit.

  “Only dabble a bit in it now. I’ve been training more along the lines of MMA,” I inform.

  “Oh, yeah? Me too. Uh, there’s a ring in the basement. You wanna go spar?”

  “Hell yes,” I bite out, needing to get rid of some of this hostile energy that’s built up.

  As I wipe my hands on my towel, I glance over to see Laney back on her treadmill before following Matt to the basement.

  Turns out that was just the thing I needed. We got on the bags first which got tons of my aggression out so I didn’t beat the shit out of him once we got in the ring.

  Afterward Matt states while breathing hard, “You’re good. Do you, uh, ever have matches?”

  We sit on a bench ringside, both of us catching our breath as we remove our headgear and unwrap the tape from our hands.

  “Getting ready to.”

  “Where do you fight?”

  I turn my head to him wondering if I can trust him. He could be a plant that Kyle’s using to get information from me. I suddenly check myself and snort because what would he even get out of me? I now want to punch my damned self because I’ve taken this shit to espionage proportions when I know in comparison this is just a rinky-dink operation for some sick, twisted fuck to make more money off his “clients.”

  “I fight here this Saturday,” I reveal waiting to see if Matt pulls out a gun and shoots me for spewing State secrets. Jesus. I need to stop watching so many movies.

  But all he does is nod before remarking, “I do too.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Yeah?”

  He nods again, biting the inside of his lip before sharing, “Got a gambling problem. The wife’s threatened to leave so I don’t really have a choice. Took out a second mortgage on the house and borrowed what I could from the bank and a few friends to pay shit off but it wasn’t enough. Then Kyle told me about the Ring, so I signed up.” He shrugs.

  “Same.” I don’t know him well enough to share about Aaron so I just leave it at that.

  “You live here?” he probes.

  I nod, again not offering up anything else.

  “That makes things easy. Only reason I come here is it’s free. I mean, I’m in a financial bind so it’s not like I can pay to join a fucking gym, you know?”

  I continue nodding. Yep. I totally get it.

  We head upstairs to the gym and I notice Laney’s no longer on her treadmill. She’s probably showering but I don’t linger on that thought because… yeah. Instead, I pull off my t-shirt which I’ve cut huge armholes in and replace it with a regular tee. I down the Gatorade I brought with me, tell Matt I’ll see him in the morning and head to the elevator.

  As I round the corner I smile because I’ll be goddamned if little Miss Earbuds isn’t shaking that gorgeous ass of hers to music I know she’s not listening to.

  Five

  During my run, I’d seen Heath go down to the basement and he hadn’t come back so I assumed the coast was clear. Stupid assumption.

  Dani has left, I’ve finished showering and now dress in black yoga pants and my gray oversized UCLA hoodie, putting my wet hair up in a bun. And this time I’ve come prepared. Before leaving the locker room I take the headphones out of my bag, plug them into my phone, pull up my music and put the earbuds in. I want to do a happy dance that I remembered them because this way I won’t have to talk to Heath if he’s at the elevator and since he already knows I’m on his floor, he won’t have to talk either by asking what number to push.

  Win-frickin’-win.

  I leave the locker room going to the elevator, breathing a sigh of relief when he’s not here. I smile thinking this has started out to be a good day. First, I didn’t ogle Heath from across the room which took tons of willpower, believe me, but it’s for the best. Second, Paul, the hot guy I leased apartment 335 to, and a couple other guys flirted with Dani and me which was awesome, and lastly, I cut six minutes off my first mile while adding another half mile to my total and didn�
�t get too winded.

  Pop Evil’s “Ways to Get High” is on and I’m rocking out not caring who walks up behind me because this song is the shit. When the doors open I step inside somewhat gracefully as I nod my head to the song and when I turn to push button seventeen on the panel I jump roughly a foot in the air because Heath’s right there already pushing it. Ugh. He smirks and I turn away looking at the front.

  Why am I so attracted to him anyway? Obviously, his looks are amazing but what else is doing it for me? Besides the huge amount of chemistry that’s brewing between us, he’s been nothing but a flirty jerk to me since we met and I’m beginning to think I’m a masochist. I look over to see him staring at me. And that’s when I know what it is.

  It’s his eyes.

  They’re dark and alert and I’m immediately aware of a deep sense of determination in them, an implication of conviction, tenacity.

  But that’s not it. No, what I see beyond all that is that they’re soulful. That by looking into them I know there’s more to him than the asshole he’s been presenting. But that just leaves me torn between wanting to know more about him or telling him to kiss off.

  And then he helps me decide straightaway.

  He motions for me to take out my earbuds which I do and I raise my brow at him waiting to hear what he has to say.

  “I see the invisibility wore off,” he says grinning.

  “Yep.” I start to put the bud back in.

  “Who was the guy you were talking to earlier?”

  I frown as I try remembering to whom he’s referring.

  “Short guy, kinda muscular.”

  “Oh. That’s Paul. I leased him his apartment. Why?” I ask wondering what it matters to him.