Kane clenched his jaw. “We paid you. We told you to fucking leave her alone, and you got what you wanted.”
“And maybe I would have dropped it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “But you see, you almost broke my jaw. A blow to the head like that…it can remind you of things. Like the fact that she owed me interest.”
“You fucking prick—interest?!”
“I’m nothing if not a businessman, Kavanagh. And you are going to pay me that interest, plus a little extra to make me forget about the black eyes.”
Kane inhaled slowly, trying to think clearly. “I’m going to win this fight, Lachlan. It’s in the bag. I’m ready for it, so why not just bet on me to win?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” the little prick asked. “I want to see someone pummel you into the ground, just like you did to me. It’ll be good karma.”
“I’m not doing this. Give me the fucking photos, and I’ll try to forget this encounter ever happened.” Kane called his bluff, hoping he’d be intimidating enough to stop this train wreck. The look on Lachlan’s face was indifferent and…frightening. He seemed to value his life very little, but rather he had more of an interest in hurting Kane. That type of man was truly dangerous.
Lachlan shook his head, smiling wider. “There can be only three rounds, then end it. Make it look believable; break his nose or something. Then after three rounds, take a hard hit and go down.”
“There’s no fucking way I’m throwing the championship fight for a piece of shit like you,” Kane bellowed, slamming both hands into Lachlan’s chest and sending him back several feet as he tried to catch his balance.
“I didn’t expect you to,” the bookie replied. “But what about for the girl?”
Kane glared at him, but acknowledged he was cornered.
During one of their very first conversations, Nora had told him how important her education was to her, how badly she wanted this career, how it meant everything to her. She’d had to make some tough choices to assist her mom, something he’d never fault her for.
He’d do anything for his family, so he understood. And now, he’d do anything for Nora, too. “You’re not going to get away with this,” he said slowly, grinding his teeth. “When my family—”
“Ooh, yes, family…interesting,” Lachlan interrupted him with a sneer. “That’s how all this started, isn’t it? Nora’s family? Has anyone heard from her mom lately? Hmm…I wonder if she’s somewhere where she can’t talk…”
Kane inhaled sharply. “What the fuck did you do to Marie?”
Lachlan shrugged, opening up the hotel room door and stepping into the hallway. “Just a little insurance, to make sure this stays between you and me. If it does, then she’ll be completely fine.”
Kane didn’t move, staring at the man who would single-handedly destroy everything he’d ever worked toward.
“See you tonight.” With a last sinister smile, Lachlan disappeared down the hall.
Chapter 28
The person you’re trying to reach is not available. Please leave a message after the—
Kane disconnected the call before it could click over into voicemail. After at least a dozen attempts, the tiny electronic voice was getting under his skin. “Fuck!”
“Who are you calling?” Rory asked as he slid a sweatband on over his head. “We need to get a good stretch in.”
“Nobody.” Marie.
Kane had found her number with some digging, but hadn’t been able to get through to her. He’d stalked her online social media profiles and had called the places where she’d recently checked in or at which she’d taken photos, and he’d spoken to everyone from desk clerks to maître d’s. No one had seen her. No one knew where she was.
But he knew.
“You seen Kieran yet?” Rory asked.
Kane shook his head. “He’s honeymooning, probably. I wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t show up at all today.”
“He’ll be at the fight tonight, for sure. No way he’d miss seeing his other half get the shit beat out of him.” Rory laughed and patted Kane on the back, but Kane paused. Would that be exactly what they’d all witness tonight? Him getting his ass beaten?
“Dude, I was just kidding,” Rory said, frowning at him. “You’ve got this.”
Kane nodded. “Yeah, no, I know. Just nerves.”
“I remember that,” Rory admitted with a nod. “I was fucking nervous as hell when I was about to go into my championships. Thankfully, you’re a lot better than me, so you’ll actually win.”
Kane’s brows lifted as he looked at his brother in surprise. “Whoa, I don’t think you’ve ever said that to me before.”
Rory shrugged as a slight red tint colored his cheeks. “Well, you had a better trainer than I did.”
Kane chuckled. “Ah, there it is.”
“The hell you mean he had a better trainer than you?” Seamus walked into the training room and crossed his arms over his chest. “You had the best of the best, Rory. Trained on the streets, shed my fecking blood in that ring long before you were ever born. Lucky bastard, my ass.”
His thick Irish lilt and booming voice filled the room, and the brothers grinned at each other. Rory was Kane’s trainer now, but Seamus had been Rory’s back in the day. Kane dropped a hand on Rory’s shoulder. “Yeah, Rory, you were trained by a fucking legend.”
“So were you,” Rory replied with a bigger grin, not standing down. “Right, Pops?”
Seamus gave him a sly smile and shook his head. “Yeah, yeah, wise guy. Let’s get some stretching in. Quinn said the press junket is in two hours, gonna last all day until the fight.”
Kane nodded, completely aware of how little time he had left to figure out what the hell he was going to do.
“Seen Jimmy yet?” Rory asked his dad. “No one’s been around this morning.”
“They’re all still in bed,” Seamus replied. “Too much liquor last night.”
Kane started stretching. “It was a great wedding, though.” Actually, the whole evening for him had been amazing…but remembering how special yesterday had been only made today worse.
“Fi’s a great girl,” Seamus agreed. “I’m a happy papa.”
“I’m glad Shea was there,” Rory added. “I love that little girl. Ace is obsessed with her.”
Kane looked around the gym and realized for the first time that Rory’s giant dog wasn’t with him. He’d come to Vegas with them, because he went everywhere with Rory. “Where is Ace?”
“With Shea.” Rory laughed. “They’re freaking spooning in bed.”
“Well, it’s good Fi had some family here. She was pretty upset before the wedding that her mom couldn’t be there,” Seamus told them.
“I thought her mom was dead,” Kane said.
Rory smacked him on the arm. “That’s why she couldn’t be there, dumb ass.”
“Girls need their mothers, Kane. That’s something you’d do well to remember,” Seamus told him. “I know Nora’s mom has already caused a few headaches with her gambling, but if you’re going to be with Nora, it’s a package deal. Just like she can’t be with you without accepting the rest of the Kavanaghs as part of the deal.”
Kane blinked rapidly, wondering if his father knew something, or if his advice was just insanely good timing. Seamus was right, though. That much he definitely knew. He had to do everything possible to make sure Nora’s mother was safe.
And Nora’s future.
There was so much at stake.
“Wait, are you and Nora back together?” Rory asked.
Kane nodded, letting a small smile slip. Despite the shit storm he was currently in, his night with Nora was still fresh on his mind. The feeling of waking up with her in his arms…it was everything. He never wanted to wake up without her, and he felt so privileged that she was giving him a chance. Especially after how he’d treated her before. He felt so foolish that he’d ever thought they could just be friends with benefits, and
even more so for thinking he wouldn’t want more than that.
Sex with Nora was amazing. Fucking fantastic. Literally.
But talking with Nora? Holding Nora? Seeing the way her eyes lit up when she was doing something she loved, the way she cared about everyone around her, or the way her small blond curls always fell onto her face and her nose crinkled slightly when she smiled at him? That was so much better.
That was something he couldn’t live without, something he couldn’t risk anyone else having. She was his, whether she knew it yet or not. He’d made the mistake once, and this time, he was not letting go.
“We’re dating,” Kane confirmed to his brother, even though it didn’t feel like a strong enough description for what was between them.
Rory nodded, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “When did that happen? Last I heard, you were crying into your pillow every night because you screwed it up.”
Kane punched his brother hard in the arm. “You wish.”
“Last night,” Seamus answered for him. “Your mother had been bragging about her plan to get you two together all day.”
Now that was news to him. Kane perked up, looking over at his father. “What plan?”
Seamus grinned. “To make you guys decorate Kieran and Fiona’s room together, let your history together do the rest. You know your mother.”
Damn it, Ma’s an evil genius.
“So did it work?” Seamus asked with a laugh. “She’s going to want to know what I found out.”
Rory was laughing hard and shaking his head. “Oh, that’s priceless! You got played by Ma!”
“Unbelievable,” Kane said, but then he began laughing, too. “Of course it worked. Nora’s amazing, and I love her, but damn, Ma is devious!”
Both Seamus and Rory stopped laughing, their faces turning serious as they stared at him. “Love?”
Kane nodded. He did love Nora. He loved her enough actually to entertain the idea of giving up everything he’d worked for…for her.
“Hell, yes,” Rory said, a wide smile on his face as he gave Kane a big bear hug. “About time!”
“Proud of you, kid,” Seamus said with a pat on his back. “Now, let’s stop being a bunch of girls and get to work.”
“Actually, I need to talk to you about something first.”
“What’s wrong?” Rory asked, even though Kane had been talking to his father.
Kane inhaled deeply, trying to figure out how much to tell them. Nora’s old job was not something she wanted anyone knowing about. He would never tell, even though they were his family. That thought actually surprised him, because he’d always been transparent with his family. But now he found himself protective of Nora first, just like he’d seen Rory do for Clare and Kieran do for Fiona. He liked it.
Despite Lachlan’s warning, there was no way he wasn’t going to tell his father about what had happened. Secrets were dangerous, and he already had to keep at least one for Nora. He wasn’t going to keep his mouth shut on any more than he absolutely had to.
“I was approached this morning,” he started.
“Here we go again!” Rory sighed, throwing up his hands. “Was it the Conroys?”
“What? No,” Kane replied, surprised that Rory was bringing up a rival family back in Woodlawn with whom the Kavanaghs had never gotten along. Seamus had known their patriarch back in his Mafia days, and there was still a lot of bad blood between them, probably because Seamus had not left those days as far behind him as everyone thought. “I don’t think the Conroys are involved.”
“You sure?” Rory frowned, and Seamus was silent, watching them carefully. “Their son approached me before my championship and tried to get me to throw the fight to make money off it.”
“He did?” Kane was starting to wonder just how much went on around him that he had no idea about. The story sounded eerily familiar. “I didn’t know that. But yeah, something similar happened this morning, except it was that bookie we scared off before.”
“Lachlan?” Seamus asked, curling his upper lip into a silent snarl. “Yeah, that’s the Conroys. I looked into him after we paid him off. He’s a distant cousin, but a Conroy, nonetheless.”
The creep’s interest in him and his family suddenly made a lot more sense. In fact, he was now wondering if this hadn’t been his plan to begin with—get close to someone who was close to them, arrange for them to owe him a debt, then use it to try to hurt a Kavanagh. He wasn’t sure how he could have missed such an obvious connection.
“He wants me to throw the fight so he can collect interest on the debt Nora’s mother owed him,” Kane admitted.
Rory scoffed. “He’s dreaming.”
“He might get that dream,” Kane replied. “He’s got Nora’s mom.”
Seamus grunted and shook his head. “Not for long, he doesn’t.”
“Pops, I’ve already made at least a dozen phone calls. I can’t locate her, and I don’t know what to tell Nora.”
“Nothing,” Seamus warned. “You tell her nothing. I’ll handle this.”
Rory crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m surprised as hell that they’d have the balls to do this again, after the lesson we taught them last time.”
“I’m not,” Seamus said. “Those feckers have always been a pain in my ass. I’ll handle it. You two focus on practice and the fight tonight. You’re going to win.”
“Pops, I can’t—” Kane started to object, but Seamus put his hand up.
“You’re going to win, or you’ll go down trying your damnedest.”
Rory patted Kane’s shoulder. “He’s got this, Killer. Let’s get in the ring.”
Kane looked between his brother and his father, and there was zero doubt on either of their faces. They were more prepared for this than he’d ever have expected, and they looked completely confident. Despite the fact that he had left out certain details of Lachlan’s threat, like the specific nature of Nora’s temporary job, he felt confident that his family would indeed fix this.
“Okay, then, let’s fight.”
Chapter 29
Nora wandered around one of the gift shops in the hotel, trying to decide what to purchase. She didn’t have a ton of money, but she wanted to get something to give to Kane after the fight. The decision was a tricky one, though, because if he lost, then he would probably be upset and not want a tangible reminder of the occasion. If he won, well, she wasn’t sure what the proper gift would be for their situation.
She wasn’t even sure what their situation was.
They were dating…except they hadn’t actually been on a date yet.
But they’d had sex. A lot of sex. Really, really good, mind-blowing, toe-curling sex.
Honestly, she couldn’t imagine any date being all that much better than the feel of his hands roaming over her body. Their physical connection allowed them to communicate better than she knew how to do with words. What they had was special…it was affection; it was intimacy. Maybe it was, or would one day be…love? Nora didn’t know, but she did know that every time she looked at him, her insides did somersaults.
The first time she’d ever met him had been at a local bar one evening when she’d been having a purely platonic drink with Kieran. Kane had walked up, all cocky and self-confident, and she had been sure she would pass out. The two were identical twins, and even though she thought Kieran was handsome as hell, there was something about Kane that had made her knees weak the second he’d first looked at her.
Then he’d opened his mouth and dropped some lame pickup line, and the magic was lost.
For months, he’d kept hitting on her, and at first she’d just attributed it to his being a player. But the more she learned about Kane, the more she understood that he was a lot different than his original impression had suggested. The butterflies started to come back, and each time his big blue eyes had turned her direction, she felt the flutter in her stomach.
Then he’d shown her an even sweeter side of himself when he’d taken care o
f Casey after the bridal shower three months ago, and Nora had been lost. Between her inhibitions being lowered after having one or two drinks and the way his dark expression made her body quiver, she had known that if he asked that night…she’d say yes.
And, man, was she happy she had.
This present had to be perfect. It had to commemorate his victory, and theirs. This was his moment. It was also their moment. She wanted him to know she was in it for all the strings. She was in this for him.
She loved him.
That was the truth, and she’d known it the moment he had told her he was falling for her. She hadn’t been able to tell him. Leftover fear from their back-and-forth past had closed her mouth, and she’d pushed away his affections. Now that she’d had the rest of the day to reflect on it, she’d realized her fear stemmed from this truth.
She felt the same way. She was falling for him, too.
Or more accurately, she’d already fallen for him long before last night, before he’d taken care of her after she’d lost her job, before he’d settled her mother’s debt and been so accepting of her darkest secrets, before…everything.
It had happened the first night they’d been together. There had been a shift in her heart the moment he’d first kissed her. His lips conveyed such passion, such emotion, that she’d known then and there this was right. This was good.
They were good.
“Nora?”
She turned to find Seamus Kavanagh behind her, which was a little surprising, since all the Kavanagh men were supposed to be in the locker room prepping for the fight. She was already dressed for the evening, in a soft-pink cocktail dress that hit right above her knees and a flowing top with a deep, folded neckline that made her feel sexy. Standing in front of her boyfriend’s father? Not so sexy. “Oh, hi, Mr. Kavanagh.”
He looked around and then lowered his voice. “I need to talk to you.”
Nerves crept in, forcing her heart into a gallop. She’d seen only good things from this man, but he was huge. Like a giant, he towered over her, and his salt-and-pepper hair gave him a confidence only age and experience allowed. She’d heard about some of his history, but the unknown made her nervous. “Yeah, sure. What’s going on? Everything okay?”