Clinch

by Becca Jamesonbecca Jameson

  Abram Gromov had managed to smuggle Alena out of Russia only a year ago. The guy had amazing connections to get that job done. None of them had ever discussed it with Abram, but Leo suspected it had cost a pretty penny. He’d been helping Mikhail make monthly payments to Abram since he’d arrived in Chicago. He had no idea what the total bill was, and he was afraid to ask.

  Dmitry’s woman, Lauren, had taught Alena perfect English in the six months the two of them had lived in seclusion in the apartment they shared with Mikhail and Dmitry.

  Leo knew Alena missed Lauren. She was the only person alive Alena could call a friend. It sucked, but Lauren had been the target of Anton Yenin and the Mafia in Vegas. Unless she disappeared for good, eventually Yenin would have snatched her. The bounty on Dmitry’s head was no less than hers for stealing her out from under Yenin’s men and sequestering her away for six months.

  There was a hole in the rest of the fighters’ hearts without Dmitry, but it couldn’t be helped. The six men had all grown up in different Russian orphanages and had been brought over to the US by Yenin when they turned eighteen. They’d learned everything they knew about MMA under Yenin’s tutelage.

  In a sense, they owed him their lives. But the man was still Bratva—Russian Mafia—and he had something enormous up his sleeve that no one could put their finger on. Sure, Yenin undoubtedly owned and operated several drug labs throughout the western half of the US, but the biggest project he had was a giant lab on the outskirts of Vegas. However, Leo didn’t buy the idea that Yenin was being closely watched by several government agencies over something as trivial as meth.

  No way.

  Yenin was up to something. None of the six fighters had gleaned what he was doing, but they did try to stay at least in the periphery of Yenin’s good side in case some information might filter their way.

  It had been hard pretending Leo knew nothing about the FBI following Yenin’s every move, but he had no other option, and besides, he knew all of his friends were equally as leery about Yenin. None of them would be sad to see the Mafia leader go down.

  The announcer’s voice rose as the fight in the ring came to a conclusion and one man’s hand was lifted into the air.

  “Mikhail up next?” Leo asked Ivan.

  “Yep. That fight was fast. You almost arrived late.”

  There was a lull in the action as the ring cleared out and someone stepped inside to mop the sweat and blood off the floor.

  “Gross.” Katie twisted her head around and cringed. “Nasty sport. Why on earth do you do this?”

  Leo smiled with pride. “Love the rush. Love the money.”

  Ivan chuckled. “It grows on you. Give it time.”

  “I don’t think I’m willing to invest enough time in here to let it get that far.” Katie shuddered.

  Alena giggled. “You will. You’ll see. I love it. I don’t get to come often because these brutes are so damn overprotective,” she elbowed Ivan in the ribs, “but it’s exciting. Especially when you know the fighter personally.”

  Leo glanced down at Alena’s clothes and found that Ivan hadn’t fared much better than Leo. The woman had on jeans at least, but they were painted on, and her heels made her legs far too sexy in the skin-tight denim. Her shirt was hardly better than Katie’s, a maroon blouse that didn’t hide her breasts enough in Leo’s opinion.

  Ivan must have agreed, because he kept angling Alena in a way that kept most people from seeing her chest so blatantly.

  The boom of the announcer drew Leo’s attention to the ring. The four of them stood several yards from the fence. Close enough for the women to see without too much difficulty, but far enough to keep bodily fluids from raining down on them.

  “In the right corner, new to the Chicago area, we have Sly ‘Kingman’ Growder…”

  Katie lifted onto her toes to get a better view.

  Leo set his lips near her ear to speak over the announcer. “I’ll try to give you a play by play, but there aren’t many rules in the underground. They’re lucky today. The ring brought in for the fight at least has a floor that’s padded. Sometimes they fight right on the dirt or uneven stones.”

  She shuddered. “Lord.”

  “…And in the left corner we have Mikhail ‘The Warrior’ Dudko.”

  “So they can do anything they want? Kick anywhere? Hit anywhere?”

  “Basically. A few things are frowned upon, but not strictly adhered to. If a guy wants to live to make it to his car, for example, it would be best not to gouge his opponent’s eyes or squeeze his scrotum. The ref won’t stop the fight over it, but his entourage will raise hell in the parking lot.”

  She nodded.

  It was hard to look away from the soft curls lying over her shoulder to watch the beginning of the match. Leo had to force his gaze from Katie to Mikhail.

  Mikhail hopped on one side of the ring with his fists in front of him. His spiked blond hair stood on end, his ice-blue eyes boring into his opponent.

  The crowd screamed as the fight began and the ref stepped out of the way.

  Sly “Kingman” was indeed new to the circuit. Leo had heard of him, but he’d never seen him in action. The man was built, but not as large as Mikhail. At six five, Mikhail was the tallest fighter Leo knew. Leo himself was damn tall, but Mikhail had him beat by an inch.

  Katie stepped back, plastering herself against Leo, who gripped her tighter around the waist. Her breasts rested on his forearm, distracting him every time she moved.

  She spoke with Alena, who pointed at different things happening in the ring, but it was impossible to hear what the two were saying over the roar of the crowd.

  The betting had stopped. All that was left was the fight to the finish.

  Leo’s heart beat harder at the thrill of the fight. Even when he wasn’t the one in the ring, he experienced some of the same sensations as whichever of his friends was throwing the punches.

  Mikhail spun around to land a high leg kick to the Kingman’s upper thigh, knocking the man back a few feet.

  Kingman recovered quickly, however, and returned with a flurry of right hooks. He might have aimed at Mikhail’s face, but he wasn’t tall enough to do much damage.

  Every few seconds, Katie flinched.

  Ivan nudged Leo subtly with his elbow, making Leo follow his friend’s gaze to the other side of the ring. A man stood stock still across from them. His attention wasn’t on the fight, however. His feet were planted and his arms crossed. And his gaze was on Leo and Ivan.

  “Think he’s one of Yenin’s cronies?”

  “Could be,” Ivan shouted back. “No telling. But I don’t like it. I say we get the women out of here the second this fight ends. I’m not risking staying for the next match.”

  Leo nodded agreement and resumed watching Mikhail, keeping one eye on the stranger across from them and his hands on Katie. He hoped to God bringing her to the fight wasn’t a mistake.

  Ivan didn’t know the half of it. All he had to go on was knowing Anton Yenin had pursued Lauren and Dmitry out of revenge. Once the two of them fled the country, the rest of the guys had breathed a bit easier, gradually lightening up.

  Yenin had never outwardly acknowledged his pursuit of Lauren and Dmitry. Hell, he’d never even verbalized that he realized she was hiding in Chicago under Dmitry’s care instead of dead as Boris and Erik had most likely insinuated to their boss.

  Leo had known for a while that Boris and Erik were still paying attention to Yenin’s boys, but who was this clown with his arms crossed? He wasn’t even being subtle. After speaking with his contact on Wednesday, Leo had paid closer attention to his surroundings and been more diligent, but he hadn’t expected taking Katie out to a crowded public location would put her in serious danger.

  Hell, if as many people as his contact insinuated had eyes on Leo, then it was already common knowledge that Leo spent a lot of time with Katie. No one had bothered her in all these months.

  Plus, he’d already invited her out for tonig
ht. In fact, he’d made a big deal out of insisting. Reneging on that would have made her extremely suspicious.

  He might have underestimated the Bratva.

  Could the guy be FBI? A glance in his direction again told Leo that was unlikely. There was every chance the FBI had men in the room, but not blatantly staring anyone down. They liked to blend.

  What the fuck was he supposed to do now? Sequester Katie in her apartment and move in with her to keep her safe? That was not going to go over well. She’d never agree to it, and he had no interest in telling her there was any sort of danger surrounding her.

  He was a fool, and he needed to figure out a way to get out of this mess.

  Hell, if anyone wanted to go after Leo, they could have easily followed him for the last several months and ascertained he spent a great deal of time at Katie’s clinic.

  He wanted to slam his head against the wall for being so lax and taking such risks lately.

  Yenin hadn’t made contact with Leo or Mikhail since Dmitry left the country. It seemed he’d almost lost interest in trying to bring his prized fighters back into the fold.

  His father, Grigory Yenin, had come from New York to handle matters in Vegas while Anton had been in jail, but with his release, Grigory went back to his perch in the northeast, and things had settled down in Vegas. At least that’s what Leo assumed. He always kept one eye open. With Sergei and Nikolav still in Vegas fighting for Yenin, Yenin wouldn’t have much reason to sniff out anything suspicious about the other four. They were close. Like brothers. No way would one of them be an informant while two of them were still in Yenin’s care. But if that fact kept Yenin in the dark, all the better.

  Dmitry and Mikhail had come first as soon as Yenin was locked up a year ago. They’d needed the money they would make fighting under Abram Gromov, and they’d needed the refuge—a place to sequester Alena and Lauren.

  It was only a matter of time before Nikolav and Sergei joined the four of them. The money in Chicago was better, mainly because Abram worked hard to book more fights for them. Yenin hadn’t been as involved since his release, seeming to spend more of his time in his Vegas lab than giving instructions in the ring or arranging fights.

  A hand landed on Leo’s left shoulder, making him jerk his gaze to the side, instantly on alert.

  He smiled. “Dammit, Gromov. You nearly scared me to death,” he shouted at his manager.

  Abram tipped his head toward Katie and raised a brow.

  Leo held her closer. It was none of Abram’s business that Leo was out with Katie. Abram was sharp. There was no way he didn’t remember exactly who Katie was from meeting her months ago when Dmitry was injured in his last fight.

  Katie was on her tiptoes watching the match and talking to Alena. She didn’t turn around to acknowledge Abram.

  Abram frowned. “You on top of your game, Gulin?”

  “Always,” he replied, knowing Abram meant far more than his ability to fight. Abram was referring to Leo having a woman.

  “Good.” He turned his attention to Ivan. “Got you on the schedule in three weeks.”

  Ivan nodded and then turned his attention to the fight, or perhaps toward the man across from them.

  Leo leaned closer to Abram. “We have a fan.”

  “He’s not your only fan in the room, either.” His voice was low enough that no one except Leo heard the remark. Thank God. No sense scaring the hell out of the women.

  Abram was astute. The man could case a room in seconds. He was well aware Yenin had people following his fighters. Abram was Russian too. He had eyes and ears everywhere. He didn’t get where he was in the underground circles as a respected MMA manager without staying on top of everyone’s business, including Yenin’s.

  “A little too obvious though, don’t you think? I spotted him in an instant,” Leo muttered under his breath.

  “Don’t think he gives a fuck. He’s probably a warning.”

  Leo nodded, wrapping his arm tighter around Katie. Yep, bringing her to this fight had been a bad idea. Could be the worst one he’d ever had.

  “Watch your backs,” Abram advised before walking away.

  Leo got the message loud and clear.

  He’d had plenty of warnings lately.

  There was a shift in the Chicago air. The past five months he’d spent with his guard down were coming to an end. He could feel it in the intense stare shooting daggers his direction through the fenced ring. Maybe the guy was FBI. That was always a possibility. For nearly every man Yenin had stalking the fighters, the FBI probably had two. Perhaps the guy seemingly too interested in Leo, Ivan, Alena, and Katie was really taking a stand as a warning to Yenin’s men.

  Leo held his breath, wondering how many people in the room were watching him, and therefore Katie. It was complicated. So many involved. Some pretending to watch them. Some doing so outright. Some there for the sole purpose of alerting others. He couldn’t begin to imagine how many eyes were on them. But it wasn’t good.

  Fuck.

  »»•««

  Anton Yenin leaned back and to the side in his chair to extract the phone from his pocket. He glanced at the caller ID before taking the call. “This better be good, Millings.”

  “It is. Dayton and I are at the fight tonight. Mikhail Dudko was just in the ring.”

  “Yeah. Is this supposed to shock me? I know you didn’t call to tell me that.”

  “No. Leo and Ivan were here too. And not alone.”

  “Who were they with?”

  “Leo was with that doctor. The one who treated Dmitry about six months ago before he took off. I looked into her. Name’s Kathryn Schwan.”

  Anton knew exactly who Dr. Kathryn Schwan was. He’d been keeping an eye on her for months, ever since she became a pet project of Leo’s. Surely the man was fucking her. Not that Anton cared who fucked whom, but he did like to know who Leo was keeping company with.

  Millings continued, “And Ivan was with a small pale blonde. Cute. Blue eyes. Ring a bell?”

  “Mikhail’s sister?” Anton sat up straighter. He’d assumed for months that Alena was in the country. There was no record of her in Russia. He’d tapped every resource he had over there trying to locate her.

  “That’s my assumption. She looks a lot like the girl in the picture you showed me. Older of course. But I’d bet money it’s her.”

  Anton leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Excellent. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll arrange for someone to leave a subtle message for our friends. Stir the pot. Keep those assholes on their toes.”

  “Whatever. I’d rather you didn’t elaborate. Gotta go.” The call ended before Anton could utter another word. Fine. Didn’t matter. He trusted Millings and Dayton. He certainly paid those two enough to warrant their loyalty.

  Alena Dudko. Slippery little thing. How long had she been in the US? How did she get a green card?

  If he could get his hands on that bitch…

  Chapter Seven

  Katie was surprised to find Leo ushering her away from the ring the moment Mikhail’s hand was lifted in victory. It seemed more people in the speakeasy had bet on Mikhail than the other guy, judging by the expressions on most of their faces.

  She didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to Alena before Leo ushered her back the way they came and out the side door.

  She hated to admit she was a little disappointed. For all her pissing and moaning about MMA fighters and how disgusted she was, the experience had been exhilarating this time. Could have been because she wasn’t fuming over being dragged there with no explanation by Marshall. Or it could have been because she actually knew the fighter this time.

  Or, if she was honest with herself, it might have been the company.

  In any case, she didn’t argue with Leo. If he wanted to leave, fine. Her ears were ringing already from the screaming crowd.

  Her clinic didn’t open until ten on Saturdays, but after a long week, she was exhausted and could use the extra sleep. Staying out ha
lf the night wasn’t something she usually did.

  Leo tucked her into the passenger side of his sports car and rounded the hood at a jog. Maybe she was paranoid, but it seemed he was paying extra attention to their surroundings.

  He didn’t say a word as they drove back to her clinic, and he led her inside, locked the door behind them, and reset the alarm, still mute. “The locks and alarm you have on this door are outdated,” he grumbled. “They aren’t going to keep anyone out.”

  She glanced back as they ascended the stairs. “The street is well lit, and no one has ever tried to break in.”

  He made his way to the window and tipped one of the slats of the blinds down to peer outside.

  “Do you think someone followed us or something?” She eased up beside him and set a hand on his back, smoothing it down toward his jeans until she tucked the tips of her fingers into the edge of denim to steady her arm and peek outside next to him.

  “Nah. I’m just paranoid.” He spun around, dislodging her hand, and pasting a smile on that didn’t reach far enough. “What did you think of the fight?”

  “It was loud.” She tipped her head back to meet his gaze, setting her chin on his chest and clutching his T-shirt in her hands at his waist. She’d never stood this close to him or been this bold, but after spending the entire fight with his arm grazing her boobs, she wanted more.

  No way in hell Leo would hold on to her like that if he thought they were just friends.

  He smirked. “Loud? That’s all you have to say?”

  “And hot.”

  “Uh-huh.” He set his hands on her back and spread his fingers to rub them up and down.

  “Smelly?”

  The green of his eyes deepened to a darker shade as she stepped between his legs and pressed her body against his. The bulge at her belly was unmistakable.

  Several seconds passed. She stared at him, willing him to make the next move. How much more blatant could she be without making a fool out of herself?

  Leo eased his hand up her back and around her shoulders, sending a shiver down her spine. “You’re playing with fire, Katie.” His voice was deeper than usual. Sexy.