Chapter 1

Tonight is the last night in Chicago.

This time tomorrow we will be halfway across the country and in two days time Dad promised palm trees, sand and all the sea air I can breathe in.

I hold my father's promise close to my heart and let it carry me deeper into an underground basement.

Blood. Sweat. Barely enough light to see three feet in front of me.

I mark off all the cons about this place. I could keep going, but it takes too much energy to care about a place I won't be long.

The biggest one though is the sight of a human-made ring and the men fighting in the center. I know what it means. I'll be bandaging my father up before our bus ride out of the city.

Goosebumps flush across my bare shoulders and arms. The smell of sweat and blood burns my nostrils.

Every step I take deeper into the basement, moves me farther into my dad's corrupt world. Until now, I've always been on the outside. He never let me see the darker part of his world as a mafia enforcer for Valerian De La Rosa. And now I understand why.

"You don't belong here in that pretty white dress, those strappy sandals and your sweet aura of goodness. Not among these wolves, baby girl."

Despite my father's earlier words, he moves us through a throng of jostling men with grabby hands and few morals.

Whispers of "hey, baby," and "virgin meat" hit my ears. I brush off the crude comments and stick to my dad's side as he weaves us closer to the center.

"Dad, forget this. We don't need it." I urge him to stop but I don't think he can hear me over the cheering and whistles.

Of all the ways I thought I would spend my twenty-first birthday, I never thought it would be at an illegal fight. Yet here I am complete with a human-formed ring and referees or whatever the hell the dude in black pulling a savage man off another is called.

I catch glimpses of the fighters beating the crap out of each other to the cheers and boos. Overhead lights throw the men in bright light while leaving the thunderous onlookers in deep shadows.

It's nearly impossible to see past the wall of suits and the sporadic skin tight dresses stretched over fake boobs.

When I finally find a break in the crowd, I wish I hadn't. Why the hell people like beating on each other is lost on me. A mountain of a man with acid green hair jutting in every direction pounds on the smaller one pinned to the floor. There's a blur of motion. More knees and fists make contact. I blink and the smaller one is off the floor and the two opponents go back to dancing around each other looking for the others' weaknesses.

I grimace. Fucking animals. Blood oozes from gashes over the men's eyes and I have no doubt a few teeth are missing for the both of them.

I dodge around a woman held down by at least a million dollars worth of diamonds and sapphire in time to see Acid Green arch back and let out a blood curdling bellow. Spittle falls from his mouth and he looks feral. Black eyes shine with the hunger for blood when he comes out of his war call and I'm not the only one seeing this. Everyone watching takes an audible gasp before going back to chanting for blood.

My jaw falls slack. My feet drag and I come to a stop unable to move.

He's not out for blood. He wants that man's soul.

I turn to my dad who is behind me ushering me deeper into the chaos of the crowd. I have a sinking feeling my ad will be the next one in the ring with that monster. "What are we doing here, dad?"

Dad pulls me into him and wraps an arm around my shoulders. He tucks me under his arm and speaks over the roaring crowd. "I told you. One more fight, baby girl. And then I'm out. We can go to California like I promised you. De La Rosa said I only had to do one more."

My head swirls with the promise of a calm life. I turn back to the fight. But is it worth the cost?

"You with me?" Dad shakes my shoulders. It is all I can do to nod, but in truth I don't understand why he has to do one more fight when he said he was already out.

Pieces of chipped gravel and dirt grind underfoot as my father leads us through the jostling crowd. Wads of cash are shoved into the air. Arms and elbows fly in every direction.

Stabs of pain shoot through my left and fire off my nerve endings when I catch an elbow to the ribs.

Umph.I wheeze an ugly sound, a huff of air getting knocked out of me more than an actual sound.

My dad's grip on my elbow is the only thing that keeps me from getting a concrete facial.

"Come on, baby girl. You gotta keep up. It's almost my turn."

I grab at my side and move quickly, dodging incoming blows. "Dad, I have a bad feeling. Let's just leave. We don't need this. Right? We have plenty of money?" I keep my attention on the ring and raise my voice to be heard.

Acid Green keeps pummeling his fists into the other guy's jaw, ribs and anything else within reach. Another man in a white tank top looking pissed enters the ring and it looks like a tag team scenario is happening.

So much for one on one.

I slow at the edge of the imaginary line. Men jostle me and I stumble forward only to be pushed back when the men in black shirts and pants throw an arm out.

"Hey! Keep out of the ring, lady." A referee—for the lack of a better description—takes in my simple dress, lack of diamonds and fists of cash. Compared to the loaded women here, I imagine I come off as a broke college kid hanging out in the wrong place. "Hey, what the fuck are you doing in here?"

"She's with me, Hank."

Dad clamps a rough hand around my elbow and drags me to his side. He keeps walking the edge of the circle until he finds a patch where we can stand without getting elbowed in the ribs.

I turn my eyes back on the fight. The second man is already out cold on the basement floor. I release a few shuddering breaths. "This isn't right. Isn't anyone going to step in and call it done?" My breathing turns heavy and ragged. What the hell is this? I wrap my fingers around his forearm. "He's going to kill him." I jerk on my father's arm. "Dad. You have to stop this."

Dad takes his leather jacket off and hands it to me like this is just another regular Friday night and not his death. "Don't worry about Animal. He's only doing what he's paid to do. Hold this."

I force myself to calm down so I don"t sound like a shrieking lunatic. "Are you even watching? That man is going to kill the other. He already flattened one guy." The smaller man hunches over, holding his ribs, looking all but completely broken.

Dad hooks a hand on my chin and makes me look at him. "It's part of the rules. Don't act surprised. How did you think I got all the money to send you abroad for your studies?"

"I thought your boss paid you well. I didn't know you did underground fighting." Guilt burns through me. "Dad, I didn"t know. Honest."

He stops short of pulling his shirt over his head and cups my face with his hands instead. "Don't look at me like I've made the worst decisions in my life or that you were ever taking anything from me. I promised your mom I would give you the best life I could. And that is what I've done. Now stop fussing."

There's a finality in his voice that has me wanting to run from this place and drag him with me. But that will not happen. No one makes my father do anything he doesn't want to do.

There's a moment of silence between us as the puzzle pieces fall into place in my mind. My voice is strangled when I force my dad to listen to me. "He'll hurt you. There is something wrong with that man. You fight this Animal—is that his name?—he will not stop until there's blood."

Dad hands over his shirt and starts wrapping his hands. I see his lips moving with an answer, but the words fall between us and die under the weight of the booming cheers.

"You want more!" Animal works the crowd like a real showman but there's nothing fake about his blood thirst.

He holds his bloodied hands out like a gladiator looking to please every single man and woman throwing money in his direction. My stomach churns. I don't know why I can't take my eyes off him. Murder lives in his eyes. Sin taints him down to the soul.

My face scrunches with disgust and my throat gets a revisit of the bean burrito I wolfed down for dinner on the way here.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Numbness settles around my thumping heart and I stop feeling the weight of possibly losing the only person I love in this world. I can't control him. I can't control anything. I wish I could. But my dad does what he wants.

"Animal is a crazy son-of-a-bitch. He's only doing what his boss wants. It's what these fights are all about. I'm doing this for us."

"You said nothing about these being death matches." My tone is flat. "You left out the part where you can die tonight and you know it." I wrap my hands around his bicep. "We can leave right now. Your boss isn't here and no one will know. We can disappear." I can be numb, but that doesn't mean I have to stop trying to make him see reason.

"They aren't death matches if you don't die. I've done enough of these. I'm not scared of Animal. He's all show. They pitted him against the smallest, inexperienced fighter. Anyone can beat Manny."

Hearing any of that makes me feel better.

"You're up next, Kincaid. Won't be long."

Behind an uncaring Hank, I see Animal finishing the fight. It's too late to save him, but I have to stop my foolish father.

Fire rises in my veins to melt the ice forming over my heart. My vision turns red and I finally feel the heat of a hundred suns burn me from the inside. Adrenaline pours into my system and for several seconds I can"t do anything but look at my dad in utter shock.

"This has to stop. What will it take to get you to not do this?"

Dad goes to walk away from me but I latch onto his hand again.

"You are so close to being free of this life. Why?"

He pushes me toward the front of the match just in time to catch a face full of hurling blood flying through the air. Bone cracks and the smaller guy crumples to his knees holding his face.

I wipe at my cheek, but I can't clean off the blood splatter fast enough.

Around us, the crowd grows quiet. The fighter in the dress slacks and no shirt falls forward and then chaos ensues. The roars and cheers grow in intensity until my eardrums vibrate and my teeth nearly rattle.

When I force my eyes off the dead man three feet in front of me, what I see next has the blood draining from my face.

"Kincaid. I didn't think you would come. You're fucking late. We had to put Manny in and look at the fucking mess Animal made. That should be you in there."

A man with a bun hanging from the back of his head, a crooked nose and a ring for every finger comes out of the crowd. The cross tattooed down his throat marks him as De La Rosa's enemy. Which makes him my dad's enemy. So why is my dad shaking his hand?

"Abel. You shouldn't be here. I told you I understood the rules, and I told you I would be here on my time. Tell your boss to chill the fuck out. I know what I gotta do."

Millions of questions bombard my brain. In truth, none of them matter. I don't need answers anymore. We just need to get out of here. There are enough eyes in this place that my dad's boss will hear of this encounter sooner rather than later. They are not exactly keeping their voices down and people are starting to pay attention. I know little about the intricate details of a mafia lifestyle, but I can apply some common sense. Bad guys keep tabs on each other. Bad guys keep tabs on the men under their employ. Both of which are standing in front of me having a little meet and greet in the middle of a very public underground fight.

Dumbass men doing dumbass shit.

"Dad, seriously? What is going on?" I make it no secret what I mean when I look at the newcomer, his tattoo and then Dad's. He has a rose on the back of his hand representing his loyalty to the De La Rosa name.

"Stay quiet. When I finish, be ready to leave. And you, I told your boss he makes the deposit and I'll do what he needs. He doesn't, I don't throw shit."

Abel puts his barrel chest in my father's face who doesn't look as intimidated as he should.

"The agreement was you throw the fight. All we need is Animal left alive. This has nothing to do with De La Rosa. You get two million dollars for your troubles."

"I throw a fight as one of De La Rosa's enforcers, it has everything to do with him. If he finds out I'm dead. So is my girl."

That has my ears burning and me looking over my shoulders.

Abel isn't backing down. "Good thing you're already out. We know you don't work for him no more. Do as we agreed and you'll get some traveling money. Win-win."

The more he talks the more onlookers turn in our direction.

This is not good. I look around to see more men with the same tattoo stretched down the length of their necks watching my dad. And then those same men turn in my direction.

I gulp air and try to step as deep into the shadows as possible, but it is too late. They've already seen me.

"I see you have your little girl here. Good. She can be collateral to make sure you do the right thing." Rough hands come around my arms and I'm hauled between two tattooed men working under Abel's command. I never understood why the bad guys brand themselves, but at least they are easy to identify if I ever make it to a police station.

"Dad. You lied to me. You didn't come here because De La Rosa needed one more fight out of you. You came here out of greed." I fight back the tears from his betrayal.

"This is for you, baby girl. It's always for you."

I'm shaking my head before he finishes. Fire and acid swirl in my stomach. "You did this for you and now you will betray the one man who will kill you and me if he ever finds out. And he will."

I can't see my father retreating through shimmering tears as he makes his way to the ring.

Punishing fingers dig into the flesh of my arms when I fight to free myself.

I'm so focused on what is going on in the center of the ring, I don't notice the massive beast shoving people out of the way until the aura of his power knocks into me. I swivel around in time for crystal blue eyes to meet mine.

Goosebumps erupt. Chills scale the length of my back as he passes in front of me.

Tall. Commanding. Wide across the shoulders. He has all the right angles in the face to make him playboy material. But the scars down the side of his left side mar the perfection of his beauty. The very presence of the man sends my two captors running for the nearest exit.

Suddenly alone, I bear the full weight of the massive man's attention alone. My knees threaten to buckle, but I force my backbone to stay solid.

I lift my chin. Our gazes linger. I forget to breathe for the few seconds the blue of his eyes hold mine. My skin tingles with electricity the closer he comes. My fingers move. I don't know why, but I have this urge to feel his skin under my touch. The pads of my fingers brush over the ink of a blood red rose blooming over the back of his hand.

Warm. Veined. Surprisingly soft.

I shiver to the soles of my feet.

His step falters but he pushes past me.

Did he recognize me? Probably not. Small glimpses here and there are not enough to mark me in a man's memory.

But he knows my father. I swallow the thick wad of fear choking me. Oh, this is not good. Not good at all.

The man's street name sweeps across the lips of the crowd.

"The Beast." There's awe and fear in their tones. I need to run. But I can't leave my father to his fate. We are locked in to whatever may come from his poor decisions because De La Rosa is here and his murderous intent has my feet moving.