Three months had passed since Seth and I had agreed to work together to find John’s killer, and I’d returned home to my father. I was glad nothing else had happened in the meantime, so Seth had had time to recover. Rubio’s war with another gang had prolonged, so he hadn’t had any time for my club, but I was sure he’d get back to it eventually. Rubio wasn’t the type who gave up easily.
“Thank God my father has been working on a new business deal. It’s good when he’s busy,” I said as Seth and I were making our way down the hallway toward the dining room where my father was waiting for me.
“Do you usually have fancy dinners with him in your own house?” Seth whispered as he adjusted his tie. Maybe he wished I hadn’t insisted on bringing him along with me since the house was well guarded anyway, but I felt safer with him by my side.
The black suit he had on so wasn’t his style—even though he was still looking as handsome as ever—and he was constantly fiddling with something. I was wearing a long golden dress with a lot of sequins that shined in the light.
“Not really. Only when we have guests. I guess it’s his new business partner. He wants to show me off.” I waved my hand. “I don’t know.” Even though my father wanted everything to be perfect, I still kept my claw ring on that he hated so much. It was a gold one this time, though, and it went perfectly with my dress. “All I know is that it’s not just us. He wouldn’t bother telling me to dress nicely for that.”
Even though Chiara and I had gone through the information Seth had gathered about John’s death, we didn’t really discover anything new. The photos weren’t showing much except for additional tire marks on the road, which never made it into the police records. John’s car had been totaled, even though Seth was convinced someone had smashed the car later to cover up what had really happened.
But since we could no longer find anything on the crime scene or get to the car, and we didn’t know any experts who could determine what had happened, there was nothing else to be done. Gilberto had tried to hack into the cameras to get the footage of the accident, but that area wasn’t covered, so there wasn’t anything that could help us identify the other car that must’ve been there and that had pushed John’s off the road.
We’d been trying to come up with new ideas while Gilberto had been trying to hack into some systems to find out exactly which cops had been at the scene and who they worked for. Just because they probably worked for Rubio didn’t mean someone else hadn’t paid Rubio for help, and if the cops were bribable, then anyone could’ve done it.
“Just make sure you look nice and menacing when you stand there at the door.” I grinned at him.
Seth’s eyebrows shot up.
“What?” We were near the door already, so Seth remained quiet and fell in step behind me. I strode through the door with a huge fake smile plastered on my face. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the man sitting at the table next to my father. Rubio. What the fuck was he doing here? I could feel Seth tense behind me, but I kept walking and smiling, hoping no one had noticed my little moment of shock.
“Ah, there’s my lovely daughter. Come here, my dear,” my father said, a broad smile on his face as he extended his hand to me. “Meet my new partner. Orlando Yáñez. Orlando, this is my precious Victoria.”
I took my father’s hand and planted a quick kiss on his cheek, as he expected, then turned my gaze toward Rubio, who was grinning at me. I smiled back at him, and I was sure he could tell it was forced.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Yáñez,” I said, taking a seat across from Rubio.
“Likewise,” he said. “You have a beautiful daughter, Mr. Hampton.”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you, you can call me Alfred?” my father said as he waved for the waiter he’d hired especially for this occasion to approach and pour us some wine.
I glanced at Seth, whose whole body was rigid. What the hell was Rubio doing here and how the hell hadn’t my father recognized a gang member? Of course, Rubio was mostly known on the streets and not in public, but what about all the background checks? How hard could it be to figure out a fake identity? First Seth, now Rubio.
But then again, my father didn’t do those checks on his own. Rubio had probably managed to bribe or threaten people working for my father. That had to be it. I’d have to ask Seth how he’d done it, but I wasn’t sure if he’d be willing to tell me.
Rubio pointed at my claw ring. “Beautiful. I saw one just like that. A girl who’s running a fight club was wearing it.”
“Thank you,” I said, gritting my teeth. My father wrinkled his nose, but since Rubio had expressed his approval, he didn’t object. Shit. Rubio was here to tell my father the truth about me, wasn’t he? But then he’d have to reveal who he was too, and whatever deal he’d made with my father was probably of importance to his family.
“What do you think about fight clubs?” Rubio asked my father. “If your daughter was running one like that girl I saw...”
My father curled his lip. “My daughter would never do such an awful thing. A fight club?” He let out a laugh. “You must be joking.”
“Hmm,” Rubio simply said, and I shot him a glare. What game was he playing now? Suddenly he started to rise to his feet. “Where is the restroom here?”
“I can show you.” I immediately got up, and I didn’t think my father’s frown of disapproval could get any deeper.
“Nonsense,” my father said. “Our staff will...”
“I’d prefer the company of your lovely daughter, if you don’t mind,” Rubio said so sweetly I wanted to punch him in the face right here, right now. Maybe break the wine bottle over his head too.
“I don’t mind,” I said before my father could even open his mouth. “Come, Mr. Yáñez.” I started toward the door, and nodded at Seth to come with us too. Once we were all in the hallway and out of my father’s sight, I spun around and met Rubio’s cold light blue eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hissed and raised my hand to stop Seth from approaching. Rubio wasn’t attacking me just yet and since he hadn’t already told my father everything, that meant he had a plan. I just didn’t know what kind of a plan it was.
“Having a nice dinner with your father,” he said, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“That’s not what I mean and you know it. Why are you really here?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Victoria?” He made a face as my name crossed his lips. “Wow, who would’ve thought? Vix suits you so much better.”
“Shut your mouth,” I growled, looking over his shoulder to make sure my father hadn’t gotten the idea to come after us.
“You’re so brave in here. And with your bodyguard at your side.” Rubio took a look at Seth, who bared his teeth. “But when your friend was in trouble, you were hiding here, weren’t you?” He lifted his hand and his fingers grazed my cheek, so I stepped back. “It’s been really difficult to get in contact with you. Luckily, I have a lot of friends.”
That was mostly because I’d been avoiding being seen at the club. I’d known Rubio’s men would be looking for me, so I didn’t want any innocents to get hurt if Rubio finally decided to kill me, but I supposed my death would make his family’s deal with my father a tad bit complicated. I should’ve known that if someone really wanted to figure out who I was, they’d achieve it eventually. “Well, now I’m here and you’re here, so tell me... What the fuck do you want?”
“I want to make a deal with you,” he said.
“A deal? Like the one you made with my father?”
He tilted his head. “Well, no, not really. The deal with your father is something entirely different. What I came to offer you is a special kind of a deal. One that I’m going to offer only once and you have only tonight to decide what you’re going to do.”
“So it’s an ultimatum?” I snorted. “And how about I just go back to my father and tell him exactly who you are, huh? I bet he doesn’t know you’re the leader of the Wolves. He hates anyone related to the drug business.” Rubio must’ve been just checking to make sure if my father knew about the club, and he didn’t want to make it suspicious. If my father’s face hadn’t been so full of genuine disgust, I could’ve said he just didn’t trust Rubio enough to tell him about me.
“You won’t. Especially not after you hear my offer. It’s something you’ll like, I assure you.” He leaned forward, his face way too close to mine, but I did my best not to move.
“Just spit it out already.” I didn’t think any of his deals would be anything good for me, and Seth was ready to jump him, but if we took Rubio out right now when everyone knew he was here... Yeah, we couldn’t really do that, and I couldn’t let Rubio tell my father the truth, so the only option was to listen to whatever he had to say.
“I won’t reveal your secret, you won’t reveal mine, your father and you will get to live, and our little dispute over the club will be resolved in two fights... or three, if there’s a tie,” he said, his eyes glinting. “And before you say anything, I have men watching this house. One word from me, and everyone in this house dies. Your guards won’t save you because they mostly work for me now.”
I stared straight into his eyes, but I couldn’t tell if he was bluffing. He probably was, because I doubted he’d gained control over everyone here. If he had, he could’ve just killed my father and me, burn the house down, and call it an accident, then make a deal with some of my father’s partners, but I doubted even he had that much reach.
“I’m listening,” I said.
“Good.” He clasped his hands. “Then hear my plan. There will be two fights. Your best fighter against mine. One fight at your club, one at mine. If I win, I get the club. If you win, I leave you alone and you never have to deal with me and mine ever again. The winner also gets all the cash earned during those two nights, and the fights will be open for everyone. What do you say? Fair enough? Why not entertain the public?”
And get more people interested in both clubs. Judging by the grin on Rubio’s face, he was certain he would win, get my club, and gain a new audience. If everyone was there to witness the fights and he won, no one would be able to complain if he took over the club and the whole area. Fucking asshole.
“Come on, Vixie,” he teased. “You have to agree this is the best solution. Unless you prefer I destroy everything you ever cared about, like this beautiful house.” He waved his hand around.
“Okay,” I finally said, because there was no other answer. Besides, if I ended up being the winner... then Rubio would have to leave me alone. Maybe. But we’d think about that later. Now the only thing that mattered was getting him out of this house. “But if you try to influence the fight in any way, like taking my best fighter or getting him in trouble so he couldn’t fight, the deal’s off and you’ll be the one breaking it. No cheating, which means no weapons of any kind during the fight. No fighting to the death. And I want this deal in writing. Understood?”
The smile faded from Rubio’s face because he’d probably wanted everything to be exactly like he’d planned, but he simply inclined his head. “It’s a deal. Now, shall we return to your father so he doesn’t start to worry?” He offered me his hand.
“Yeah, we should do that.” I passed next to his outstretched hand and strode down the hallway. Rubio let out a little laugh, as if he found something really amusing, but then I heard his footsteps right behind me. Hopefully, this deal wouldn’t turn out the way he wanted it to.