The party Rubio had invited Seth and me to was actually held at his house, which turned out to be a true mansion with multiple rooms and a huge garden with a pool. There were so many people in suits and fancy dresses who were drinking and having fun that Seth and I were barely able to make our way through the crowd and get inside a dark room that was flashing with colorful neon lights. A guy bumped into me, and I got out of his way just in time to avoid having whatever was in his cup spill all over me.
“Ah, there you are.” Rubio came toward us with his arms spread wide. “Look at this, Vix. My home. Isn’t it amazing?” He leaned his head closer to me, yelling into my ear. “It’s such a shame you’re keeping your club secret from your father. Imagine how big of a party you could’ve thrown at your house.” His breath smelled heavily of alcohol.
“I don’t like to throw parties,” I said, stepping closer to Seth, who was glaring at Rubio.
“Well, enjoy yourself, babe. This is going to be the most fun night you’ve ever experienced. And don’t worry. No one will take any photos of you here.” Rubio flashed me a smile and strolled off, followed by two men dressed in black who had to be his guards.
“Maybe we could slip outside and go hom...” I started to say, and realized Seth was no longer next to me. Where the hell had he gone? I turned around in circles, trying to spot him in the crowd. Shit. He wasn’t anywhere in sight. Just when I spun around again, he appeared right in front of me.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I hissed.
He took my hand and led me aside, as far as possible from everyone else. “This is Rubio’s home. We should take a look around.”
“Are you insane? His guards are everywhere.” I could see them mingling with the crowd, watching everyone all the time. They stuck out because they weren’t drunk, they wore all black, and they gawked too much. “Someone will see us and report to Rubio. This place’s crawling with his people.”
“I know, but we can avoid them. They have a lot of work here. And I got a little something that we can use.” He lifted something white in between us, and I realized it was a key card.
“Where did you get that?” I stared at him wide-eyed.
“Snatched it off a guard.” The corners of his lips quirked up. “Rubio’s office should be upstairs. This key card can probably help us get inside.”
“How are you so sure? Do you really think he’d invite so many people over, including his enemies, and let anyone snoop around so easily? Do you think the guards won’t notice you snatched their card? Maybe they planned for you to do it and are just waiting for us to make a mistake. And why would just any guard have a key to Rubio’s office?” I wanted to know the truth, but I didn’t think it was worth the risk, especially since it was unlikely Rubio held any records of John’s death here. Why would he do that?
“Just trust me,” Seth said. “I know people like him. This house... It was constructed by the same people as...” He licked his lips. “Doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is that if we can get upstairs, we can find Rubio’s secret office. Just think about it. This is his house and the safest place for him. His hideouts and stash houses are always a target, but no one thinks he’d actually hide anything in here. And if they don’t know where to look, they’ll never find it.”
“You’ve been studying this place ever since we got the invitation, haven’t you? You know all about it.” While I’d been busy with the club, Seth had been mostly on his own, training for the next fight, but I supposed he’d been doing other things too, like figuring out who’d designed and constructed this house. “But if you know about the secret room, why do you think others wouldn’t?”
“There’s only one more house like this one, and I was in it once. This has to be similar. I know it’s hard for you to believe this, but I don’t have time to explain now. But even if we don’t find anything, so what? At least we tried. It would be easier for me to do this if you came with me, but if you don’t want to, you can stay here.”
I glanced at the stairway across the room. No one was openly guarding it, but the guards were passing by all the time. A couple was kissing on the stairs, and then they headed up. No one made a move to stop them. “Rubio allows people to go there?” I frowned.
“Yeah. Those who want to fuck...”
“Right.” Well, Rubio already knew there was something going on between Seth and me, and since others were going upstairs too, then so could we. How could Rubio blame me for wanting to do exactly what he’d suggested I should do? Having fun wasn’t a crime. “Okay, let’s do this. But we need to very careful.”
He nodded, then grabbed my arm and twirled me around. A gasp escaped my throat as he pressed himself against my back, his hands roaming up and down my stomach, his hips moving in rhythm with the music. I turned around in his embrace, wrapping my arms around his neck, a slow smile building on my lips.
We kept on dancing, but we were also slowly making our way toward the stairs. When we were near enough, I placed my hand on the nape of Seth’s neck and tipped his head toward me, brushing my lips against his. My other hand traveled down his chest and lingered at his belt. He let out a soft moan as his lips collided with mine again. Heat surged through my veins, and at this point, I wasn’t really sure if we were only pretending.
“God, Vix,” Seth whispered into my ear. “Move your hand up, please. Or I...”
I let go of his nape and pressed my finger over his lips, a wicked smile on my face. “Are you sure about that?” Lowering my hand, I cupped him through his pants, making him hiss.
“Vix.” He gave me a pleading look, but his eyes were burning with desire.
“Come on now. It has to be realistic.” I stroked his hard cock and gave him another fiery kiss. In the corner of my eye, I could see a guard watching us carefully, but then he focused on someone else and started walking away. “Now.” I clutched Seth’s shirt with both hands, dragging him with me toward the stairs as we kept kissing.
Someone passed us by as we climbed up, but I didn’t get a chance to see who it was. Once we were in the hallway, I broke away from Seth, gasping for breath, my lips still tingling from the force of our kisses. The hallway was really long, with multiple closed doors on each side. I glanced up at the walls, but I didn’t see any cameras.
“He doesn’t want anyone to know what’s going on here,” Seth whispered as if he could read my thoughts. I nodded as we headed down the hallway. Rich green carpet covered the floor, and it went perfectly with the light green walls. Almost every inch of the walls was covered with paintings or some kind of an ornament. There were even trophies in a special cabinet. Moans could be heard as we passed next to one of the doors.
“Where are the guards? Shouldn’t they be here too?”
“But then everyone would know Rubio is hiding something important here, don’t you think?”
“I guess. But where’s your special room?” I asked, keeping my voice low. All the doors looked identical, and I had no idea why Seth thought Rubio’s office was in here somewhere. It had to be in a completely different part of the house—with restricted access—and these were just guest rooms that people could use for sex.
“Patience.” He took a deep breath, his gaze focused on the walls. As we rounded the corner, we found ourselves right in front of a huge glass door. Seth pulled out the key card and swiped it through the slot. The green light flashed and the door opened, letting us into another hallway that looked the same as the one we’d just been in.
“Are you having a hard time concentrating?” I stifled a laugh as I glanced at Seth, who awkwardly stepped forward.
“Yeah, very hard,” he said through his teeth, but his eyes were sparkling with amusement.
“Okay. I’ll stop teasing. Just tell me what we’re looking for.” I needed a distraction too.
“An indentation in the wall.”
“Um, that’s going to be a little... problematic to spot.” The green wallpaper had vertical lines all over it, and when I looked closely, there seemed to be a lot of indentations.
“I can find it. Just make sure I don’t bump into something.” He closed his eyes as he placed his hand on the wall.
“Watch out for the painting,” I said as he traced his fingers across the wall as he inched forward. He slowed down, carefully going over the painting, then continued on.
“Here.” He came to a stop and opened his eyes. I had no idea what he’d felt, because everything looked just the same. A portrait of some ancient warrior was hanging just above Seth’s hand, and after he made sure no one was coming our way, he grabbed the painting and lifted it, revealing a dark spot on the wall. When he pressed his hand against the spot, something like a low hiss sounded from somewhere behind the wall. And then one part of the wall moved aside, revealing a small, dark passage. None of the paintings had fallen off when the wall had moved.
“We have to hurry,” Seth said as he squeezed through the passage. I followed him into the darkness, and Seth must’ve pressed something else, because the wall closed again behind us and the lights came on, nearly blinding me.
When I could see again, I realized we were in a small office. A sturdy brown desk was in the middle of the room, a black leather chair behind it. There was a computer too, and a bunch of papers all over the desk. The rest of the office was filled with shelves and cabinets with a lot of drawers. One of the drawers was a bit open, a folder peeking out of it.
“Wow. You were right about this, but why isn’t it even better protected?” I said, but Seth’s chest was heaving, his face paler than usual. He seemed to recover a moment later.
“It’s because of the way it was built and so that it can’t be easily detected from the outside. I doubt you’ll find anything truly valuable or important to Rubio in here, but that’s not what we’re after. We need to look around and be quick,” he said. “Someone might notice the card’s missing, along with us.” He ran a hand through his hair and started toward the drawer.
“Right.” I ran for the desk, looking at the papers that were on it. “We should leave everything as it was if we can. We can’t take anything with us or Rubio will realize someone was in here.” The papers were just some nonsense about his drug business. It was useless to us since Rubio had the cops and judges in his pocket, and even if one of his shipments got busted, it would mean nothing to him.
Seth was going through the files and folders and opening one cabinet drawer after another, while I checked the drawers of the desk. One was locked, so there was no way for me to open it, and I hoped what we were looking for wasn’t in there.
“I’ve got something,” Seth said, holding up a piece of paper.
“What is it?” I went to him, taking the paper. A frown line creased my brow. “That can’t be right.” It said John had been in prison for murder and robbery.
“I don’t know. He never mentioned anything. I suppose he could’ve been in prison when he was younger.”
I stared at the paper, unable to imagine John ever hurting anyone, let alone killing. “Maybe it was an accident. Or someone attacked him and he didn’t have a choice.” Or maybe I was trying to come up with excuses because what I was seeing didn’t fit with the image of the man I’d known, or thought I’d known.
“People make mistakes. And change.” Seth was still rummaging through the files and folders.
I flipped over the paper I was holding and gasped. Someone had scribbled another accusation that had been deemed false. “Human trafficking?” Maybe someone had set him up, but that was a bit naive to think. The truth was, John might have been a good man, but he’d still never liked to talk about himself and he’d been running an underground fight club.
“Give me that.” Seth snatched the paper from me, his face serious, and handed me a folder full of papers. “Go through these. See if there’s anything useful. Rubio was obviously watching John and investigating him.”
“Yeah.” As I flipped through the papers, I wondered if there was a file on me somewhere in here. Who knew how long Rubio had been spying on all of us? But he’d still failed to get his hands on John’s will. Maybe he didn’t know everything.
A police report caught my eye, and I took a closer look. As I read through it, my heart skipped a beat. “Seth.”
He immediately turned toward me, leaning over my shoulder.
“It’s a police report about John’s car accident. I’ve seen all the reports, and this one wasn’t there. Look. It says there was another car.”
“And Chad Rodgers is the owner.”
“Do you know who that is?” Unless the car had been stolen, the owner was our guy.
“No.” Seth frowned.
“We need to get out of here. Maybe they’re coming to check. Put that back.”
“But there has to be more...”
I gripped Seth’s arm. “We now have more info than ever before. We have to go! Now! If they catch us in here...”
He pressed his lips into a tight line, but he collected the files and folders and stuffed them back in the drawer. I adjusted the papers on the desk, and when we were sure everything looked exactly as it had been, we headed for the exit. Seth pressed his elbow against some kind of a button and the wall shifted again.
I held my breath as he stepped in front of me, and I hoped there wouldn’t be anyone waiting for us in the hallway. If anyone spotted us or realized we weren’t coming out of a guest room... Seth’s shoulders relaxed, and I knew the hallway was empty. The wall slid back into its place with ease, and I breathed out a sigh of relief when we passed through the glass door. We had a name. At least it was something.
“Let’s go.” Seth extended his hand to me, and I took it. When we were back downstairs, the guards looked at us, but then continued on their way.
I leaned close to Seth so I could whisper into his ear. “Wipe off that card and drop it somewhere when no one can see you.” I pulled away from him, breaking into a laugh, and moved in front of him so no one could see what he was doing. He gave me a little nod and took me by the arm, and we stalked through the crowd.
“This party sucks. Let’s get out of here,” Seth said. He must’ve dropped the card somewhere.
“Couldn’t agree more.” I offered him a smile and we headed for the door. Rubio was nowhere in sight and no one tried to stop us, which was good.
***
When we were far enough from Rubio’s territory, in a quiet residential area, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Gilberto’s number. As it rang, I realized it was probably too late to call.
“Vix?” Gilberto said.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”
“No. Not at all,” he bit out.
“I can call another time if you...”
“God, no. Just say what you want from me this time.”
I cringed. Yeah, I probably owed Gilberto a nice dinner at least. “I have a name. Need you to find everything you can about this person.”
“Mm hmm. What’s the name?”
“Chad Rodgers.”
“Give me a moment.”
“Okay. Thank you so much. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
“What are friends for if not for this,” he muttered. “We’re friends, right?”
“Yeah.” I waited for a few minutes, tapping my foot against the ground and hoping Gilberto couldn’t hear it.
“Got it,” he suddenly said. “I’m sending you the basic info. If you need me to dig deeper, just let me know. Why are you looking for this guy?”
“He might be working for Rubio.”
Gilberto swore.
“Thanks again. I’ll text you if...”
“Yeah, yeah.” He hung up, and I immediately went to check the info he’d sent me. My phone nearly dropped from my hand when I saw the image of Chad Rodgers. “Smasher.” I looked up at Seth, whose brow was drawn in confusion. “The guy you fought... The car’s his.”
“What?” His jaw went slack.
“Smasher’s name is Chad Rodgers.” I looked down at my phone again to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, but no, it was really him. “But why would Rubio send Smasher to kill John? I don’t understand. Isn’t Smasher his fighter?”
“He’s probably also a member of his gang. Killing John might’ve been part of his initiation.” Seth ground his teeth together. “That son of a bitch’s going to pay for what he’s done.”
“Maybe it was just his car.” Rubio could’ve taken it from Smasher and let someone else drive.
“Gilberto can verify that. Ask him to find any footage that shows who was driving the car the day John died.”
“Seth...”
“Do it,” he growled.
“Okay, I’ll do it, but you have to promise me one thing. If it turns out it was Smasher, promise me you won’t kill him during the fight.”
There was a tic in Seth’s jaw.
“Damn it, Seth. Promise me! We’ll deal with Smasher later, but first we need to see what’s going to happen with the club. We can’t fight all of Rubio’s men, and the next fight will be at their club on their territory.” I placed my hand on his cheek, my eyes searching his. “Please.”
“Okay. Fine. I promise.” He rubbed his nose against mine.
“Good.” I typed a quick message to Gilberto, certain that he would be cursing me as soon as he got it. Seth and I took a seat on one of the low walls in front of one of the houses and he wrapped his arm around me as we waited for Gilberto’s answer.
I had no idea how long we’d been sitting there like that, but when my phone vibrated, I jumped.
“It was him,” I said quietly. “Smasher was driving that day.”
“He’s going to suffer for what he’s done.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t know how or when, but I was sure we’d find a way to make Smasher pay.