“Who is that?” Bryce asked as we circled each other in the ring.
His gaze followed the direction of my own, so I knew exactly who he was talking about. I’d gotten a prickly sensation along my spine the moment she’d stepped inside the building, and my eyes had unconsciously sought her out. I couldn’t control it. She was becoming too great of a distraction.
“Name’s Cat,” I murmured, oddly uncomfortable sharing any information about her with another man, even if Bryce was a friend. “She’s teaching some new classes.”
I bobbed and weaved when he went in for a bolo punch. “What kind of classes?”
I bristled at the interest in his voice. “Does it matter?”
He snorted. The cop in him didn’t miss a beat. “If it didn’t, you wouldn’t have a problem telling me.”
When he came at me again, I caught him with a check hook on the attack. We were both pulling our punches, so I knew when my glove clipped him on the chin, I didn’t do any damage.
“They’re, uh…”
His gaze sharpened on me when I hesitated.
“Pole dancing classes.”
“Really…” His neck craned in Cat’s direction until she disappeared through the door to the upstairs apartment.
When I popped him on the jaw this time, I didn’t pull my punch.
The big bastard just laughed.
Like me, his jaw was made of steel. Being a former college hockey player at Syracuse, coupled with years on the force doing gritty police work, taught a man how to take a hit. It was why we made each other’s best sparring partner.
“And she’s staying in the apartment upstairs?” he pushed.
Of course, he would have noticed that, but I didn’t feel like answering a bunch of prying questions about Cat. At least Rome knew when to let certain shit go until I came to him, ready to talk about it.
“She needed a place to stay,” I answered curtly. “Someone broke into hers.”
Bryce straightened, pausing for a moment. “She file a report?”
I threw out a jab, getting him back into his stance. “Didn’t need to. They didn’t take anything.”
“And I’m guessing you just happened to be there?”
My silence was enough of an answer.
“She single?”
I blocked his cross hook, answering with a swift uppercut. He quickly backpedaled, fists protecting his face, when I lunged toward him.
“Off limits,” I growled.
He smirked. “It’s like that, huh?”
“I’m not telling you what the fuck it’s like.”
He belted out a laugh. “Luka getting touchy about a woman? Holy shit, please make sure I’m present whenever you tell your brothers.”
I was ready to close the book on the subject of Cat altogether, but the jackass wouldn’t stop.
“The pole dancing… Is that her job or a hobby?”
I decided to just get it over with. He was going to find out eventually. “She works at Rumors.”
His expression cleared, fists slightly lowering. “No shit? She’s that girl? From Cris’s bachelor party?”
I grunted in response.
“Hot damn, Luka. Look at you. First crushes are so sweet.”
He earned a light blow to the ribs for that comment. He oomphed, stepping back to catch his breath, no doubt flipping me off inside his glove.
“You would know about crushes better than anyone, Connelly.”
“Kiss my ass,” he wheezed.
Did he really think no one knew about his little crush on prosecuting attorney Carmen LaMacchia? The same attorney who would be going up against Santi Gabbiano in trial next month? Bryce had been carrying that torch for years.
“Fair enough,” he conceded, chuckling. “I’ll back off.”
Sighing, I decided to give him something. “I’m only giving her a place to stay until she can save up enough to get into a better apartment than the one she was in. She hasn’t been in the city very long. I don’t know all that much about her. But there’s something…”
I ducked when he advanced with a quick hook that grazed my ear.
“Something what?”
“Off with her. I don’t know what is, but it feels like she’s hiding something.”
His eyes narrowed in that assessing cop way.
“I’m not saying it’s anything illegal. Just a gut feeling. She’s very guarded when it comes to her personal life.”
Bryce panted through his growing fatigue. “Let me know if you want me to look into it.”
I nodded. “You getting anything from any of your CIs?” Confidential informants.
“Just what we already know. That the location of the auctions is highly privileged information. A text is sent to a limited number of people within twenty-four hours of the sale, so word doesn’t get out.”
“Who sends out the text? Esposito?”
He shook his head. “Not sure. The only thing my CI could tell me was that he’s heard rumors of a Hispanic male calling the shots. Goes by the nickname El Escorpion.”
The name didn’t ring any bells with me. “Could it be Alonso Garcia? He’s the cartel Boss. It would make sense if he were in charge.”
“Possibly. But Alonso’s on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. If it were him, you’d think the name would have popped up somewhere in the system before, and I’ve never heard it.”
“I’ll ask my contacts at the next fight if any of them have heard it before.”
When we shifted around the ring, my eyes caught on the wall clock behind Bryce’s left shoulder. Cat’s class would be starting in approximately one minute. Which meant I either needed to drag this sparring match out for another forty-five minutes, or I needed to get the hell out of the building.
Otherwise, I was likely to turn into a peeping Tom.
I was so lost in memories of her twisting around that pole the other night at Rumors that I didn’t see his right hook coming. It snapped my head to the side, making me see stars for a few seconds. But I needed that hit to knock my fucking brain loose. I deserved to get my ass kicked for losing focus.
“Daydreaming about your smoking hot Latina, Rossetti?” he mocked.
My mouth spread into a wolfish smile. “You’re gonna regret that, Connelly.”
What I needed to be doing was taking a shower, not creeping on Cat’s class. But thanks to Bryce and all of his annoying questions, I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head for the rest of our match. Like an ass, I was desperate for even a glimpse of her.
Big. Mistake.
Cracking open that studio door was an epically stupid thing to do. I’d never get those images out of my mind as long as I lived.
Is that really such a bad thing?
This was Cat’s beginners class, and she was currently demonstrating various moves to her students. She hooked her athletic legs around the pole and spun in ways that seemed to defy gravity. She did it with effortless ease and a kind of grace that couldn’t be taught. You were just born with that level of coordination.
The night she danced for me, she’d obviously chosen the most provocative, most sexual moves. A performance of pure seduction. To my surprise, though, watching her like this wasn’t much different. She was clearly teaching with no intention of seducing anyone, but to me, it didn’t matter.
The woman could make eating cereal sexual.
What struck me as I watched her was how athletic the activity truly was. I knew the general mechanics of what happened with her body when she spun around that pole, but I’d never placed it in the same category as I would have other forms of cardio. But hell, Cat’s stunner body was glistening with sweat, strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail matted to her temples.
My girl was fucking acrobatic and working it.
Even after I felt myself hardening inside my shorts, I still couldn’t look away. She was a goddess on that thing and knew she owned it. It didn’t control her—she controlled it. She wore tiny spandex shorts and a sports bra her tits were stuffed into. And she had never looked more gorgeous. No, she wasn’t wearing a stick of makeup or five-inch heels.
This was better.
Unlike at the club, she was dancing for herself.
Not for customers, not for money. Just for her own enjoyment. I recognized the look on her face for what it was. The release of endorphins was giving her an exercise high, and she was loving it.
That was probably the sexiest thing about her.
Her passion for movement. Her drive to keep herself active and in shape. Her aversion to being idle.
She looked over her shoulder right then, caught my gaze, and blushed.
Have to get the fuck out of here.
The last thing I needed was the whole damn gym gossiping about how the owner was perving out at the new pole dancing class. I did, however, go straight to the showers and jack off to Cat’s blushing face.
I came in about ten seconds.
This woman was seriously fucking with my control.
And when that happened, bad shit always followed.