“Charlie,” I urged. “You have to forget about it.”

When she still hesitated, I grabbed her hand and hauled her from the room, and it wasn’t until we were out in the hall that she seemed to snap out of it. She walked easier, following me out of the house and onto the footpath. Without a word, I led her down the street, unlocking the car and easing her inside. Rounding the front, I climbed into the driver’s seat, and as soon as my door closed, I reached out, desperate to touch.

“Fuck, Charlie.” I held her in my arms, my heart pounding.

“I’m okay, Rebel,” she murmured. “I’m okay.”

Pulling away, I settled back into the driver’s seat, unsure as to where this was going next. There were so many things we hadn’t said yet and even more that we both had to explain.

We sat in the car in complete silence. A part of me was listening for a gunshot that would signal the end of Simon, but it never came. We never saw Max, either, but it was none of our business. I didn’t want my hands in that argument—those stains would never come out.

“Rebel…”

I glanced at Charlie in the passenger seat. Her shoulders were stiff, her hair hanging forward over her face. Reaching over, I threaded my fingers through it and tucked it behind her ear. That was better, I could see her blue eyes this way.

“Charlie about—”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t—”

“Don’t what?” I asked. “Let my balls drop off because my girl could get out of a dicey situation on her own?”

“Guys don’t usually like that,” she said with a shrug.

“What, blokes have dropped you because you’re too tough for them?”

“Something like that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Pussies.”

“Kane—”

“They think they’re tough for dropping you? Shit, all that does is make them insecure pussies. Those men weren’t good enough for you.”

“Kane.”

I glanced at her, frowning at the forceful tone in her voice. “What?”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“For what?” I asked, knowing exactly what she was getting at.

She cast her gaze away, obviously ashamed. “I lied to you.”

“You wanted to crack The Underground,” I said straight up. “That’s why you were there in the first place.”

She glanced at me, her blue eyes betraying her worry. “It would’ve made my career.”

“Would’ve?”

She shrugged. “Simon was going to kill me. Max let me go.”

I still didn’t get it. “And what does that mean?”

“It means that I was in over my head to begin with. It means I still am. It means I’m in it until you get out.”

I held her tightly. “You—”

“Will let it fly… For now.”

“Charlie—”

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” she interrupted. “Everything else I said to you was the truth. All of it.” She sighed, her fingers beginning to worry the hem of her T-shirt. “I didn’t expect to find you there.”

Neither did I.

I began to mull over the last few days and all the things that had happened in such a short amount of time. It only took a split second to turn someone’s world upside down.

All the stuff she’d said to me about my family, about it not being my fault, about wanting me…she’d meant it all? I could be mad at her, and fuck, was I ever, but not for the reason she was probably thinking. She sat there, looking all teary eyed, waiting for me to get up and leave. I’d had a lot of shit in my life, a lot more than most people deserved, but she’d never been able to find happiness in the chaos that was her job. People held it against her for being a cop and being a strong as fuck woman. I could kinda understand how that felt, even though it was from a different perspective.

“You’d drop your investigation?” I asked, reaching for her hand.

Her fingers curled around mine, her thumb stroking my skin. “Until you get what you want. It’s illegal, and I’ve sworn an oath, but you and every other fighter in that place know exactly what you’re in for. Until you’re there under duress…” She shrugged. “It’s a fine line.”

I smiled. Until I got what I came for, she’d put up with it.

“And when I win the Championship?”

She shoved me hard, her tiny hands hardly making a dent. “Then you better get out, Kane Sturgess, because I want to start a new life with you. An honest life.”

A grin split my face nearly in two. “Fuck, yeah.”

Chapter 14

Charlotte

I’d made a mistake, and I’d almost lost my life because of it.

I was lucky Rebel and Max had shown up when they did because even though I got the gun from Simon, there were no guarantees I would’ve been able to escape. What got me was the fact that even though I’d blatantly gone against my gut and put Rebel in danger by association, he didn’t seem to give a toss.

And two weeks later, he still wasn’t done with me.

The only people at The Underground who knew my real identity were Rebel and Max, and Max had made it clear that if I was found meddling again, there would be consequences. As long as I played the game, the game I should’ve been playing from the moment I fell for Rebel, they’d leave me alone.

Once Rebel was out, then so was I. I knew when I was in over my head, and that’s what made a good cop—knowing when to bow out.

He’d texted me that morning asking me to meet up with him for a little bit of training. Knowing him, I was prepared to be put through my paces big time. Standing outside of Pulse Fitness, the newest fighter gym in town, I took a deep breath.

He’d said it was run by a past Underground Champ, and he’d had starry eyes, so what could I say? Definitely not no, so I changed into my gym clothes and headed down to Abbotsford, in the daylight for once, and wondered how many ways he’d try to torture me. I’d done my fair share of training, including things like self-defense and cardio, but nothing like he did. MMA, boxing, heavy weight training…that stuff was beyond me.

Stepping inside, I took in the cavernous space filled with all kinds of gym equipment and breathed in the scent of leather and paint. How new was this place exactly?

“Charlie!”

I smiled as I heard my name on Rebel’s lips and found him at the far end of the gym waving me over.

“Hey,” I said as I came to a stop in front of him. He was half-naked as usual, wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and a wife-beater that hardly covered his pecs. “Nice place.”

“I know, right?”

Dumping my bag against the wall and kicking off my runners, I asked. “So what are we doing?”

“Ready to get your ass kicked?” he asked with a grin.

“Me?” I retorted, pretending to be offended. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, buddy.”

“Game on.”

Squaring my shoulders, I stepped up to the plate. “Watch your back, Sturgess.”

With a smile, he cupped my face in his big hands and planted a kiss on my lips.

We now had the space to get to know one another without boundaries or unknowns between us and it was a heady thought. I’d never had it with another man and certainly not as fast. We’d fallen for each other and clicked instantly. Comfortable was something that now came easy.

“You got time to hang for a while after this?” Rebel asked.

I tilted my head to the side. “Hang?”

He laughed, looking more handsome every day. “By hang I mean go at it back at mine.”

I burst out into laughter, shaking my head. Men. “Shit, yes.”

Yeah, we had time.

Other Books in The Beat and The Pulse

The Beat and The Pulse is a MMA Fighter romance series that’s full of grit, glory and love!

Follow the men and women of Beat and Pulse as they fight for love... in and out of the cage.

It’s time to fight for the broken hearted.