Read Brawler's Baby: An MMA Mob Romance (Mob City Book 1) for Free Online Page B

child.
    "Nothing," he blustered, finally reasserting control over himself. "None of your business."
    It was a weak, unconvincing reply, and judging by the looks my father's men were exchanging, they'd recognized it to. Judging by the wary looks they were shooting Conor, they were also weighing up what to do if they were ordered to attack him. And judging by the color – or lack of it – in their cheeks, they didn't much fancy their chances…
    "In that case," Conor smiled thinly. "I'd best be going. Nothing tires a man out more than beating another man unconscious, you know?"
    "I'm – I'm sure," my father croaked.
    I was flabbergasted. I'd seen my father go toe to toe with a dozen men both broader and taller than Conor, and they'd backed down every time. Reputation went a long way in this town, and my father's was black as mud. Conor couldn’t have cared less.
    He has an aura about him now. Men are terrified of him… Even men like dad.
    He turned aside, ignoring my father. "And Miss?" He said, smiling warmly now.
    "Maya," I squeaked, my voice betraying my nervousness no matter how hard I tried to conceal it.
    "Maya," he repeated, savoring the word. "That's a lovely name…"
    What are you saying, Conor?
    I felt trapped between two giant, unstoppable forces – a former lover who would do anything to have me, and a father who wanted me for himself.
    My father cleared his throat threateningly. Conor didn't so much as bat an eyelid, his icy green eyes seeming to reach into my soul at will. I couldn't look away, even though I knew how severe and endless my father's rage would be once Conor had left. It was worth it. I could take it, now. For this.
    "That's a lovely name," he said in his lilting Irish brogue. "Anyway, like I said – I must be off." He leaned forward, cupped my waist familiarly with one of his broad hands and kissed me on the cheek, the wiry hairs of his beard brushing against the soft, delicate skin of my cheek. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and lean in, breathe deeply that familiar scent and let him nibble my ear, just like the old days. Of course, I couldn't.
    He pressed the solid, warm weight of his hand against my waist for just a second too long, and behind him, my father's men began to stir.
    And then, before they could do a thing about it, he was gone. I let out a long, deep breath – one that I hadn't even realized I was holding in, and – dazed, let my father's cold rage wash over me. I didn't care.
    What neither my father nor his men had noticed was that Conor's whole routine had been nothing more than an act – the sleight of hand of a man who'd spent his childhood pickpocketing the honest people of Dublin just to put food on the table. The thing is, the exact it takes the exact same skills to take something out of a pocket as it does to put something in.
    So when I realized what he was up to, there was only one thought in my mind.
    What did you slip me, Conor?

6
    C onor
    Bottles, everywhere.
    Two words, but they described the state of my motel room perfectly. I would have felt sorry for the cleaning woman, but she'd get a fat tip. I could be an asshole, but not to people like her. They had a hard enough life as it was. I'd made enough that night to keep me in booze, threads and chicks for weeks, maybe months, so she'd get her slice of my winnings.
    The cash was there, just sitting on the bed – neat stacks of hundreds, all with pretty little green holographic paper straps binding them together. Ten thousand here, twenty thousand there, pretty soon you're talking real money.
    I didn't care about any of it. How could I when there was only one thing, one girl, on my mind. Maya. Of course, she hadn't been Maya when I first met her…
    I jumped to my feet, shaking my head to try and clear away the funk. I needed the place to look presentable, needed to seem like I wasn't two steps away from an early grave by way of the bottle.
    Whatever the truth actually happened to be… I grabbed