After pushing our way outside, I stepped out into the alleyway and took a breath. While the scent of the city lingered in the summer night air, it was better than what we had come from. My skin could finally breathe again.
“The owners have locked up earlier than usual,” Aiden said, pulling me from my thoughts. He was referring to the tall gate at the front end of the alleyway, where the street sat beyond it. A large padlock and chain were threaded through the gates, locking us in.
“Great,” I muttered, heart beating just a little faster.
"Come on. We'll just have to go the long way around,” Aiden shrugged, sliding his arm around Kira's waist before steering her in the opposite direction, away from the street lights and safety in numbers provided by strangers on the street.
I squeezed the strap of my bag tighter and hurried after them, sending a subtle glare at the back of Aiden’s head. I wasn’t one for violence, but if he revealed one more pretty cool secret, I would throw a shoe at the back of his head.
“Want to do this again sometime?” Aiden said arrogantly with a smirk at Kira.
Maybe I should throw a shoe at him anyway.
"You can't be serious?" I interrupted.
He chuckled. "Deep down in that virgin brain of yours, you liked it. It thrilled you."
My mouth dropped open before I pressed my lips together again. I knew if I said anything, it would only fuel the debate he so badly wanted. I could already see how it would pan out. Aiden would point out I shouldn't get so easily offended and presume to remind me of the bubble-wrapped world my parents had me in.
Kira reacted for me instead, schooling her features as she backhanded Aiden’s arm with a light slap. He caught her hand and kissed her knuckles. She looked back over her shoulder and mouthed an apology on his behalf.
I crossed my arms tightly across my chest, hugging myself as we walked into the dark.
The alleyway was long and littered with split trash bags and cigarettes, making a perfect home for the few rats and roaches that scurried across the ground in front of us. Kira, being the squeamish person she was, let out a small squeal whenever one of the little creatures came into view. Aiden decided to make it a game, startling her with a tickle or a poke to freak her out. When the end of the alley came into view, their laughter died down as Aiden silently gestured for us to stop walking and be quiet. He pressed a finger to his lips.
We weren’t the only ones at the back of The Den.
There was a parking lot at the end of the alley. From what I could see around Kira’s shoulder, four men gathered around the back entrance to the club, one I recognized as the white-haired man from the crowd. He was flanked by two burly men and leaned into his cane as he spoke to the fourth person, Romeo. Fully clothed in a black T-shirt and jeans. He had cleaned the blood from his eyebrow and had a backpack slung over his shoulder, hands buried in his pockets as he listened with his head down.
At first, I thought maybe he was receiving a lecture. Maybe he hadn’t fought as well as this man had liked. But he nodded, face serious as the white-haired man squeezed his shoulder with a parting message.
“Get it done.”
The group dispersed. White hair and his men headed to a black Mercedes parked nearby, but Romeo waited by the back door until they had driven out of the lot. After that, he approached his car. An emerald-green, two-door vintage convertible with a long hood and very shiny silver hubcaps.
Hubcaps and hoods were where my extent of car knowledge ended.
As he unlocked his car, the dark of night pressed in around us. It was late, and I had seen enough illegal activity for the night to know I didn’t want to watch him start whatever he needed to get done.
“Are we getting an Uber?” I whispered.
“Shh,” Aiden hissed, not looking back at me as he waved a hand in my direction. His eyes fixed on Romeo before he smoothed a hand over his hair and started walking. At the illegal fighter.
My eyes went wide. “What is he doing?”
Kira, holding his hand, had seconds to explain before she was tugged along. “Meet and greet?”
“Should he be bothering him?” My voice was quiet but urgent as I went after her. “He’s probably not up for a chat after getting punched in the face—”
“Romeo!” Aiden called out, waving his arms above his head as if bellowing out his name wasn't enough to get his attention in the first place.
Romeo leaned across his driver's seat as he rummaged through the glove compartment with the car door resting against his hip. He either hadn’t heard Aiden or was ignoring him.
"Hey, man," Aiden tried again, coming to a stop beside the left taillight of the car. "Nice ride."
I cringed and pulled my arms a little tighter around my stomach. Not because of the second-hand embarrassment I felt being here, but because Romeo had stopped his search and backed himself out of the car, slowly straightening to his full height again.
Facing us but not acknowledging we were there, he brought a cigarette to his lips and lit the end with one flick of a silver zippo lighter. He drew back on the cigarette with a crease between his dark eyebrows as he tucked the lighter into his back pocket.
