Songbird (A Sinclair Story #1) (15 page)

“Hello,
Melodee Lee, it’s Craig Luiz again. Your parents’ solicitor. I really need you
to return my call. Important new information has been discovered. Please phone
me.” The male voice listed his two numbers before he disconnected.

“What’s
wrong?” Nathan asked, noticing the way she was staring at the phone.

“I’ve
had two voicemails from a man claiming to be my parents’ solicitor. He says he
has information and to call him.” She shook her head, handing him the phone.
“It’s been ten years since they died. What new information could he possibly
have? And how the hell did he get my voicemail number?”

“Give
me his name,” Nathan said. “I’ll make a few inquiries.”

Melodee
nodded. She wrote down the man’s name and phone numbers. Nathan shoved the
paper into his pocket. It was nice to be able to share a problem. Sometimes it
was overwhelming only being able to rely on herself.

“So
are you ready for tonight?” Charles was stuffing his face with a steak sandwich
he’d ordered in, bits of food going everywhere. “Have you ever lost a fight?”

Melodee
fed Jewel a spoonful of mashed vegetables. She raised her brows at Charles. “Of
course, I’m not invincible. I’ve fought around a hundred cage fights in my
life. I’ve lost three.”

She
didn’t mention they were all to the same man, Garrett, the fighter she’d been
involved with. He was as highly trained as she was, and had more muscles than
should be humanly possible. They’d fought six times before, and it was always a
close battle. She wiped Jewel’s face with a washcloth. A thought crossed her
mind that with a prize pool this large, she could be fighting Garrett again
tonight.

“So
what do you do to prepare?” Nathan asked.

Melodee
shrugged. “Not a lot: stretch, focus, go through my fighting exercises and
stances.”

Nathan
shook his head. “I think it’s the … the hottest damn thing I’ve ever known that
you fight. But you don’t have to do this. In fact, what if I give you thirty
thousand right now, not to fight?”

Straightening
in her chair, Melodee narrowed her eyes at him. “I believe we’ve had this
discussion about charity before.”

“It’s
not charity,” he said. “What if you faced Charlie in a fight, winner gets the
money?”

Charles
held his hands up. “Leave me out of this,” he said. “I still have bruises from
the last time she smacked me around.”

“Just
stay home, Nate. I can totally understand you not wanting to watch me fight.”
Melodee focused on him. “It’s normal to be nervous.”

“Dee,”
he said in warning, “it will be a cold day in hell before I let you go into an
underground fight club on your own.”

Melodee
managed to stop herself before she rolled her eyes. She’d been going into them
alone for over five years, but Nathan wasn’t from this world. She hoped tonight
wasn’t the thing that would tear them apart. It wasn’t as if she had to fight
forever, but right now it was part of her life.

They caught a cab into the
industrial area that was to house this night’s fight. From the outside of the
building there was not much happening, and if you didn’t know the drill you’d
think you were in the wrong place. But Melodee knew that the front was the
façade, the action would be on the other side. They exited the cab.

“Are
we in the right place?” Nathan asked. He was dressed all in black, his coat
hugging his large frame and muscles, his tattoo just visible on the right side
of his neck. Despite the fact he looked clean cut and rich, his take-no-shit
attitude would have him fitting in fine.

“Yep,
follow my lead,” Melodee said. Her bag was over her shoulder, and for once
she’d have someone to leave it with.

They
walked up to the double doors. Melodee didn’t attempt to knock, she just pushed
the doors open. As she expected, there were people on the other side, milling
around, and the next set of double doors were barred with a beefy security man
on either side. Their firearms were visible and Melodee doubted either of the
weapons were registered. But if one wanted to stay alive, one didn’t ask
questions here.

The
men recognized her and didn’t stop her from entering. Nathan got a pat down,
but no questions were asked; he was allowed to follow her. The room was huge,
the octagon cage dominating the center. Around it were the many people who
fought, gambled and encouraged the fights. Melodee’s gaze was drawn to Dwayne
near the back bar. He had four burly men behind him, which made sense as he
held the money. Melodee pushed past a few bikers and businessmen to make her
way up to Dwayne.

“Hey,
Songbird.” He was a small, wiry man. His hair was thinning on top, his eyes
were small set and rat-like, but he was without doubt the most powerful person
in the room. And for this scene he wasn’t too bad to deal with.

“Here’s
my entry.” She flicked the envelope into the basket. No one counted anything
here. Trust was implied, and if anyone was found to be taking advantage of this
system, well, they disappeared.

“Here’s
the schedule.” He handed her a sheet of paper. “We start at nine, no delay.”

She
nodded. Nathan was at her back, and despite the fact she’d never shown up to a
fight with a person, Dwayne had not shifted his eyes. He knew how to keep his
personal curiosities separate from his business. Melodee didn’t bother to scan
the list. It didn’t matter who she faced; it was too late to worry about it
now.

“So
what do we do?” Nathan asked, with his arms crossed over his chest. His hard
eyes, height and muscles had everyone giving him a wide berth. They would think
he was the fighter and Melodee the girlfriend.

“Now
we get you a drink and find a seat.” She led him to the temporary bar area,
where they were served immediately. Then with beers in hand they strolled to
one of the free tables.

“Mel
Lee.” A deep voice had her spinning. Melodee pursed her lips, wondering how
this was going to go down.

“Hi
Garrett,” she said. He looked exactly the same: black hair, coffee-colored
skin, and piercing green eyes.

He
scooped her up in a hug and she heard and felt Nathan growling behind her.

“It’s
fucking good to see your gorgeous face.” Garrett dropped her back to her feet.
He wasn’t a tall man, just under six feet, but he was so heavily muscled that
if you didn’t know him, you’d think he was a steroid junkie from way back. But
his muscles were hard earned.

“I
hope you’re ready for me to kick your ass though.” He grinned, his right
eye-tooth was chipped, but this only added to his charm.

Nathan
stood, his front pressing against Melodee’s back.

Garrett
tilted his head back. “Who’s your guard dog?”

“This
is Nathan, my–”

“Boyfriend,”
Nathan interrupted.

Garrett
examined him for a moment. He must have approved of what he saw, because he
extended his arm to shake, the multitude of colored tattoos standing out
against his dark skin. Nathan reached out and gave him a strong, manly shake.
They didn’t linger overly long in a pointless display of male aggression.
Melodee was glad that Nathan didn’t seem to be stupid possessive, just normal
man possessive.

“Do
I know you from somewhere?” Nathan asked, his eyes narrowing on him.

Garrett
shrugged. “I’ve been around the New York scene for a bit, you’ve probably seen
me somewhere. See you in the cage, beauty.” He gave Melodee a head nod before
striding off into the crowd.

Melodee
turned to explain to Nathan. “Garrett was a professional MMA fighter. He has a
lifetime ban now, so this is where he competes.”

Nathan
was staring out into the crowd. “I think I’ve seen him at my friend’s club
before.”

“We
used to date,” Melodee felt compelled to add. She guessed it was better than
Nathan finding out some other way.

Nathan
growled again. “I kind of figured that. But everyone has a past, and as long as
he keeps his hands to himself now, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

“That’s
very enlightened of you,” Melodee said. She swirled her beer around. She hadn’t
had a sip and wouldn’t before she fought, but it was part of her ritual to
nurse a beer.

“There’s
a large part of me that wants to beat the shit out of him,” Nathan sighed. “But
you’re fucking beautiful, and I can’t blame any man for wanting you.”

Melodee
had given up on stopping that curse word. Besides, it didn't seem to bother her
as much as it used to. Nathan was mellowing her out or something.

“So
will you have to fight him?” Nathan’s expression was serious. “Because I know
fighters and that guy is deadly.”

“It
depends,” Melodee said. “Generally, when I fight it’s just against a
pre-determined opponent and my winnings depend on how many rounds I can draw it
out. This fight’s a knockout grand prize.” She glanced down at the list. “I
don't face Garrett in my first round, and you don’t know how the second round
falls until the first is done.”

“If
you win, how many fights will you have?”

“Four,”
Melodee replied.

His
brow wrinkled as he surveyed the crowd. “I don't like it, Dee, but good luck,
baby. I know you can do it.” He kissed her on the mouth, his lips soft but
demanding as he drew a low moan from her.

“Almost,”
she whispered. “You almost had me convinced we should forget the fight and go
back to bed. But I need to do this.”

Nathan
nodded. “As I said, I don’t like it, but I understand your independence is
important to you.”

First
names sounded over the loudspeaker, and Melodee needed to go warm up. She got
to her feet, kissing Nathan again before turning to leave.

“Oh,
and Dee...”

Nathan’s
voice had her spinning around again.

“After
this fight you’ll be in my bed all fucking night. We’re together from now.”

Melodee
nodded. She was finally at peace with this decision.

Chapter 11

Nathan wasn’t sure if it was
the club or the meeting with Garrett, but he was on edge. As Melodee walked
away to prepare for her fight, he had to clench his fists and restrain himself
from throwing her stubborn ass over his shoulder and dragging her out of there.
Hell, he’d give her a million dollars to not fight tonight. It probably seemed
strange, but there was so much darkness down here, enough to taint even the
lightest of souls, but somehow Melodee seemed to have escaped much of that.
Maybe because she treated fighting like a job, not a life. But despite her
parents, and despite how damaged she thought she was, he saw her with Jewel and
her soul was so fucking light it glowed. And he would be doing his best to keep
it that way.

At
9pm exactly two men entered the ring. In typical underground fashion, they had
aliases and wore masks to hide their identities. Nathan sat forward in his
seat, his half full beer pushed away. Every person who entered the cage was a
possible competitor for Melodee. The first fight was over almost instantly. The
bigger man had rushed straight in with big swings. The smaller had waited
patiently, and in the last moment a roundhouse kick to the head rendered the
big man unconscious and sporting a broken jaw. The next few fights were
similar. The unskilled who were greedy for the big prize were almost beaten to
death by veterans of the cage. There were no women yet, and Nathan wondered if
Melodee would be the only one.

“Next
to the cage: Gazman and Terror,” the speaker echoed around the room, and the
crowd went crazy at these names.

Garrett,
aka Gazman, was the first to enter. He was shirtless with just a pair of MMA
shorts on. Nathan shook his head at the massive bulk of the man’s upper body.
Of course Melodee would attract someone like that. He needed to lock her up and
throw away the key, she was too enticing for her own good. The second man looked
nervous and Nathan couldn’t blame him. It was clear Garrett was a favorite to
take out the competition. The fight started fast and furious. Garrett didn’t
even allow the other man to breathe, let alone stand any real chance. And while
the second man looked to be pretty skilled in Kung Fu, there was no real
competition. Garrett walked from the cage, the other man was dragged out
unconscious.

“Next
to the cage: Songbird and Crusher.”

Nathan
could feel his pulse start to race. He never got nervous at his own games or
fights in the gym, but right now he was worried. More than one person had been
dragged from the cage tonight. And then she was walking past him, and with a
clang of the gates she was inside the cage. Her opponent was a medium height
man, not too bulky, with the build of a long distance runner.

“Man,
I would give anything to bury my dick in Songbird.”

Nathan
spun his head to find three men eye-fucking the shit out of Melodee. Shaking
his head, he forced himself to ignore them, she was attractive and a fighter, a
wet dream to men like these. Besides, he didn’t have time for that, he could
barely take his eyes off her. She was wearing a cropped tank top and fitted
shorts. Her toned body was on display, and Nathan felt his usual hunger for her
roar to life. It was tempered though by his worry that she would be hurt. The
fight started. Melodee was silent, staring at her opponent, waiting for him to
make the first move. But the man seemed wary, bouncing at little, not coming at
her.

Nathan
saw more than heard her sigh before she started to move. Two strides to the
left and she ran up the damn side of the cage and, reaching out, gripped her
fingers into a groove and flung herself at Crusher. He was way too slow for
her, and clearly had not expected her to be an elite gymnast, because he only
flicked his eyes in her direction in time to receive a straight punch to the
face. Before he could even stem the flow of blood from his nose, she
side-kicked his knee, dropping him to the floor, and with two knees into his
chest knocked him unconscious with one last well-placed right hook.

Melodee
got to her feet, wiping her hands down the sides of her pants. Without having
even broken a sweat, she left the cage. Nathan’s body was humming with
adrenalin. She was the most stunning thing he had ever seen. Her grace and
beauty was perfectly matched by her skills and strength. He swallowed. Fuck,
she was too good for him. What could he offer her that was better than what a
million other men also had? He was the same as everyone else, but she was
spectacular. Well, for whatever reason she wanted him as much as he wanted her,
so he’d just do his damned best to prove he was worthy of everything that was
Melodee Lee.

Melodee took a small drink
of water before dumping the rest down the sink. The first rounds were done, the
second about to begin.
 
She was against
‘The Snake’ now, which didn’t worry her. He was a grappler, preferring to fight
on the ground, while she spent most of her time flying through the air. Their
names were called, her gaze was drawn to Nathan as she marched through the
crowd. He looked tough and gorgeous as his eyes followed her. She swallowed,
needing to forget him for now and find her focus. Nathan threw her off her
game.

The
Snake was an old-school wrestler. He bowed once and then launched himself at
her. It was an unexpected move and Melodee only just hit the ground in time for
him to fly overhead. She was straight back on her feet. He was quick, and she
had no time to mess around. His fist came at her from the side, grazed her
cheek as she jerked her head back, but he still knocked her back a few steps.
Ignoring the pain, she backflipped and landed on his shoulders. She brought
both hands down in a karate chop on either side of his neck, cutting off the
blood flow for a second. The Snake dropped to his knees, with Melodee still
riding his shoulders. She bounced off, letting him stumble to his feet. He
shook his long strands of greasy hair a few times, mean little eyes narrowing
on her. He came straight at her again, another dive to try and get her on the
ground.

Melodee
waited, counting an extra second before flipping into a backflip flash kick and
clipping him under the jaw. Her kick and his own momentum knocked him straight
into the cage side. She knew that he was down and not getting back up. Melodee
left the cage and made her way to Nathan.

She
opened her mouth to speak but before she could he had her in his arms.

“You
are spectacular,” he all but growled as he captured her mouth. “I’m so fucking
proud of you.”

Her
heart swelled. She had never had anyone be proud of her before. No one had even
cared enough to notice what she did.

“Thank
you,” she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The
crowd went wild around them again, and with a glance over her shoulder Melodee
saw Garrett enter the cage. They always loved when Gazman fought.

“I
just came over to see if you have checked in with Charlie?” She faced Nathan.
“Is Jewel okay?”

“He
texted just before and said our baby girl is sleeping soundly and he’s having a
mad orgy and will not be able to answer the phone for a while.”

Melodee
laughed. “What was your reply?”

“I
took a secret bit of footage of your fight and sent it to him.” Nathan grinned.
“He texted back saying maybe he was a bit tired for balls-to-the-walls sex and
was going to bed instead.”

With
one last kiss, Melodee leaned in close to him. “I hope you’re not too tired for
balls-to-the-walls sex, Nathan Sinclair.”

Nathan
growled again. “You’re lucky we’re in a public place.” He glanced around. “Not
that I think anyone in here would mind if I took you against the wall.”

Melodee
blew him an extra kiss as she left to head back into the waiting area. It
wouldn’t be too long until the third round. With just four competitors left,
she wondered if she would fight Garrett this round.

Nope.
They were in separate fights, and Melodee wondered if Dwayne had deliberately
organized it like that to get the most out of the finals. They were the strongest
fighters, although the two they were facing in this round were champions in
their respective fields, so it should be interesting. Garrett was first, facing
‘Ice’, no last name. His signature move was acrylic nails filed to sharp points
as a weapon. Melodee was glad she wasn’t going to fight him; he wouldn't be in
the finals. No matter how skilled he was, he was no match for Garrett.

It
took longer than his last few rounds, and he sustained a few nasty flesh
wounds, but Gazman walked out victor again. Ice was rolled out, blood streaming
from his temple. Now it was Melodee’s turn. She was facing John, which always
made her laugh. He never used an alias or weird identifying outfit. In fact he
looked like an accountant: glasses, button-up shirt, and unthreatening
demeanor, which was a costume in itself, because he was a monster deep down.
Melodee wasn’t scared to face him, but he gave her the creeps.

They
entered the cage. John was calm, taking his time to remove his glasses and slip
them into his shirt pocket. Melodee had watched enough of his fights to know
this was one of his tactics. He acted as if he wasn’t even ready for the fight,
hoping his opponent would come straight at him. But Melodee knew better than to
come straight at any fighter. She liked the stealthy approach.

They
continued the intimidation game for a while, staring, moving cautiously, and
showing respect for the others skills. But Melodee knew something about John.
He could only keep this reticence up for a short time. Deep down he liked to
hurt people, and that need always got him in the end.

And
then that moment came.

He
took two strides to the right side of the cage before feinting left at the last
second and coming at her from the side. His extended kick was high and strong.
Melodee hit the ground and rolled twice to get out from under his legs. He
dropped his knee at the last minute and hit her in the ribs, but he was a
little slow and it was only a minor hit. She was on her feet in moments. Two
backflips across the cage and he spun in time for her to bounce off the wall
and swing her arm to elbow him in the side of the head. He managed to get his
fist up in time and clip her on the chin, but again too slow to be much more
than a glancing blow. And his punch dropped his guard around his face, giving
her the opening to smash her heel into his nose. She felt the bone and
cartilage crunch under her foot.

John
did not make a noise. He didn’t even stop, coming straight back at her, his
face streaming blood and his eyes demanding death. Melodee had enough of his
intimidation by now, and without hesitation ran at him, but instead of diving
at his face she hit the ground as he reached for her and slid between his legs
and came up behind him. After that she extended her arm for one clean blow to
the junction of his neck, delivering a knock-out shot. She paused on the balls
of her feet. John stayed standing for a few beats, and Melodee wondered if he
was superhuman, because she knew how to deliver the exact amount of pressure to
knock out any man. But then he fell to his knees, and forward. His head hit the
padding.

Melodee
didn’t look around as she left the cage. There would have a short break now for
bets and drinking. Dwayne liked to create a big atmosphere. But in about ten
minutes she would be facing Garrett and she needed to get in the zone.

Garrett
was in the waiting area, fresh tape over his wounds from Ice. “Great job,
beauty, your skills are as always unsurpassed.”

Melodee
grinned at him. “You’ve beaten me half the time.” Despite their split and fight
history, their relationship had always been amicable. But there was never any
real love between them, just mutual attraction and selfish need. “Why are you
fighting in this comp? It’s not your usual scene.”

Garrett
stood, stretching out his side. “Need the money,” he said, “my assets have been
frozen again … for another fucking investigation. And Nat needs more rehab.
Figured it was better to have a backup if I can’t access the funds in time.”

Melodee
stared at his broad shoulders as he exited the room – their names had just been
announced over the speaker. Natalie was his daughter from his marriage a
million years ago. She’d been in a car accident the past summer and was
learning to walk again. Melodee sucked in a deep breath. As important as the
money was for her future with Jewel, she could not stand the thought of Natalie
being in a wheelchair for longer than necessary. She stood there torn for a
minute, but in the end there was only one option. She was going to have to
throw the fight. But she had to put on a good show; otherwise, Garrett would
beat her to death for embarrassing him. With an exhalation of breath, she
tightened her wrist straps and left the room.

She
entered the cage. Garrett was across from her, his dark features and green eyes
lazily assessing her. She raised her brow and gave him a cheeky grin. And then
for the first time in her life she came straight at him, light and dancing,
hands covering her face. Garrett’s features registered surprise. He knew how
she fought and had not been expecting that move. It allowed her to get the
first hit, hard across his jaw, snapping his head back.