Fighting For Irish (A Fighting for Love Novel) (Entangled Brazen) by Gina L Maxwell Page A

screwed his fucking head on straight. What Kat was or wasn’t had no bearing on his role in this mess. He promised Jax he’d keep her safe, and he aimed to keep that promise.
    Besides, no matter what she’d done in the past, she didn’t deserve to die. And he couldn’t live with the blood of another girl’s death on his hands.
    “Don’t look so shocked, pal,” Vinnie snickered. “Just because a bitch is prettier than the other whores on the corner don’t mean she don’t spread her legs just the same.” Laughing, he turned his head to share in the moment with the only other man in the room who might find him funny.
    Aiden’s eyes narrowed on the bastard. Inattention, even a split second, was a point of weakness, and it was all the opening he needed.
    Rage and betrayal flooded his vision and melted the chains on the part of him he’d kept leashed for the last five years: his darker half. Aiden went for a flying arm bar. He jumped into the air, wrapping his legs around Vinnie’s outstretched arm and dragged him to the ground. The gun went off, but the shot went wild from being yanked around. Then, with the thug’s arm held tightly between Aiden’s thighs, Aiden pulled down on the limb until just before the breaking point. Vinnie howled and released the weapon, and a second later Aiden had it pressed against Vinnie’s temple.
    “I’d stop there if I were you, Mr. Smith.”
    Aiden froze and bit back a curse. He’d let his anger do his thinking and acted without looking at the bigger picture, which was that Vinnie wasn’t the only guy in the room with a fucking gun.
    Realizing they once again had control, Vinnie took back his gun, stood up, and pistol-whipped Aiden across the face. His head snapped to the side and pain lanced from his mouth that bore a hole straight to his brain. Aiden tested the severity of his split lower lip with his tongue.
    Tasting the coppery tang of his own blood only fed the animal inside him more, but as he got to his feet, he tamped down the ferocious instinct to do anything other than stand and wait.
    Sully tsk ed his disappointment like he would to a naughty toddler. “Didn’t think that one through, did you, Mr. Smith? I should also warn you that if we can’t collect the debt in full, we have special orders to bring the girl back to Mr. Sicoli.”
    A barely contained fury rolled through Aiden’s muscles. “What the hell does he want with her?”
    “Well, even though most of his business deals in the pharmaceutical side of things—”
    Aiden scoffed in disgust. That was one way of saying the man made money from killing people with drugs.
    “—he occasionally dabbles in the skin trade, and clients who come from places where a redhead’s coloring is considered rare and exotic are willing to pay at least double the normal price. Unfortunately, we don’t get a percentage of that cut, so we’d prefer to bring in the money.”
    Oh, Jesus Christ… The man wanted her for sex trafficking. She’d be sold to the highest bidder for whatever the depraved mind wanted. She’d be kept drugged and dependent on her owner, and her body would be used in the worst ways.
    Aiden suddenly felt violently ill. He clutched his stomach as it rolled, and he stepped back a few steps until he could lean against the kitchen counter. Images of Kat naked and beaten and high out of her mind as some guy raped her churned the bile in his gut. He wanted to throw up, but he refused to give them the satisfaction.
    Sully checked the flashy gold watch on his wrist then leveled him with a glare. “I’m usually a very patient man, but I’m growing tired of this shithole town. So tell me, Mr. Smith, does she have the money or do we reunite her with her former employer?”
    He had to come up with a solution and fast . Too bad he wasn’t still fighting. He’d have easily gotten her the money she needed with one event.
    Holy shit, that’s it. A plan started to formulate. “What if I can get you the