Page 42 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

MAX

T he glass nearly shatters in my hand as I grip it tightly, imagining it as Andrew's neck. It didn’t cross my mind that the defense attorney and his selected crew would be here. Fucking Rowan Collins. The man I loathe more than anything.

“Get a grip on yourself. What has you all riled up?” Xander takes a lazy drink of his beer.

“Rainey is here with Andrew,” I tell him, since he knows some of the bullshit Carlos and I have been talking about.

He doesn’t know the full story, but enough to understand who I’m talking about.

His jaw slackens, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline, fully aware of the impact it will have on me and how it will force me to do something impulsive.

“I’ll block the bathroom door if you want to dunk his head in the toilet,” he quips.

Fuck, she’s stunning. The dress molds to every curve of her lavish body. That ass. I just want my hands all over it. Her hips sway as she walks to the bar. The dickhead has his hand on the small of her bare back.

“Oh, fuck!” Xander shouts over the music and chatter. I follow where he’s glancing. My jaw turns to steel. The boss of the Underground fights stands five feet from us. Daniel stands with his hands in his pockets, talking to Enzo, his second in command.

“Never expected him to be here, but then again, I should know better. He circles the high rollers who are in his pocket.”

I nod, tossing the cup in a bin. Daniel turns to us and gives us his lopsided smile. His tall, hulking figure struts our way. “Fuck,” I say under my breath. I hate this son of a bitch. Since he saw I was making his Underground fight money, he’s acted like he owns me. He knows I answer to no one.

“Gentlemen, it’s good to see you both out tonight.” He looks at Xander and then at me. “Cano, I see you have a fight coming up sooner than I thought.”

“I do.” My response is sharp and cold. I lock my gaze with his dark, malicious gaze.

Daniel runs his thumb on his chin. “Did you think about what we spoke about?”

“I did. Nothing has changed.”

His nostrils flare. He leans in. “I would consider it, Cano.” He steps back. “See you next weekend, Xander.” He walks into the crowd of people mingling.

I turn to Xander once no one can hear us. “You need to stop fighting the Underground. He wants to own his best fighter, and we are his best fighters.”

“You made him money for years. Now, he doesn’t know what to do without you. Did he threaten you?”

My anger rises at the conversation we had the night I told him it was my last fight. Not to schedule me for another one. “Motherfucker threatened me. He wants me to make his fighting ring money like he already doesn’t make a shitload of dirty money.”

“Fuck him,” he says.

Xander walks off, catching tail while I search for a certain someone. Rainey is now sitting at a table with another couple. From what I learned, the man is her brother. Andrew leans into her, stroking a finger on hers.

The bitter bite of jealousy gnaws at me. As much as I want her to be mine, I would rather Rainey be with someone other than Andrew. It’s not because of the shit he pulled. It’s because she deserves better. He’s not the right person for her.

Andrew rises from his seat and unfastens his jacket before making his way to the restroom. My body rests against the wall in the long hallway. Waiting. The music and chatter of people sound from a short distance.

Andrew saunters out. He smirks in my direction. The little shit grew to be a bigger shit. His lips curl. “Ahh, long time no see. Man, I missed you when they sent you off.” He tsks . “You caused a lot of trou?—”

My reflexes are quicker than he can foresee.

He gasps, his breath robbed when he hits the hard wall.

“I’ve been waiting for the moment to run into you.

” My grip holds his weight up by the collar of his jacket.

His eyes widen. Look who’s shitting his pants now.

I’m not a defenseless, abused kid anymore.

I can hold my ground. “Trouble? Rainey falling for me and not you was trouble?” I laugh.

“You saw us at school, didn’t you? You saw us kiss and ran back home to call Rainey’s poor excuse of a father.

” He wrestles with my strength. He’s no match for me.

“You found out your parents had planned to adopt me. You couldn’t handle seeing Rainey and me together.

You also found out the secret, didn’t you?

So you called Rainey’s dad, and they took me away. ”

“I’ll make sure she never knows because she’s with me now.

I overheard my mom and Rainey’s mom talking all those years.

That’s how I found out.” He tries to kick me, but I slam him against the wall harder this time.

He groans in response. “Rainey’s dad would never want her to get mixed up with someone like you, and he still wouldn’t.

” He laughs. “You still want her, don’t you?

Let me let you in on a little secret. She’s mine now. ”

I punch the wall millimeters from his face, and he flinches.

My fingers tighten around his collarbone, digging in with growing force.

My knuckles strain against the skin, turning a pale shade of white as I try to control my anger.

“She’ll never be yours completely. It’s me she loved first. It’s me who had her first. And I’ll fucking fight to have her last.” I lick my lips and smirk.

“Just wait and see. You’ll never measure up to what she needs.

Money doesn’t hold the power like you and her daddy think.

It’s love. Love is more powerful, and she’ll never love you like she loved me.

When she finds out the secrets we hold, she’ll leave your ass. ”

He spits but lands in the opposite direction. “She will hate you too for withholding it from her all these years.”

He speaks the truth. And I’ve thought about that for a long time. It was never my secret to tell. I drop him, and he hits the floor with a thud.

“Fuck off, Andrew.” My tone is dark with rage.

“Andrew, what’s going on?” Rainey’s dad, Rowan, walks into the long hallway. His mouth gapes open when he sees me.

“Mr. Collins.” I shove my hands in my pockets. “Nice to see you again.” My eyebrows arch, and a small smile tugs at the corners of my lips.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he shouts, and his face twists in disgust.

“I was invited, just like you.”

“Max, ‘Master of Disaster,’ Cano,” a guy shouts, walking past us, giving me an air fist bump.

Rowan gazes at them, then averts his gaze back to me. His throat works. He realizes I’m Master of Disaster and Lights Out.

“When Rainey finds out you had Andrew by the throat, she’ll see how violent you are. I warned her that boxers were violent. She’ll see now,” Rowan sneers, sizing me up.

My head tilts back in laughter. “Tell her. Then tell her about the check you forced on me.” I saunter toward Rowan. Andrew tugs on his shirt, gasping dramatically. “I’m going to give you time to tell her the truth because if you don’t, I will.”

“Are you threatening an attorney?”

“It’s a promise, and I don’t give a shit who you are.

If she finds out from someone else, she’ll hate you for it.

She might hate me as well, but you…. Time’s ticking.

” Over my shoulder, I say to Andrew, “Stay the fuck away from Rainey, or you’re dead.

Consider that a threat.” I don’t give them a chance to say a last word, so I brush past them into the ballroom, straightening my suit.

Couples dance on the floor while others converse, and some drunkenly suck on each other’s faces like it’s the last time.

I grab a glass from a woman serving drinks on a silver platter.

As I take a sip of bourbon, the harsh burn down my throat is almost satisfying, in contrast to the fiery anger coursing through me.

“Max, I’ve been looking for you,” Annette calls out, swaying toward me.

For fuck’s sake, this night is going to be shit. I shouldn’t have come.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Her hands rub my back. “You’re frowning.”

“I’m fine,” I snap, drinking the whiskey like water.

“Do you want to dance?”

“No,” I respond in a flat tone, mirroring my current dry mood. She leans in closer to me as I stand against the wall.

My gaze roams the room in search of Rainey.

When I spot her, it’s like there’s a shift in my mood.

My lungs fill with air. Every minute without her, my way of breathing is stolen.

Rainey turns toward me, and our gaze locks.

She peers at Annette, and I know it’s doing something to her.

She was jealous of her before, but I could be wrong.

Annette stands in front of me, blocking my line of vision. She’s close to my height.

“Is that the woman you were with back in Tahoe years back?”

I nod.

Her soft fingers brush my cheek. “Let’s dance, Max. I’ve been waiting for us to be together. We make a great couple. Why are you so hung up on her? I can see the way you’re looking at her. She’s not what you need. She has someone else. We have history.”

My hands rip hers right off. “You don’t know shit about her and me. You and I will never be together, Annette. I’ve never given you any indication that I want you. We did not come together. We have solely been friends, and that’s all it will ever be.”

Annette’s face falls. Her chin trembles, but she composes herself in a heartbeat. I feel slightly bad, but she needs to know to move on. “You love her?” she asks in a whisper—her eyes water.

“More than anything. She’s my way of breathing,” I say with my whole heart, not caring how weak it makes me seem.

“She left you for him?”

“No, I left her for several reasons. Two in particular.”

Her brows go up in response, and she tilts her head, studying me. “Did you tell her of your upbringing? Is that the reason?”