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She smiled as she stood back up and then turned to face the mirror. She opened her purse and grabbed some makeup, dabbing it around her lips.

“If you have nothing else to do tonight, want to come with me? I could use another person in my corner,” she said as she finished fixing her makeup in the mirror, gently rubbing her lips together to smudge the dark burgundy color around.

I had nothing better to do, so fuck it. Might lead to me getting to go another round with her later. The night was still young.

“Sure,” I said as she walked over to the door and unlocked it.

“Great. You’re driving,” she said as she opened the door and walked out.

I followed her, enjoying the view of her hips swaying back and forth with each step. When we got outside, I led the way over to where I had parked. We got into my car and she put her phone on the center console with driving directions on display.

We cruised for a while, going farther outside of the center of the city. Still tall buildings and businesses in this area, but nothing like the crowds where we had come from.

“Turn in here,” she said as she pointed at a parking garage that went underground.

I pulled in, and that was when I noticed something was different. There wasn’t a machine giving tickets, but a few guys stopped us, and Raven handed me some cash.

“Give this to the one who comes to your window,” she said as I took it.

I rolled down my window as a man approached, holding out the cash. He took it, counted it, and nodded. The other two guys standing in front of the car parted, and I slowly rolled past them, going down six levels before I found a space to park.

We got out, and I locked the car, its beep echoing in the parking garage. She walked over to me, wrapping her arm around mine, and led me through the parking garage to the elevator. We got inside, and as we rode it to the top level, we made out.

She pushed me away as the elevator crawled to a stop.

“We can’t touch beyond this point. Promise me. No flirting either. It’s for your safety and mine,” she said as she checked her reflection in a mirror on the wall, fixing her slightly smudged lipstick.

“All right, baby girl. Whatever you say,” I said with a smirk.

She scowled at me, but the doors opened before she could reply.

I followed her out of the garage and down the sidewalk.

She paused outside of a clothing shop. “Wait here.”

I leaned up against the wall and watched the people passing by as she did her thing inside. When she came back, she reached out toward me, something dark in her hand.

“What are you waiting for? Take it and put it on.”

She shoved her hand toward me again, and I reached out and grabbed it.

It was a mask—nothing fancy, solid black, but it would cover half my face.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want some other chick looking at me, falling for my good looks, and trying to make a move on me? Or are you about to ask me to rob a bank?” I asked as I smirked at her.

“No. What a stupid thing to say. This is to help keep you safe. If certain people knew your face, it would be much easier for them to find you. Your tattoos already give too much away, but this will still help.”

I tugged it on and placed my ball cap back on my head, and then I threw my hood up over it, shrouding my face in even more darkness.

“There. Better?” I asked with a chuckle.

She sighed, but nodded. “You really can be a pain sometimes, AJ. Stick close to me, and don’t say anything to anyone, please.”

We walked across the street and turned down an alley until we approached the end, where two very large bouncers stood outside a door. A few people were lined up along the side, waiting to get in. Music bumped in a low bass tone around the area.

Is she taking me to some secret nightclub? Weird place in town to have one of those.

We came to a stop right outside the door, completely bypassing the line. Raven looked between the two bouncers. Finally, the one on the left opened the door for us, and we walked past them.

As we walked in, the door closed behind us. A neon-lit staircase led downward, and graffiti covered the walls, including a familiar design that the yakuza she was tied to all had tattooed on their bodies.

I tensed, but continued to follow. If I was going to be walked into some shit, I wasn’t about to be caught off guard.

But when she hit the bottom step and the room opened up to a large space packed with people, my adrenaline spiked.

Through the crowd of people here drinking, I could see fighters.

She’d walked me right into the belly of the beast I knew all too well.

I should have figured there would be illegal fight nights in Japan.

I stood there, taking in the details of the room.

On one wall was a giant betting cage, which I guessed by the looks of the money piled on the back tables.

This wasn’t anything like the fights in LA.

This was the big leagues of fighting underground.

I continued around the room. There were small rings, punching bags, and sparring dummies at one end of the room, where I could see multiple guys warming up—no doubt for the matches about to happen tonight.

Then I directed my attention to the giant ring in the middle of the room.

Which was when Raven tapped my arm and nodded toward it.

We walked over, and I smirked at how big the ring was. There was stadium seating around the entire space, except for one side, which had fancy-ass box-style sections with some rich-looking people already sitting in them along with bodyguards standing behind them.

As we stood there, people walked by her and bowed to her before continuing on. Even two of the rich bastards got up and came over to pay their respects to her, all of them eyeing me as they did.

That was when I knew.

She wasn’t just some hot chick in a shitty situation with a guy she didn’t really want. If she was in a place like this and known here, she was hiding a lot more than she was letting on. And I was going to find out what she was really hiding.