Page 19 of Unleash Hades
If she was fresh as a daisy, then I’d just be embarrassed.
She was always up late with her babies, and even though the fight energized her, all of it would drain from her just as quickly as soon as we stopped sparring.
“But if I had to guess, the She-Bear makes massive amounts of money for her owners,” Rose lifted her arms over her head and stretched. “That’s a terrible moniker, by the way.”
“Is the She-Bear worse than being called the Vixen?” I asked, teasing her with her old title.
Rose shuddered, but ultimately ignored me so that she could dispense the information I needed.
“They use the Underground Circuit to meet up and do their exchange. So, she must see… something. There’s no way she hasn’t.”
“Who owns her?” I hated that phrasing.
No oneownedanother person. Not really. Not unless it was consensual. The way Calissandra owned me.
Slavery was a vile abomination that should have been wiped off the planet. But here it was, alive and thriving.
“Probably the Mafia,” Rose said, pulling off her gloves and stretching her fingers out. “There were rumors of things like this back when I was fighting.”
“Why would they need the Underground to meet?”
“It’s an alibi, really. All the criminals and law men are in the same room at the same time, but none of them are ever able to talk about it. If they talk about it too much, the Underground will revoke their invitations.”
“And why does that matter?”
“Well, you saw who was in the audience of those things,” Rose said as she climbed from between the ropes and out of the training ring. “It’s like the Studio 54 of powerful people. Royalty, politicians, cops, criminals are all there. They’re rich, influential, and all in the same secret room.”
“Why hasn’t Callum gotten invited, if it’s about influence and money?” I wondered, pulling off my own gloves as well. Theleather and linen slipped off my sweaty hands as if they were covered in soap.
Callum was a Baron, owner of a reputable security company, and rich. He had connections that were far and wide, so why wasn’t he in the audience?
“He probably hasn’t asked to go.” She picked up a bottle of water, and drank from it, squirting the long stream into her mouth without touching her lips to the nozzle. “He has his own contacts from boarding school and doesn’t need to mingle and rub elbows among the nouveau riche.”
“Hmm.” That made sense.
“The Underground is a place for back-room deals, shmoozing, and asserting influence. Also gambling.” Rose continued. “I bet a lot of bloody handshakes happen there. What happens in the Underground stays Underground.”
Chapter 5
Calissandra
One Week Later
New York City, New York
Gavin was fast indeed.Richard was meticulous in his record keeping. Every email stored, everything in plain sight on his computer.
“Looks like he deals in the oldest trade in the book,” Gavin said, as we met under the cover of darkness in an alleyway behind his favorite Irish bar, Four Green Fields.
“Prostitution?” I asked, pulling my collar up against the chill of an unseasonably cool evening.
“Theotheroldest trade in the book,” Gavin said with a chuckle. “Blackmail.”
I had never had any inkling of this. I had never seen, or thought, that was a possibility. He had influence as the CEO of Laurent Media. He was a shrewd businessman. But blackmail?
“He’s been profiting in the triangle trade, controlling them with blackmail,” Gavin explained. “I see many familiar names in there. Mafiosos, Dante and Giovanni Morelli. He had a lot on that Alex Baas, too. He railed against what a waste it was that he committed suicide.”
The last part I had no trouble believing. He’d find it rude for someone to die without his permission.
