A thump on my back has me stumbling forward. We pull apart, just as I shove at the body standing beside me. Madison squeals, her hands covering her ears again. “What the hell’s your problem?” I shout, but my attention’s on Madison. I pull her into my chest again, covering her ears with a second barrier.

“I was trying to get your attention,” a deep male voice shouts back. I look up to see DeLuca; jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. “Looks like you were both too pre-occupied,” he says, his eyes on Madison. He jerks his head at her. “What’s her problem?”

I look at Madison. My shirt hides most of her face, but I can see her eyes squeezed shut. I switch my attention back to DeLuca. “Can we make this quick? It’s too loud in here for her. It’s hurting her ears.”

“Huh,” he says, still fixated on her.

“Anytime you want to quit staring at my girlfriend would be perfect.”

His eyes move back to me. “Sure.” He taps at his phone quickly. I wait impatiently. A few seconds pass, then he motions with his head for us to follow. Madison stays plastered to my side as he leads us to the back of the club and into an office that has to have been sound proofed. I release Madison, and she slowly removes her hands from her ears. We sit down on the couch in the corner of the office while DeLuca watches her intently. “Better?” he asks her.

She nods.

“Do you need a drink or anything?”

She smiles awkwardly. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You sure?”

I interrupt their little back and forth. “Why did you want to meet?”

He rubs the back of his head and looks at Madison again. “Um...” His gaze flicks back to me; then he blows out a heavy breath and shakes his head. “It’s not important, man. I’ll text you. Just get her out of here.” He taps his phone a few times. “A cab’s waiting out back. It saves you from going through the club again.”

“Thanks,” I say, but all I can think about is the attention he’s paying to Madison. A tiny part of me is grateful—but the rest of me is pissed.

She mentions her ears are still ringing while we’re in a cab heading home. As soon as we get into my apartment, she goes straight to the bedroom. She strips out of her clothes, leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties and climbs into bed, throwing the covers over her head. I pull out my phone and start looking up how to treat ringing ears when a text comes through from DeLuca.

DeLuca: Call me when you can.

“Babe, I got to make a call. Will you be okay?”

Her hand pokes out from under the sheets and she waves me off.

He answers first ring. “Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“So, I wanted to talk to you about who you’ll be fighting.”

“Okay?”

“His name’s James Hayden. You should be able to find some info on him online. He used to train over at JL Ju-Jitsu.”

“Okay, thanks.” I’m about to hang up, but then I think fuck it. I’d rather deal with this shit now than let it eat away at me. “I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“Yeah?” he asks.

I give it to him straight. “I’m not happy with the way you are around Maddy.”

“Maddy?”

“Yeah. Madison. My girlfriend. You can’t seem to take your eyes off her—and to be honest—it pisses me off and it makes her uncomfortable.”

Silence.

Dead. Fucking. Silence.

I thought I might have fucked up, got too personal. But after a long-ass moment, I heard him sigh. “You’re right,” he says. And I find myself both relieved and surprised. He adds, “I apologize.”

Silence again.

I wait.

And wait.

“Okay, good talk,” I mumble.

“It’s just that she reminds of someone I used to know. The resemblance is fucking uncanny.”

“You think you used to know her?”

“No. Not Madison. I don’t know her at all.”

His words confuse me. Before I can say anything, he says, “I’ll be out of town until your fight—got business to take care of—so you probably won’t hear from me until then.”

“Okay.”

“All right, Parker. I’ll see ya.”

I hang up and stare down at my phone.

Something feels off about the way he’d spoken to me. There were no threats in his words, no form of authority.

I call Jackson, who’s already expecting my call.

I give him the details of the meet, leaving out the parts about Maddy. I also leave out the tiny part of me that’s really starting to wonder about DeLuca, about the case, and whether it’s worth it.

But then Jackson thanks me, tells me how much he appreciates everything I’m doing. And just like that, I decide that Jackson and what he wants—what we want—it’s more important than what I’m feeling.

I decide to put him first.

Because he earned it.

And after everything he and his family have done for me, he sure as shit deserves it.

19

KY

FOR THE LAST four days, I’ve woken up with Madison sleeping peacefully next to me, and every morning I question the exact same thing. What the hell could be better than this? And the answer is, and probably always will be; nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Her eyes are closed, but the corners of her lips curl. “Are you watching me again?”