Chapter Forty-one

Kirk Jensen narrowed his eyes as Mitch handed over a huge stack of cash. “How’d you manage to pull it together so fast, Corrigan?”Mitch met his stare. “My first quarterly sponsorship payment came through. So if you take into account this, plus the smaller payments I’ve been making on the interest these past three months, I figure the debt’s paid off and we’re square.”Kirk leaned back. “Well. Bridget is square with Al.”“Yeah. She is.”“But you’re not square. Not with me.”Mitch smiled grimly. “I thought you might say that.” He pulled out another stack of cash and set it next to the first one. “Will that do it?”Kirk waved his hand. “I don’t want your money.”Mitch leaned back too. “So what do you want?”“You, man. I want to keep you in my stable.”“Why?” Mitch said coldly. “You’ve got plenty of guys – younger, hungrier fighters – to throw in the ring. Why me?”“You’re a money-maker, Corrigan. The crowds love you.”“Well, I’m glad to be so popular. But I want out now.”“It’s not that

Chapter Forty-two

He sighed. “This isn’t an official fight, babe. No rules, nobody to call it off if things get too rough. More than that, it’s – it’s a grudge match. It’s personal. And that means that it’s going to get as ugly as it possibly can. If you’re there, I may feel like I have to hold back, to protect you from seeing me at my worst. But Simon’s going to come after me hard, and I’m going to have to do more than just defend myself. I’m going to have to give back as good as I get – and then I have to go farther.”A chill passed over her skin. “How far?”His green eyes were hard. “As far as it takes for him to lose. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to beat Simon, and I don’t want you to be there for that.” He took her hand. “If you saw that side of me, Reena, I just couldn’t face you, knowing you’d seen me do those kinds of things to someone.”“What kinds of things?”Mitch was silent.“Are you – would you…”“I have no intention of killing him, babe,” Mitch said quietly. “But I will get as cl

Chapter Forty-three

Mitch sat on the stool, staring across the concrete floor at Simon. He was gratified to see that the fucker looked about as bad as Mitch felt. They were just going into round three, and Mitch couldn’t believe the amount of damage they had inflicted on each other after just six minutes of fighting: to the delight of the howling, jostling crowd, both men were hitting harder than he ever thought possible. His hands were already swollen and burning under the tape, and it barely helped that Nick was holding the chilled enswell against his knuckles. Adam leaned over him now, holding a cotton swab liberally soaked in epinephrine to stop the bleeding around Mitch’s eye and on his temple. “How you doing?”“Good.” Mitch blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. “How am I looking, cutman?”Adam grinned briefly. “Yeah, you do know that cutmen usually have way more medical training that an ex-boxer, right? I’m still not sure that I was your best choice for this job, Corrigan.”“I didn’t want any

Chapter Forty-four

Simon’s hot, excited breath was on his cheek now; it was almost a caress. “Your front door code, Corrigan. After I choke you out and stomp on your fucking head, I’m going to go over to your place and visit Reena. Finish what I started, and bring a few friends with me. The next time you see that bitch’s face, she’ll look like a goddamn Picasso. All in pieces and every color under the sun. Oh, and of course, her cunt will be ripped wide open. That’s a given, right?”Reena’s face appeared in front of Mitch now, and a surge of love just washed over him as he realized that his reasons for fighting Simon had completely changed. It wasn’t for Mitch to get out from under Kirk’s thumb; it wasn’t about any lingering doubts that Al may have about Bridget’s debt being settled; it wasn’t even about revenge for Simon hurting Reena. Not anymore. What he was really doing in this fucking warehouse at midnight, rolling around on a cement floor, was all about getting Simon to stay the fuck away from Ree

Chapter Forty-five

Two days later, Reena came home from a day of meetings at three different art galleries and then shopping. She stood for a minute, trying to recall the new door code that Mitch had insisted from his hospital bed that she set, then she punched it in. She opened the door, precariously juggling two bags of groceries with her laptop bag and a cup of takeaway coffee.From behind her, large hands appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the groceries. She gave a small scream and turned. “Shhhh. It’s OK, sugar. It’s me.”Mitch was standing there in the hallway. She stared at him, took in the bruising and damage on his cheek, the stitches on his temple.“What are you doing here?” she said, astonished. “You’re supposed to be in the hospital for two more days!”He smiled. “And I’m happy to see you, too.” “But…”“Hush, babe. Let’s get inside and we’ll talk, OK?”She followed him in, torn between being thrilled to see him and worried about him not being in the hospital. Mitch deposited the groceries

Chapter Forty-six

A few hours later, Mitch rolled over and reached for Reena. His hand touched the mattress of her bed and he opened his eyes. She was gone, and he knew where he’d find her.He padded next door to her studio and stood in the doorway watching her. She was intent on what she was doing, totally focused, and he waited quietly for her to notice him, not wanting to disturb her if she was in some kind of artistic zen world. She dabbed some paint, stepped back, cocked her head. She looked up then and saw him standing there. At the sight of his huge chest and gorgeous face, her whole body heated up, yearning for him.“Hi,” she said. “How long have you been standing there?”“Less than a minute.”“You move quietly for such a big guy. It’s rather ninja-esque of you.”“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” He hesitated. “Can I see? Can I see some of your paintings?”Reena looked up at him in surprise. He’d never expressed any interest in her work before, beyond asking how it was going, and she had just as