"I know what you're thinking," Luke said. He started to reach for me and then dropped his hand as if he'd realized it wasn't a good idea. "But you've got to trust me. I'm doing this for both of us."

I didn't like the way he'd said this. "Doing what?"

He shook his head. "I can't talk about it, other than to say that plans are in place that will make sure we're both safe."

That didn't make me feel any better. If anything, the knots in my stomach got worse. "What plans? Why can't you tell me?" I was trying very hard not to sound like some hysterical, nagging girlfriend.

"I can't say." He glanced around again. No one was looking at us. He lowered his voice. "But it's in connection with the two men you met at your grandmother's place."

My eyes widened. He didn't look upset, just determined. I could keep pushing until he either gave in or, more likely, got pissed off enough to break up with me. I refused to be that girl.

"Okay," I said. "I trust you."

I wasn't, however, strong enough to just walk away. I threw my arms around him and pressed my face against his chest. If I was going to have to go without him, I'd need some memories to keep me going. He ran his hand up and down my back while the other cupped the back of my head.

When I spoke, my voice was muffled because I didn't raise my head. "Can we at least get together for a...a quickie?" My cheeks burned.

He laughed, the sound going straight to that place inside me that twisted and squirmed whenever I thought of him.

"That should've been my line." He sighed. "It's not that I don't want to."

I looked up at him and saw that his eyes had darkened.

"Believe me," he said, his voice rough. "I want to. But it's only one more week until the fight." He brushed his fingers across my cheek and gave me a half smile. "Can you hang in there that long?"

I narrowed my eyes, like I was considering, then said, "You'd better give me a damn good kiss before I go, then."

He grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

He cupped the back of my head as he took my mouth. It was one of those kisses that books describe with those crazy phrases like 'head-spinning' or 'earth-shattering.' The kind of kiss that not only made me forget that this was good-bye for a week, or that we were standing in the middle of a gym. This was the kind of kiss that made me forget my own name. It was teeth and tongue and lips demanding and claiming, making sure that I was left with absolutely no doubt about how much he wanted me.

When he finally broke it, we both had to take a minute to catch our breath, and then I needed an extra minute before I was steady enough on my feet to walk. I could feel the reluctance in his arms as he released me.

"One more week," he said. The heat in his gaze was enough to make my heart stutter. "One more week, and then you're all mine."

He turned around and walked away without looking back. I let myself watch for just a few more seconds, and then I followed his example and left without a second glance.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Luke Five days.

Four more days of intense training, twelve to sixteen hours a day. Running, lifting, jumping rope, punching bags, sparring. Joe would have me do a light workout just to stay loose the day of the fight, but for the next four days, I would continue to eat, drink and breathe training. And staying focused had been a piece of cake. Any time I felt my attention straying, I'd remind myself that this was all so I could be with the two people I cared about more than anyone else, and none of us would ever have to worry about Bruno again.

I had to admit, the new motivation and Coach pushing me so hard had resulted in me being in the best shape of my life. Despite my exhaustion and sore muscles, I'd never felt better, and I'd never looked better, either. And I wasn't just hearing that from a couple of the women who would sneak in to watch my training, until Joe threw them out. Even Coach was saying it.

"I have to say, Luke, the way you're looking now, I really think you're gonna win this thing." Joe leaned against the ropes as I finished up on the bag. "I've never seen form that good."

I grinned at him, trying not to show my pleased surprise at the compliments. Joe wasn't exactly known for his positive reinforcement. "What's wrong, Coach? Getting soft in your old age?"

He gave a bark of a laugh. "Give me fifteen minutes with the jump rope and see if you still wanna ask me that."

I kept grinning as I picked up the rope. Coach's confidence was infectious. The Butcher was going down and Bruno was going with him.

Five more days and I'd be free.

"All right, into the ring. Let's see what you can do." Joe waited until I'd been training for nearly ten hours before calling over my usual sparring partner for a couple rounds.

Benny had been warming up for about an hour and that was it. I didn't bother pointing out the unfairness of it. This was underground MMA. Only a total douchebag would complain about something being unfair. Besides, I felt pretty good about my odds.

The first match was a joke. I didn't know if Benny was playing with me or if he was really that caught off guard by how much faster I was than I'd been just a couple days ago, but whatever the reason, he only threw two punches and neither of those landed. That left me open to throw a typical one-two punch and I knocked him on his ass.

He was pissed when he got up, and he gave me a bit more of a challenge. I absorbed the blows easily, barely even registering any pain. My eyes tracked Benny's familiar pattern of bobs and weaves with the expert vision of an animal tracking its prey. One of the problems sparring with the same people is that you learn their weaknesses. Joe would probably bring in someone new a day or two before the fight for some light sparring, just to see how I did against someone different.

Just like he always did, Benny dropped his arm when I feinted to his ribs and I landed a solid right to his jaw.

I took a minute to get some water while Benny shook his head and got to his feet. I really got his dander up with that last move. I could see it on his face and hear it in the pace of his breathing. But that was a good thing. I needed to train with an opponent with as much anger as The Butcher.

His first two hits came in hard, but I blocked them both. I barely got my elbow down to take his sidekick. I was starting to get tired. That was a good thing, though. Better to see how I could handle this now rather than waiting until I was against The Butcher.

I took some hits this time, but still gave much better than I got. Benny was staggering after just a few minutes, and I was still on my feet. I may have been dealing with muscle fatigue, but I was in better shape than Benny. Two more solid hits and he went down for a third time.

I heard a slow clap from the far side of the ring and instinctively knew who it was. I turned as Bruno approached the ring. It took all my self-control not to let the adrenaline from the fight carry over into beating the shit out of Bruno. That wouldn't accomplish anything, except me getting my ass kicked by his two goons.

"I see you're getting better," he said. "But it's still not good enough. You'll need to be a hundred times better to beat my guy."

"We'll see about that." I gave him a slight smile of defiance. "I'm looking forward to it."

Bruno sneered at me. "I have a feeling the pleasure will be all mine...and The Butcher's."

He walked away before I could say anything. The words I wanted to say boiled up in my throat, but keeping my mouth shut was the best thing for right now. I turned towards Benny with a snap.

"Again."

Chapter Twenty-Five.

Luke I was a little surprised when Coach wanted me to spar with Benny again two days later. I'd been sure he'd have someone new, but when I asked him about it, he just said that no one else wanted to do it. The pleased look on his face told me that he thought it was because no one wanted to go up against me.

I thought the same thing until a couple minutes into the match.

Benny had just put me into a tight leg hold on the mat and I was about to get out of it when he twisted my leg and pain flared in my knee. Fuuuck! I rolled over as Coach threw Benny off of me and I spit out my mouth guard right there onto the mat.

"What the fuck, Benny?!" Joe shouted as he got in Benny's face.

"It was an accident, Coach," I said as I pushed myself up into a sitting position, my eyes pinching shut as I winced. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I wasn't trying to move my leg yet. Pain radiated out from my knee, shooting lightning bolts through my nerves. I could see it starting to swell already. I hadn't heard a break and I didn't see anything that looked crooked or out of place, but I wasn't going to take any chances moving it until Coach at least had a look.

"Accident, my ass," Joe snapped.

By the time Coach and I looked up, Benny had ducked under the ropes and ran towards the locker room. Coach turned to me. "Don't you think it's a weird coincidence Bruno was here yesterday watching you train and now this happens?" He knelt next to me. "I saw Benny's hold, he didn't need to do that. Goddamn..."

"Jesus, Coach, just tell me it's not broken," I said.

I breathed through the pain as Joe began to do his thing. He didn't have a medical degree or anything like that, but after decades of training fighters, he was as good as any doctor when it came to breaks, sprains, tears and all the other things that happened in this profession.

He gingerly touched his fingertips around my kneecap. "Doesn't look like any breaks. Probably just a bad sprain. Maybe a tear in a ligament, but we'd need an x-ray to say for sure," Joe said. He looked up at me. "That's the good news."

A sour panic hit the pit of my stomach and Coach sat back on his heels with a sigh. "This is so fucked up, Luke. We have three days until the match and there's no way you'll be able to fight. You'll have to forfeit."

I could see everyone else in the gym looking my way, trying to figure out why I was down and how bad it was, but I barely registered them. Joe's words were buzzing in my ears.

Forfeit.

There's no way in hell I would forfeit. I'd be signing my own death warrant, and Dani-who knew what Bruno would do to Dani when he found her. And what kind of life would Lacey have if I wasn't there to protect her from all of the assholes her mother brought home? Even if Bruno dumped her, Cindy would find someone else. Maybe someone who had a perverted preference for someone younger...

I shook my head. "No," I said. I clenched my jaw, grabbed onto the ropes and pulled myself to my feet. I didn't put any weight on my left leg, but at least I was up. "I'll fight even if I have to limp through the whole damn match."

Joe climbed down from the ring and I followed, biting back the shooting pain as I hobbled after Coach. He went into the locker room and I knew what he was going to do.

Sure enough, by the time I got in there, he was in his locker, rooting around for his phone. I hadn't said a word but he knew I would protest.

"You can't fight, Luke," he said without looking at me. "You'll get killed."

I wanted to say that it didn't matter, because I knew that if I forfeited, Bruno would still kill me, and, worse, I'd take out the two most important people in my world. Dani and Lacey were my entire reason for living. I couldn't let them down.

"I'm calling Bruno right now and canceling the match. This is insane."

I grabbed the phone out of his hand, taking it easily only because he didn't expect me to do anything. I threw it to the ground and it shattered, shards of cheap plastic flying everywhere.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Coach asked. "Have you lost your mind?"

I braced myself against the lockers. My knee felt like it was on fire and all I wanted to do was sit, but I had to do this standing to prove that I could.

"You can't cancel this match," I spoke through gritted teeth. "There's too much at stake. I can take him even if I'm hurt. You said yourself that I'm in the best shape ever."

Coach scowled at me. "That was before you lost your ability to move quickly. You need to be light on your feet."

I kept arguing. "There's still two more days. With the right therapy, I can recover enough to go through with this."

He was directly in front of me now. Joe grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me so that we were nose-to-nose. "Why is this so damn important to you?" He spat the words and I felt his breath on my face.

I had to tell him. He had to understand if he was going to agree to let me do this. "You've met her." I took a breath and added, "And it's not just about Dani. Lacey's involved, too."

Coach let go of me and I straightened. His eyes widened with the announcement and I could see the concern on his face. He loved my daughter almost as much as I did. "Lacey? What's wrong? Tell me that she's okay."

"She's okay," I said. "For now. But if I don't do what I have to do, she won't be for long."

Joe's eyes narrowed. "You're not making any sense, Luke. What does Lacey have to do with all of this?"

"I'm guessing you haven't heard. Bruno's involved with my ex." I sank down on a bench, my leg straight out in front of me. "I'm trying to get custody of my daughter, and the only way I can do that is to win this match."

I sat there, with my head hung low, staring at my newly-swollen knee, feeling a massive void beginning to open up inside of me. I lifted my eyes to Coach. He was posed with his eyes skyward, as if in deep thought. After a moment, he clapped his hand down on my shoulder. "I know exactly the physical therapist we need to see. He's a genius. If anybody can get your knee in shape in time for the match, it's him."

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Luke "Damn mother fucker, that hurt like hell!" I swore at the therapist Coach had sent me to see. "I thought you were supposed to fix it, not make it worse!" I was almost yelling at the mild-looking man standing across from me, but I couldn't feel bad about it. I was too busy trying to process pain and frustration.

"I don't know what Joe told you about me, but even though I might be the best physical therapist in New York, I'm not a freaking miracle worker. I can't heal with a wave of my hand." Dr. Kendrick leaned against the sink cabinet.

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Sorry. I know. I'm just freaking out. There's a lot on the line in this fight."

The therapist's expression was serious as he walked over to the x-ray panel on the wall. "I know this is really important to you, but there's more at stake here than you realize. If your opponent kicks you, just once, in that knee, you probably won't be able to walk again after this fight." He switched on the light, revealing the x-ray of my knee. He tapped on the part of it that I assumed was injured. "If this isn't allowed sufficient time to heal, you'll be limping for the rest of your life, if you're lucky. If you're not, you could end up in a wheelchair."

I ran a hand through my hair. I didn't really need to think about it. "Just fix it so I can get through this match. That's my only option. I don't know how much Coach told you but other people's lives are on the line."

Dr. Kendrick frowned. "He told me about it. Listen, all I can do is bandage it up, give you..." I could see something click. "Wait a minute. This is an underground fight, right? That means they don't test for drugs."

I nodded. That was something Bruno and I had gone round and round about. As long as I'd been winning, he'd let me stay clean, but he'd made it known that if I started to lose, he'd stick a needle in me, whether I wanted it or not.

Dr. Kendrick crossed to a cabinet, unlocked it and took out a small bottle. "Take two of these before the fight. They'll make you forget the pain...at least for a while."

"What are they? They're not going to make me drowsy, are they?" Pain or no pain, I wasn't going to let anything compromise my ability to fight.

"On the contrary," he said. "These are stimulants. They'll make you more alert." He handed them to me.

I took the bottle and read the label. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew enough to know these were some kind of amphetamine. Normally, I'd never touch this shit, but with everything going on, I wasn't going to rule out any advantage. I shoved the bottle in my pocket and stood, careful to keep my weight on my right leg instead of my left. I held out my hand and Dr. Kendrick shook it.

"I know you're risking your license giving me these. I really appreciate it. More than you know. Thank you."

"Any time," he said. "I'm a big fan and I trust Coach's decision. Just don't get yourself crippled out there, okay?"

Yesterday, when I went back to my hotel room, I followed all of Coach and Dr. Kendrick's instructions. Unfortunately, lying in bed icing my knee had meant too much time to think. I'd tried to sleep, but it had been a while coming. When I'd woken up this morning, my knee had been stiff as hell and swollen. I'd taken it easy getting dressed and popped a couple pain killers. Nothing heavy-duty. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do about the amphetamines the doc had given me, so I hadn't taken them. I'd just needed something to take the edge off.