“What?” she asked.

“Two things. One, don’t say “cock” anymore. My dick twitches every time that word comes out of your pretty pink lips. And two, please don’t mention Danny in the same sentence as my cock. You can’t know how fucking wrong it feels to have that old codger’s face pop into my head when I’m hard as a fucking diamond.”

She collapsed against me in a fit of giggles, and I laid my head on her chest as she played absentmindedly with my hair, letting the sound of her laughter seep into my soul. However much I might regret not taking Frank out, I know I would never have this amount of peace with Em in my arms if I had.

That alone made it the right decision. I was a violent man. Throwing punches and taking hits would always be part of who I was. But for her, I had to choose a different path. Because at the end of the day, I’d be walking toward Sunshine. And that was a journey always worth taking.

* * *

We slept late into the next morning, and nobody came to wake us. If Frank had given me up, the police would have been beating down the door long ago.

“Shouldn’t you be at the gym?” mumbled Em, her hair sticking up all over the place adorably.

“I think we should call off the Temple fight,” I told her.

“Why?” she asked sitting bolt upright in bed.

“I’m fighting in a matter of weeks, and I’m nowhere near ready. Plus Frank isn’t going anywhere, and I know we agreed to move forward from that,” I said putting my hands up in surrender. “But I still need to keep you safe and I can’t do that from the other side of the world.”

“No,” she said decisively, climbing out of bed.

“What do you mean, no?” I asked, pulling my T-shirt over my head.

“I meant exactly what I said. You are not calling off this fight. This will make your career, and if you drop out at the last minute, you’ll destroy it.”

“That’s exaggerating a bit…” I was six feet five inches but she stopped me in my tracks as she looked at me, stark naked with her hands on her little hips and one eyebrow raised. She didn’t say anything, but knowing she’d made her point, she carried on walking to the bathroom. Jeez, my stubborn woman made me all kinds of fucking hot.

“Fine! So my career would take a hit, but what do you propose we do about Frank? I leave for training camp in the US in a couple of weeks. You’ve got exams in two. How am I supposed to fight when I’m worrying about you here all alone?” She turned on the shower, drowning out my voice.

“Emmm…?” I pleaded, and she kissed me then climbed into the shower.

“Trust me, I’ve got an enormous brain. I’ll think of something. Now get dressed. You’ve got a lot of work to do, and I need to have a word with Danny.”

Rolling my eyes, I did as I was told. Despite all my protests, I knew she was right. Em wanted me to fight, and I wanted to win. Having made my peace with the part of myself that needed revenge, I was ready to show the rest of the world what I was made of.

* * *

The guys were all congregated in the office eating bacon sandwiches when we arrived.

“Here you go, darlin’. I saved you one,” Danny said, handing Em a wrapped sandwich.

“Where’s mine?” I asked.

“You’re in training,” Earnshaw pointed out, “or are you?”

“I am,” I replied with a smile.

“So what’s the plan?” Kieran asked with a mouth full of food.

Em took charge. “O’Connell’s fighting this guy, and he’s going to win. For the next couple of weeks, he lives here unless he’s sleeping, and the same goes for me. I’ve got exams in two weeks, and I’ve missed a lot of school lately. So if it’s okay with you, Danny, I’m going to use the office to study while O’Connell’s training. Heath, do you think you’ll be able to pick me up in the mornings on the way in? I know O’Connell won’t want me walking in alone, and I don’t fancy coming in at the crack of dawn with him,” she said.

“Happy to,” he answered, licking sauce from his fingers as the soggy meal started disintegrating into his hands.

“What about your shifts at Daisy’s?” I asked her.

“I’m going to ask Mike and Rhona to share my shifts between the other waitresses until the fight is over,” she answered.

“Honey, he wins this fight, you won’t ever need to waitress again. You could be a kept woman,” Earnshaw said. He grinned, oblivious to the slashing across the throat gestures Kieran and Tommy were making, telling him to quit it.

My little hellion turned to him, her hands on those cute-arse hips of hers and informed him, quite matter-of-factly, that she had no interest in being any such thing. “Besides, we don’t abandon out friends. Mike and Rhona have been good to me. I’ll keep waitressing as long as it takes them to find a replacement, even if we don’t need the money.”

“Em never thought too seriously about what I could potentially earn in the future. We never had anything, and we were doing just fine. If Earnshaw made a little money for us from sponsorship, so much the better. But it wouldn’t change who we were, and I fucking loved that.

“What do we do about Frank?” Tommy asked. “He ain’t just gonna disappear ’cause Con gave him a scare.”

“Keep your eyes peeled,” Danny replied. “If you see him, take a picture on your phone, or make a note of the date and time. I called the copper this morning who helped us find Em. He’s one of the good guys and would love to nail Frank to the wall. Don’t think he’s a big lover of dirty coppers either. So as of now, he’s putting together a harassment case so we can try and get a restraining order. Everything goes to him.” We nodded in agreement, the boys too busy stuffing their faces to say much.

“Well if that’s decided, then you’d best get your lazy arses out into that gym and do some work. Con, you’re a feckin’ long way from where you need to be, and we’ve practically no time to get you there. So what are you waiting for, feckin’ Christmas? Get to work,” Danny barked. Leaning around him to give Em a quick kiss before he slapped me, I legged it to get changed. I was hungry like I’d never been hungry before, and today was a brand-new day.

Chapter 22

I was doing one-handed press-ups when the iconic trumpets sounded from the speakers of the gym. Some of the other kids had stopped at the music, but hearing what it was, they laughed and carried on training, only harder. I smiled at them. You couldn’t help it. “Flying High Now” was fucking electric because it made you root for the underdog. Made you think you could do just about anything if you worked hard and were focused enough.