My shift at Daisy’s the next day dragged interminably. Since our last showdown, Katrina had kept out of my way, but I guessed that was the way with bullies. They’re all about confrontation as long as it was on their terms.

“Hey, hun. How are you holding up?” Rhona asked me, as I was cleaning cutlery. We were at a lull between customers, and I really needed to keep busy.

“I’m nervous,” I admitted. “In my head, I know he’s ready for this fight, but I guess I’ll just never get used to seeing him take a punch.”

“Well, there are plenty of ring-side junkies who get off on watching men fight. I’ll bet he appreciates you worrying about him,” she replied.

“Don’t get me wrong; watching him train is hotter than hell. It’s just that when I think about what can happen to him in the ring...” I couldn’t finish, but Rhona knew what I meant.

“He knows the risks, love. He always has,” she told me, as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and squeezed.

“I just have a bad feeling about tonight,” I admitted.

“You’re a fighter’s wife now, which means that on fight day he needs to believe that you’ve got as much faith in him as he has in himself. So, you’ve got...” she paused to look at the clock, “two hours to stop looking like someone ran over your cat and get your game face on.”

I smiled grimly, knowing she was right. It was time to stop letting my stupid fears control me. After tonight, it would be one down, and one to go. I needed to take one fight at a time and put this stupid, irrational sense of foreboding to the back of my mind. Two hours later, my shift finished, and I was ready. As I left the diner, completely bundled up against the cold, I found Kieran leaning against his bike waiting for me.

“Kieran, what are you doing stood out here? You must be freezing!” I exclaimed.

“As it happens, I am a bit feckin’ cold, so if you could move your pretty little arse Mrs. O’Connell, we can get back to your lovely warm flat,” he said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes but climbed onto the back of his bike.

“Where’s O’Connell?” I asked.

“He’s been hanging about my place for a bit listening to music and playing video games, but he doesn’t want to see you until the fight.”

“Why?” I asked alarmed, and Kieran turned around to give me a huge grin.

“He’s pretty evil right now, and he’s looking to fuck someone up. He doesn’t like you seeing him like that.” I nodded, knowing that O’Connell didn’t like showing me the person that he needed to become.

If Kieran was that happy, though, he must have thought the fight was in the bag. I was more than ready to watch O’Connell close this down and have him back in my bed. We got back to the flat, and I made quick work of changing and applying my make-up before we were back out on Kieran’s bike.

“Hold on to your knickers, baby, and let’s get this show on the road,” he told me, as I grabbed him around the waist and braced myself. It was hard not to be infected by Kieran’s enthusiasm. He was so wired with excited, nervous energy he looked ready to burst. The closer we got to the venue, the more my anxiety fell away. Unlike the last time, I was now conditioned to watch O’Connell take punch after punch in training, and I had a better understanding of just how prepared he was. Unlike my soft, bruisable flesh, his abs, his core, every part of his body, was rock hard. He told me that he was in the best shape of his life, and it was easy to believe. It wasn’t a matter of whether he took Calvari down, but in what round, and how he would do it. We wound our way through the backstage corridors and then into the main venue.

“Why aren’t we going to see O’Connell?” I asked, unhappily.

“Because he hasn’t seen you all day, so he’ll want to kiss the fuck out of you. If I keep you out here, it will make him mad, and tonight, mad is good.”

I followed him as he led, but I didn’t like it.

“Kier, you’re an evil corner man, you know that?”

He looked back and smiled, waggling his eyebrows and making me laugh. I was slightly mollified when he led me to my front row seat, and I found the gang waiting for me.

“Em,” Nikki screamed, hugging me hard. She was already a little tipsy, but obviously pleased to see me.

“Good Christmas?” I asked, and she nodded, regaling me with tales of her many nights out over the past few weeks. Big hugs followed from Albie, Ryan, Max, and a few of the girls I knew in passing as Nikki’s friends. Before I knew it, the lights dimmed, and the music started pounding. It was time.

AS IT WAS A HOME FIGHT, Calvari sauntered out first. It was clear this was so much more high profile than the last fight by the fancy strobe lighting and the legion of entourage following Calvari to the ring. Rap music pounded through the speakers as he climbed through the ropes and walked around wearing a cocky smirk, his hands in the air.

“Jesus, he’s huge,” I murmured to Nikki.

“So is your boy.” She pointed out.

O’Connell’s music came on, and my breath hitched. I’d only gone a day without seeing him, but this was the power he had over me. Kieran, Danny, Tommy, and Mac followed him to the ring, and I smiled when I saw Tommy high fiving the crowd like he was fighting tonight. Men were slapping O’Connell on the back and shouting words of encouragement as though they were best of friends, but he only had eyes for me. I knew this look. He was focused and in the zone. He stopped in front of me and bent his head. Hanging from the chain next to his cross was his wedding ring. Taking them both, I held onto them tightly, not wanting to part with them even to tie them around my neck.

“Sunshine,” he said gently until I looked him in the eyes, “I got this.”

I nodded in agreement as he gave me a quick hard kiss, but I couldn’t help the sense of foreboding that gave me goosebumps. O’Connell climbed into the ring and looked calm as he bounced up and down, rolling his shoulders to warm up. His gaze remained firmly on Calvari. I could see Calvari baiting him with insults, but my boy remained stoic. Although Calvari was acting more like the underdog than O’Connell, something still didn’t feel right.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your support this evening and welcome to tonight’s main event. Introducing, in the blue corner, from Palermo, Italy, weighing in at two hundred and twenty-seven pounds, Roberto “the Destroyer” Calvari.”