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M y hands clench again as I watch Viv take another hit to the face. She’s tiring, and her lack of blocking is showing. This new fighter is energized and quick to see her faults. I fucking hate it. And yet I’ve never been so hard in my life.

For the first time, I war internally.

How can I possibly get off on watching her kick ass and yet want to spank her ass for every hit she lets through?

I’m angry that she’s doing this and proud that she didn’t give a fuck about what I wanted, as she knows her own strength.

I’ve met some women in my life who can handle their own.

The Crazy Eights come to mind, a group of females who do whatever the fuck they want to get results.

But—and let’s make this clear: I’ve never actually seen women fight before more than the vamp catfights with hair pulling and shit—Viv is water.

Fluid in motion with every jab and strike.

She’s a fucking machine. But this is her fourth fight, and I don’t know many who can go this far, or even further.

“Damn, how much more can she take?” Lucky says beside me, and I grunt in agreement.

“Another two rounds if she has her way.”

I turn to the newcomer who decided to just butt into our conversation. I’m already hot and have no problem letting off some energy, either fucking or hitting, and Viv doesn’t look like she’s up for the first one right now .

But the face that greets me, even with the giant-ass grin, has me pausing. I never thought I’d see this fucker again, much less here.

“Tommy Leone.” I reach out my hand to give his a shake. “What the fuck, man?” I ease my response to his appearance with a smirk of my own. Don’t need to be making waves with the brother of the head of the mafia empire on the East Coast.

“Nice to see you too.”

I tilt my head a bit at that. He’s more reserved than the last time I saw him.

Then again, when he went to battle against the Russian mafia for his sister’s safety, he didn’t come back in one piece.

The bullet that hit him in the neck should have killed him.

Instead, he has one helluva scar and a deeper, raspier voice.

Last time I saw him in action, the girls went nuts for it.

But that was who he was, the life of the party.

The youngest of the four Leone brothers and able to do what he pleased.

However, he doesn’t look so carefree now.

Not sure if other shit went on, or if the idea of being that close to death finally caught up to him.

Most Hounds realize that death is inevitable. Either from being in the club or out of it, we all get that it’s just a matter of time. Living life to the fullest is the only way to do it. Part of the reason we live hard and love harder—we’ve got no clue when the Reaper will call us down.

But there are some who don’t know the truth. Those who think they have time, that they’re immune to death. When they get that wake-up call, things change for them. Some embrace it, others run. Not sure where Tommy is on the spectrum, but he’s just… different.

“You know Menace?” I use her stage name to not show my hand. But the fact that I’m asking after her probably already does. And the twitch of his lips lets me know he caught it too.

“I do. Menace is one of the fighters I sponsor.”

I raise a single eyebrow and look at my boys, who’ve taken an interest in our conversation rather than the fight in front of us.

Viv is tied to the mafia? Wonder if she knows.

If she does, this stalker thing might be because of that.

Maybe it’s just the way to get Tommy to come here.

Did she call him? I have more questions than anything.

Looking back, I grunt as I see her get clocked to the left and stumble a bit.

It was a gimmie shot if I ever saw one, and I hate that I can’t help her.

But from the way she spoke to me before the fight, I doubt she’d ever let me fight a battle for her.

Call me a caveman or whatever, but I want to fight them for her.

I want to lock her up in a box and keep her safe.

It’s my own issue I have to work on, because that’s the last thing Viv needs.

She’s not the box-containing type. And if I keep thinking I can, and don’t stop to think for a second before opening my big mouth like last time, she’d be the type that doesn’t want me in her life.

She has mafia backing. If she wants it, she can pull ties from us and have them deal with her issue.

“She should have sat down after that first fight, but I saw her give the go-ahead for the next,” Tommy murmurs.

“You saying this isn’t normal?” Mickey asks.

Tommy shakes his head. “We don’t want our investments injured.

This is trial night. Those who are fighting are trying to get our attention.

They’re supposed to show a good face, but the veterans aren’t meant to really break a sweat.

We even limit their night to three fights total, but she went over that little hurdle easily. ”

“This going to be a problem?” I grumble. I don’t want her to mess up her career because she’s angry at me. And there’s no mistaking that’s who is still pissing her off. Each time she can, her eyes find me and glare. Hard.

I try, I really do, to be neutral. Don’t need her to know how affected I am by this. I was hoping if I showed no emotion, hers would filter out and she’d call it quits. But that didn’t work at all. It might have egged her on even more.

For a woman who screams about how she’s so laid-back, it obviously doesn’t apply when she’s in combat mode.

“Nope. Menace has been in the business for a while. Most know her, if not personally, then by reputation. The veterans who fight only do so because they’ve got nothing else going on.

It messes with their training more than anything.

The others have got no issue with her taking more than she was scheduled.

For them, they just see it as an extra shift.

They get paid the same to be here, fight or not. ”

“Seem’s cheap,” Bane mutters.

Tommy chuckles, all in his throat and menacing like. “Don’t worry, I make sure all my girls are looked after and well compensated. Wouldn’t be a very good sponsor if I let them just take league minimum. My girls are the best, and they get treated as such.”

He nods to the ring, and I turn in time to catch my girl uppercut her opponent and send her off her feet before she crashes to the floor.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tommy gesture to Mack, who’s just to our left.

He nods once and makes his way to the ring, hopping in quickly and giving the ref and announcer one of his own nods .

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give it up for Menace. If you like what you see from her tonight, come back in two weeks to watch her fight Scorpion.”

The crowd screams for Viv, who just zones out as Mack and his team escort her back to the curtained area. She has some blood on her, other parts are swollen, but nothing looks broken. At least not that I saw, and I was watching closely. Up to the point when Tommy showed himself.

“You just get in?” I turn back and ask, curious to know when he arrived.

“Right before the second fight. Mack called me.”

His words and narrowed eyes have me nodding.

I get it. Viv doesn’t know. Or at least not till tonight.

Hope she takes the news better than the conversation we had.

I might not know Tommy as well as my club brothers, but I’d never wish the wrath of a woman on another male.

It’s basically the equivalent of asking a man to hand over his balls.

No one wants to see it, even if it has to be done sometimes.

“Shall we?” He nods toward the blocked-off area where Viv went, and I don’t pretend I don’t know why he’s asking.

I actually appreciate that I don’t have to do a song and dance thing about liking Viv while not knowing what I need to say to keep the mafia happy.

Unlike Casper, I’m not good at diplomacy.

My name’s Domino for a reason: I knock shit down and blow it up before I have to hold a decent conversation with someone.

Especially someone with ties to an organization that the club isn’t sure is friend or foe.

Sure, their mafia princess is a club member’s old lady, but that doesn’t mean everything is sunshine and rainbows.

We have a working relationship, one in which we both work in our own areas and don’t interrupt the other.

At least not yet. Who knows when the tide will change, and who’ll be calling first when it does.

We head to the back, both his men and mine following, but I can hear Viv yelling before we even get close.

“What the hell is he doing here, Mack?”

I eye Tommy as he looks at me. Really, it could go either way right now between us.

“And this is why I stick to the vamps. Am I right?” Lucky chuckles and elbows Bane, who grunts and full-on shoves him into one of the curtains.

Bane actually smiles when he sees Lucky bump into one of the makeshift tables that has a person on it.

As do I when the girl on it grabs Lucky by the collar and punches him so hard he stumbles into another curtain room.

But before he can get hit again, Mickey is pulling him out by the back of his vest.

“Easy, Casanova.”

“Did I win?”

The rest of the guys, including Tommy, chuckle at that.

Lucky might need a change in road name if this keeps up.

Guy is having a helluva time with the ladies.

If I didn’t see him getting it on with the new vamps at the clubhouse, I’d be worried.

Seems he’s got a type. Or should I say, there’s a type that isn’t into him.