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MAXINE

I wave my arms over my head, absorbing the crowd’s loud applause and admiration. It’s the only time I feel alive, the only time I’ve felt loved until?—

I swagger to the center of the cage and size up Maya, my opponent. I’d only fought her once before, but I remember her moves. The advantage of having a photographic memory. I have a few inches on her, but what she lacks in height, she makes up in overall bulk, from her muscled neck down to her thick thighs. My long reach, agility and the precision of my hits assures me I can take her down, but because we are evenly matched, no one would suspect when I tap out in the end.

The bell rings, and Maya lunges. I step to the side, easily avoiding her—too easy. Maybe I’d have to work a little harder to make my defeat look real. I set up for a roundhouse kick and purposely miss her. She winds up for an overhand punch, and I let it land. I stagger slightly ‘cause, shit, her fist is like a jackhammer.

“Maxie, get in there,” Diesel yells from the bleachers.

I strike again, just grazing her jaw, and she counters with a solid hit to my temple. It scrambles my brain for a second, but I recover with two short jabs connecting on both sides of her face. She lowers her arms for a millisecond, an opportunity I would’ve taken to secure my win, but instead I bounce on the balls of my feet until she gets her footing.

BLOOD

Maxine dances around the other woman, her heels never touching the mat. Her grace and effortless agility awe me. The way she commands and controls her body makes it easy for her to make near misses look real.

“What’s goin’ on?” Diesel nudges my shoulder and leans in. “Last time she annihilated this chick.”

Maxine could’ve easily ended this ten minutes ago, but instead she’s biding her time, purposely missing opportunities. Like she’s putting on a show. Making it look just real enough to fool the crowd—but not me.

“She’s leaving herself wide open,” Diesel grits out between his teeth. “What the fuck is she doin’?”

I know exactly what she’s doing. I saw the answer in Hector’s smug expression. He got in her head in the locker room and put her fear of him over her trust in me. It’s not a surprise after all those years under Hector’s thumb. Him possessing her through fear and intimidation.

Diesel jumps out of his seat and bangs on the cage yelling, but Maxine zones him out, concentrating on making this pseudo fight look real.

MAXINE

“Maxie, wake the fuck up,” Diesel yells with disbelief and a touch of anger. He saw the opening Maya left as clearly as I did.

The crowd cheers and jeers, but it all blurs together. My speed usually prevents me from getting hit, but I want this to be over, so I lower my left arm a few inches, giving Maya the perfect opening. Her eyes narrow, telling me she is about to pounce, and I let her deliver a crushing blow to my cheekbone.

Shit, she hit like a goddamn freight train. The pain radiates through my head and down my spine. The cage spins at a dizzying speed. The crowd roars when my knees buckle. I hit the mat hard. Nausea twists my gut, but it has nothing to do with Maya’s punch.

I focus on the ref counting over me. Just a few more seconds, and it would be over.

“Maxine!” The metal cage rattles next to my head, and I shift my gaze.

The ref hovers over me. “Six, seven . . .”

Blood locks eyes with me, willing me to get up. “Lie to others, babe, but never yourself.”

“Eight, nine . . .”

“Do this for you,” Blood screams over the crowd.

I push up onto my hands and knees, and the crowd erupts, “Maxie, Maxie, Maxie!”

Their cheers and Blood’s words buoy me. I bounce to my feet, adrenaline jetting through my veins. Maya’s eyes widen, and I wind up with another roundhouse kick, aimed perfectly and delivered, followed up by a short jab to her temple. She attempts a left hook that only grazes me, and I easily sweep my leg, knocking her off-balance. When she staggers to the side, I connect with the other side of her face, then drive my knee into her gut. She stumbles on rubber legs, her knees cave, and she drops to the mat like a stone.

The ref hustles over, counts down to ten, then declares me the winner.

The crowd goes wild as Blood bangs on the cage chanting my name.

Our eyes connect.

I’ve just signed his death certificate.

BLOOD

Hector jumps out of his seat, but Smoke and I surround him while Ricky, Bolt and Manny flank Pedro and the other bodyguards.

“She won’t get away with this,” Hector hisses, his face red with rage.

“Looks like she already did,” Diesel sneers.

I jam my .35 into Hector’s ribs to assure his cooperation. The crowd’s out-of-control cheers for Maxine in the center ring provide the perfect diversion.

“Get Maxine,” I bark at Diesel. “Don’t leave her for a minute.” Diesel heads for the cage stairs.

I want to jump in the cage, congratulate her and hold her close, but dealing with Hector has to come first.

“Take your hands off me.” Hector unsuccessfully tries to break free of the vise hold we have on him as we hustle him away from the bleachers. “That bitch cost me thousands—hundreds of thousands.”

I dig my gun deeper into Hector’s ribs, and he grunts. “Call her that again, and I’ll end you right here, and no one would even notice or care.”

Not far from the truth with the chaos going on around us.

The crush of the crowd makes it easy for us to frog-march Hector into the alley between the gym and the garage unnoticed, while Bolt, Manny and Ricky drag the bodyguards around the other side of the building.

We stop at the Ram truck parked at the end of the alley.

“You’ll never get away with cheating me out of my money,” Hector threatens.

“Says the fucker who tried to fix the fight.”

Hector’s glance shifts between me and Smoke.

“That’s right, we know all about it,” Smoke says.

“She will regret going against me.”

“Some people never learn.” I grab Hector’s shirt collar and twist until he chokes for air, then I shove him against the truck’s cab. “The only one with regrets is gonna be you.”

Hector glares at me with hate in his eyes. “You wouldn’t be defending that bitch if you knew everything about her. About the things she’s done, about how low she’s sunk.”

“She told me how you kidnapped her, abducted her to Mexico. I know all about the shit you put her through.”

“All of it? Are you sure?”

MAXINE

Diesel hustles me away from the cage. The dense crowd makes it impossible for me to get close to Blood or even see him. I try to twist out of Diesel’s grasp, but he has me in a vise grip.

“Stop fighting me, Maxie,” Diesel says. “Blood’s got it all under control. Hector’s being dealt with, and all we have to do is wait it out in his office.”

Was Diesel kidding? Sit and wait? No fucking way. I want to know what they have planned for Hector, and I want to be a part of it. The bastard destroyed my life, and I need to know his life is over. I need to see it with my own eyes and confirm he can never hurt me or anyone else again.

Diesel jostles me into the gym, then stops for a minute to check in with Bolt standing outside the office door. After a cryptic exchange I don’t understand, Diesel guides me into the office with Bolt standing sentry outside the door.

This is going to be way harder than I expected unless I utilize a tactic used by women for centuries.

Diesel makes a beeline for Blood’s desk and pulls open the bottom drawer. He places two shot glasses on the desk, then holds up a bottle of Jack Daniels.

“I think we should celebrate your win.” He pours the smoky liquid into the glasses and holds one out to me.

I grimace, placing my palm on my lower abdomen. “I need to use the restroom first.”

“Now?” Diesel’s brows furrow. “Can’t you have a shot first?”

I scrunch my face up. “Not really.”

“All right, but this time Bolt’s going in with you, and he’s gonna wait right outside the stall. Hector’s got his people swarming all over this place, and there’s no way I’m answering to Blood if something happens to you.”

“Okay, but I might be a while.” I pause for effect, and Diesel cocks his head. “I have really bad cramps and . . .”

“Shit, you mean you got your?—”

“Unfortunately, nature doesn’t wait for the right time.” I rub my hand over my stomach. “I have to do some things to get rid of the cramps, and it might?—”

“All right, all right.” Diesel throws up his palm. “I don’t need the fuckin’ details . . . Bolt will stay outside the locker room door.”

I smile sweetly at him, amazed at how this block of cement crumbles at the mere thought of a woman’s period.

Diesel opens the office door, whispers something to Bolt, who also grimaces, then we walk to the women’s locker room in silence.

Men. Freak them out with the workings of a woman’s body. Works every time.

Once inside the locker room, I dash to the back door. My plan is to find Blood and hopefully Hector. I overheard Blood talking to Diesel earlier about their plans for Hector, and I just hope I’m not too late. I stay close to the brick wall, round the corner of the building and see a truck parked in the alley between the gym and the garage.

I skim the wall and stay on the other side of the truck, shielded by the height and width of the huge vehicle. It barely fits in the narrow alleyway, making it easy for me to squeeze around to the back end of the truck unnoticed.

I hear Smoke’s voice. “Shut him the fuck up.”

Skin hitting skin, then somebody thrown into the back seat of the truck. Doors slam, open and slam again. When the motor rumbles to life, I grab hold of the tailgate of the truck, step on the bumper and hoist myself into the flatbed. I lie perfectly still in the dark, praying they didn’t see or hear me.

The truck accelerates out of the alley and rounds the backside of the gym. When we’re about one hundred yards away from the building, I peek over the top of the flatbed in time to see Diesel and Bolt crash through the back door of the gym. I hold my breath, but the truck keeps moving forward onto the main road.