Page 57

ALANA

Las Vegas

“It’s so noisy, Mom!” Franklin crushes the cups of his noise-canceling headphones to his ears, wrinkling his nose in displeasure when the crowd roars and the referee thrusts Tommy’s hand in the air.

His chest is sweaty, pounding with adrenaline and scrambling for air, while behind him, a semi-conscious Henrik Docik lies flat on the canvas, medics crouching over his prone form to make sure he’s okay.

Docik came to Vegas tonight hoping to take the title belt. In the end, all he took was a beating.

The moment officials let them, Eliza and Ollie shove through the cage door and wrap themselves around Tommy. And right behind them, far calmer, Chris follows.

“He’s wearing earplugs, Mom!” Franky tugs on my sleeve, pointing toward his favorite Watkins and beaming because his aversion to noise is, once again, normalized.

When Chris is around, Franky no longer feels weird . “He said he would!”

“He always says what he means, honey.” I drag him closer, hugging him to my hip and riding a swell of emotion when he drapes his arm across my back.

My baby is happy. My world hurts far, far less these days.

And when Tommy’s eyes scan the crowd, his dark, dangerous stare skims over the top of those who jump and scream for his attention.

Finally, he stops on me and exhales, his glare turning to pleased amusement.

“Well, that was…” Colin releases a cautious breath, tilting closer and tapping his shoulder against mine. “Brutal. Are you seriously telling me this is the guy you left behind? You let us get married and didn’t even warn me my life was in danger for ten long years?”

“Oh, stop it!” Laughing, I lean forward and find Tasha on his other side. “He’s being a baby! Tommy made sure he’d have front-row seats to this, and the best he’s got are complaints?”

“I think he gave us front-row seats so I’d know what was coming for me!” Colin drapes his arm over Tasha’s shoulders, dragging her closer and kissing her temple. “This wasn’t a gift, Alana. It was a warning.”

“You’re being dramatic.” I focus on the cage and watch Chris wrap the shiny new belt around Tommy’s hips. He claps his brother on the shoulder and yanks him in for a hug, pride swelling between them both.

But when they part and Tommy crosses the canvas, poking just one finger through the cage and beckoning me closer, my heart spins out of control.

Adrenaline and anticipation mingle. Love and pride, too. The fear of being splashed all over live television— again —a remembered trauma I hardly wish to relive. But to stay away when he’s calling me closer is… impossible.

Helen’s stunt in the summer ended with her not only losing me as a client, but her agency letting her go, too. And because her actions were so publicly visible, last I heard, she’s yet to find a job at any agency since.

That’s what happens when you can’t take no for an answer.

My new agent has, so far, respected my wishes and remained entirely professional, eagerly awaiting my new book to arrive in her email— I’m nearly done.

“Alana!” Tommy’s shout travels above the din, his playful eyes a dancing torment. He knows I don’t want attention, but I know he will forever be the most protective person in my world.

“I’m gonna go to the front for a second, okay, honey?

” Nervous fear runs rampant through my veins, sprinting through my stomach until our daughter kicks against my ribs in retaliation.

I look down and wait for Franky’s eyes. “I want to tell Tommy congratulations. Do you want to stay here with Colin and Tasha? You’ll still be able to see me. ”

He shakes his head, grabbing my hand and holding on tight. Then, he surprises me with a beaming smile. “I want to come, too.”

“Really? It’ll be louder over there. And everyone will see you.”

“Chris is over there.” He turns and takes the lead, gently pulling me along the row of seats, glancing back to make sure he’s careful with me. To make sure he isn’t the reason I stumble or fall. “He said I could come to the cage, too, if I wanna. And that I can look at the guy on the ground.”

“He said that?” I laugh. “He predicted there would be a guy on the ground?”

“He promised it.” He has to shout over the cheers of ravenous fight fans, and brims with approval when a guard even larger than Tommy himself meets us at the end of the row and envelopes us in a cocoon of safety.

He keeps the hordes away, protecting us from those who want to come closer. Shielding us because we know Tommy, and fans will do anything to be near him. He moves people out of the way, like Moses parting the sea, and leads us where we need to go.

“Are you tired, Mom?” Franky twines his fingers with mine, matching my pace instead of rushing toward the cage. “Are you alright?”

“You don’t need to worry about me, you know?” I drag him in and run my fingers through the hair at the back of his head. “It is not your job to take care of me.”

“I know.” He pushes his glasses up his nose. “Did you know there are about eighty-two million moms in our country? Two billion worldwide. And it’s so weird, because you’re the best one.”

Godddddd . My heart thrums, and tears prickle the backs of my eyes. I stop in place and turn to face my baby, setting my hands on his shoulders and sliding my thumbs over his cheeks. “How long have you saved that one up to drop on me?”

“Since last night. Did you know an average mom has changed about seven-thousand diapers before her baby is two years old?”

“I mean…” I snicker. “I didn’t know the data. But it sure felt like seven thousand by the time I was done. How are you feeling about all this?” I set one hand on my rounding stomach. “Are you okay with it?”

He grins, nodding eagerly. “I wonder if she’ll be like me or like you?

” He looks past me, which means I don’t jump when Tommy sets his sweaty arm on my shoulder and a gentle kiss on my temple.

“If she’s like me, I’ll finally have someone decent to play chess with.

But if she’s like you,” teasing, he looks to Tommy instead, “I’ll teach her how to count one plus one and hope she can keep up. ”

“Oh, you think you’re clever, huh?” He reaches out and musses Franky’s hair. “I win either way, buddy. If she’s like your mom, I’m gonna be obsessed. And if she’s like you and Chris, then?—”

“You’ll teach her how to fight and annoy her when you ruin a perfectly good game of chess?”

“If she’s like you, then I’ll consider myself the luckiest guy on the planet.”

Franky’s eyes glisten with happiness. With emotion. And below that, approval, which I know is what Tommy wants most of all.

He turns into me and rests his forehead against my temple. “I love you, Lana. Did you see me win?”

He’s just a boy in a man’s body. A child of trauma wrapped in a whole lot of muscle and hidden behind a handsome face.

“Next time I’m here, we’ll bring our baby girl, too.”

“Next time we’re here, I’ll have a new last name, seven thousand diapers to change, and if I’m lucky, I’ll stop thinking this is all a dream, and I’m bound to wake up in New York soon.”

“Not a dream.” He closes his eyes, circling me in his arms and holding me close despite the hungry crowd attempting to intrude on our moment. “I only ever had nightmares until you came back. The kind that made a man never want to go to sleep.”

Franky pokes a finger into his mouth, gagging as cameras flash and the media eat up his theatrics.

“The good stuff only started when you walked back into my life.” He lays a kiss right over top of my dimple. “You ready to go home?”

Continue the Love & War series with Chris’ deliciously sizzling, enemies-to-lovers sparring match with none other than best-friend Fox Tatum in Crazy In Love

What happens when the world champ is desperate to spend time with a woman who is unavailable, complicated, and far too shy for her own good?

He trains her how to fight, and enjoys every sweaty second they have inside his gym.

Go back to the beginning of Emilia’s world and read the story where it all began.