Page 63

“He's a fucking psychopath,” I grit out, blood spilling from my mouth. Rage coils tight inside me as I throw another lackluster punch, one he avoids easily. “And you were gonna go through with it?”

Jeremy lets out a bitter laugh, but his eyes drift to where Savannah disappeared. “I've been in love with her since I was fifteen years old,” he admits, his voice barely audible over the crowd. “Never told her. Never had the guts. And now…”

His voice trails off, but I can fill in the blanks. Now she's married to someone else.

“Fucking fight me,” he says, his voice raw, but I understand why. He's not fighting me. He's fighting for her.

He jabs me in the ribs, sending me back into the ropes, but there's no real force behind it. I groan anyway. That rib is definitely cracked.

“You better fucking love her,” he grits out, pain lacing his voice. “Because if you don't, if you hurt her—”

“I'd die before I let anyone hurt her again. Including myself.”

Something shifts in his expression then. A decision being made by a man choosing her happiness over his own heartbreak.

“There’s something else. After this, I need your help. I’m taking this place down.” It’s all I can say to her, but it’s enough to convince Jeremy.

“Knock me the fuck out then, Cade, and get us out of this fucking hellhole.”

And this time, when I swing, he lets me.

I hit him as hard as I can muster with a potentially broken rib, nose, and blood spilling out of my mouth. I know it does nothing, but he stumbles back just enough to make it look convincing, then squares his shoulders, urging me with his eyes to do it again.

Fine.

Another hit. Harder this time, but still nothing compared to the blows he could land on me.

“Again,” he grits out, throwing the softest punch I've ever been hit with in this ring. “Make it look real.”

So I do. I hit him across the jaw this time, and his head flings dramatically to the side. I know I didn't hit him hard enough to cause that kind of reaction.

Suddenly, his massive body sways and I move out of the way. His eyes lock with mine, his lips curling slightly, and I see just a flicker of something—sacrifice, maybe. Or love.

“For Savannah,” he whispers, just loud enough for me to hear.

I put everything I have left into one final punch, into one last swing, and Jeremy drops like a fucking stone.

The audience erupts, and I stagger back, panting, my heart racing as adrenaline crashes over me like a tidal wave. My ears ring. My body aches.

But I won.

When my back touches the ropes, Cal and Mark pull me from the ring. No basking in the glory for me.

“I can walk myself, boys,” I say, trying to break free from their hold. They won't let go, and I already know exactly where they're taking me. The back door. Before we get there, though, we take a small detour past Luke.

“You look like shit,” he says with a snarl.

“I still won. That means we're even.” I realize expecting a guy like Luke to live up to his word is probably as realistic as believing I won't have a headache tomorrow, but even if he doesn't, my plan to take him down is still in play.

“Get the fuck out,” he snarls. “I don't want to see you or Savannah here again.”

Good. That's exactly what I want to hear.

I don't get to say anything else since Cal and Mark continue to drag me out of the place, but I can't stop smiling. I might be battered and bruised, my body screaming in pain from going rounds with that giant brick wall of a man, but I got Savannah off the hook.

When the back door opens and they throw me out with the trash, I must look like I've lost my mind because I'm laughing so hard.

I've finally saved Savannah from this place, and that's all I care about.

I thrash around in the trash for a few minutes before I hear the door opening again.

“Cade?”

His voice only makes me smile wider because all that talk in the ring worked.

“You, uh, going to get out of the trash or are you planning on living there?” he asks, sounding surprisingly chipper for a guy I apparently just knocked out. I know I barely hurt him, but he could've at least pretended to limp or something for my ego.

My body's aching as I reach my hand out, trying not to show him what kind of pain I'm in. You know, just to make sure I don't look like he hurt me too much.

Jeremy grabs it and hauls me out of the trash with ease, then takes me in. “You look like shit,” he says, his expression flat and completely unimpressed.

“Tell me something I don't know.”

“Savannah's too good for you.”

“Nah, I know that, too.” I swallow down a laugh, tasting blood.

“Good. Then you'll treat her right.” His expression softens slightly, but there's still something there.

“I came here tonight because Luke told me if I killed you, he'd let me take Savannah away from all this. Said I could have her.” His jaw clenches.

“Turns out, she's already exactly where she wants to be.”

The weight of what he's saying hits me. He was offered everything he wanted, and he chose to give it up for her happiness.

“I want out, and you said you'd help. If you don't, then I might regret letting you win.”

“Oh, believe me. You won't.”