After a quick stop at the Taco Cabana drive-thru for an early lunch, she arrived at Black Arts.

She took the stairs to the second floor. Her heart raced as she walked down the corridor to the office. The lights were off. She couldn’t tell if anyone was in the conference room, but the place felt empty.

Everything in the office was exactly how she’d left it Thursday—yesterday afternoon before she’d headed to the event center. Which meant Knox hadn’t been in today.

As she looked around, she wondered what she’d do now that she was here. The schedules were set. Payroll had been submitted to the accountant. Finalizing the paperwork for last night’s event would be Katie’s responsibility.

Maybe she’d go up to the third floor.

She was standing in the middle of the dark room, her keys in her hand, when Deacon walked in.

Startled, he said, “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to check on some things.”

He gave her a slow once-over. “You look like dog shit. Go home.”

“Thanks.” She let her gaze wander over him. “You don’t look any worse for the wear.”

“Got a bruised hip and a helluva headache.”

“I assume Maddox is happy with your win.”

Deacon shrugged. “It’s a win. More than anything, the fight showed him the areas where I need to improve.”

“Maddox didn’t have much time to gauge Ivan’s fighting skills since he knocked the guy out in the first round.”

“The kid’s got a fist like a sledgehammer.”

Shiori spun her key ring on her finger, nervous to ask Deacon what she wanted to know because he looked mighty unhappy with her. Then again, Deacon had two expressions: blank and mad. “Where is Knox?”

“No idea. He’s taking some time off.”

Everything inside her seized up.

“You’re surprised by that?”

“Of course I am. He’s supposed to be running Black Arts.”

Deacon crossed his tattooed arms over his massive chest. “Maybe he questions who’s really in charge after that bullshit stunt you pulled last night.”

“I didn’t—”

“The fuck you didn’t, Shiori. Ronin put him in charge. You’re assisting him. So last night you made it perfectly clear what you think of his leadership when you basically said, Fuck off, Godan. I don’t have to listen to you . . . in front of a roomful of people.”

She felt the blood drain from her face.

But Deacon was on a roll. “You and Knox are involved. His reasons for wanting to cancel that fight weren’t personal, but instead of letting him explain that, you went on the offensive and accused him of using your relationship as an excuse to cancel the fight. You questioned his decision-making process and his motive. On the personal side, I can see why you’d act like such a fucking ballbuster. God forbid you’d want Knox protecting you, looking out for you, caring about putting you in the ring with an unpredictable psycho who had it in for you.”

“I didn’t know any of that.”

“And you didn’t listen to him, either, because he did know that. You humiliated him. Maddox had a small part in it, but you telling Knox that he couldn’t make decisions for you was dead-ass wrong, because actually, as Shihan, he can decide to pull anyone at any time.”

She felt so sick she had to sit down. Deacon was absolutely right in his accusations.

“And the worst part of this? I’ve watched Knox grow more confident since Ronin left him in charge. He’s been Ronin’s second-in-command for so long, waiting for Sensei to make a decision, that he became Ronin’s mouthpiece. Ronin’s way of dealing with things is to make Knox do it—but that doesn’t mean Knox has a voice. So with Ronin being away, Knox has had a chance to show he’s a good, strong, fair leader. And he’d counted on your support—if not in private, definitely in public.”

“Until last night.”

“If you cared about him, you wouldn’t have acted just like your fucking brother.”

When Shiori’s expression must have looked blank, Deacon clarified. “Knox has had to watch Ronin fight and listen to Ronin’s ‘I don’t give a fuck what you think’ attitude for several years. Knox had been helpless to stop it. And now you did the same thing to him? You think he wanted to watch the woman he cares about get a public beating? No.”

Her tears fell when the magnitude of what she’d done finally hit her.

“I’m not a touchy-feely guy. I’m an asshole. But Knox is a good man. And to be totally fucking honest, he doesn’t deserve the shit you’ve brought into his life. What the fuck do you think will happen when Ronin finds out you two are involved? He’ll be a dick. But it’s doubtful he’ll be a dick to you, because even though you are a haughty bitch, you’re his family. Ronin will take every single bit of his frustration out on Knox. Know why? Because he always does. But this time it’ll be worse, because it is personal. And when Ronin finds out you were beaten to a pulp in the ring, who’s he gonna blame? You? Fuck no. He’ll blame Knox because he’s Shihan. Ronin knows who is supposed to make that final decision—and it’s not the goddamn fighter. The reason for that is exactly what went down in the ring between you and Mia last night.”