“On you talking your boyfriend into helping me.” I grin mischievously.

“Oh no.” She holds up her hands, gesturing there’s no way in hell she wants any part of whatever it is I’m talking about. “Last time I got between the two of you, it didn’t turn out too well.”

“Well that’s because he thought I was trying to hit on you.”

“And you weren’t?” She arches an eyebrow.

I chuckle because she has me dead on. “Okay. So maybe I was. But I’m a one woman man and my heart belongs to another woman.” I smirk and wink. “Try not to be too devastated. You had your chance.”

She shakes her head. “You’re going to cause me trouble aren’t you?” She asks wearily, although there’s a smile on her face.

“Probably. But you’ll help me anyway.”

She sighs loudly. “Come, sit and have coffee with me and I’ll see what I can do.”

***

It’s almost eight at night before my cell phone rings. When I didn’t hear from Liv all day, I figured Vince had no interest in helping me and I’d already decided what I was going to do in my head. I’m entering the Open no matter what. Brady’s right, I need to work on things I want to change in my life as a long-term strategy. Winning back Lily is important, but so is fighting. I’ve wasted so much time already, I’m going to really go for it. Gone are the days of living a life that makes me feel dead inside. I’ve got enough money to live for a long time, I’m about to start really living.

“Hey,” Liv says when I answer. “Sorry it took me so long. Vince was busy all day doing press work and I didn’t get to speak to him alone until tonight.”

“How did it go?”

“Well…,” she trails off.

“He’s sitting right there, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“He won’t help me?”

“Vince would like to talk to you himself.”

“Let me guess, he’s not happy I approached you?”

“Very good,” she says cryptically. I picture Vince sitting right near her while she’s talking, steam billowing from his ears.

“When can I talk to him? Qualifiers start in the morning.”

“Can you come up to room 3200?”

“I’m walking out the door right now.” I waste no time grabbing my keycard and heading up.

The irony doesn’t escape me as the elevator climbs its way to the top level of the building. I’ve cut out the excesses in my life, checking into a regular room, yet my brother has the entire top floor penthouse suite. The same brother who didn’t grow up with any excess…whose mother struggled while things were handed to me on a silver platter by our father. The heavy pendulum finally swings the other way.

Liv greets me at the door and leads me into the sunken living room. The room is spacious and doused in heavy plush fabrics. A large sectional takes up half the room. Typical Vegas overindulgence, a place where they put the celebrities or high rollers.

Vince stands, as do two other men. One looks familiar, the other I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. I extend my hand to Vince first, he hesitates but shakes my hand with a firm grip. “Vince.” I nod. “Thanks for seeing me.”

He looks me in the eye when he responds, making sure he gets the point across. “Don’t work me through Liv ever again.”

“I…,” I think about trying to explain that isn’t what I intended to do, but really it’s what I did. So I go for humble instead. “Point taken. Won’t happen again.”

He nods and then makes introductions. “This is my trainer, Nico Hunter.” I shake his hand, the name finally making the connection as to why the enormous guy looks so familiar to me. He’s a legend. Killed a guy in the ring early on in his career and dropped out of the circuit for a while. Came back and took the title, one of the few undefeated heavyweights ever to retire from the sport. “Nice to meet you. Big fan. I grew up watching you. Hell, I wanted to be you.”

The big guy smiles and shakes my hand, but says nothing. Next Vince introduces an older gentleman. “This old bastard is Preach. Don’t let him get your ear. He’ll spend an hour trying to convince you he’s the reason both me and Nico have belts.”

Preach mutters something under his breath and extends his hand, “I am the only reason, they’re both just too full of themselves to admit it out loud. But they know it where it counts.” He pats his hand on his chest over his heart.

The spirited banter between the obviously close men breaks the ice and I relax a bit, taking in a hopeful breath.

“So Liv tells me you want to fight in the Open.”

“I’m already registered. But I’d like to match up to a certain fighter.”

“Because he is your girlfriend’s ex?” Vince prompts.

“She’s not my girlfriend anymore.” My heart wrenches in my chest admitting it. “But I just found out he’s been stealing from her for a year.”

“And the woman is The Saint’s daughter?” Preach whistles. “Boy’s lucky The Saint passed on. Me and The Saint go way back, that little girl was the light of his eye.”

I nod. “I bet she was. She’s incredible.”

Nico interrupts. “But you’ve never fought in a pro match before, so you can’t rank at the level of the guy you want to fight? That’s your problem.”

“That’s right.”

“So you want me to screw with the rating card, put my reputation on the line, so you can get revenge on some ass**le who is a thief?” Vince asks.

When you put it that way, it sounds like I’m asking for a lot. I feel whatever hope I’d felt momentarily slip through my fingers. “It’s more than that. He took advantage of her after her father passed away. Started skimming the week he passed away and then snaked himself into her bed when she was vulnerable. Guy’s more than a thief, he’s abusive.”

“Abusive? How?” My statement perks up the attention of Nico.

“He wasn’t happy when we got together, even though she had already broken things off with him. Caught him with his forearm pressed up against her throat one night.” Nico’s jaw flexes and there’s a silent exchange between him and Vince. Something I’ve said has hit a sore spot with these men, so I keep going. “Her entire neck was purple from the hold he had her in. I’m afraid to think of what the crazy ass**le would have done to her had I not come in when I did.” I pause. “Look, I love Lily, but I f**ked things up between us myself. I hate it, but I accept she doesn’t want to be with me. I’d be lying to you all if I said I wasn’t motivated by wanting to dish out revenge. But the ass**le deserves a good beating. If you don’t want to help me, at least match him up with someone who is going to teach him a lesson.”

The men stare at me in silence for a moment. “Preach, you keep your refs license current?” Vince questions.

“Sure do.” Preach nods.

“You willing to fight Nico to earn the points you need to get in the ring with the guy?”

I look to Nico and back. The guy is gargantuan, but it doesn’t even matter to me at this point.

I stand tall and look Vince straight in the eye. “Yes.”

Vince holds my gaze in silence for a long moment, assessing my sincerity. “I’ll bump up your rating and see you get matched up with the ass**le.”

Confused, I furrow my brow. “So I don’t have to fight Nico first?”

Vince smiles. “Nah, he’s got fifty pounds on you and still trains like he’s got the fight of his life coming up. He’d annihilate you.”

The three men have a good laugh at my expense and I stick around for another half an hour, even sharing a beer.

“Good luck,” Vince says opening the door as I’m leaving.

“Thanks. I appreciate everything.”

“No problem. I’m glad to find out you’re not an ass**le like that father of ours.”

“That he is.” I smile, shake Vince’s hand and walk out the door of my brother’s penthouse suite.

Chapter 32

Lily

I wake early to go check on the Ralley’s banners and sign placement. We paid a fortune for the advertising, I can’t afford not to have it seen on TV as much as possible. Once I shower, I flip on the local news, not surprisingly the Open is the hot topic for the Vegas headlines. A picture of Vince Stone flashes on the screen. It’s from his championship fight and the ref is holding up his hand in victory. There’s a smile on his face and his eyes are shining brightly, a hint of his brother gleams from beneath his piercing baby blues. It’s more than just the color, there’s a passion, a determination, something that makes me think the two men have more in common than meets the eye.

The familiar ache in my chest rises to my throat. I swallow the pain down, there’s too much I need to focus on today to let thoughts of Jax consume me yet again. The TV screen splits from a picture of Vince to the two brothers side by side. I flick the switch on the remote to turn it off, my heart wrenching at the longing I feel from just seeing Jax’s picture. The attention of the Open and Vince Stone likely brought the old headlines back into the limelight. The media just can’t resist when it comes to three strikingly handsome, yet vastly different, men with an easily sensationalized story. The gritty and sexy Vince the fighter, the handsome and confident successful businessman Jackson, and their dapper Senator father who kept the relationship between the three a secret for almost twenty-five years. It’s a ratings dream for the newscasters just from showing pictures of three irresistible men.

A knock at the door I expect to be room service breaks my thoughts. My hand on the knob, I peer through the peephole and find Caden on the other side of the door. There’s no way I’m letting him in my hotel room. I’ve accepted his apology because he’s Joe’s nephew, but it doesn’t come close to trusting him enough to be alone in a hotel room. We both made mistakes, I don’t plan to repeat mine.

“Who is it?” I ask fully knowing.

“Caden.”

“Oh. Caden, I’m not dressed yet,” I lie.

“So?” He’s offended, I can tell by his tone.

“Did you need something? I’m running late.”

“Open the door, Lily,” he says with impatience.

“No, Caden. I’m not dressed. What can I do for you?”

He hits the door. I jump, not expecting the bang. “Open the door, Lily,” he warns.

“I’m going to call security if you don’t leave, Caden.”

“Don’t bother.” It’s quiet for a minute and I think he might have left, so I look through the peephole. I know he can’t see me, yet he looks right at the door, a sadistic smile on his face, holding a paper in his head. “They posted the matches. Just wanted to tell you to enjoy the fight today.” He turns and walks away.

***

I spend the morning running around, checking in with the Ralley’s managers that have come out for the Open, bringing their best fighters. We have five fighters in the Open, including two first timers with great potential and Caden. Joe and I meet at the sponsor check in desk, as usual, we’re last in line, checking in at the last minute. I’m distracted by the man sitting at the end of the long table. Vince Stone. The line to have him sign an autograph is longer than the line for the check in. Joe and I chat while we wait our turn for our passes and tickets, but I’m constantly drawn to steal glances at Vince. He catches me a few times and smiles. By the time we make our way to the table, Vince is done and walks over. I suck in a breath and try to keep myself from overtly staring, though it’s no use. He probably thinks I’m star struck, but I’m struck by the resemblance. It’s not something you see easily, rather it’s the mannerisms, the slight uptick on the side of his mouth when he’s amused but trying to hide it. The sexy confidence that draws a crowd without so much as a word.