Chapter Eight

LIAM

I left Sophie's place when the sun came up. As I stepped outside, the morning light barely took the edge off the night's chill. The taste of her goodbye kiss stayed on my lips. It was sweet, but a sour twist of guilt gnawed at my gut for attention. I wanted to stay close to her, yet I needed to protect her from my past. How was I going to do that if I couldn’t keep my hands off her?

Answers weren’t going to come to me just from walking outside. For the time being, I had to shake off the discomfort of not having a solution. I headed towards home for a quick shower before going to Silverback Gym, another facility where MMA fighters liked to train.

From outside, I could hear the clanging of old free weights being dropped on the worn out mats of the concrete floor. I pushed open the door of the plain grey building.

The place was already buzzing. Bodybuilders grunted before mirrors, sweating under the strain of each lift. Fighters from the MMA world circled the mats and cages.

If Warrior’s Den was state-of-the-art with all its hydromassage chairs and saunas, Silverback Gym was old school. This was no polished, commercial establishment with juice bars. Silverback was raw, stripped back to the essentials. Everything here screamed endurance, from the scuff marks on the floor to the duct tape holding together battered punching bags. It spoke of hard work and harder knocks, an atmosphere that had never failed to get my blood pumping.

Gripping my duffel bag tighter, I headed straight for one of the punching bags. I had work to do, demons to silence, and nothing—not my bum ankle, wrist, or even the bad memories of a past I wanted to forget—would keep me from the fight.

My fists pounded the heavy bag for the first several minutes. I switched to light kicks on my good leg before resuming jabs and hooks. Soon, sweat drenched my shirt.

"Still trying to punch away your sins, O'Connor?"

The sneer was unmistakable, curling around me like smoke. I froze mid-punch, my knuckles cramped in my gloves.

"Jack," I spat his name out like poison as I turned to face him. He reclined against the doorway. Time in jail only enhanced the lean hungry way he looked. Although on the wiry side, there was always something about the way he carried himself that made him seem like he would spring forward into violence without warning. I kept my cool even as adrenaline pumped through my system. "What do you want here?"

Jack's laugh was a raspy rumble. "I'm just enjoying the show.” He surveyed the rest of the gym before sizing me up head to toe. “You put on a little muscle weight. You’ve come a long way from fighting in the streets, kid.”

“Too bad I can’t say the same about you.”

“I’ve been working on myself.”

“You mean, while you were locked up?”

“It counts.” He peeled himself away from the wall, letting his arms fall to his sides. “I admit, I haven’t had a chance to do all the things you’ve done. Fancy gear.” He glanced at my gloves and duffel bag. “I see you on TV. You even got your own trainer. Since when do they come with firm, tight little—"

"Shut your fucking mouth," I growled. The air between us crackled. My fingers curled at my sides, itching for a fight. “Don’t say one more thing about Sophie.”

"Or what?" he taunted, revealing the smirk that twisted his drawn features. "You'll turn me in? Oh wait, you already did that."

His smirk grew wider, a predator baring its teeth. “We're not so different, Liam. You'll see.”

My voice was a low snarl, each word wrapped in barbed wire. "Don't ever mistake me for someone like you."

The words hung between us. My heart hammered in my chest, a drumbeat urging me toward violence. I wanted to hit something, that something being a six foot ex-con who thought he could put Sophie’s name in his mouth.

"How’d you figure out it was me who got you locked up?” I asked. “You pissed off a lot of people in your lifetime.”

“Only one of them knew I intended to rob a convenience store.”

“It’s not my fault you don’t know how to keep your mouth shut. Even now, you could go off somewhere. But you keep talking and you’re about to get into trouble.”

He did a pretend shiver. “Who’s going to teach me a lesson? You, or that trainer who used to be a nosy cop?”

Jack's lips curled up at the corners, the smugness in his eyes flickering like a flame. Before he could spew another vile word about Sophie, I struck.

My fist flew, cutting through the air like a missile locked on target. It connected with Jack's face, a satisfying crunch shuddering through my knuckles. Blood blossomed from his nose, painting his smart-ass sneer red. The impact went through me, a jolt of raw energy. “You don’t listen well. What did I say about mentioning Sophie?"

"Son of a..." Jack stumbled back, hands flying to his face, his eyes blazing with shock and fury.

The gym erupted around us in shouts. I heard the hammering of big footsteps running in our direction.

"Hey! Break it up!" The security personnel were already on us, big men with arms like pythons and faces set in stone. They barreled through the crowd already circling us.

One grabbed me from behind, his grip iron around my arms, pulling me away from Jack. Another went for him, intercepting a wild swing aimed at my head. We were two pit bulls, snarling and snapping.

"Enough, O'Connor!" The security guy holding me shook me slightly, a gruff warning in his voice. "You wanna get banned?"

I resisted the urge to fight against his hold, knowing it would only make things worse. Instead, I glared over my shoulder at Jack, who was now being held back by two men.

"Keep him away from me," Jack directed.

“What’s wrong, Jack? Scared of a little conversation?”

"Both of you cool off," one of the security barked, his gaze darting between us.

The tension hung there, heavy, but the threat of more violence from the two of us passed. I could feel the stares of everyone in the gym, their silent judgment branding me just as much as Jack's words had.

Beneath the rage and the adrenaline, a single thought anchored me: protect Sophie. Whatever it took, no matter the cost.

Blood trickled from Jack's nose. He extracted a grubby towel from the pocket of his gym shorts. "Nice shot," he goaded, voice muffled as he dabbed at the mess I'd made. His eyes, cold and calculating, locked onto mine. "But you know what they say about birds of a feather. Too bad your little girlfriend doesn't realize she's nesting with the same kinda vermin she hunts."

My blood boiled, each word he uttered struck like a match against the dry pile of ashes that were left of my self-control. The security's grip on me tightened with the effort to keep me in check.

"Move it," one of the guards barked, as they started dragging me backward.

The gym's double doors burst open under the force of the security team hauling me out. The owner of the gym followed them. My sneakers scraped across the concrete outside.

"Listen up, O’Connor" the owner of Silverback Gym growled once we were clear of the entrance. "Effective immediately. You're banned from Silverback Gym. We don't need your kind of drama here."

“You’re gonna ban me, but not the clown ass ex-con in there?” I demanded to know what they intended to do about Jack.

“You threw the first punch.” The owner stuck to his guns. “You’re banned indefinitely.”

"Indefinitely?" I echoed, the word tasting like ash in my mouth.

"Means until further notice... or forever. Don't come back, or we'll be having a very different conversation with the cops."

He and the security team went back inside. As I stood there, the door to the gym swung shut with a thud. Even through the thick walls, I could hear the faint sound of Jack's laughter, mocking me, reminding me of what was at stake.

This was more than a ban from a gym. I messed up again. But I had more than bruised pride to contend with. That bastard mentioned Sophie. He knew she was here in Sunridge. He knew her name, how she used to be a cop. What else did he know? Had he been following her around after all?

I clenched my jaw, the taste of iron and grit lingering in my mouth, a reminder of the punch I'd landed on Jack. The sting on my knuckles was nothing compared to the twist in my gut as I thought of Sophie. She wouldn't pay the price for my demons. Not if I could help it.

With each step I took away from Silverback Gym, the heaviness settled deep in me. My strides grew longer, filled with purpose.

Sophie had walked through fire in her own life to heal herself and help her family. I wouldn't be the reason she got burned again. I couldn't change what I’d done, but I could shape what I’d do next. For Sophie. For us.

I hurried to Warrior’s Den. I had to let her know the full story. There was no going back.