“Oh hell no,” I blurted out, knowing he was going to try an arm lock move that he was known for. Fuck that.

I pivoted and kneed the same side of the ribs I’d punched earlier, causing him to loosen his grip on my arm just enough that I could free myself. We continued to go blow for blow for three more rounds before Buddy ended it. It was a draw.

“You went easy on me, Townsend,” Doc stated angrily.

I shrugged. “Didn’t want to end your career.” It came across as a joke but I was partially serious. I still didn’t fully comprehend why a doctor, a surgeon no less, would risk his livelihood by getting into an underground fighting ring that had few rules.

We slapped fives, and I hopped out of the ring, coming face-to-face with my father.

He patted me on the shoulder. “You half-assed it in there.”

“How could you tell?”

My father lifted a brow. “I’ve seen you in action when you really want to take someone down.”

I nodded. “Are you disappointed?”

He shook his head. “If you took it easy on him, you had a good reason.”

I inclined my head, grateful that there were some things that my father just understood. He didn’t require long explanations for everything. He had a sixth sense better than anyone I’d met in my entire life.

“Need someone to unwrap those gloves?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. While you’re at it, you can tell me more of you and Mother’s story.”

“More?” he asked as if perplexed.

I gave him a deadpan expression. “Don’t act like there isn’t a shit ton more to the story. You didn’t just sweep Mother off her feet, force her to break up with that Kaden guy, and live happily ever after.”

Chuckling, my father lowered his head. He realized that I knew my mother’s ex-boyfriend’s name was Cohen, but I’d intentionally said the wrong name, as he’d done all of those years prior.

“I see your mother has been sharing more of our story with you.”

“And now it’s your turn to spill as well. What happened once Cory was out of the picture?”

He chuckled and held out his hands for my hand to begin unwrapping as I sat on the wooden bench in the bathroom.

“Let’s see … a lot happened after that …” he began.

****

Then

Robert

“You’re shaking, princess,” I stated, as I pressed my hands to cover Deborah’s shoulders as I stood behind her. I squeezed the tops of her arms through her silk blouse, and ran my hands up and down them.

“I’m nervous,” she admitted.

Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to the column of her neck, causing her to shiver. “Relax,” I whispered in her ear.

It’d been two months since Deborah and I had officially begun dating. Eight weeks and four days since she’d broken up with Cameron or whatever the fuck his name was, and I’d claimed her as mine. That night, we were back at the same Crown Jewel restaurant where we’d originally bumped into one another over two and a half months ago. We were set to have dinner with my family. An event I didn’t necessarily look forward to but I needed to get it out of the way in order for Deborah to know what she was getting herself into. My parents, in particular my father, weren’t my favorite people in the world, though I worked with the man almost everyday. Or, truth be told, I was the one mainly running Townsend Industries and had been for the past five years, though to the outside world it looked as if he was still running the show.