“Please, Zane, think about it. We’re good, and we’ve changed.”
“No Leeza. It’s not going to happen. We have changed. Now you have Lorenzo. I’ve turned my life around, and I have Elizabeth.”
She sat back in her chair. “I’ll leave Lorenzo right now if you want.”
“I don’t want that. You guys deserve each other.”
We both just looked at each other for a long moment. I saw hurt, or at least regret, in those snake-like eyes.
“Come on, Zane. I’m begging. I’ll give you exactly what you need.”
I started to answer when Lorenzo walked around the center fireplace and toward our table.
“Don’t say anything,” she said in an urgent tone.
Lorenzo had a suspicious look on his face. “What’s going on?”
“We’re talking about if this deal is going to happen,” she said.
“You got the money, Zane?”
“Yeah I got it. Just enough.” I lied.
“You want to just hand it over and you and Sam can drive out of here?”
I glanced at Leeza. The fact that this question didn’t seem to bother her much solidified my feelings toward her. It was a tempting offer, but I knew I needed to talk to Morris and we needed to do this as smart as we could.
“No, I’m going to have to get some things in order. We can meet later in the week and get it done. I’ve got until Friday, right?”
“Friday,” Lorenzo said. “Not a day after.”
“It won’t be. We’ll shoot for Wednesday. You okay with that, Leeza?”
The hint of regret lingered. “I’m fine with that. You bring the 75 and I’ll sign whatever I need.”
“Sounds good then.”
They got up and left and Lorenzo slipped his hand into Leeza’s. She glanced over her shoulder at me as they headed toward the fireplace.
I looked that way and saw that Elizabeth was sitting with Sam. I jumped up and hobbled over to them. Leeza and Lorenzo were ordering a drink at the lobby bar. I plopped down next to Sam and gave her a big hug.
“So you guys are boyfriend and girlfriend, right?” She looked up at me with a shy smile.
I responded by leaning over and giving Elizabeth a big kiss on the lips. “Yes, we are. Are you okay with that, Sam?”
“Of course! You’re two of my favorite people.”
It felt like my heart melted and every bit of worry was washed away.
Chapter 51
It was almost two in the afternoon on Wednesday. I sat in the Coliseum with Elizabeth, Morris and Mace and Tyson. I scratched my scruffy face. I hadn’t shaved since the fight. It had been an insane few days. On Sunday, Nick had his people contact Morris, and by Monday morning we were both sitting in the UCC offices in Las Vegas.
It didn’t take long for us to reach a three-fight deal that could make me rich and Morris real happy. Since I was in Vegas I swung by the Mandalay to be an in-studio guest on MMA Junkie. It was two hours of fun, and the Junkie Nation asked a ton of great questions.
We were back in Erickson by Tuesday, and I spent the afternoon doing one interview after another. At the same time Morris was busy piling up one sponsor after another. He also spent time talking to his attorney and drawing up some paperwork.
Now, as we sat in the dim and empty bar just thirty feet away from the cage where I got knocked to sleep, I had a trickle of sweat on my armpit. All that had gone on over the last three months, and today I was more nervous than all the rest.
I looked down at my black shoes and nicest jeans. I smoothed my blue shirt with my hands. The sweat from my palms came right back. I glanced at my watch. It was five minutes to two.
Elizabeth sat with Mace and Tyson at the next table over and they talked quietly amongst themselves. Mace and Tyson were there to make sure that if hell broke loose they would rein it in. Morris walked out of his office with a paper in one meaty hand and his iPhone in the other.
He plopped down in the chair across from me and slid the paper my way. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his forehead. He was sweating too, but I don’t think it was because he was nervous.
“That’s the final draft,” he said as he pointed at the document. “It basically states exactly what the deal is and what is expected from both parties, and that there is a non-disclosure. Leeza can’t come back and say anything. My attorney looked it over and suggested a couple changes. I made them, and he says it is solid. She can visit every other week if she’s around. I know that was important.”
“Can we really keep her from coming back and saying anything? I mean what could we do if she did?”
“Really not much I guess, but we’d have this agreement that she signed if the shit hits the fan.”
The main door swung open and a rectangle of light probed the dim bar. We all turned to see Lorenzo, Lawrence, and then Leeza and Sam walk through the light. My eyes fell on my girl. She looked scared. She wore her favorite green striped shirt and tight black pants. She carried a small bag in one hand and Lee Roy in the other.
I stood up.
The group saw us after their eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and then they walked over. There was a tension that just kind of hung in the air. Back when Leeza and Lorenzo first made the offer I never imagined it would go down this way.
I glanced at Elizabeth and Mace and Tyson. They sat on the edge of their seats, alert. Morris was leaning back in his. He was either relaxed or faking relaxed.
I wondered how this would get started. Lorenzo must have read my thoughts.
“You got the money, Zane?”
The check sat on the table next to the agreement. I pointed to it in answer.
“Hand it over,” he said.
“Leeza and I both need to sign this agreement.” I looked at Sam and realized she shouldn’t be hearing this. “Sam, why don’t you go over to the cage?”
Elizabeth hopped up. “Come show me how to throw those punches,” she said.
Leeza nodded that it was okay. Sam walked over to Elizabeth much more reluctantly than I had ever seen before.
“Go ahead and sign the paper, Leeza,” Lorenzo said.
“I will. Stop rushing me,” she said. “Let me at least read it.
Leeza sat down and I slid the document across the table to her. She took a good minute reading through it.
“So this means I can still see Sam when I want?”
“Pretty much,” I said.
“And it means I’m not supposed to tell anybody?”
“Yeah, that’s to protect both of us. We don’t know what would happen if this came to light, and I don’t think we want to find out.”
“I’m fine with that,” Leeza said. “Anybody got a pen?”
Morris reached in his pocket and produced a pen. Leeza took it and then just sat there. After a few moments, Lorenzo said, “Come on, sign it, Leeza.”
She didn’t respond. She looked up at Sam, and I followed her line of sight. Sam was in the cage with Elizabeth and showing her how to punch. “One two, one two,” I could hear her saying.
Leeza looked back down at the paper. Her eyes were a little glossy. It hit me that deep down somewhere in the pit of her soul she had a little bit of motherly instinct. I almost felt bad for her, but she was the one that came to me. She was the one who did her best to manipulate and lie and cheat for her own gain. And really she was gaining something that was real damn important to her, money.
“Leeza, I already made the check out to you. Is that okay?” I asked hoping to spur her into signing.
She looked at me, and for a second. She seemed lost. Then those snake-like eyes came back. “It’s my money, isn’t it?”
I didn’t reply.
She scribbled her signature on the paper, and then picked it up and handed it to me along with the pen.
I didn’t need any time to think. I signed my name in a matter of seconds.
Chapter 52
Leeza’s eyes were hard, but it looked like she was work
ing to make them that way.
“Let me have the check,” she said.
I picked it up and handed it to her.
“Why is it for 80 instead of 75?”
I looked up at Lawrence for the first time. “I don’t owe your big ass shit, but I figured I’d throw you a bone.”
He had a crooked smile on his face that ran right into his scar.
“And that’s all you’re getting,” Morris said. “I know a lot of guys in the correctional system and I’ve let them know to keep an eye on you.”
The smile disappeared. “This is all I need, and you’d better be careful fat ass.”
Tyson jumped up before anybody could respond. “Shut up you big dumb prick. You aren’t going to do shit.”
They both stared at each other for a few seconds, and everybody around the tables waited. “I don’t need to do shit,” Lawrence finally said. “I’ve got my own things going on.”
Tyson nodded in response.
“Sam, come over here,” Leeza said.
Sam stopped showing Elizabeth how to punch and headed our way.
I watched as she walked up to her mom. She was timid, just seven years old and on edge more than she should have to be.
Leeza stood up. The chair scraped on the wooden floor.
Sam got to her and looked up. “What is it, Mommy?”
“I know you don’t want to go to Texas. Your dad and I have worked out a deal and you are going to live with him. I’ll come visit you whenever I can.”
I saw a flicker of excitement that was dampened by fear. The unknown is hard on adults. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be on Sam.
“Are you sure?” She asked.
“I’m sure, Sam. You belong here in Erickson, not down in Texas. Your dad will take good care of you. Now give me a hug.”
Leeza bent down and Sam wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck. They embraced for a good ten seconds, and then Leeza pulled away. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her jacked up head. She was giving her daughter away for $75,000, and what she could never understand is I would have paid 7.5 million if that is what would have been needed.
Leeza stood. She looked at me and then down at Sam. “I’ll see you later. Don’t forget your stuff, Sam,” and gestured toward the table where her bag and Lee Roy sat.
Lorenzo and Lawrence didn’t say a word. They just walked out of the dim bar with Leeza in between them. Apparently they got what they needed.
As they were leaving, I walked over to Sam. “Sugar, you’re living with me now,” I said. “The fight the other night made it where you could be with me for good.”
“Really, Daddy?”
“Really, you live with me now. Things are only going to get better from here on out.”
“What about Ms. Vega, will she live with us, too?”
“Not now, but maybe one day,” I said.
A tear lined Sam’s left cheek, and then another traced her right. I wiped it away with the back of my fingers.
“I love you so much, Sam. It’s me and you now.”
She smiled, even as the tears spilled.
A moment later we said our goodbyes to the people who helped make the comeback possible. If it wasn’t for Morris and Mace and Tyson none of this ever would have happened.
Elizabeth and Sam and I hugged, and then hand in hand we walked out the front door into the bright sunlight. Sam in her favorite green striped shirt and holding Lee Roy, and me holding her little duffel bag. Elizabeth’s arm was looped around mine, and I was sure I was the luckiest man in the world.
“Where are we going, Daddy?”
“Home Sam, we’re going home.”
The End
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Other Books by Liberty Thunderbolt
Caged Love: MMA Contemporary Suspense

Love…Deceit…Mystery…Suspense…
Dealing with the pain of the tragic murder of his brother, Bretten Maris finds a new career in the MMA cage and meets the love of his life, Brooke Simms. Their romance grows as they climb up the MMA ranks, but unbeknownst to them their agent is caught up with a dangerous man. During the biggest night of his life, Bretten learns that Brooke is in grave danger. He must decide to risk everything to save her. The problem, his hated rival must make the same decision.
Caged Love is a contemporary suspense novel with action-packed fight scenes and sexy love scenes. It involves two story lines that will crash together during one shocking night.
Caged Love is a four-book series available separately for $8.00, or available as a box set for $4.99.
Caged Love on Amazon
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
The Complete Series
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Author Information
Other Books by Liberty Thunderbolt
Caged Love on Amazon
Contents
The Comeback: An MMA Romance Novel (Book Two) Page 13
