by Marie York
“Momma, what you doing?” Joy asked.
“Get your shoes,” I said, sliding into a pair of flip-flops. “We’re going to see Bronx!”
“Bronx! Bronx! Bronx!”
I pulled Joy’s shoes onto her feet, scooped her up, and flew downstairs. I ran out the door, and to his car, but he wasn’t there. He’s been here almost every single day, and now he’s not here. I scanned the street, looking for him, when I saw him walking down the street.
When he saw me, he began to jog.
“Bronx!” Joy cried out and squirmed out of my arms. She took off, and I ran after her, but she dove into Bronx’s arms. He picked her up and threw her in the air. She let out a loud giggle and he hugged her to his chest.
“Missed you, short stack,” he said and then looked over her blonde curls to me.
A smile spread wide across my face. “He agreed. Knox agreed. You’re going to get your fight!”
Bronx’s mouth fell open, and he then he let out a loud “Fuck yeah!”
“You said a bad word again!” Joy yelled at him, and I laughed.
“He gets a pass today, baby,” I said.
He positioned Joy on his hip, and took my hand. “I miss you guys.”
“We miss you, too,” I said, tears building in my eyes.
“I’m sorry I broke your rule. These last three weeks have been hell, and, if I could, I would go back to that night and do it all over again.”
“Me too,” I admitted. “I thought, by you drinking, you were choosing booze over me.”
He squeezed my hand, and stepped closer to me. “I would never choose anything over you. You and Joy are number one. I love you.” He kissed Joy’s forehead, and she hugged his neck.
“I love you, too,” she said in her cute voice.
“She loves me,” he said. “What about you?”
“So much it hurts,” I said.
“Then, why are you all the way over there?” he said, wrapping his hand around the back of my head, and bringing our foreheads together. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before capturing my lips with his, and, when our lips met, it was as if everything fell back into place. Two broken souls brought back together and healed.
Chapter 22
Bronx
5 months later
I had been waiting for this moment for almost three years. I was ready to be back on top. Ready to give Kenzie and Joy the life they deserved. This time, I wasn’t gambling my money away. I knew what it was like to have nothing, and, the amount of money I was getting for this fight, we could live off of.
I found Kenzie in the crowd, and our eyes caught. She mouthed I love you, and it was all I needed. Knox got into the cage, and he looked more ripped than I remembered, but I wasn’t about to let that intimidate me. I wanted this more. The fire was burning hot, and bright, inside of me.
The ref called us over, and we bumped fists after he went through his spiel. I took a deep breath, and bounced back on my feet, keeping the blood flowing and the energy strong.
The bell rang, and we met in the middle. Knox had his fists up, ready to go, and I watched his leg for that flying knee. He took me out with it last time, and there was no fucking way in hell that he was going to take me out again that easily.
He came in strong, swinging like a mad man, knocking me hard in the side, and then in the jaw. Pain radiated through my face, but I used it as more fuel to my fire. I got out of his line of fire and waited for my opening.
He threw a hook and then a jab, and I dodged both. He went for the flying knee, and I managed to avoid getting hit too bad by it.
I threw a punch and nailed him in the eye, busting open his brow. Blood spewed down his face and on the mat, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
“Nice hit, kid,” he said, and motioned for me to come at him again. He really was a sick bastard, but, today, I was too. So, I accepted his invitation and went in swinging. I got him in the ribs then in the cheek.
Just when I thought I had the upper hand, he went for the takedown. I jumped back, dropped my hips, and drove my weight into him, managing to avoid him taking control.
We got back on our feet, and threw a few more punches before the round was over. I went to my side, and Ray squirted water in my mouth, massaged my shoulders and gave me a pep talk. “You’re doing good. You got this. Go for the take down and choke him out.”
The bell rang, and we went back in. Ray’s words echoed in my head, and I focused on Knox, waiting for my moment. He came at me, guns blazing, knocking me hard in the face before getting me hard in the rib.
I stumbled back as pain exploded inside me. I saw him line up the flying knee, and our last fight flashed into my mind. There was no way I was going down after all this. After all I fought for. After everything I did to get back here.
I gained my strength, and avoided his attempt to knock me out. He went wide, and I went in for the takedown. I got him on the ground, and wrapped my arm around his neck, reinforcing my grip with my other arm. Knox fought desperately to get out of it, but I wasn’t letting go. I was here to win, and I wasn’t fucking letting go for shit. I held on, and held on and held on until Knox tapped out!
The crowd erupted. I let him go and jumped up, throwing my arms in the air. I fucking won. I did it! I fucking won! I ran around the octagon and climbed the cage, looking for Kenz. I spotted her jumping up and down. Seeing how happy she was just made this win that much better.
Chapter 23
Kenzie
I pushed my way through the crowd, and ran into the cage right into Bronx’s arms. “You did it!” I screamed.
“All because of you,” he said, and then crushed his lips to mine. “All because of you. I love you.”
He held my face and I smiled. “I love you, too!”
I stayed by Bronx’s side as he was interviewed and, when the microphone was pulled from his face, Knox stepped up. I had thought about this moment for a long time. If I would say anything. If he would even recognize me.
He held his hand out to Bronx. “Congratulations,” Knox said, and Bronx accepted his hand.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Take care of that title until I come back for it,” Knox said and, if I wasn’t mistaken, he was joking.
I didn’t make eye contact, and didn’t even lift my eyes up to see him, but when it sounded like he was walking away, I looked up. Instead of seeing him walking away, I saw my sister. Her eyes locked on mine, and awareness flashed across her face.
“Mackenzie?” Mila said, and ran toward me. Tears filled her eyes, and the raw emotion that was exuding from her took me by surprise. “Is it really you?” The tears fell down her cheeks, and all the hatred and anger that I had carried with me for so long was gone.
I closed the gap between us, and threw my arms around her. I sobbed into her shoulder, and held on as tight as I could.
“I can’t believe it’s really you. I can’t believe it. Let me see you.” She pulled away, taking her hands in my face and looking me over. “How are you? Why did you run away? I looked for you for weeks.”
Her words hit me like a thousand bricks. “You did?”
“Of course I did. By the time I found out you were in Miami, I assumed you didn’t want to be found, so I let you go, but I never really did. You’re my sister. The only family I have left in this world. I think about you every day. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. I’m so sorry for everything. There’s so much we need to talk about.”
Mila nodded, still holding my face; as if she let go, I might disappear again.
I felt a tug on my shirt, and I looked down. Frieda had showed up with Joy. She promised to keep Joy in the back until the fight was over. “Momma,” Joy said. “Who is that?”
Mila’s eyes widened, and I reached down and picked up my baby girl. “Joy, this is your aunt Mila.”
Mila sucked in a breath, and pressed her hands to her chest. “You’re a mom?”
“Surprise!”
I said. “That night I came to your club, I came to tell you and then shit went down.”
“You said a bad word!” Joy said, and Mila and I both laughed.
“I can’t believe you have a baby. And you came to me and…I’m so sorry. I failed you.”
“Here, let me take her,” Bronx said, and Joy reached out to him. The crowd was still screaming, but, amongst the chaos, no one seemed to notice our family reunion.
Mila looked confused as she looked between us. “Like I said, there’s a lot to discuss.”
“You must be the long lost sister,” Bronx said, and held his hand out. “It’s nice to meet you. I get it now,” he said, turning his gaze to mine and I shrugged.
“You too,” Mila said. “Can I hold her?” Mila asked, looking at Joy.
“Of course.”
Bronx handed Joy over, and Mila took her in her arms, hugging her close. “It’s Joy?” she asked.
“Joy Melinda Greene,” I said, and watched as more tears poured down Mila’s cheeks.
“It’s perfect. I couldn’t imagine a better person to carry Mom’s name.”
Knox wrapped his arm around Mila, and then looked at me. “It’s good to see you, Mackenzie.”
“I never thought I would say this, but it’s good to see you, too, Knox.”
It was then that I realized that Knox had nothing to do with what happened. Having him in front of me, with my daughter, it all became clear. He was just trying to protect me. “I messed up,” I blurted out. “I really messed up, and I’m so sorry.”
“We all messed up,” Mila said. “But, it’s all in the past and I say we let it stay there.”
“I agree,” Knox said. “Especially because your sister won’t marry me until you’ll be her maid of honor.”
She remembered her promise. Tears pricked my eyes, and I grabbed her hand looking at the huge rock on her finger. “You won’t marry him unless…”
“I made a promise a long time ago, and I intend to keep it. Will you be my maid of honor?”
I flung my arms around her, erasing the past three years. “Of course I will. Of course.”
It took a long time to get here, and there were a lot of bumps and obstacles in that damn road, but, somehow, I made it. Bronx might have won the fight of his life tonight, but I felt like the real winner.
The End
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~ Keep reading for an excerpt from Hook ~
Chapter 1
Knox
Strip clubs were not my idea of a good time. Some poor pathetic girl letting horny bastards drool all over her, just so she could make a few bucks, was more pitiful than anything. Besides, I didn’t need to pay to have a girl get me all worked up. I’d rather fuck something for free. And I could, with whoever I wanted. All I had to do was say when and where. Girls flocked to me and practically begged me to stick my cock inside them. But not tonight. Tonight, my friends and I were celebrating and, for them, strip clubs were Disney World to their inner child. I couldn’t deny them that especially because they all just collected a shit ton of money because of me.
I just won my fifth consecutive fight, making me undefeated. Not that I ever had a single doubt. I was the king of the UFC, and the one who brought it from the underground to the forefront of Vegas. It was bigger than boxing now, and billionaires were coming out from all corners of the world to bet on and against me.
“Get this man a drink,” Sebastian, my best friend from childhood and a self-made billionaire, said to the bartender as we walked past to our table. He smacked my shoulder. “I don’t give a shit if you don’t drink anymore. You’re drinking tonight!” He sat down at the table, his back to the almost naked girl on stage. Like me, this wasn’t his scene either. At least, not since he got engaged to Annabelle.
“Look at those titties,” Julius said, waving hundred dollar bills like they were singles. At twenty-four years old, he was the highest paid NBA player and worth every fucking penny. He played like Mike Jordan and partied like Lil’ Wayne.
He didn’t stop at our table. Instead, he bee lined it right to the stage, where the blonde bent over, shaking her ass in his face, then pulled at the side of her g-string. He reached up and slipped a hundred into the tiny piece of material. As a thank you, the girl turned around and stripped her top off, grabbing the back of his head, and pressing his face into her tits.
She let his head go and he turned around with the biggest fucking grin on his face. Marco, on break from filming his latest action movie, went up to Julius and high-fived him. They were the two biggest perverts I ever met, but they were good people.
A waitress in a red and black corset, skimpy black shorts, and fishnets stopped at our table. She bent over, reaching for a napkin, her tits practically exploding from her top. Sebastian didn’t even bat an eye, but Marco and Julius who had finally joined us ogled her like she was their next meal.
“First round is on the house, compliments of the owner,” she nodded behind her to a fat guy with a pinky ring, then brought a tray around with four glasses and a bottle of Cristal.
I grabbed a glass and held it up in the owner’s direction to show my appreciation, though I knew damn well he just won twenty grand because of me. The least he could do was buy me and my friends a few drinks.
Marco stood up with his glass. “To Knox, the baddest mother fucker in the country.”
We clinked our glasses and, when Marco sat down, the waitress parked her ass on his lap. He was a regular here when he was in town, and the poor sap loved to pamper these girls. And they knew it. They worked him like a fucking porn star worked a dick, milking him dry. He might have won a shit ton of money tonight, but, by daybreak, it would all be gone.
The waitress waved a brunette over who wrapped herself around Julius.
The music changed and the stage lights dimmed. Sebastian got up to take a call—the man never stopped working—and so, with Marco and Julius busy, I turned my attention to the stage.
My eyes settled first on sky high heels and traveled up long beautiful legs to a plaid skirt that stopped just beneath her ass. She bent over and revealed two perfect cheeks that were begging to be spanked.
Confidence poured out of her as she strutted down the stage, and stopped right in front of me. She winked at me, her green eyes flirty and intense as she dropped to her knees, giving me a little show before standing back up.
She ran her hands up her legs, across her flat stomach to the sliver of white material knotted in the front. Her fingers worked the knot effortlessly and she shed the top. Her tits were big, but unlike most of the girls here, I didn’t think they were fake. They were the best-looking tits I’d ever seen and I had seen a lot.
My dick throbbed in my pants, and I leaned back in my chair as she took to the pole. Her blonde hair, parted into two pigtails, spun with her, but unlike her tits, I didn’t think it was real. Still, I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of her.
The skirt came off next, and she was left standing in a tiny white g-string that I wanted to rip off of her with my teeth. She was perfection on that stage. Her skin glowed beneath the spotlight as she finished her routine.
A guy on the other side of the stage whistled and she backed her ass up to him. His greedy hand reached out to grab her, and she moved away, waving a disapproval finger at him. He held up a lousy five dollar bill, and she spun back around and held the string out in his direction.
Once again he tried to cop a feel, but she was quick. In the corner, a wall of a man started making his way over, but she held him off with a look. It was clear the girl coul
d handle herself.
I felt a smack to my shoulder, but didn’t glance away. “Oh, yeah, he likes her,” I heard Julius say.
I managed to shake the trance I was in, and swiveled in my chair away from the stage. “Just something to look at,” I uttered and took a swig of the Cristal.
“Yeah okay,” Marco said with way too much sarcasm. “And you just read Playboy for the articles, right?”
“What’d I miss?” Sebastian asked as he slid into his seat, adjusting his tie that probably cost more than the bottle of Cristal.
It was perfect timing on his part, and I went to change the topic of conversation when Julius beat me to it. “Knox over here has a major chubby for one of the strippers.”
I laughed. “Far from it.”
Sebastian laughed with me. He’d known me the longest. Fifteen years, and he knew damn well I didn’t get hung up on girls. They were good for a fuck or two, but, other than that, I couldn’t be bothered with them.
Julius whispered into the waitress’s ear and she got up, running a finger down his jaw. “I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later, she returned with the schoolgirl. I gave Julius a dirty look, but he couldn’t care less as the waitress settled back into his lap.
The schoolgirl held her hand out to me. “Let’s go, handsome.” Her voice was silky smooth and, even though she only said three words, I could tell she meant business.
“Where we going?” I asked, staring down at her waiting hand.
She leaned toward me, brushing her perfect tits against my arm. She smelled so fucking good. Too good for a girl who took her clothes off for a living. Her lips grazed my ear, her breath warm against my skin. “What’s the fun in telling you?”
“I don’t know what my boys told you, but I’m good.” I shifted because, despite my words, my dick was straining hard against my jeans.
