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Filling his hand with my breast, he spared me the briefest glance. “I’m not going to let you go. You know that, right?” Idle words. A casual tone. There was pure steel there, though.

“I do now.” Feeling far more giddy than a grown woman should, I gently poked his chest. “You know something? I think you like me.” I expected him to smile. He didn’t. His expression turned sober even as his eyes remained soft.

“I love the fucking bones of you, Iz. Ah, and down go your walls again. I was going to say it’s okay if you’re not there yet, but you already are. Aren’t you?”

My throat thickening, I nodded and admitted, “Pretty sure I was way ahead of you on the love thing. You’re late to this party.”

He shook his head. “I fell hard for you seriously fast. It was as easy as breathing. I didn’t really acknowledge it until I walked into your apartment earlier to see another man trying to take you from me. That ripped away my blinders.”

“Nah, I’m still sure I was ahead of you. I started toppling into the love pit the first time I saw all your back muscles up close and personal in one of the dome’s boxes.”

He laughed, his broad shoulders shaking.

“I’m not joking.”

His dancing eyes stared down at me again. “There’s no one like you.” He pressed a soft kiss to my mouth. “No one I could love more.”

“If you’re trying to get me all choked up, it won’t work.”

His lips bowed. “Looks like it’s working just fine.”

It bloody well was. My throat felt clogged up. I gave him a prim little sniff. “I think it’s time you fed me. I haven’t had tea yet, and I’m starving.”

He hummed. “Tell me you love me first, and then I’ll get down to feeding you.”

I splayed my hands on the sides of his face. “I love you.”

His eyes lit with a sort of feral softness. “I’ll make sure you never stop.”

Chapter Twelve

The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing. A whirl of anticipation, adrenaline, and a thirst for the controlled violence that was present in every boxing bout. I was as pumped up as every other spectator.

Watching a boxing match on TV was nowhere near the same as watching it in person. I’d been present at several such events over the years, equipped with my camera. Tonight, I wasn’t here to work. I was here to cheer on my boyfriend.

Cole’s fight was the headliner, so I’d been here for hours as bout after bout played out. There was a whole lot of nervous fluttering going on in my belly. Especially now that his fight would soon start. Neither he nor his contender had yet entered the ring, which only added to the anticipatory vibe in the air.

For the first time, Cole had someone in his corner. Multiple someones, actually—myself, Briar, Connor, and my brothers. Which hadn’t gone unnoticed by the press. Cameras had swung my way a few times.

I doubted that my presence was a surprise to people. Cole and I had been officially together for a few months now. We hadn’t kept it a secret, so we’d been seen and photographed together in public on several occasions. Which, in spite of his general dislike of such attention, he was pleased about. He’d told me that he wanted the world to know I was taken.

Though I was a private person by nature, I hadn’t minded that he seemingly had no interest in being discreet. How could I, when he always looked both proud and possessive while touching me as and when he pleased in public? Plus, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. He was everything I ever could have wanted in a bloke. Everything I’d never before had.

He was my equal. My partner. My support boat. My point of safety.

Briar leaned into me. “I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t expect to enjoy the night so much. But I’m totally amped up.”

“Thanks so much for coming,” I said, knowing she was not only there to support Cole but to help keep me calm, since it was a no-brainer that I’d be sat here silently begging the universe to let him come out of the fight whole and well. Boxing wasn’t exactly a safe sport.

She shot me an insulted look. “Of course I came. Cat and Inaya would have come too if they could have made it. Speaking of Cat, have you found out what’s going on with her yet?”

I shook my head. For the past few weeks, she’d been pretty quiet and introspective. Whenever I’d asked if everything was okay, she’d blown me off. I’d quizzed her again over the phone last night, but … “She’s still being tight-lipped.”

“I think it’s about Danton. She gets a weird look on her face whenever I mention him. I’m thinking she’s made a decision that he’s not going to like.”

“That she intends to end the arrangement, you mean? Because I had the same thought.”

“It’s my theory. I also believe that she won’t find it as easy to shake him off as she probably thinks she will.”

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