I turned back to Hoodie. “Puh-leease. I’m not afraid of you.” My voice was even with honesty. “What do you want and why are you following me?”

“Somebody really doesn’t want you here with the scum of society.” His hand surprised me with its steel grip on my arm, and I flinched with the pain shooting up to my shoulder.

“Let go of me, you psycho.” I pulled away roughly, which only served to increase the pain in my shoulder socket. His eyes had gone from showing no emotion to obvious enjoyment. He was getting a thrill out of our interaction and I was getting increasingly pissed off. I took a quick survey of my surroundings and assessed I was on my own. Jim and Shorty were nowhere to be seen, and everyone else’s attention was gripped to the cage.

“You’re a feisty little number.” He licked his lips as he raked his eyes up and down my squirming body. “I might give you a run later.”

“Fuck off, you pig.” My cursing made him chuckle, and I took the opportunity to slam my foot down hard on his, followed up immediately with a knee to the balls when his grip on my arm momentarily eased off. Hoodie’s screams of pain turned a few heads, and when I glanced up at the cage, I was horrified. Leo had seen me. We were riveted to the spot in a locked stare, and Hoodie took the opportunity to grab me roughly from behind. Leo’s body coiled in rage and he launched himself at the wire cage.

“Get off her!” he yelled. “I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t get off her.”

He had to refocus. Paul had been given a reprieve and was stalking towards him, having taken a moment to recover with a blood puddle at his feet. I launched into counter-attack mode, starting with a rear head smash to draw his attention upward. I spun around when he released me and quickly slammed my foot down hard on his again. I shifted my hips hard and fast to the left and then struck his groin with all the force I could muster. Judging from the fact I was quickly released and he was bellowing in agony on the ground, it was a lot.

Smiling, I looked away from my victim and back to Leo, whose shocked look would’ve been cute if I weren’t then watching Paul take his opportunity in what felt like slow motion. I heard myself scream Leo’s name, and he thankfully reacted on instinct to the threat behind him. All the saliva in Paul’s mouth flew sideways as he took a hard hit to the face then a punch to the stomach. He dropped to his knees and tipped forward, landing with a loud thud. He was out, and I was pretty sure Barb would be warming up the car.

The crowd gasped and cheered as Leo was declared the winner and poor Paul was dragged off.

“You little bitch.” Hoodie spat then groaned again. His aching, bruised groin would be a reminder for a while to leave me alone.

“Don’t you speak another word to her, you fucking arsehole.” From nowhere, Leo’s angry voice startled me.

Stunned and muted, I watched in horror as Leo wrenched Hoodie from the ground into the air by his throat. With his breathing cut off, his legs flailed frantically.

Jim and Shorty appeared by my side and I’d never been more thankful to see them.

“Please get that guy out of here before Leo kills him.” I could hear the desperation in my own voice, and clearly they could too as they leapt forward immediately and pulled Hoodie from Leo’s grasp in the nick of time.

“We’ll get this good-for-nothin’ out of here, mate,” Jim assured Leo, who still appeared murderous.

“If I see you again,” Leo said to Hoodie with a menacing tone. “You’ll be eating your next meal through a straw.”

Hoodie spat on the ground as he was dragged away, clutching his groin with one hand and cradling his throat with the other.

“Are you okay?”

I shivered at the sound of Leo’s strained voice. With him right in front of me, sweaty, a little bloodied and bruised but no less intoxicatingly handsome, I had trouble formulating words.

“Did he hurt you at all?” he asked, sounding increasingly concerned.

“I’m fine,” I croaked.

Leo ran his hands through his hair and dipped his head forward. “Fuck, Juliette.” He sounded angry. He grabbed my hand and pulled me around the side of the cage then away from the crowds towards the fighters’ exit. We stopped in a small hallway with the sounds of men in pain for background noise. The rooms off the hallway must have been where the losers were trying to recover.

“What happened back there?”

“What? I took care of it.”

“I saw that,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Are you angry with me?”

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous for someone like you.”

“Are you kidding me? Too dangerous for a poor, defenceless little rich girl, you mean?”

“Clearly you’re not defenceless, but why would you put yourself in danger like that?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Leo,” I replied indignantly. “Speaking of, you better get back in there for the final.”

“I called it a night.”

“What? Why? You can’t do that. I didn’t need saving.” I didn’t know why I was being so petulant, but I could take care of myself. I didn’t need anyone trying to be my knight in shining armour.

“No.” His brow furrowed and his eyes dimmed. “I will lose the next fight if you’re here. I won’t be able to concentrate.”

“Don’t think about me when you’re in there.” I reached out and touched his arm, pleased by the goose bumps I felt on his hot skin.

“I’ve thought of little else for the past month.” He stared at my lips with lust in his eyes. “I don’t give a shit about the win.”

His candid statement floored me. I wanted desperately to kiss him and find out what those perfect lips would feel like on mine. I swallowed hard, completely terrified by what I was feeling.

“I’m still with Richard.” It was the truth and it had to be acknowledged, but it made me feel nauseous. I watched Leo’s jaw clench and his eyes darken.

“What are you doing here, Juliette?”

“Watching grown men fight like animals. Same as everyone else.”

“Okay then. Why are you here? You are not from this world. You live in a fancy apartment, wear fancy clothes and go to fancy parties with your fancy boyfriend. Then you show up here trying to fit in but failing miserably. You’re the most goddamn beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and there’s little wonder guys are going to hit on you. Then what? He takes you out the back and rapes you, or worse? You got lucky this time, but what about next time? You don’t belong here, Juliette.”

“You don’t know anything about where I belong,” I seethed. “In case you missed it, I can handle myself. I train hard to be able to defend myself against scumbags like that and I’m actually proud of myself for handling it. And I don’t need you psychoanalysing me when you’re the one with the big mansion in the country you can’t set foot in without having a meltdown and nearly breaking my hand—then coming here and fighting like a man possessed. Why don’t we discuss that while you’re judging me and my reasons for being here?”

Leo recoiled from my harsh words. I felt instantly guilty for throwing what happened in that house in his face.

“I’m sorry.” I screwed up my face, ashamed. “I didn’t mean that.”

An awkward silence stretched for miles between us.

“I’ll let the promoters know I’m taking you home.”

“They won’t mind?”

“They won’t be thrilled, but they can go fuck themselves if they try to stop me. They can tell the crowd I’m injured.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really give a shit.”

“Okay.” I couldn’t look at him.

Leo returned in a few minutes, pulling a hoodie down over himself and flinching mildly. Even undefeated, he had sustained a variety of injuries. You don’t go into a cage with almost no rules and come out clean.

“Let’s go.” His authoritative tone was both irritating and hot. He took my hand possessively and led me out into the cold air of the very early morning darkness. His Jeep was parked close by, together with a range of other vehicles ranging from dinged-up shitboxes to the expensive and possibly stolen variety.