Exiting O’Leary’s, she found that there was still plenty of daylight; it was only the late afternoon. She didn’t normally work day shift, so it was nice to be able to walk home and feel comfortable this time, getting there safely within ten minutes.

Clare pulled her keys out of her purse and unlocked the door to the apartment building, stepping forward into the foyer. Suddenly she was knocked off balance and pitched forward, stumbling to catch her breath. Someone had followed her into the apartment lobby, shoving her further inside.

“Don’t turn around,” a deep, chilling voice spoke quietly behind her as she immediately felt someone pressed against her back.

“Please, don’t,” Clare whimpered, unsure what was going on but very aware of the sharp point in her side that told her the assailant was holding a knife.

“Don’t make a sound. Go,” her attacker commanded, pushing her forward and digging the blade in deeper, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Where?” She moved forward slowly, surveying the lobby and praying that someone would walk out of an apartment right then.

“Your apartment, bitch,” he seethed angrily, a surprising level of animosity in his voice as he continued to push her forward and they began to take the stairs.

Clare gulped nervously, fear coursing through her as she continued toward her apartment. She couldn’t decide what the best thing to do was, whether she should fight here and now or actually let this person into her apartment. The chances of the situation getting worse once she was in the apartment were pretty good, since there wasn’t anything of value for this person to steal, and she could already conjure a million terrible things he could do to her once alone.

She hoped that the slower she walked, the higher the likelihood of their being seen. She pretended that her fear and trembling were the cause of her snail’s pace, but he wasn’t falling for the ruse, and instead just pushed her harder up the stairs until they reached her floor.

This was it. This was her last chance.

As they got closer to her door, Clare summoned her courage and took a deep breath. In a swift motion, she pivoted her body away from the knife in her side and slammed her elbow back into her attacker’s body. She made contact hard, hearing a high-pitched cry as the wind was knocked out of his body.

Taking advantage of the moment, she sprinted forward while frantically searching for the keys she had dropped back in her purse. She just needed to get inside the apartment and lock the door behind her. Thankfully, she located the keys just as she reached her door and rushed to unlock it.

A blinding pain flashed before her eyes as she staggered into the open apartment, clutching her arm. She whirled around to see a dark hooded figure step inside the apartment, then close and lock the front door behind him. She moved her hand away from her upper arm, which she had been tightly gripping, only to see blood covering her fingers.

Shaking, she stared wide-eyed at her bloodstained hand as the intruder pushed the hood of his jacket down.

“Travis,” she gasped.

—

“Damn, you’re getting better!” Rory rubbed his shoulder as he winced in pain.

“Or you’re just getting soft,” Kane teased, following him out of the ring at Legends, where they had just finished up a practice round before tonight’s charity fight.

“You wish. I still beat your ass every time.”

“Only because I let you.”

“Fuck you.” Rory flipped off his brother as they entered the men’s locker room. They showered and changed, meeting up again at the entrance before heading toward the front desk.

“Do you miss it, Rory?” Kane asked him as they walked side by side.

“Miss what?”

“Being in the ring, fighting,”

“Wasn’t I just doing that a few minutes ago? And beating your ass while I was at it, too?”

“You know what I mean.” Kane waved him off. “Do you miss being in the spotlight like you used to be?”

“I did,” Rory mused. “For a while it was all I wanted, and I was pretty sure there was nothing else I would ever want to do.”

“And now?”

“I met Clare and realized that the end of my fighting career didn’t mean the end of my life. I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but I love training. I also love volunteering down at the shelter.”

“I forgot you did that.”

“Yeah, I love it. These dogs are so programmed to be one thing—to be fighters and survivors, nothing else. With some training and attention, they learn a totally different way of life.”

“They learn to love,” Kane said.

“Yeah, but they also learn that it’s not over, that life is just beginning.”

“That’s poignant as hell,” Kane teased him, landing a soft punch on his shoulder.

“What’s poignant?” Casey asked from where she was sitting at the front desk, Ace by her side. The dog perked up when he saw Rory, and wagged his tail.

“Your cousin is a philosopher, spouting the meaning of life and all that shit.” Kane continued to tease, which earned a reciprocated punch from Rory.

“Idiots,” Casey scoffed.

“But you love us,” Rory said, and nudged her.

“Where are we on prepping for tonight?” Kane asked Casey.

Casey began rattling off a list of things that still needed to be completed before the charity match, which was starting in just over an hour. “I need y’all to put up the signs, pointing people to the main cage. And maybe help get some chairs up?”

“On it, boss!” Rory gave her an exaggerated salute, then headed to grab the signs out of the office, with Ace on his heels.

Seamus was sitting at the desk with a grave look on his face. “Rory, I need to talk to you.”

“What’s going on?”

“Travis Creighton’s credit card was used to book a flight to JFK this afternoon.” Seamus rubbed his brows. “I’m seeing about getting the manifest to find out if he was on the flight, or if he bought the ticket for someone else.”

“Has the flight already landed?” Rory asked.

Seamus nodded. “Just under an hour ago.”

“Fuck, so he could already be headed here?” He didn’t need Seamus to answer that one; he knew exactly where Travis was headed, and why.

Rory pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time; Clare was scheduled to be at Legends in less than an hour. He felt certain she would be okay until then, because it would be impossible for Travis to get out of the airport and up to Woodlawn that fast. Still worried, though, he decided to send Clare a text.

Are you on your way, mhuirnín?

“Is she coming here soon?” Seamus asked, nodding toward Rory’s phone.

“I’m about to find out.” Rory’s eyes were glued to the screen, waiting for a response.

“Okay, get her in your sight, and I’ll have some associates try to tail Creighton. See what he’s up to. Jimmy said the restraining order is still in effect, so if we see him anywhere around here, your brother will arrest him.”

“Sounds good,” Rory answered, still distracted waiting for his phone to tell him there was an incoming message.

Yes.

Her response came through with a small ding as the phone flashed her name. Rory sighed in relief; although her response was short, it still made him feel better. When he saw her, he was going to wrap his arms around her and never let go.

He smiled at the thought.

Chapter 21

“Rory isn’t going to fall for that,” Clare spit out, seething with anger as she glared at Travis from where she was seated on the couch.

“Really? Because he just texted back Hurry up, I miss you.” Travis sneered, sounding disgusted as he read the message on the screen of Clare’s phone. She had only just gotten that phone a few weeks ago, hoping that having a new number would help keep Travis from finding her.