An hour after meeting with Petrov, I was back home, sitting on the sofa in the living room, thinking about Maddie.

Chestnut hair. Bright green eyes. Freckles. Perfect smile. Beautiful soul.

The vile shit that Petrov spewed all over me kept repeating in my head.

Many men would love to have her, his voice taunted. She’s a very pretty girl.

Every cell in my body vibrated with rage. Goddamn it! Picking up the remote control from the coffee table in front of me, I slung it at the living room window with all my might. The glass shattered on impact, but it did little to ease the ache deep in my chest.

I couldn’t believe this! I’d known Pop wasn’t a good guy my entire life but this … this was unbelievable, even to me. The Russian mob? I mean, come the hell on!

So much shit ran through my head, but all I could focus on was her. My pretty girl.

The way she tossed her head back when she laughed. The way she bit her lower lip when she smiled.

Leaning to the side, I pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket. After tapping in my security code, Maddie’s birthdate, I flipped through the gallery until I found the video I was searching for. Hitting play, I watched as her gorgeous face flashed across the screen.

“Say it,” I demanded, holding her hands above her head. She was wearing my T-shirt, and her hair was a mess. “Say it right now or I’m gonna tickle the fuck out of you.”

She tossed her head back against her pillow and laughed. “No! I refuse to give in!”

The video distorted as I repositioned my phone. Then it came back into focus.

Letting go of her hands, I slid the fingers on my right hand up the inside of her thigh. She gasped and tried to smack my hand away, but I wasn’t having any of that. Clutching her flesh in my hand, I dug in. “I’m not stopping until you say it.”

She screamed and thrashed against me. After what felt like forever, her stubborn ass relented. “Fine! You win!”

I stopped tickling her. “Then say it.”

Scrunching her nose, she stuck her tongue out at me. Then she whispered the words that I wanted to hear every day for the rest of my life. “I love you, Hendrix Cole. Now, forever, and always.”

I leaned over her and slid my free hand up the oversized shirt. Kissing a strip of skin below her belly button, I ran my hand up her side, stopping at the bottom of her bra. She wasn’t ready, and I wouldn’t push her. Nuzzling the spot right below her belly button, I said, “One day I’m gonna put my baby in here.” She squirmed, and I kissed her belly again. Raising my eyes to meet hers, I continued, “I want two or three. Hell, maybe four. You think you can do that, pretty girl?”

With happiness in her eyes, she nodded. “Four sounds like a nice round number.”

Lifting myself up, I climbed up her body. “I think I can handle four.”

Her eyes twinkled, and she smiled. “Yeah, four girls sound about right.”

My face dropped, and my eyes widened. “What?”

She feigned innocence. “Problem?”

I scoffed. “You give me four daughters and we’re gonna have a big ass problem.”

“And why is that?”

I wrapped one hand around her arm. “Do you want me to go to prison? ’Cause I will kill some little shithead… Oh, hell no. We can have one little girl but that’s it.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes. “No.”

“No?”

“That’s what I said, princess!” Princess? She’d lost her damn mind. “If you want four babies, I’m gonna need three of them to be girls. The world cannot handle two more Hendrixes running around.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “You’re such a little shit.”

She shrugged. “You love it.” I did. I loved everything about her. Wrapping her arms around my neck, Maddie slid her hands into my hair and whispered, “Now shut up and kiss me, handsome.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Seconds later, I kissed the fuck out of her.

The video ended and I put my phone back in my pocket.

Leaning over, I rested my head on my hands.

An hour passed before Pop’s truck headlights flashed through the front window. Standing up, I grinned.

Showtime.

Pop hadn’t raised his hand to me in a little over three years. I don’t know if it was because I’d gotten strong enough to fight back or if the novelty of beating my ass had worn off.

Probably both…

Despite all the beatings that Pop had handed me, I’d never once hit him back. I was too busy trying to escape or defend myself that I never tried to hurt him.

That was about to change.

He deserved everything that was headed his way tonight.

Beating, threatening or treating me like shit was one thing. But putting Maddie in danger, that was a different beast altogether.

The front door opened and Pop stepped inside.

Dropping his keys on the table in the foyer, he turned to face me. Face devoid of any visible emotion, he simply stared. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he huffed out a breath.

Silence surrounded us.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I said, “Say something, Pop.” My voice sounded much calmer than I felt. Pop remained silent as I took five big steps towards him, closing the gap between us. Less than a foot separated his chest from mine. “Fucking say something.”

His gaze dropped to the floor. “I don’t know what you want me to say, kid.”

“I want you to give me some answers.” He didn’t speak. I punched him once in the chest. He grunted and swayed back a few inches, but he didn’t speak or react. Huh. “I want you to tell me why.” Raising my arms, I wiggled my fingers in front of his face. “Come on, give me your shitty excuses and bullshit explanations. Lay it on me, Pop.”

When he looked up again, his eyes were wet with tears. It was my turn not to react. Fuck him and his tears. “I don’t know why, Hendrix. It started as a distraction, and then it spiraled. Soon I was borrowing money to place bets. I got in so deep I knew there was no way I could dig myself out.”

I thinned my lips and nodded. A vein in my temple throbbed. “How long?”

He clenched his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. “A year. Year and a half.”

A raging, hate-fueled fire burned in my chest. Pop would be lucky if I didn’t kill him. “Were you the one to tell Petrov about me?” I didn’t need to mention the words boxing or fighting. He knew exactly what I was talking about. Back at Aphrodite’s he acted like he didn’t know about me fighting but who knew what the actual truth was? For all I knew, he sold my ass out to Petrov. If possible, I trusted him even less than Petrov.

He shook his head, a look of anger flitting across his features. “No. How the fuck could I have told him when I didn’t even know?” Straightening his spine and standing taller, he glared back at me. “How long have you been boxing, Hendrix?”

“I don’t box. Not anymore.” It was the truth. I hadn’t so much as sparred with someone or hit a bag in almost a year.

Pop cocked his head and blinked twice. I knew he didn’t believe me. Didn’t care though. I wasn’t a liar—unlike him. “Petrov thinks differently.” He turned to the side and away from me before staring blankly into the kitchen. “Tell me, Son, how did you get Maddie on board with you fighting? She doesn’t seem like the type of girl who would want the boy she loves beating on someone else.”

I shoved my chest into his arm and growled. “Shut the fuck up about Maddie. You don’t know a damn thing about her!” Just hearing him speak her name made me want to puke. He wasn’t good enough to talk about her!

He ignored me and continued. “After all, that’s why she hates me, isn’t it? Cause she knows I was rough on you?”

Rough on me? He had to be kidding! Was he that stupid or just plain delusional?

“You’re shitting me, right? What you did to me wasn’t being rough, Pop.” Anger simmered beneath my skin. “That was fucking abuse!” It was the first time I’d ever spoken that word. It was also the first time I’d ever confronted Pop about it.

“You’re right.”

My head snapped back in surprise at his response. My fingers twitched at my sides. “You have any idea the trouble you’ve started? The problems you’ve caused?”

He ran his hand down the side of his face. For the first time, I noticed how tired he looked. Whether it was from the excessive alcohol or the stress, I didn’t know. Either way, Pop looked like shit.

“I know exactly what I’ve done… How I’ve put you in danger.”

My jaw ticked. “I don’t give a fuck about me. Maddie is the only one that matters. Your stupidity put my girl in danger.”

The man must have had a death wish because he rolled his eyes. “That problem is easy to fix, Son.”

“Quit calling me Son.”

He narrowed his eyes. “As I said, the issue surrounding Maddie is an easy fix.”

My shoulders tensed. “Already told Petrov I’d take the fight. I just have to win, and then—”

“You think that’ll stop him?”

I snapped my gaze back to his. “What?”

Pop shook his head and looked at me like I was the stupidest man on the planet. “Winning the fight may clear my debt, but it won’t stop him from going after Maddie.”

My head spun, my heart pounded, and my adrenaline surged. “What are you talking about?”

He leaned back against the foyer wall and crossed his arms over his chest. A smug look crossed his face and my fingers itched to wipe it off him. He may have been trying to act like a caring father but he was enjoying this. “Petrov is a sadistic bastard, Hendrix. He’s seen the way you are with Maddie, and he wants to destroy that. To hurt me, he'll hurt you. And to hurt you, he'll hurt Maddie.”

I stared down at my hands and shook my head. “No. He wouldn’t—” Even I knew it was a lie because Petrov most certainly would.

Pop pushed off the wall. “The hell he wouldn’t. He’s a damned mobster, Hendrix! He’s made his living off hurting others. It’s what he does.” Pop tugged the ends of his knotted hair. “And he enjoys every second of it!”

Chest heaving, I screamed at the top of my lungs. “How the fuck am I supposed to fix it then?”

Pop looked away before bringing his eyes back to mine. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated before pushing the words out. “You have to let her go.”

It was the wrong thing for him to say.

Life without Maddie? Not fucking possible.

Until that moment, I’d been able to keep my anger in check. But hearing him say that I needed to let my girl go? That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Raising my clenched fist in the air, I pulled my arm back.

A second later my fist slammed into Pop’s face. Hard.

His head snapped back, and blood spilled from his nose. I prepared for him to hit me back but he didn’t. His refusal to go toe to toe with me only pissed me off more.

I hit him again. This time my left hand connected with his right eye. The skin above his brow split on impact. It looks like we’ll have matching scars, Pop.

My anger, my fucking hatred for him surged, and I lost control.

My mind blanked, and my hands took over.

I lost count of how many times I hit him. Could’ve been five. Could’ve been fifty.

All I know is that with every strike I landed, a small piece of me healed. Call me fucked up all you want, but it’s the truth. Somehow, giving Pop a dose of his own medicine helped to calm the beast that roared inside of me.

Through all of it, he didn’t hit me back once.

It was… unsettling.

I screamed in his face as I hit him with an uppercut to the chin. “Fight back, you piece of shit!” He fell to the floor in a heap of bruised flesh and limp bones. Towering over his battered body, I continued to yell. “Fucking hit me!”

Coughing up a mixture of spit and blood, he groaned. “No.” He sounded broken. Good. “I’ve hurt you enough.”

My adrenaline continued to surge, and every instinct I possessed screamed at me to keep hitting him. To keep hurting him. But I didn’t. Instead, I dropped my arms to my sides and stared at the man I’d once feared more than anything else in the world.

This son of a bitch. “All you’ve ever done is hurt me!”

His eyes were already swelling shut. “I know.” He swallowed. “I’m so—”

I kicked his leg. “Don’t you fucking dare tell me you’re sorry.”

“I won’t.” He grimaced. “But Hendrix—” he panted, his chest rising and falling rapidly “—you have to listen.”

“I don’t have to listen to shit. You’re the reason all of this is happening in the first place! If it wasn’t for you, Maddie wouldn’t be in danger!”

He shook his head. Raising a blood sprinkled hand, he grabbed my wrist. “Please… listen.”

Pop’s head lolled to the side. Was he about to pass out? “Maddie,” he said, spitting out a wad of saliva tinged with blood, “let her go.”

No fucking way.

“If you don’t, Petrov will take her. He’ll…” Pop groaned in pain. “He’ll make her a part of his stable.” Stable? Prostitution?

I was going to be sick.

“Hendrix…” I dropped my head and covered my face with my hands as Pop spoke. “Let. Her. Go.”

Unable to speak, I simply stood there with my heart in my throat.

“Has to be public.” His half-swollen eyes watered. “Has to be bad. Make it—” he coughed up more blood “—believable.”

Deflated, I said, “I can’t leave her. She’s my everything!” It was the truth.

Pop fell onto his side and cursed. Moments passed before he spoke again. “Doesn’t have to be forever.” He tried to push himself up but couldn’t. “Just until—”

I couldn’t take anymore. Turning around, I stormed to the front door. Twisting the knob, I jerked it open. I looked over my shoulder as I stepped through the threshold. There were so many things I wanted to say to him.

Tilting my head back, I inhaled. Through the pain, I managed to speak. “I hope you’re happy, Pop.” He clawed at the floor as he tried to push himself up. “You just cost me everything.”

He didn’t acknowledge me in any way.

Shaking my head, I hit him with a parting shot. “I hope it hurts, Pop, you worthless son of a bitch.”

I walked out the door without looking back.