GRAYSON

 

He doesn’t care that he’s just won the biggest fight of his life. All he cares about is that he’s just sealed Adriana’s fate. His eyes dart to where she had been sitting, only to find that the crowd is completely obstructing her from view. He has to get to her—now.

 

Grayson jumps out of the ring and tries to make his way through the crowd as fast as he can, but they’re slowing him down.

 

“Punisher, we love you!”

 

“Punisher, sign my butt!”

 

He ignores all of them, sweeping people out of his way, as he catches sight of Adriana on Morrison’s goon’s shoulder, heading towards the exit. Grayson knows that Morrison has lost a lot of money on the fight. He had been betting on Grayson to lose, but Grayson hadn’t fulfilled his end of the bargain. That means that Morrison isn’t likely to hold up his end. He won’t think twice about killing Adriana.

 

Grayson takes the stairs three at a time, rushing after them as fast as he can, cursing anyone who gets in his way. He barrels through the exit, skidding to a halt, as he takes in the scene. Morrison and his goon obviously imagined that Grayson would come after Adriana. They have her wedged in-between them, with Morrison’s gun in the foreground, making sure that Grayson can’t miss it.

 

“Let her go, Morris. We can work this out.” Grayson doesn’t even know what it is that he’s saying. All he’s thinking about is that he has to keep Morrison talking. If he’s talking, then he won’t be shooting.

 

The door behind him bangs closed again and Grayson feels rather than sees Tommy’s presence just to the side of him. “I told you I’d have your back, G.”

 

But the presence of another fighter has gotten Morrison all jumpy. Grayson can see his hand on the gun shaking. That’s the last thing they need…for the gun to go off by mistake, especially when it’s trained in the general direction of Adriana’s gut.

 

“Back off! Back off!” Morrison’s voice comes out half-strangled. “Get back or I’ll kill her right in front of you.” He clicks the safety off, emphasizing the point, and Grayson feels the closest thing to paralytic fear that he’s ever experienced in his life.

 

He focuses his attention on Adriana, not on the gun that’s pressed into her side. She smiles at him sadly, and that’s when he sees her split lip and the bruising to the side of her face. He feels his stomach clench at the knowledge that these men have hurt her, and he wasn’t there to protect her.

 

“Walk away, Grayson.” Her voice sounds confident, as if that’s really what she wants. “It’s over and it’s okay.” She smiles at him encouragingly, and his heart feels like it’s being squeezed into a fist. After everything that’s happened, everything that she’s been through, she’s still trying to tell him that he’s off the hook—for all of it. He may have just been announced the new state champion, but she was the strong one in the way that really mattered.

 

“I can’t do that, Adrie.” He doesn’t take his eyes off of her, afraid that if he does that it’ll be the last time he sees her. “I got you into this and I’m going to get you out.” He ignores Morrison’s sarcastic laugh at his words.

 

“That’s all very heartwarming, but we really must be going now.” Morrison pulls Adriana further away from Grayson, towards the street behind them and the car that’s waiting for them with the engine running. Grayson takes a step towards them, but Morrison shakes his head, looking meaningfully at the gun. “Kid, don’t tempt me.”

 

Grayson has run out of options; there’s nothing that he can do except watch as she’s dragged away. Exactly, Fletcher, he thinks, there’s nothing that you can do, but Adriana can do something.

 

“Remember what I taught you, Adrie.” He shouts the words out to her, hoping that she’ll understand what he’s telling her.

 

She frowns at him, confused, and he thinks that he’s lost her, that there’s nothing more that can be done. He knows that when they get her onto the main street she is going to disappear and he won’t be able to find her. But then her frown clears, and he sees the light of understanding sparkle in her eyes.

 

What happens next occurs so quickly it’s hard to take it in. Morrison continues to drag Adriana back, but abruptly she plants her feet, throwing Morrison off balance and sending the gun skittering along the ground. Then, she executes the hip flip that Grayson had taught her on the goon, rolling him to the floor like a pro and slamming him into the ground, hard.

 

Grayson and Tommy move as one, rushing towards the two men. Tommy pins the goon down, using all his force to dominate him. As Morrison sees how the tide is turning, he decides to cut his losses and starts running towards the street, but he’s nowhere near fast enough. Grayson tackles him from behind, sending Morrison crashing to the ground, crying out in pain as his face hits the concrete.

 

“You fuck! You broke my fucking nose!” Morrison whines like a little bitch, as he tries to slow the flow of blood that’s rushing out of his nose like a tidal wave.

 

“I’m going to break more than that, Morris. Your nose is the least of your problems.” Grayson flips the man over, raising his fist, ready to smash Morrison’s head against the concrete.

 

Grayson sees the exact moment that realization dawns on Morrison. The fear in his eyes is palpable. “Come on, Grayson. Don’t be that way. You know I wouldn’t really have hurt her.”

 

Grayson shakes his head at the sniveling man underneath him. “It looks like you already have, Morrison.” Grayson looks over at Adriana, who’s standing with her back to the wall, watching them both.

 

“That wasn’t me. That was Mr. Elliott.” Morrison gives up his comrade in arms so quickly Grayson’s surprised it doesn’t make his head spin. “Kid, don’t hurt me. You’re not a killer.” Morrison holds his hands up in front of his face, looking as pathetic as any man whom Grayson has ever seen.

 

Grayson feels the conflict playing out inside of him. There’s nothing that he wants more right now than to let out all the anger that Morrison has made him feel over the years. He wants to make Morrison feel the fear and the pain that he put Adriana through.

 

“Grayson, don’t.” Adriana’s voice is quiet, but it carries over the noise in his head.

 

He takes in the plea in her green eyes and realizes that no matter how much he wants to hurt Morrison there’s something else that he wants more. He wants to be the man whom Adriana needs him to be, the man whom he knows he can be for her. That’s more important than any thought of revenge or selfish need of his own.

 

He looks down at Morrison and releases him in disgust. “I’m not going to hurt you, Morris, not physically at least. But you and your little friend here are going to go away for a very long time, a lifetime if I have anything to do with it.”

 

Grayson is vaguely aware of the sound of sirens as he walks towards Adriana, enveloping her in his arms. They hold onto each other, clutching each other so tight that it’s impossible to tell where one of them ends and the other begins.