“This is where I struggle,” I said uncomfortably. My head was squished in between Julian’s legs. My one arm was stretched out in front of me over his chest.

He loosened his grip. “Always be at the ready and keep your torso up. Don’t fall forward because that will make it easier for me to tighten my hold.”

“Like this.” I put my body back in place, but this time I avoided leaning over.

“Exactly. Now lift up.” His legs loosened their grip around me, which enabled me to free my body.

“Shit, I let my body always sag forward.”

“Yeah, I would need to look at your old fights, but that’s my guess.” He motioned for me to get back in position. “Now, another thing, your arm can’t be out in front. You need to have control of every limb, so you’re prepared to free yourself at any moment.”

“Show me what you mean,” I said, reaching my arm over his chest in front of my body.

“Well, you can lift your torso up, but you still are not focusing on your arm.” He used his left hand and pulled me down onto his chest. “So, if you are not in control of your arm, the move with the torso won’t mean a damn thing.”

“From the top,” I insisted.

“You don’t tire easily?” Julian said, wrapping his legs around my body.

“Haven’t you already figured that out? I mean”—I rubbed my hand over the bulge forming only inches from my face. I licked my lips and patted my hand on the mat—“we could test this out just to prove a point.”

“Focus.”

We ran through the move several more times until I felt comfortable with how to free myself. I stepped away, needing a break, and grabbed my water. “I’ll practice with Charlie at the gym.”

It was nine at night, and we’d had sex six times. At around seven, Julian had joked about practicing in his home gym. My idea of a home gym and what I was standing in at the moment were two completely different images. His gym took up the whole area of the basement and mirrored his gym I went to every day.

“My brothers just arrived,” Julian said, walking over to a bench in the corner of the room.

“You must have super-human hearing?”

He pointed to a monitor on the wall. “They never knock.”

“So you installed a monitoring system.”

“Well, it was better than what used to happen.”

“They loved walking in on you when you were getting it on with some hot chick.”

“Something like that.” He reached for my hand and tugged me close to his body. Right as he was about to say something, both of his brothers moaned. “And then there were four.”

“Five actually,” Brooks said, rounding the corner and coming into view.

“C, you’re here.”

“And you’re fully clothed,” Charlie teased.

I pushed at her shoulder. “Shut up.”

Julian walked back over to the bench and turned off the music on his phone. “Why are you all here?”

Charlie wrapped her arms around my waist. “Because of you.” She kissed my cheek and leaned back. “So the meeting blew like a five-dollar hooker, eh?”

I rested my head against hers. “Something like that.”

She stepped away and sat down, patting the mat in front of her. “Tell me everything.” I groaned. “Shut up and sit, woman.” Reluctantly, I finally sat down and crossed my legs. “Tell Momma Charlie everything.”

“You know I hate Momma Charlie, right?”

“Fine, tell me then, dammit.”

I let out a deep sigh. “The woman only wanted me because she found out my father was Johnny Adams.”

“Wait. What?” Charlie said, sounding confused.

“Yeah, she really pressed the notion that changing my name would help my career.”

I noticed her scowl. “What a fucking bitch.”

Brooks sat next to Charlie. “Wait, so let me get this straight. You get a call from AFC, and they only want you because of your father’s last name? And your father is The Punisher? This is breaking news.”

“Yup. I’m sorry. I made Julian and Charlie promise to keep the information to themselves for now,” I said, standing up and walking over to the heavy bag. “My dad was against me fighting with his last name, and I don’t plan to change it anytime soon.” I started to punch the bag, visualizing Angela with each blow to the leather. “There are several small fights coming up. I’ll enter them.”

“We’ll both enter,” Charlie said, grabbing a hold of the bag. “We’re in this together remember.”

Brooks stepped up beside us. “You could go above Angela and talk to Chuck Anders, the owner of AFC.”

I stopped and turned to face him. “I’m not here to fuck with the system. I want to do this on my own.”

He put his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t say that to piss you off.”

“My father started fighting on the street.” I shook my head at the thought. “He had to work his way up. The Punisher wasn’t famous from the start. It took him almost fifteen years before he finally could say he made it.” I felt my mind wander back in time.

“You coming, Lily Bug,” my dad said, reaching out his hands.

“I’m here, Daddy.” I jumped up into his outstretched hands. “Where are we going?”

He beeped me on my nose. “What did you say you were dreaming of the other day?”

I turned my head to the side, trying to remember. “Ice cream.”

He chuckled as he locked the door to our apartment and carried me down the long hallway. “You always want ice cream,” he teased. “When Momma cooked us that delicious steak dinner—”

“I said, I wanted to try lobster.” I felt my eyes go to the size of saucers. “Are we going to have lobster, Daddy?”

“We are, baby. Your momma is going to meet us there.”

The thought took me by surprise. “But didn’t you say it was really expensive and was just a special treat?”

“That you can finally enjoy, Lily Bug.”

“Lils, you there?” Charlie squatted down in front of me.

I was now sitting on the bench with my arms resting on my thighs. I lifted my head. “Yeah, I am.”

“Where did you go this time?”

Charlie knew I had a habit of letting my mind wander. “Just a thought about Dad.”

She squeezed my knees. “Hey, seriously, fuck this Angela chick. You don’t need her, Lily.”

I placed my hands on top of hers. “I can’t have the lobster yet, but maybe I’m almost there.”

“And now you are speaking gibberish.”

Bending down slightly, I kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” I stood up to face Julian. “Maybe I need to head home.”

This whole time, he kept his distance, letting me work this out with Charlie. When I mentioned leaving, he shook his head in protest. “I think you should stay.”

His words caught me off guard. The emotions of my father running through me and then everything with Julian, I felt like I had read too many Nicholas Sparks books in one sitting. My chest felt tighter with each step he took toward me. The moment he cleared the distance and wrapped his arms around my body, I had to pull out The Punisher in me and be tough. I wasn’t ready to show my emotions to Julian, and I most definitely did not want his brothers to see my tears.

I turned to Charlie. “Is it okay to stay the night? Did we have plans?”

She actually rolled her eyes and reached for Brooks’s hand. “Girl, you don’t answer to me. You can stay as long as you like, sweets.”

Julian started to say something, but I threw my hand over his mouth. “I will see you tomorrow, Charlie Bear. Love you.”

“I mean, you can stay as long as you like,” Julian mumbled around my hand.

“Let’s get to know each other first,” I said, removing my hand. “Hell, I don’t even know your shoe size.”

“Well, you kinda do.” He reached for my hand and tugged me closer.

“Close your eyes,” Julian purred beside my ear.

I was sitting on the couch and jumped at his words. “How am I going to finish Pretty Woman with my eyes closed.”

He reached over and hit pause on the remote. “Okay, now that Julia is waiting, will you close your eyes?”

I settled back. “I guess.” I heard rustling behind me, so I lifted one eye lid just a fraction to see what was going on.

“No peeking.” After what felt like forever, he said, “Okay, open your eyes.”

On the coffee table in front of me was an array of toppings. “What is this all for?” I said, moving closer to the table.

“A little birdie let it slip that you love everything about ice cream.”

I didn’t know what to say. My dad used to do crazy surprises just like this when I was still living at home. This gesture caught me off guard. “Julian”—I cleared my throat to avoid any tears from forming—“why did you do this?”

He sat down beside me. “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to find a way to cheer you up.” I reached for his hand and kissed each knuckle. “Getting you flowers seemed silly, since I have a damn rose garden in my back yard.”

“It would be silly.”

“While you were enjoying the movie, I sent a text to Charlie.”

“On my phone?”

“No, Brooks sent me her number.”

I reached forward and grabbed a mini gummy bear. “Wait, you had all this stuff here?”

“Blue Cat grocery store delivers.”

He had no idea how much this meant to me. “What kind of ice cream are we devouring?” I moved onto his lap and peppered him with light kisses all over his face.

“Charlie said you only like vanilla.”

I leaned back. “Exactly, and do you know why?”

“I guess it’s because then you can enjoy the flavors of everything you top on it.”

“Right. You really did do your homework.”

“When I want something bad enough, I study long and hard.”

“Oh really, Mr. Moore?” I teased. “How bad do you want me?”

“Bad enough that I even paid extra for the real gold flakes.”

I didn’t even know what to say. All I could do was laugh and then laugh some more.

“I think that’s my favorite thing about you.”

“What’s that?” I said in between trying to control my giggles.

“Your laugh. I could listen to it all day long.”

“Even when I snort?” I winked.

“Especially the snort.”

I touched the side of his face and brushed my finger along his jawline. At that moment, I knew everything was fitting into place exactly how I hoped it would. I knew my dad would be happy for me. His words rang in my ears. “Don’t settle, Lily Bug. Get what you really want.”

I wanted to make a name for myself on my own…and I wanted Julian.