Chapter 17

When Rory walked into Legends the next morning with Ace, he was greeted with an icy glare from Kane, who quickly went back to punching a heavy bag in front of him. Rory had to remind himself that he deserved the hostility after the way he had acted the day before.

“What did that bag ever do to you? You’re really wailing on it,” Rory said, leaning against the wall a few feet from where his brother was aggressively attacking the bag. Ace stayed a few extra feet back, warily watching the swaying object.

“I’m pretending it’s someone I know,” his brother tossed back.

“Would it help if I just put a picture of my face on it?”

“It’d help more if it was your actual face.”

“Would it, though? You’ve never been fast enough to hit me before.”

“Fuck you, Rory.” Kane glowered at him for a moment, before replacing his scowl with a grin. The men grasped hands and patted each other roughly on the back as their shoulders met in a standard male greeting.

“I’m sorry, man,” Rory said as he pulled away, being serious for a moment.

“Forget about it.” Kane waved his gloved hand. It had always been that easy between them—between all the brothers, actually. They fought hard but forgave easily. Blood ran thicker than any argument. Long explanations or conversations weren’t needed; they knew one another well enough to be sure there were no bad intentions between them.

“You ready for tonight?” Rory asked, grabbing a wrap bandage from a nearby gym station and beginning to tape his wrists.

“Not even close. It’s going to be a shitfest,” Kane said. “I shouldn’t even be going.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that I can’t do this shit, not like you could! My jabs are more like a damn hook, my takedowns are lucky at best, and my chokes couldn’t choke a damn cat.” Frustration seeped from Kane as he paced back and forth.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve got, then.” Rory motioned toward the closest empty ring.

Having finishing taping up his wrists, he followed Kane in. Rory thought his brother was probably just nervous about tonight’s fight being a qualifier for the regionals—he’d shown himself to be a fairly decent fighter in all the times Rory had watched him and trained with him. Ace followed them to the ring and stood outside it, watching them.

Rory knew that with more time and practice, Kane had the potential to be great, but he also knew that Kavanagh boys weren’t raised to accept unsolicited praise. They were raised to work for and earn everything that they had, despite their privileged upbringing. So telling Kane that he was worried for nothing was not going to make him feel better. Rory had to show him.

A few rounds later, both men were sweating and Rory was doing his best to ignore the dull ache that had again taken up residence in his leg. Rory called time, and both men headed to the water station to rehydrate, with Ace following close behind. Legends wasn’t as full as it usually was, probably because it was a Friday afternoon and most people were either working or making plans for tonight.

“My first big fight—remember it?” Rory said after downing half a bottle of water.

Kane nodded, doing the same. “Jameson, in ’08, yeah.”

“I got my ass handed to me, remember that?” Kane smirked and nodded again, the tension in his body visibly easing up.

“Losing happens—it’s not something to be afraid of. You just have to go into each fight trying your hardest and wishing for the best,” Rory told him. “You can’t change the outcome, only how you feel about it.”

Kane let a moment of silence pass between them, fidgeting with the cap on his water bottle as he thought about what his brother had said.

“You going to keep training me?” Rory felt a pang in his heart at the tone in his brother’s voice. It wasn’t the tone of a twenty-five-year-old man. It was the tone of a little boy, a younger brother asking his older brother to be there with him through a new experience.

“Just try to keep me away,” Rory told him, happy to see his brother’s face light up at the response.

“All right, I guess I’ll take your sorry ass back.” Kane reverted to his smart-ass self and Rory rolled his eyes at him. “But you need to clean up your shit. No more drinking or pills. And you better go apologize to Clare. I liked her. We all did. You’re an idiot.” This earned Kane a punch in the shoulder from Rory.

Kane rubbed his shoulder where it stung from the fresh hit. “Ow, I need this arm tonight, fucker.”

“Shoulda thought of that before you ran your mouth,” Rory teased as he moved back toward the front desk area in search of his parents. He had joked with Kane, but in truth, he definitely agreed with him. He had acted like an idiot. Ace followed him, eagerly wagging his tail.

Casey was leafing through a magazine at the counter when he approached. Smiling, she accepted the hug he offered.

“Glad to see you took my advice.” She nodded in Kane’s direction.

“I’ve always said you’re the smartest Kavanagh.” Rory kissed her forehead before letting go of her and ruffling her hair. Ace settled himself next to where she sat, keeping out of the way of everyone.

“She definitely is,” Seamus echoed the sentiment, walking out of the office behind them with Dee.

“Dad, Mom.” Rory greeted them and hugged his mother.

“Are you coming to Kane’s fight tonight, honey?” Dee asked him, all smiles when he nodded that he was.

“Good. You thought about what we discussed?” Seamus was not one to let things be forgotten.

“Yeah, and you’re right. I’m turning over a new leaf.” Rory felt uncomfortable admitting his bad behavior.

“Is Clare on your new leaf?” Dee smile was so wide it reached almost from ear to ear.

“How do you know about Clare?” He looked at her in surprise.

“Rory, honey, I’m your mother. That’s a dumb question.”

Everyone bellowed at her snappy retort, including Rory.

Disputes were easily solved in the Kavanagh family; the love was too deep to let anything get in the way. At his core, Rory knew that while he might make mistakes and piss his family off, they would always be his number-one champions and supporters.

Parting ways, everyone went to get ready for the fight. Seamus wanted Rory to help Kane practice a bit more, and Dee was going to make dinner for them to enjoy before the fight. Casey wanted to change and try to convince Clare to come out and join them. Rory secretly hoped Casey would succeed. He had given Clare some time to let things cool down; now he wanted to talk to her and apologize.

Tonight might be the perfect arena, and he really didn’t think he could wait one more day to see her.

“Are you sure they want me here? It sounds like a family thing,” Clare protested, nervously biting at her nail as Casey ushered her into the convention center where the qualifying fights were taking place.

“Don’t be ridiculous; we’re a very accepting family. Unless you hurt one of us—then you should probably run and hide,” Casey ribbed.

“I did just kind of dump Rory, or something like that—does that count?”

“Not when he’s being a royal douche.”

Clare sighed as they wound their way through the seats to the front. The qualifying fights were in a smaller section of the convention center, with a single large cage built in the middle. Most of the seats were already filled, and Clare could see several fighters scattered throughout the crowd, surrounded by trainers and groupies. She had yet to spot Rory, though, which made her stomach flutter in apprehension.

“Where’s your brother?” she asked Casey, speaking loud enough to be heard over the swarm of people.

“Over there.” Casey indicated the opposite side of the cage, where Clare immediately spotted the huddle of Kavanagh men. Even in a setting like this, in a room filled with testosterone-overdosed fighters, the Kavanagh clan still stuck out with their hulking presence and uniquely good looks.

“Kane!” Casey called as they made their way over to the group.

Clare followed reluctantly. She ducked behind Casey, using her as a shield, hoping that the longer she avoided eye contact with Rory, the longer she could pretend that things weren’t super awkward right now.

“Hey, girls,” Quinn greeted them first. Clare always thought he seemed like the odd man out among his more muscular brothers, with his jet-black hair and tattooed skin, but he had the same friendliness and hospitality that she had come to know in all of them.

Jimmy was next to Quinn. He smiled at the two women, wrapping an arm around Casey’s shoulders, pulling her into the family mix. Seamus was farther away from Clare, but he gave her a friendly wink as he continued talking strategy with Kane and Rory.

“Finally! Some girls to join me in this male sweat factory.” Dee moved past her sons to wrap an arm around each girl’s waist affectionately.

“Hi, Mrs. Kavanagh.”

Clare saw Rory realize she was there, his head snapping around to look at her. Clare felt her breath catch in her throat as his intense silver glare tore through her, a mixture of fear and excitement in the way he raked his eyes over her. She had to admit that she was feeling the latter, as she took in the tight blue muscle shirt hugging his torso and his low-hanging dark jeans.

“Clare, can I speak to you in private?” he asked immediately. She could tell that waiting to talk to her had been very difficult for him, but she appreciated the time he’d given her.

“No time for that right now—Kane’s up first.” Seamus clapped a hand on Rory’s shoulder and tried to refocus him on the task at hand.

Clare had spent the last day thinking about everything, but still had come up with no answers. She had no idea what to do or where she was going to go with her life, how to handle her ex-boyfriend’s threatened appearance, or what issues Rory might have that she couldn’t handle. The time apart had let her mull this over, but even more than that, it had made her realize how much she missed him.

“Later,” she told Rory, glancing at Kane, who was standing nervously next to him. Kane looked a bit pale to Clare—he was normally very tan, which she suspected was mostly artificial. He was already sweating, even though he wasn’t wearing a shirt; his shorts were the only thing covering him.

“Remember what I told you, bro. You can do this—everyone gets nervous, but you’ve got the technique, and you sure as hell have the power behind it. Don’t forget that, okay?” Although Rory spoke quietly, one hand on Kane’s shoulder and his head bowed toward him, Clare could hear what he was saying. She smiled as she listened to the brotherly pep talk. Kane nodded vigorously, swallowing his nerves and getting pumped up.

“He’s got this!” Jimmy cheered, smacking Kane on the back.

“They’re calling you, son,” Seamus informed him as Clare spotted Kane’s opponent climbing into the ring.

“Kavanagh! Kavanagh! Kavanagh!” Casey started cheering and was quickly joined by Dee and Quinn. Quinn motioned for Clare to join them in chanting, pulling her against his side in a platonic embrace, and Clare was more than happy to get caught up in the festivities and join the chant.

Rory raised an eyebrow at her and Quinn, clearly fighting an urge to get between them, but she ignored him. Seamus ushered him and Kane up toward the cage, and Rory turned his attention back to his brother. The rest of the family and Clare stood at their seats, like most of the crowd, and continued to cheer as the announcer began naming the fighters and going over the rules.

“New York City Regional Qualifiers is starting with two of the best up-and-coming fighters out there, men you are guaranteed to hear about again and again over the next few years as they are sure to dominate the field. First up, Justin ‘Justice’ McCraig!”

The crowd cheered exuberantly for a tall, ripped fighter with short, light brown hair and a grisly scar across his jaw who stood across from Kane in the ring.

“And going up against McCraig is the one and only Kane ‘Killer’ Kavanagh!”

The crowd erupted into a much louder roar at this introduction, and Clare gawked in bewilderment. It had been a long time since she had even been to any large gathering like this.

This was her first fight, and the spirit in the air was electrifying for her. It was exciting and pulsing, making her want to jump up and down with the screaming fans. If this was just a qualifying fight, she couldn’t imagine what a championship would be like.

“How pissed is Kieran going to be when he finds out Kane took his nickname?” Casey spoke across Clare to Quinn, who was on her other side.

“The fucker’s in jail—what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Quinn retorted.

“Special treat for you tonight, folks—we have Rory ‘Knockout’ Kavanagh in the audience tonight! First time back in the championship circuit since the Santiago versus Kavanagh incident. Knockout is now training his younger brother, Killer!” At the announcer’s words, Clare saw a scowl cross Rory’s face as he stood at the edge of the cage with his father.

The crowd cheered, happy to see him, but it was clear from his expression that he had not wanted the mention. Clare felt a pang of sympathy in her heart, wishing she could erase the painful moment from his past for him. Rory didn’t say anything, just nodded and waved to the crowd before turning his attention back to Kane. The crowd was soon refocused on the fight as the bell sounded and the fighters began squaring off.

Clare cheered with the rest of the family, hoping for Kane to come out without an injury, as well as be the victor. She loved being surrounded by all of them, all treating her like she belonged there. They didn’t question her presence even though none of them knew her well, with the exception of Casey, who’d formed a fast friendship with Clare. But it was as if they had chosen to make her part of them, and nothing she said or did was going to change that.

Family was all about unconditional love, and she was enjoying seeing that again, for the first time since her own parents had died. Tears crept up in her eyes as she allowed herself to stand there with the Kavanaghs and feel accepted.

To feel loved.