“Hey.” Homicide Hank joins us, with Blade Saw and Doctor Death on his heels. “I got kids. Two of ’em.”

“Everyone knows they aren’t yours,” Doctor Death says, winking at me. He is fully recovered from his fight with Ray and, surprisingly, holds no grudge. In fact, he caught us one night on our way out of the gym and apologized for his behavior. Ray said he understood. His girl did, indeed, have a damn fine ass. But if Doctor Death ever touched her ass again, he’d break all his fingers.

“Fuck you, Death.” Homicide makes a rude gesture, and Doctor Death laughs.

“I do, in fact, get fucked over quite regularly, but that’s my love life. In the ring, it’s you who is going down.”

Homicide Hank takes a swing at Doctor Death. Someone yells “fight.” The fighters leave the café and run over to the mats, where the two miscreants are now going at it full tilt.

“So, this is a Redemption party,” Duncan says, coming up beside me. “Not quite what I expected. When you said most of them didn’t drink when they were training, I imagined the party would be more sedate.”

Ray snorts a laugh. “They’re just getting warmed up. Just wait until those protein boosters kick in.”

“He’s big into the health thing,” I say to Duncan. “He gets up at five every morning, goes for a run, then works out, makes a protein shake, cooks up a healthy breakfast, and he’s ready for work before my alarm has even gone off. It’s so annoying. I wish he’d warned me before we started going out. I’m so not a morning person.”

“You will be.” Ray winks. “I’m gonna whip my girl into shape so we can run together in the morning.”

Before Ray can start his lecture about the healthy benefits of starting the day with exercise, I excuse myself to look for Jess. Although she doesn’t train at Redemption, she never misses a party.

I find her sitting alone in the bleachers, watching Tag and Shayla talking over by the free weights.

“She has a crush on him,” Jess says as I sit down beside her.

“Yeah. For a long time. But Tag isn’t interested. She’s not his type.”

Jess shrugs. “Neither am I, apparently.”

“You’re wrong.” I squeeze her arm. “Now that Luke is behind bars and my parents are in their new condo, and he’s about to become an uncle, he’s changed. He’s happy.”

“I’ve never known him happy,” Jess says.

“If you liked him sad, anxious, and stressed, you’ll definitely like him happy.”

As if on cue, Tag looks up and smiles. He gives Shayla a pat on the back and then jogs over to us, climbing the bleachers two at a time.

“Hey, Sis.” He ruffles my hair. “I’m surprised Ray let you out of his sight.”

“I’m not out of his sight.” I roll my eyes and gesture toward the lat machine where Ray is talking to Blade Saw with his gaze fixed on me. “You think he’d take his eyes off me in a gym full of protein-boosted fighters?”

“Good point. If you were my girl, I’d be watching you too.” His gaze drops to Jess, and I catch the slightest reddening of his cheeks, so faint only a sister can see.

“You…still with Blade Saw?”

Jess freezes, and I poke her in the side.

“Uh…no. Didn’t work out.”

Tag smiles the devastating smile I haven’t seen for years, the one he used to charm his way into all sorts of trouble. “You want a protein shake? Everyone’s watching the fight.”

Jess gapes. I nudge. She stumbles on recovery. “Uh…yes. I like protein. In shakes. And out of shakes. Generally, protein is good. But not meat. I don’t eat meat.”

I cringe on her behalf, but Tag doesn’t seem to notice her sudden awkwardness. Instead, his face softens and he holds out his hand.

“I know.”

After being abandoned by Tag and Jess, I head back to the studio to lock up. Christos and Rose are making out on Rose’s desk, clearly visible through the glass door.

“Hey. Get a room,” I shout.

“That’s my line,” Torment says from behind me.

“Except you used Rampage to deliver it.” I knock on the door, and Christos and Rose break their clinch.

“Gotta keep Rampage out of trouble. He knows too much about what goes on here.” Torment lifts an eyebrow as Christos and Rose push open the door and murmur their apologies on their way out.

“Never got a chance to say congratulations.” Torment follows me into the studio and stands by the door as I turn off the computers and make a quick check to make sure all the equipment is off. Our new Phoenix Ink, Redemption logo—flames with a phoenix rising from the ashes and the studio and gym names in script below—is everywhere. Torment spared no expense.

“And I never said thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“I don’t take business risks unless I’m fairly certain of the outcome. I know you’ll make this place a success.” Torment stands to the side as Ray pushes open the door. Ray’s got his leather jacket on, so I guess he wants to go.

“How?”

“Because once you find the path to Redemption, you never go back.” He nods at Ray and then disappears out the door.

“He’s a bit of an enigma.” I turn off the back lights and push in Rose’s chair. “Sometimes he just comes across as a mindless, ruthless fighting machine, and other times he seems to see into your soul.”