Fight for Her #1 by JJ Knight

Author:JJ Knight [Knight, JJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: bestselling, romantic suspense, boxing, fighting, romance, bestseller, suspense, serial, mma, New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published: 2014-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

I’m so anxious when I arrive the next day for Lily’s actual birthday, I can barely function.

I’ve dressed better. Khakis and a button-down. I’d have put on a tie if I had one. I know they both think I’m something terrible. I want to show them that I’m not.

Lily opens the door, beaming up at me like a wee goddess in a shiny gold dress. I hold out the box with her present. “For the birthday girl,” I tell her.

“Ooooh,” she breathes.

We go inside. Delores is setting out plates on the dining room table. I can smell the grilled-cheese sandwiches browning. There’s another small cake on the table.

No one greets me.

I sit in one of the chairs and Lily climbs on another. “Can I open it now?” she asks.

“Maybe you should ask your mama,” I say.

She frowns a moment. “She’s busy.”

Probably a good decision. “Then open it now,” I say.

Lily needs no more encouragement. She rips off the paper, revealing a small ballerina jewelry box. When she lifts the lid, it plays “Moon River.”

Delores stops for a moment to flash me a terrible look. She knows.

I start to regret the purchase. But when I found the box and heard it play the song, I wanted it for Lily. She should know, especially when she gets older, that her parents did care about each other at one time. That they had a song that meant a lot to them.

“I love it,” Lily says. The little ballerina turns on her pedestal.

“There’s another little box inside,” I say.

She sees it and lifts it out. Her fingers are clumsy and struggle to open the box. Inside is a bracelet with three charms. She holds it up. “What are they?” she asks.

I lift the first one. “This is a seashell. For the ocean where your mama and I used to go together in California.”

“I’ve never been to the ocean,” Lily says.

“Then I’ll have to take you,” I tell her. “This one is a peace sign. Your mama wore this pretty black shirt with a shiny rainbow peace sign on it the day we met.”

She giggles. “That’s funny.”

“It was a funny shirt.”

I finger the last one. “This is a boxing glove. It’s for what I do. I’m a fighter.”

Lily’s face registers confusion. “You get in fights?”

“It’s a sport,” I say. “Like baseball or soccer. Only we do stuff that’s more like karate, kicking and punching.”

“You hit each other?”

This was a bad idea, I realize. Very bad. I love what I do. Love it. But I can see how hard it is to explain to a child.

Maddie’s voice from the doorway is hard and cold. “Stop it right now,” she says.

She holds a plate of sandwiches. She looks so angry that my heart seizes up. I don’t want to hurt her. But this is who I am.

Lily looks back and forth between the two of us. “Moon River” winds down into silence.

“Daddy brought me this,” she says uncertainly and holds up the bracelet.

Maddie puts on a bright false smile.

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