I arrived at Lucas's condo the morning of his final fight, butterflies had taken over my stomach and that coupled with my lack of sleep the night before had me feeling like a wreck.

I knocked before walking in to a full house. Miguel, Kyle, Daniel, and Lucas lounged around the living room.

"Finally!" Daniel exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Hi?"

"I don't know what kind of hold you have on this guy," Kyle jabbed his thumb towards Lucas, "but apparently we can't eat anything until you arrive."

I glanced at Lucas who had swatted his friend on the back of the head before getting up and placing plates on the table.

"It's called being whipped, Kyle," Miguel snickered.

"Maria wants to talk to you," Lucas stated, holding his phone out to Miguel as Miguel's eyes flashed in fear.

He jumped to grab the phone, "Babe, I meant to say that I'm also whip-" he held the phone to his face and frowned at the lack of a phone call, "very funny," he said drily handing the phone back.

Lucas smirked at his friend playfully before walking over to me and tugging my waist closer to him to press his lips sensually against mine.

"PG, guys," Daniel stated matter of factly.

My cheeks were blazing as all the men in the room tried to avoid looking directly at us. Lucas didn't seem to care though.

We sat down at the table Lucas had set up for us of a full breakfast - pancakes, bacon, waffles, eggs, croissants. It looked mouthwatering.

I sat next to Lucas and whispered to him, "You need to add breakfast items to Emily's Kitchen menu."

He laughed lightly and gave my hand a squeeze under the table.

"What's the plan for today?" Daniel muffled through a mouth loaded with food. "Because here's the thing, I can't stay home for this fight. I need to be there when this happens, Lucas." I'd never seen Daniel so serious about something.

Miguel frowned, "I don't know if that's a good idea, Daniel."

"Let him go," Lucas asserted causing everyone at the table to look at him in surprise. "He deserves to go. This is more his moment than mine."

Daniel smiled at his brother, "Thanks, Luke."

The last fight for the championship was going to be overflowing with reporters and paparazzi, so we all headed to the arena early. There, Lucas would train, go through his weigh in, and have a meet up with reporters and Silva before the actual final fight. I could feel the nerves fluttering in my stomach that wouldn't seem to settle down.

Silva had been unusually quiet as of late - apparently not showing up to any of Lucas's fights and I know it was putting Lucas on edge. It was putting me on edge. I didn't know what to expect tonight.

In the locker room, Miguel was going through some defensive tactics to use against Silva. I had seen first hand how vicious of a fighter he could be. Lucas did repetitive stances to become familiar with them before the ring.

I admired the way his chiseled body moved with such precision. He looked like a warrior, like there was an art behind his movements and for him, there was.

"I'm going to check if they're ready for your interview," Miguel stated as he dragged Kyle and Daniel out with him.

Lucas gazed at me standing from across the room. Not too long ago, I couldn't have imagined fitting into his life, but I couldn't even fathom anything less than this now.

I sped towards him as he sat on the bench and his muscular arms picked me up and placed me on his lap before he held onto my body firmly. His bare torso felt scalding compared to my nervously clammy temperature.

"I want you to walk into my fight with me," he stated seriously, his hand moving to the side of my face to brush my hair gently behind my ear. "I want you with me for my last fight."

"Your last fight?" I inquired curiously.

He nodded, "I already let Miguel know. I'm done after this. I'll have the gym and maybe we can open Emily's Kitchen together after our vacation," he grinned at me and I treasured these moments when he was carefree as they were so far and few between.

"That sounds like something I could get used to."

He leaned forward and brought his lips to mine, his tongue pushing past the seams of my lips, a feeling that always brought butterflies to my stomach. I couldn't get enough of it. Of him.

I pulled back for a moment, "Please be careful today, Lucas. Silva's going to try and goad you on. Don't let him."

The guys entered the room. "They're ready for you," Miguel declared.

I hopped off of Lucas's lap and we exited the locker room towards and towards what felt like a lion's den of reporters and more intimidatingly, Silva.

Daniel, Kyle, and I sat in the front row in reserved seats. The energy was buzzing all around us.

Lucas and Miguel walked up to a seat next to a podium. On the opposite side sat Silva, with a smug grin plastered on his tattooed face. How I'd come to loathe that face.

I reached next to me and held onto Daniel's hand. He squeezed mine tightly when Silva looked towards us, his grin widening menacingly.

I looked to Lucas and prayed that he kept it together. I saw Miguel whispering something into his ear, but it did nothing to get rid of the stormy look that clouded his eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we have the most anticipated fight in the championship! Silva, the Axe Murderer and Lucas Miller!"

The crowd began to belt out an applause and my stomach lurched at the spectacle.

"To my right," the announcer pointed to Lucas, "is forty four fights winner with zero losses! And to my left is former middleweight champion of the world, sitting at fifty wins and zero losses, Silva the Axe Murderer!"

The announcer swivelled his head to question Silva. "Now, Silva, I know you're a veteran at winning titles-"

"Fuck yeah," Silva interrupted cockily.

"What's your plan for winning this one?" The announcer finished his question.

Silva grabbed his microphone and I tensed at the thought of hearing his slick, wily voice again. "It's not that difficult, pound until there ain't nothing to pound no longer!" He laughed loudly and I winced at the sound of his cackle.

"And what's motivation for this win, Silva? What keeps you fighting?"

Silva looked pensive for a moment, "When you've spent your life on the streets, you'll do anything to keep away from that life. This is all I have and I'll do whatever I need to keep it."

"Lucas, what's your tactic for taking down this champion?" The announcer questioned looking over to Lucas.

Lucas took a moment to pause, ever the stoic thinker that he was, "You don't need much tact to take down scum."

Silva grabbed his microphone tightly and sneered, "It sure must be nice to go home to a sweet ass eh, Lucas? I mean, if I remember correctly, she gave great cuddles," he turned to the crowd and winked at me.

Miguel was now using both of his hands to hold down Lucas as he shifted around in his seat looking ready to kill.

"I'd keep my loved one's names off of your fucking tongue before I drag you across the floor with it," Lucas seethed. He was agitated, that much was clear. I just hoped he could hold it together for a little longer.

"You think you stand a chance against a champion?" Silva scoffed, "Well then, maybe after tonight there'll be two crippled Miller brothers hobbling about. Wonder if your sweet ass girlfriend would stick around then?"

Lucas shoved Miguel and pounced up crossing the podium before I could even blink and landed a blow to Silva's face.

Silva looked shocked for a moment before he flipped his chair over and shoved Lucas's chest. They were both yelling across at each other while three security guards held each of them back.

I'd never seen the look on Lucas's face. I wanted so badly to cross onto the stage and take him off myself.

"You're in for the finale of that preview tonight, ladies and gents! That was only a teaser as to what you're about to witness so stay tuned!"

I looked to Daniel and saw a mirror of horror and dread splayed across his face.

~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the late post, I've been under the weather lately so lying down in bed in my own misery seems like the only thing I've been able to do.

That being said, this chapter is out because of two new followers who seriously put such a smile on my face that I got out of bed and wrote this in my pjs.

Has anyone seen these pre-fight interviews before? I've had to watch a lot of mma/ufc content to get familiar with Lucas's world in this book, and let me tell you it's a ruthless one.

Also, RIP Justin Trudeau's beard. You will be missed.