“Enter.”
O’Phelan stepped inside. “Sir, your wife requests you meet her in the basement. She is with Madam Coraline.”
I glanced over to Declan, who shook his head tiredly.
“Mina?” Neal questioned.
“With the kids, sir.”
“Then I will join her.” Neal finished off his brandy before putting the glass on the table. “You two have fun with that.”
He meant watching our wives most likely sparring in the ring. It wasn’t hard for me to watch—Melody always won—but Declan, he hated to see Coraline take a hit. Even after all these years, he refused to get into the ring with her, which only pissed Coraline off, but there was no changing his mind.
“Well let’s go,” I said, already walking toward the door. “It won’t be that bad.”
He snorted. “Last time she had to get stitches, Liam.”
“Mel felt bad.” It was wrong to smile, but I couldn’t help it. It was thrilling to watch her fight.
“You don’t understand,” he muttered when got on the elevator. In truth, I didn’t. Coraline wasn’t complaining and she had become a great fighter. It wasn’t like she never got Mel back, it was just that Mel was better.
My wife was better.
MELODY
Her fists were fast.
Her eyes were focused, clear, like a tiger.
Her movements were solid, not wasting even a single motion.
Coraline had come a long way. She wasn’t just a good fighter, she was a great one. She was someone I actually enjoyed being in the ring with because no matter how badly she got knocked down, she got back up and pushed back harder. The harder she pushed, the better I became, also. It almost made me feel sorry…almost.
She swung her arm and I twisted to the side, my fist colliding with the side of her jaw, her whole body falling back onto the floor.
“Cora!”
I paused for a second to see Declan staring wide-eyed at us…and in that one second Cora sideswiped my legs, sending me to the ground. I tried to roll away but she was already on top of me. Bringing my fists up to my face, all I could do was defend myself until she slowed. Opening my arms, I took a punch to the face in order to grab both her arms, twisting us over onto the mat and pinning her down.
“Damn it!” She hissed when she tapped out and I let her go, wiping the blood from my nose. “You took the hit to lock me into place?”
“What’s one hit when you win the battle?” I smiled, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“One of these days I swear I’m going to beat you in at least one round. That punch doesn’t even count because someone interrupted.” She made a face as she rolled over to look at Declan, who only threw a towel at her before offering his hand.
“It counts.” Liam grinned, grabbing on to the ropes. “Mel got distracted and she paid the price for it, just like she would have in real life.”
“Are you lecturing me on my fighting skills right now?” I replied, standing back up even though my legs were sore. We’d only been at it for a little under an hour but Cora had been aggressive since we’d gotten into the ring.
“Are you done hitting my wife now?” Declan called up to me, which caused Coraline to roll her eyes.
I pointed to my nose. “It was a two-way street.”
“Hear that?” Coraline smiled, elbowing him. “Your wife is a badass.”
He poked her side and she winced in pain. “I’m in awe of your badassery, sweetheart. Now let’s ice.”
“I’m not a child Declan, I’m fine.” He ignored her, wrapping his arm around her and leading her toward the sauna.