Unleashed (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) (206 page)

Well, imagine it with Penelope, and it doesn’t sound too bad. Waking up next to her every single morning? Making love to her every single morning? Every single night?

Tasting her, smelling her…
having
her every single day? Seeing her smile, making her laugh… pissing her off? That’s fucking heaven.

That’s what I want. I want
her
. I want her to be mine. She
is
mine… she just doesn’t know it yet.

Fuck.

Of course, we wouldn’t just be some asshole couple with rich-guilt and fake smiles. We’d be cool, do things our way. She’d run her tattoo shop, pick her clients, succeed in her life. She’d do whatever she wanted, because she can.

I recognize the fire in people. The burning will to win, to succeed.

My stomach crunches as I realize that I might just be derailing that.

But Fallon’s threat was clear. I’ll do this fight, win, and walk away with Penelope in my arms. If I listen to her, if I don’t fight, then he’s going after her. Shit, Fallon goes after both of us.

I can beat a man half to death in seven seconds, but I can’t take on the mob, no matter how much I want to. At least, not without a plan.

I need a plan.

All my winning, all my showboating, all my fame, and it just made me a target. Not just me, but Penelope, too.

Fuck them. Fuck them all.

I down a bottle of Gatorade, shake off the brain-freeze, and then start skipping again. I need to get my conditioning to peak level, and I’ve got less than a week to do so.

I’ve got to get Penny out of my mind… for now. Because if I don’t, I might just lose this fight.