With effort, she managed to open her eyes and focus her bleary gaze on him.

"I won't keep you awake long, baby. But I need to say this, okay? I can't let you think this any longer."

He eased onto the bed at her side and angled his body so he was sitting right next to her, his head just over hers.

"It's okay," she said, her words slurred. She just wanted the whole mess to be over.

He took her hand, warming it between his much larger ones. "No, it's not okay. It's not okay at all. Dakota had no right to tell you to leave the gym, and I had no right to jump down your throat. God, I was so scared when I saw you, baby. And I was angry because you should have been with me where you were safe. I fired Dakota. It won't happen again."

She gave him a stricken look, flabbergasted that he'd fired his trainer, someone he'd been with since the very start.

"Why would you fire him?" she asked, appalled.

Merrick gave her a perplexed, bewildered look that clearly said he hadn't expected her response.

"Because he put you in danger. He presumed to tell you what to do and where to be." His voice rose as he grew angrier. "He had no right to tell you anything at all.

"He was only looking out for your best interests," she said wearily, so tired that her ache was bone deep. "You were distracted, Merrick. Even I could see it."

"Do you honest to God think that you were the reason I wasn't focused?" He studied her a moment and then shook his head. "Don't answer that. It's clear that's exactly what you think."

"Merrick," Cade interjected carefully. "Now isn't the time, man. She's about to fall over."

Frustration ate at Merrick. He couldn't let her go on thinking what she was thinking. He leaned down close, cupping his hand over her forehead and smoothing her hair back as he stared into her eyes.

"Listen to me, Elle. I admit I was distracted. But it had nothing to do with you. If you want to know why I kept looking over at you, it was because it felt good to know you were there. When I felt myself losing focus, I'd look at you and it would reinvigorate me. It would remind me of what I was fighting for. I like you being there. I've become dependent on you being there. I don't want to think about you not being around when I'm training. You're like my security blanket.

"We fighters are a superstitious lot, and for me, you've become my talisman. I need you there. I want you there. And Dakota had no goddamn right to tell you to go home. From now on, I want you to have the confidence to stand up and say no. Because there's never going to be a time when I don't want you around, baby. Do you understand that?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes dull with fatigue and the cloud of the medication.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead, leaving his lips there a long moment.

"I love you and I'm so damn sorry for yelling at you. I was scared to death, and I was pissed because I wasn't able to protect you. I was pissed that some son of a bitch put his hands on you. You'll never know how it felt for me to see you there with blood on your face and your body so bruised."

She smiled sluggishly. "You're forgiven. I love you too, Merrick. But don't fire Dakota. You'll regret it."

Merrick worked to keep the frown from his face. He didn't want to upset her, not when she needed rest.

"We'll see," was all he was willing to concede.

At this juncture,Dakota would be lucky if Merrick didn't kick his fucking ass.

"Get some rest, baby," Merrick said gently. "Cade and I will be right here with you."

She sighed and closed her eyes and was out in mere seconds. For a long moment, Merrick watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and how her eyelashes rested delicately on her cheeks.

His thoughts were in turmoil. Something had to be done. They couldn't continue on this way. Things were too chaotic. Out of control. Elle wasn't safe. None of them were.

The door quietly opened behind them, and Merrick swung around to see Dallas stick his head in. Merrick motioned him inside, and Dallas came in, a concerned look on his face.

"What the hell happened?" Dallas asked in a hushed tone.

Merrick relayed the events, and Dallas's face darkened into a fierce scowl.

"Son of a bitch. This is getting ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Cade muttered.

"Has the doctor been by?" Dallas asked.

Merrick shook his head.

"I'll go see what I can find out since I'm her general practitioner."

"Thanks, man. We appreciate that," Merrick said.

Dallas left and returned just a few minutes later with the ER physician in tow.

After the doctor introduced himself, he cleared his throat. "Miss Walker has two broken ribs and severe bruising around her ribcage. She's going to need to take it easy for the next little while. We'll bind her ribs before she leaves so she doesn't incur further injury. I'd prefer to keep her overnight, but Doctor Carrington has assured me that he'll be looking in on her so I'm agreeable to letting her go so long as she is on complete bedrest for the next twenty-four hours and that she takes it easy for the next two weeks."

Cade and Merrick both nodded, and Merrick sent Dallas a grateful look for stepping in.

"I'll let her sleep off the pain meds, and when she comes around, the nurse will bind her ribs and give her the discharge instructions," the doctor said.

"Thank you," Cade and Merrick both said at the same time.

Now that the formalities were taken care of, Merrick was tired of sitting back when all he really wanted was Elle in his arms. He climbed gingerly onto the bed next to her and carefully positioned himself on his side so he could pull her up against him. He fussed with the blanket and her pillow so she'd be comfortable, and then he went still so she wouldn't be disturbed.

Cade and Dallas stood on the other side of the bed, and after Cade related all that had happened between Dakota and Merrick, Dallas blew out his breath.

"Damn," he murmured. "That's tough, Merrick. You know Dakota is a focused son of a bitch and he can be a selfish bastard when it comes to training. But he's good, and he's been loyal to you and has been with you since day one. Are you really going to fire him?"

"I can't believe you're even questioning that," Merrick said darkly. "He tossed Elle out of the gym and sent her home where she was attacked by some asshole with a grudge. That would have never happened if he'd just kept his mouth shut or, even better, come to me and talked it out before acting on his own and being a complete dickhead."

"I agree there. He fucked up," Dallas said bluntly. "But did he cross a line that he can never go back from? That's the question you have to ask yourself. He has a lot to make up to Elle. No doubt there. But don't you think he should be given the chance to do it?"

Merrick clenched his teeth so he didn't bite the head off of his best friend. He knew Dallas's heart was in the right place, and he knew he was making sense. But damnit.

"Look," he finally said. "Right now I'm too pissed off to deal with Dakota. All I'm worried about at the moment is Elle. I want to get her someplace safe. I want to make damn sure she's okay. I'll deal with Dakota when I've calmed down some."

Elle murmured something in her sleep and nuzzled her face closer into his chest. He automatically put his hand to her hair and stroked the dark strands.

"It's okay, baby," he murmured close to her ear. "Rest now."

"I've got to run back to the clinic. I left a few patients waiting when I heard what happened," Dallas said.

Cade's brow furrowed. "How did you know what happened?"

"Cathy called me."

Merrick sighed. The whole thing sucked. No, he didn't want to lose longtime friends. But neither could he keep a person around who was purposely trying to drive a wedge between him and Elle. Over his dead body would he ever let anyone come between them.

"I'll check in on Elle tonight if that's okay," Dallas said as he turned toward the door.

"We'd appreciate that, man," Cade said. "Thanks."

Dallas held up his hand in a wave and then disappeared out the door.

Merrick sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly as weary as Elle had looked. Damn but the entire day had sucked.

"What are we going to do about this, Merrick?" Cade asked in a grim voice.

Merrick didn't pretend not to know what Cade was talking about.

"I don't know," Merrick said honestly. "One thing's for sure. They've declared war, and they've made it obvious that they aren't above stooping to the level of attacking an innocent woman to get their point across."

CHAPTER T H I R T Y - F O U R.

MERRICK AND CADE HAD TAKEN Elle and checked into a hotel for the night. Their house was a police crime scene, but even if it wasn't riddled with police tape, there was no way in hell they'd take her back to a place where her attacker had already boldly waltzed in.

After the way the office had been shot up and torched, the next logical conclusion was for there to be a similar attack on their home.

Elle had still been groggy even after sleeping off the pain medication, and as soon as she'd become aware enough to get up and go to the bathroom, Cade had given her another dose of pain killers and tucked her promptly back into bed.

Cade and Merrick took turns checking in on her until they were certain she was down for the count. Still, they stayed close by her door in case she woke up in pain or just scared.

Dallas showed up at nine p.m. with Chinese takeout. They sprawled in the sitting area of the suite far enough away from the bedroom so Elle wouldn't be disturbed but close enough that they could get to her fast.

"So what are you going to do, man?" Dallas said bluntly. "You've got a fight in four weeks, and you just fired your trainer."

"I don't know yet," Merrick ground out. "I need some time to think. I've been a little worried about Elle at the moment. She's more important than some damn fight."

"I get it," Dallas said calmly. "But I don't want you to fuck around and let this go. You'll regret it later, Merrick. I know you. I've known you too many years."

Merrick scraped his fork against the takeout box and shoved another bite into his mouth. Too many carbs. But tonight he didn't give a shit. Dakota would have his ass over eating this crap.

He leaned back in his chair and then looked at his two best friends.

"What's on your mind, Merrick?" Cade asked calmly.

Yeah, Cade would know something was bothering him. Other than the obvious.

He battled with whether to bring it up so close on the heels of what had happened. It would seem reactionary and like he was too quick to jump the gun. But the longer he pondered the solution, the more at peace he felt about it.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. This will sound crazy, like I haven't thought it through, but I've thought of nothing else since seeing Elle bloodied and bruised in our garage. Elle, who was forced to defend herself with a fucking crowbar because some asshole wants revenge because we had his ass arrested. Fuck that."

Dallas and Cade exchanged curious glances.

"You both want me to go hard at this title."

Cade and Dallas both nodded.

"You want me to focus. You want me to move past the distractions. Well, I can't do that until I know Elle is safe."

"I get that," Cade said.

Merrick leaned forward, putting his carton of Chinese food down so he could rest his forearms on his knees.

"I think we should hang up the business for now," he said bluntly.

Cade's head reared back. "Have you lost your goddamn mind? You know how hard I worked to get that off the ground."

Merrick nodded. "I do."

"Then what the fuck, man?"

Wisely, Dallas remained a quiet observer to the tense exchange.

"Elle said it best," Merrick said. "When she was talking about wanting to take over the office with you. She said if I won the title, my life would change and I wouldn't be working in our business. She's right. Things will change. The thing is, I don't want to be the only one who changes while you two are left behind holding the bag."

Cade started to open his mouth, but Merrick shut him down with a look.

"Let me finish. There are so many reasons to do this, and I'll start with the most important. Elle's in danger because of us and our business. Because we crossed the wrong person and he wants revenge. The motherfucker isn't going to stop just because Elle beat the shit out of his flunky. Hell, I don't even want to take her back to that house. I'd rather us sell it and move someplace that fits the three of us better."

Cade's eyes narrowed, but he kept silent.

"The other thing is, if I win-and I want to win... I know none of you believe that. You think I'm fucking away the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm going to win. And when I do, I want you and Elle both right there with me. You've always been there, Cade. You don't call what you do for me a job, but it is. You're part of the camp, the team. I'll need you more than ever if I win this thing. I can't do it alone, and I want people I trust around me. I'll need you and Elle to keep me grounded. None of us will have time for the business.

"If we're going to make this work with Elle, we can't be in two separate places," Merrick added softly. "We want her with us. You want me to win. We can't have both if you're here and I'm somewhere else."

"So you want me to just quit and ride your star like some fucking charity case?" Cade bit out.

"Oh, fuck you," Merrick said rudely. "You've got goddamn money saved. You've been saving since you were a damn teenager. You hoard cash like Scrooge. You'd be paid a salary, and you'd damn well earn it. There's no charity case, dumbass. If we're going to make this work with Elle, then we need to figure out a way to be together and to work together where we aren't worried every day that some asshole with a grudge is going to retaliate by assaulting the woman we love."

"I hate to be the voice of reason here, because I'm always the voice of reason," Dallas said dryly, "but Merrick has some very good points, as much as it pains me to agree with his ornery ass."

"Thanks a lot," Cade snapped.

"Think about Elle," Merrick said. "Think about the fact that it would be much easier to keep her with us when we're not split up all the time. And really, the timing is perfect. We can walk away from the business or sell it to someone else. Our building was destroyed. We're renting shitty office space until we rebuild. So, what if we don't?"

Cade blew out his breath. "Jesus, man. What a time to hit me with this."

"It's the best time to hit you with it. If we wait, it could be too late. I won't risk Elle again. We've got to take this threat seriously, and we've got to become better at making sure one of us is with her at all times."

Cade rubbed his hands over his face. "I can't even believe I'm considering this."

"I'm not asking for a split-second decision," Merrick said in a quiet voice. "I know how hard you worked for this. Sleep on it. We can talk about it again."