Fight for Her #4: MMA New Adult Contemporary Romantic Suspense Read Online Free PDF Page A

got some heft to him, he’ll be a real force to deal with. Already his punches on the pads make my arms burn as I brace against the blows.
    I circle the cage, moving the pads, forcing Hudson to follow and recalibrate. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jo come into the room and make Sammy and Cam head to the kettlebells.
    We keep going until Hudson is too winded to get a clean shot. “Take five,” I tell him. “Get some water.”
    When I come down, Jo is leaning against the platform to the cage. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” she asks. “Do you get to see your daughter?”
    “No. I don’t have holidays in my agreement,” I tell her.
    “You want Colt’s lawyer to take a look at it?”
    I yank at the Velcro of the pads and toss them in a storage box. “Might eventually.”
    “You’re still hoping Maddie will come around?”
    “Yeah.” I pick up a towel and dry my hands, damp from holding the pads.
    “But you’re spending the holiday with somebody, right?” she persists. “You have family?”
    “Yeah. My parents live in LA.”
    She relaxes. “Good. I just wanted to make sure.”
    “I’m cool. You guys sticking around?”
    Jo glances over at Hudson, who is running a towel over his head. “I think we’re going to Hawaii to see my mom.”
    “Sounds like a plan,” I say.
    “Family is important,” she says. “I’m glad you’ll get to be with yours.”
    The clang of a kettlebell hitting the concrete floor draws our attention to the back. One of the new girls has tumbled with a weight that’s too heavy for her. Jo hurries over to check on her.
    But Jo’s got me thinking. Maddie is probably planning to stay in New York for the holiday. But maybe I could get her to come to LA. Her mother’s here, although that’s probably not a big draw for her. They never got along.
    But then there’s her dad. I wonder where he is. Still wandering the streets? At a shelter? If he was around, would she come see him?
    And I decide right then and there, I have to find him.

    * * *
    The afternoon is bitterly cold for LA. I bundle up in a jacket and gloves to head out and search for Maddie’s father. I called all the nearby shelters, but most don’t allow people in until after five and nobody would tell me if he’s been there before. I figure I’ll just show up at them later and look around.
    Until then I will go to some of the likely spots he’d hang out at, looking for booze. I wonder briefly if Jax’s crew keeps tabs on homeless people too. Maybe I’m being foolish for not asking for their help. But they didn’t solve my problem in Vegas.
    The bar Maddie and I used to go to when she was underage has changed hands twice since then. I don’t bother to walk through, but go around to the back from the outside.
    There’s a man in a ragged coat with a hood pulled up over his head. I’m hoping the world is finally going my way as I approach him.
    “Tony?” I ask. “Tony Greco, is that you?”
    The figure turns to me, exposing a red grizzled face surrounded with fluff from the old coat. “Who wants to know?” the man growls.
    I can see it’s not Maddie’s dad.
    “I do. Do you know him?”
    “Ain’t seen him in a few weeks,” he says.
    “Where does he hang out?”
    The man turns back to the dumpster and lifts a bottle to examine it. “Dead soldier,” he says and chucks it back in.
    I see why this bar is a popular spot for vagrants. The dumpster has a low opening where you can access the trash instead of having to crawl up on it. The man digs out another bottle.
    I’m trying not to get impatient. I know if he finds something with booze in it, he’ll be happier. Or money will do it. I pull out my wallet.
    This gets his attention.
    I remove a twenty. “You got any idea where I could find Tony?” I hold the folded bill between my fingers.
    The man licks his lips. “He got in a turf war with Big John. He has to stay south of Cesar Chavez now.”
    “Where does he sleep?”
    “Cemetery,