The smell of blood and sweat filled the air, the bitter combination filling his nose as Clancy stood off to the side watching the crowd trickle in. His nerves flared when he spotted her making her way towards the front, his eyes darting nervously to Dante and Elio who monitored the incoming spectators. He prayed they wouldn't notice her, wouldn't see the way his entire body tensed when she came into view.

Clancy had worked so hard to separate his personal life from all of this - the illegal fights, the mafia connections, the constant threat of violence. But his 'coworkers' had become increasingly insistent about meeting his sweetheart. They'd even started showing up at his apartment, unannounced and unwelcome, pestering him about the mysterious girl who had captured the gentle giant's heart.

He couldn't let them near her. If he made one mistake in the ring, one wrong move with the mob business, they'd punish her for his failures. The thought made his stomach twist into knots.

As the match was about to start, Rossi came up behind him and clasped a hand on his back, leaning in to whisper in Clancy's ear. "Ya better win tonight, Hercules. Dante's bet ten big ones that ya'll win." His grip tightened painfully before shoving him forward. "Good luck, kid. Ya'll need it."

With a nervous gulp, Clancy pulled off his silk robe as the announcer called him to the ring. The crowd erupted in cheers and boos, the noise echoing in the cramped underground space.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here comes the current heavyweight champion standing at six foot eight, weighing two-hundred-fifty pounds of pure muscle! Put your hands together for Clancy 'Hercules' Sullivan!"

Clancy jogged into the ring, his bare feet sticking slightly to the blood-stained mat. When he caught her gaze from the front row, he gave her a shy, boyish grin that didn't quite reach his anxious eyes. The announcer's voice boomed again, introducing his opponent.

"And in this corner, a newcomer to our ring but a name you've probably heard before. Standing at six foot two and weighing two-hundred-nineteen pounds, everybody put your hands together for Nikolai '*der Bär*' Wagner!"

Clancy's blood ran cold. Nikolai wasn't just any fighter - he was the same man who had beaten him within an inch of his life during his first underground match. The same man who had threatened to hurt her if Clancy ever crossed the mafia again.