Chapter 23: Led Out

Vince took my right hand in both of his and lifted it over my head.

The flashes went off.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, to the microphone the announcer was holding, "my champion!"

His thumb pressed hard into the back of my glove.

"Let go," I said.

"Smile."

I took the microphone out of the announcer's hand.

"Ask him about the blue tape," I said.

My voice filled the Armory.

The cheering broke up into questions.

Lou stepped up onto the apron.

He unzipped his windbreaker and took out a water bottle.

He held it up over the ropes where the cameras could see it.

There was a strip of blue tape under the label.

"This was handed to my corner in round two," Lou said.

He had no microphone, and his voice reached the front rows anyway.

"Mr. Sorrell's man brought it," he said. "Mr. Sorrell told him to tell me to give it to her myself."

"Louis's drunk," Vince said, laughing, to the crowd. "Louis owes a great deal of money."

"I do," Lou said. "And I'm done paying it with her."

Vince's hand tightened on mine.

"You're making a mistake, baby," he said, low and warm, for me alone. "Think about the gym. Think about the roof."

"I did."

I pulled my hand out of his.

Then the big screen over the ring, which had been replaying my last knockout, went black.

It came back with a picture of the weigh-in.

The doctor's table, the vials, and Vince in the front row with his ankle over his knee.

Under it, a man's voice came out of every speaker in the building.

"Allentown was the first time I tried it on a contender," Vince said, warm and unhurried.

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