“Layla’s not innocent,” Evan said. His support meant Sam had definitely crossed the line. He was as morally bankrupt as Royce. Maybe even more. “She almost tanked the deal by spilling Sam’s secrets in front of the Alpha Health Care dudes. That wasn’t on.”

“Do you blame her?” John slammed his fists into the bag again, his gaze focused on Sam. “She spent all afternoon making your favorite dish, her family was waiting downstairs to meet you, her father was just out of the hospital, and not only did she come upstairs to find the frat party of the century going on in her office, her boyfriend drunk and partying with strippers, she also found out you were evicting her and her family. If it had been me, I would have thrown the food in your face, called the cops, and burned the fucking office to the ground. I thought she was remarkably restrained.”

Sam had never seen John so angry. His actions hadn’t just cost him Layla; he had clearly also lost a friend.

“This is getting boring.” Evan climbed into the ring. “Come on. I don’t have all day.”

“Knock some sense into him,” John shouted. “He’s destroying his life and taking down everyone he cares about with him because he can’t accept that he’s not responsible for all the bad things that happen in the world.”

Evan laughed. “I’ll be responsible for the bad things that happen to him once he gets his sorry ass in the ring.”

Sam grabbed his gloves and pulled one on. “I’m sorry they got hurt, but it’s worth it. Ranjeet is getting married again. If I find out he did push Nisha down the stairs and the hospital covered it up, I can save another woman from her fate.”

“You’re still trying to absolve yourself of a guilt that isn’t yours,” John said as he helped Sam tighten his gloves. “Instead of dealing with the guilt that is. You need to make things right with Layla and the Patels.” He helped Sam on with his other glove and pushed him into the ring.

“She needs to make things right with me,” Sam retorted. “We almost lost the contract because of her. And as for Nasir, what would I say? They were in breach of the lease for over a year, and we had a legal right to evict them.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right,” John spat out. “You’ve been chasing a monster for so long, you’ve become one yourself.” He held open the ropes so Sam could climb through and then climbed in after him.

“What’s going on?” Evan looked from John to Sam and back to John.

“I feel like beating on Sam today so I’m going to ask you to step aside.” John held out his hand for Evan’s gloves.

Sam tipped his neck from side to side as Evan helped John tie on the gloves. “Don’t do this. You’ve never won a fight against me. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’ve hurt everyone else.” John dropped into a fight stance. “I think it’s time you feel what it’s like.”

Sam had only a second of warning before John’s fist hit his nose, and he went down in a shower of stars.

* * *

• • •

“GET me another one.” Layla waved Danny over after he’d locked the restaurant door. With her father still recovering and her business now without an office, she’d been putting all her energy into the restaurant, working from morning to night by her mother’s side. They didn’t have the money to pay the rent in arrears and stop the eviction, but she would do her best to make sure they went out as successful as they had come in.

“I think you’ve had enough.” He joined her at the bar. “You’ve spent the last few days eating alone in the restaurant after hours. Don’t you think it’s time to try a different way of drowning your sorrows?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Her eyes filled with tears. “I thought I’d hit rock bottom in New York, but I wasn’t even close. Now besides having no job, no office, no apartment, no boyfriend, and no husband, I opened myself to love and got hurt all over again, and my parents are being evicted. I’m in an even worse situation than I was when I first came home, except I didn’t just get out of jail.”

Danny sucked in a sharp breath. “You did time?”

“Two hours of hard time on the police station bench in the local precinct.” She shuddered at the memory. “In handcuffs. It was awful. The only reason I didn’t go into lockup was because I’d found a job for the building manager’s brother, Louie ‘the Ax’ Moretti, who had decided to get out of the Mafia business. He was married to my father’s cousin’s wife’s sister’s husband’s niece. He pulled a few strings with his police friends and they let me go. It’s a good thing Jonas cheated on me on a Saturday night because Louie was dead by Sunday, and I couldn’t come home right away because I had to go to the funeral.” She drew a finger across her throat. “Italian necktie.”

“That is so fucking hot.” He licked his lips. “You’re an ex-con.”

She handed him her bowl. “Fill it up. And add extra cayenne. I don’t want to be able to feel my tongue.”

“There is such a thing as eating too much dal.” Danny took her bowl away. “Why don’t you have a few drinks? I can make you a gin and tonic. That’s what most people turn to when they’re down.”

“Not good desi girls. We want our comfort food. I checked the pot on my way in. There’s still lots left.”

“You’ve had four bowls already, and an entire stack of roti . . .”

“Bring more roti, too. Make sure they’re hot enough to burn my fingers. I need the pain to remind me that I’m still alive. I think my heart has been broken one too many times.”

Danny untied his apron and sat on the seat beside her. “A little melodramatic, don’t you think?”

“You should be eating dal, too.” She leaned against his shoulder, too distraught to worry about propriety. “The restaurant is closing. You’re going to lose your job.”

With a sigh, Danny put an arm around her shoulders. “Your mother told me not to worry, so, I’m not worrying. I’m just doing my job, cooking and helping out and supporting people in emotional distress.”

Layla looked up, sniffing after her hour-long sobfest. “I am in emotional distress.”

“I can see that,” he said softly.

“Why do the people I love always betray me? Morgan said he loved me, but it turned out he just wanted someone to share the rent with him and his buddies so they didn’t lose their apartment in Greenpoint. And then there was Adam, who hired an actor to play himself, and when I fell for him and asked him to move in with me, this deranged fortysomething bald dude showed up on my doorstep with two suitcases, three cats, and his grandmother’s ukulele.”