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Kiara came in carrying a plate with what looked like small half-moons dusted in sugar. She held it out to me. “Kipferl.”
“I’m not in the mood for something sweet.” I was in the mood to blast something to smithereens, for blood and death, and more than that … Dante’s fucking demise.
She frowned. “They’re delicious.” Her eyes moved to the screen. “Kansas?”
I nodded then grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite. Sweet and soft. I put half of it back down on the plate. Kiara took it and ate the rest.
I didn’t like the way she regarded me as if she knew.
“I’ve been thinking about your offer.”
I had no clue what she was talking about.
“About training with you.”
“I made that offer more than a year ago,” I said.
She bit her lip. “I wasn’t ready then.”
I knew another reason why I hadn’t been part of her defense training in the last few months. Nino was wary of my emotional state, but he was out visiting a few of our drug labs. He was interested in the chemical processes, but I only in the end result. The only times I visited our labs were when they needed reminding to work more efficiently.
“And you think today’s a good time to fight me?” I asked in a low voice.
“Not fight. Train,” she corrected.
I pushed off the sofa, towering over her. She didn’t flinch. “Now?”
She put the plate down and indicated the boxing ring. I shook my head. “In real life you won’t be in a boxing ring when you’re being attacked. It’ll be in a dark alley, when you’re on your way home. Your attacker will have been following and watching you for a while. He’ll be behind you.”
We both knew that it would never come to that. Kiara was never alone anymore, and the stupid bastard daring to look at her the wrong way would lose his eyes.
“Run.”
She blinked. “What?”
I leaned down, invading her personal space, trying to get her pulse up. “Run.”
Understanding filled her eyes. She took a step back and then she turned and began running.
I took another cookie and bit half of it off before putting it back down on the plate. Then I chased her. Running after Kiara brought back memories I didn’t fucking need today or ever. Anger surged through me. I took the steps two at a time and caught up with her in the connecting hallway to their wing. I gripped her hand and jerked her back. Kiara gasped but acted immediately, whirling on me before I could press her to the ground. She knew she couldn’t allow me to press her onto her stomach. Once my weight rested on her back, she wouldn’t have a chance to defend herself anymore. She was good, but I was angry and not in the mood to take it too easy on her.
The second I straddled her hips with her arms pressed above her head, the flickers of panic filled her eyes.
“Snap out of it,” I ordered.
I saw the struggle in her eyes, the memories threatening to burst forth even after all this time.
“Snap the fuck out of it,” I snarled. I wouldn’t release her if she didn’t.
Indignation flashed in her eyes, and she bucked her hips, but I was too heavy. She was small and lithe, and managed to jerk her leg up in a way that her knee smashed right into my balls.
Every fiber in my body, every muscle, every fucking blood cell, acted on instinct, wanting to lash out. I shoved off her and sank back against the wall, chest heaving, trying to calm the rage in my veins.
“Sorry,” Kiara said, sitting up and watching me worriedly.
I smiled darkly. “No need. You did what Nino taught you.”
“But you didn’t pull back because I hurt you … only to stop yourself from hurting me in response.”
I raised my eyebrows. She was perceptive. I wasn’t sure if I liked it. “It doesn’t matter. The average man isn’t as familiar with pain as I am. A kick to the balls would distract them.”
She nodded then she surprised me by sitting beside me against the wall. “Today’s Serafina’s birthday, right?”
“Kiara,” I said in warning.
She tilted her head. “She didn’t marry, did she?”
“I don’t have spies in the Outfit, so I wouldn’t know.”
“It would have been in the news.”
I had stopped searching for news on Serafina a few days after I’d released her. She was a thing of the past.
“I thought she was falling for you …”
I stood, glaring down at her. “You women always need to turn everything into a fairy tale, even a kidnapping. Serafina was my captive. The only falling she did was her fall from grace.”
She pushed off the ground as well. “You can pretend all you want, but I saw the way you looked at her.”
