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I nodded wordlessly. “Well, that’s depressing as shit. What about sex? Please tell me you’ve made more progress on that front,” she said, switching to wrap up the other hand. I blushed, trying to avoid her gaze as it turned all-knowing. “You whore! You finally slept with Lino and you didn’t call me!”
I darted my eyes around the room, wincing when I realized several of the guy watching and listening. “Sadie!” I hissed at her, burying my face in my hands.
“Oh, don’t you dare,” she laughed. “There ain’t no shame in getting you something from a man as fine as Angelino Bellandi, especially not when he’s your husband.” She slid the rings off my finger, putting them up in a box on top of the shelf. My hand instantly felt naked without them, and it seemed so strange that it had only been less than three weeks since Lino first put them on. “Maybe I should—”
“Nobody touches shit here, or they know I’ll rain down hell on them. They’ll be safe.” I nodded, letting her guide me back toward the center of the room. Emilio lurked at the edges, his eyes narrowed and oddly judgmental. "Boys!" Sadie snapped, and everyone in the gym froze. "That ring is mine. Out." I jerked my head back when the two guys sparring in one of the two rings hopped out with smiles.
"Sorry, Sandman."
"Damn right you're sorry. Get the fuck outta here," she teased, reaching out a hand to smack one on the ass as he passed. His face lit up in a smile that made her roll her eyes, and then she slid through the ropes and hopped into the center of the ring and bounced on the balls of her feet like she couldn't contain her excitement.
"I'm too pretty for you to kick my ass, right?" I teased, following much less gracefully. I nearly fell on my face when I tried to slide my last leg through the ropes.
"Aw, don't worry. Lino would kill me if I damaged that face. We aren't boxing." She said, as I tossed my own hair up. "We're just going to start really simple today. What you do to get away. That's it."
I nodded, and she closed the distance between us to step into my space. "I know you don't work out, so after this we'll set you up with a bag and work on some stamina stuff, but this is where I really need you to pay attention so I don't want you dead tired."
"I don't like the sound of me being dead tired," I admitted. "Can't we skip that part?"
"My goal is for you to get an opening and then you run like Hell. If you can't run, then this is pointless." Her hands hit her hips as she grinned at the tormented look on my face, and then she shocked me when she snapped a hand out and grabbed my wrist. "What's your instinct if Connor grabs you like this?" she asked. I was too aware of the eyes on us as she spoke to me. "Ignore them," she said. "They're nosy teenage girls!"
The sound of them going about their business reached my ears, and I breathed a sigh of relief at no longer being the center of attention. "I want to pull away."
"Wrong," she said. "He just gave you access to a very vulnerable spot on his body. Do you know what it i
s?" When I shook my head, she nodded down at my arm. "My wrist. Mike get your ass up here! Help me show her these moves."
She released me, and once Mike stepped into the ring, he gave me a polite smile. “Samara,” he greeted. Sadie’s head jerked back as she looked back and forth between us.
“You two know each other?” she asked.
I nodded, “Mike works security at this bar I go to sometimes for open mic night.”
“How are you? Have you gotten that divorce yet?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I noticed you never called me.”
“I—uh yeah. Lino took care of it. I’m free and clear,” I answered, scrubbing a hand over the back of my neck awkwardly. As much as I hadn’t wanted to admit it, the very night he’d offered to help me and told me I would take a beating before I called him, I had taken another beating.
And never thought to call him.
“Yeah, and then he married her ass three days later,” Sadie chuckled.
“I didn’t know you boxed,” I said to change the conversation, glaring at Sadie.
“Mike “the Rain” Williams. He runs in the Underground Circuit,” Sadie responded, and the massive man shrugged his bronzed shoulders when I gave him a questioning look. As long as I’d known him, Mike had worked at the Bird Lounge. There’d never been any indication of injuries when I saw him, but I suspected if he won his matches, he wouldn’t need bodyguard money.
"You want me to be the attacker?" he grunted, and it became clear that he wasn’t comfortable with the two sides of his life colliding. I tried to quell the curiosity about what those two sides entailed, focusing in on Sadie’s response.
"Damn right," she said. "The guy she's worried about is bigger than her. I want her to see that these things work no matter size." She held out an arm, and Mike clenched his grip around her wrist. "Just watch the first time."
I nodded, and she moved so quickly there was little hope of me understanding what she'd done. Somehow, she'd twisted his arm around and gotten him down to his knees and facing away from her. When she released him, Mike stood back up. "Can you slow it down?" I asked.
Mike grabbed her wrist again, rolling his eyes at the petite woman who looked like having the ability to force a man to his knees meant nothing to her. I couldn't imagine feeling that kind of power, that kind of ability to take my power back in such a physical way. To never have to be afraid of Connor again.
I couldn't explain what that would mean to me.
"You're going to take your other hand and curl it over his fingers, right at the knuckles. That will give just enough hold so he can't slip away easily, okay?"
"I got it," I agreed.
