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“Nine,” I whimper and collapse to the bed. “I’m tapping out,” I tell them before anyone else can insist on climbing back up into place.
Magnus falls to the side and extends his arm.
I climb into his chest and scan the rest of the men in the room. “I love group sex Tuesdays.”
* * *
Simon and I train at least two days a week. We do weightlifting, boxing, self-defense, and a mix of cardio and yoga or whatever else we manage to include in our regimen.
It's helped me build muscle mass from when I had lost weight, and it allowed me to put on more. My muscle is functional and purposeful and will hopefully prevent me from being overtaken by another shit bag ever again. I argued how important it was that I learned how to defend myself, not just with a gun, but with my body, too.
We spend time at the shooting range, too, and Simon has taught me how to break apart, clean, and put together most of the weapons in our arsenal. Some of them have more steps than others and I sometimes have to cheat and look over at what he’s doing, but I haven’t managed to shoot my hand off, so I call that a huge plus.
Things with Cora have been tense. She can tell that I’m withholding information from her, and the more I do, the more she pulls away. I fucking hate it, but I haven’t exactly had the best opportunity to tell her what’s going on. She’s been dealing with some shit in her home life, and I haven’t wanted to completely throw her life for a loop when I tell her that her best friend is dating four made men who run a massive criminal organization and the two guys she currently has a crush on are also part of the criminal underworld.
How does someone tell their best friend that?
I’ll figure it out, but right now isn’t the best time. Maybe next week when we get together for girls’ night.
I'm planning on meeting with Claire prior to that, so perhaps she and I can sit down and come up with a game plan to break the news to Cora and navigate any potential outcome that might not go in our favor. The goal is to keep her safe, not have her fly off the handle and potentially put herself at risk.
Now I see how much of a struggle it was for my men to come clean with me. But I’m well aware that the truth is what finally brought us all together.
But what if Cora doesn’t handle things the way I do? What if she’s too sweet and innocent for this world, and I just happened to be a psychotic bitch who loves killing people?
I guess I won’t know until I find out. And because Cora means the world to me, I’m going to have to find out.
“Hey,” Dominic calls out across the room. “Bryant, you’re with me.”
Magnus glances up at him. “Where we going?”
“Knock some heads.” Dominic winks at him.
"Sounds like a good time." Magnus hops to his feet and walks by Simon and me to kiss my lips. "You're all sweaty, princess." He licks his lips. "I like it."
“Can I go?” I ask Dominic and bat my eyelashes.
“Maybe next time.” He strolls over and kisses me quickly. “I need Magnus’s expertise. I can read people, but Bryant is a human fucking lie detector. Plus, you need to finish your session with Beckett.”
Magnus glances back on his way out. “Thai for dinner, don’t forget.”
“I would never.”
Magnus and Dom leave Simon and me behind.
Simon raises his padded hand. “Come on, love. Hit me.”
I throw a punch then surprise him with a spin and a kick. “Can we be done for the day? I’m fucking beat.”
He tilts his head to the side and steps forward, pressing his lips to mine, but not before rubbing his wet face all over me.
“I hate you.” I glare at him.
He grins like an idiot. “I fucking love you, too.”
Coen calls out from his spot on the bench. “You two going to finish or fuck?”
“Definitely one or the other,” Simon tells him. “Why? You want to join?”
Coen rolls his eyes and goes back to his paperback.
“Want to hit the shower?” Simon asks me.
“Together?”
“Together,” he says, that single word holding so much more weight than he could ever know.
* * *
