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I sighed and searched his eyes. They were so inviting, and it was hard not to step into his embrace and seek comfort. I wasn’t sure why I felt a pull toward this guy. I’d been numb for months and for some reason he made me feel this glimmer of my former self. But she was gone. She had to stay buried. I couldn’t drag Dante into what I had going on in my life, and it wasn’t fair to saddle him with a broken woman who was still mourning her dead husband.
“I appreciate you inviting me over. I…we can be friends, but I can’t be involved with anyone right now,” I said it as nicely, but firmly as I could.
“Okay. Then we’ll be friends,” he said with a shrug.
Narrowing my eyes, I watched the expressions flit across his face. He was taking it really well and I wasn’t sure he knew that I meant it.
He laughed at the look on my face. “Seriously, we can start as friends. If you ever decide you want it to be more, then great.”
Shaking my head, I started to tell him that I couldn’t ever let it be more, but he just tugged on my braid, turned his back on me, and walked back to his apartment.
I went inside my door and dropped down onto my couch. Dante was a really nice guy. In some other life I would have snatched him up as quickly as I could. Not this life, though. Even if I were ready to think about letting someone else in, there was no way he’d be cool with his girlfriend having a kill list. It wasn’t the type of guy he was. For both our sakes, I’d have to hold him at arm’s length.
* * *
An hour later,I stepped inside East Side Boxing and looked around. It was set up like most sparring gyms. There was a dedicated area for weightlifting, a smaller spot that had punching bags enclosing a space where they ran classes, and in the dead center of the room was a boxing ring.
“Hey, can I help you?”
My gaze was drawn to the man approaching me. He had on shorts, no shirt, and was barefoot. I let my eyes wander over his muscles that were covered in tattoos. Smiling at him, I spoke, “Hi, I’m looking for Eric. I have an appointment.”
He looked me over from head to toe and I waited patiently. “Yeah, that’s me. You must be Havoc.”
“Yup.”
“Great, let me give you a tour then we can get started.”
“No need, just point me in the direction of the locker room so I can dump my stuff and I’ll meet you back out here.”
His brows went up, but he just hooked a thumb toward a corner of the gym.
I left him and entered the locker room. The smell of sweat mingling with bleach took me back to all those years of sparring and training with my squad. I hadn’t missed it before. Now the nostalgia hit me hard.
Tossing my bag into an empty locker, I pulled out gloves and my combination lock. Once everything was settled, I went back into the gym and found Eric.
“What is it you’re looking to do?” He asked, folding his arms over his massive, naked chest.
A lot of guys preferred to wear as little as possible when they worked out. I understood why they hated feeling confined. I didn’t care for it either, but I felt even more uncomfortable wearing tiny, tight clothes. I had on a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top. I’d taken my shoes off and tossed them in my locker before I came out.
“I want to get back into fighting shape. It’s been years since I sparred regularly,” I told him.
His eyes narrowed as he checked out my biceps. I was sturdy naturally. Add in all that I’d done on the farm over the years, and I was still in good shape. I meant I needed my Jiu Jitsu moves to be second nature again.
After both encounters with Santos and Pérez I realized just how out of sync I was. That was unacceptable and was going to get me killed before I had a chance to exact my revenge.
“Follow me,” Eric said and hopped up into the ring. He held the ropes open so I could come in behind him.
Chapter 10
Nico
Istepped inside Chris’s place and moved over to the welcoming desk. Leaning against it, I watched as Havoc and Eric moved around the ring. When Carlo had called and told me where they were I’d pushed back my last meeting and come right down. I’d met Chris four years ago when he’d approached me to get a loan. There were a select few people I’d helped out whenever the banks wouldn’t loan them money. It wasn’t something I did very often, and I didn’t do it out of kindness. They always paid me back in interest and favors, but most of them were desperate.
“Boss,” Mario muttered in greeting as the three of us stood watching the show. The gym wasn’t too busy right now since it was still early in the day. The sound of gloves hitting pads echoed around the room. She had good form. It was clear this wasn’t her first rodeo, which was intriguing.
“She knows her way around the ring,” Carlo commented, his eyes following her as she evaded a jab Eric threw her way.
I grunted in response as I studied her. The sweat pouring off her told me she was out of shape, but her ease with the movements spoke of long-standing familiarity with the sport. She’d clearly been doing more than just taking a few boxing classes here and there.
