“Sorry.”
“S’okay.” But it wasn’t. My head was starting to hurt again. If I only had a few hours here, I had to empty myself. Of everything. After that, I would need a nap and probably a bag of ice for my wrist and my face and Ethan’s neck and his shoulder...
Ethan’s gaze flicked to the double doors. Carlos stood there, arms crossed while he watched us. I hadn’t even noticed that he’d followed. Not only was he quiet, but the country was quiet, which meant less emotional noise to notice a void. Plus, he was far enough away that I wouldn’t have pulled in any emotion if he’d actually projected anything.
“Hey, big and broody,” Ethan said. “Come here.”
I smirked. Ethan always tried to rub people the wrong way. He was a product of his upbringing. He didn’t make friends; he made frenemies.
Carlos walked toward us without any indication that Ethan had gotten under his skin. And maybe Ethan hadn’t. I certainly didn’t feel anything from Carlos.
“My shoulder’s not going to cut it. I need you to step in. But there are a few rules.” As he spoke, he walked around me. “You can’t take it easy on her. Ever. Got it?”
Carlos looked from Ethan to me and nodded.
“This isn’t a fight. This is a spar. A very fast, very intense spar. The goal isn’t to hurt one another.”
Carlos nodded again, and I turned to grin at Ethan. He was worried the big guy would hurt me.
“And no aiming for her face. She doesn’t look good with bruises.”
Carlos gave another stoic nod. I still didn’t feel anything from him. If I didn’t feel anything, it would be a lot easier to exercise the emotions I held. This might actually be fun.
Ethan must have been thinking the same thing.
“Go get him,” he said with a slap to my butt.
Before I could move, Carlos blurred. One second he was standing across from us; the next, he was standing before Ethan, his hand wrapped around Ethan’s throat. Ethan’s feet dangled in the air, and his hands flew to the fingers squeezing the oxygen from him.
Fear for Ethan made my temper snap.
“You son of a...” I let loose on Carlos.
His kidneys were my punching bags. I hit hard and managed five rapid blows to each before he dropped Ethan and turned on me. I punched him in the throat and brought him to his knees. He wheezed and looked up at me. I kicked him in the face. Once. Twice. The third time brought him to the ground. I straddled him and drew back, ready to remodel his face.
“Girl, that’s enough,” a voice said. “He’s not fighting back. He won’t.”
I looked up and saw the man with the bright grey eyes standing in the doorway. Carlos moved ever so slightly underneath me, bringing my attention back to him.
His face was marked from the last kick. Why did I feel guilty for that? He’d had Ethan by the throat.
“No one touches Ethan. Ever. Got me?” I punctuated my words with a poke to his very hard chest.
Carlos nodded slowly, and I rose from him. I backed up a step and glanced at Ethan, who sat on the ground rubbing his throat. He gave me a thumbs-up. When I turned back to Carlos, he was standing, too.
“If he has more bruises from that, I’m coming after you.”
“I will let everyone know Ethan’s under your protection,” the grey-eyed man said. “Though, we’re all family here, so I don’t think that’s even necessary.”
“Really?” I said. “Was that an example of how your family treats each other? Some family.”
“Carlos misunderstood the situation when the boy patted your backside.”
The man’s worry carried a hint of humor with it. I didn’t find anything funny. I glanced at Carlos. He was so damn hard to read, but I was pretty sure he didn’t find anything funny, either.
“Ethan knows me. He knows my limits and what I need. There are no situations to misunderstand because when it comes to Ethan, he’s none of your business...unless he’s giving you advice about what not to do around me. Then, you might want to listen. He’s trying to save your lives.”
“I think they get the idea,” Ethan said.
I doubted it. Ethan had pushed me to the edge more times than I could count with his persistent interference. There’d been times I’d wanted to strangle him myself. But love always stopped me. And even when angry, I always knew, deep down, he was saving me from myself.
I turned to look Ethan over. There were new marks on his neck. I narrowed my eyes, and Ethan grinned at me. He knew what I wanted to do.
The mountain would go down for those marks.
“We sparring or not?” I said, focusing on Carlos again.