Keller stalks over, shirtless and barefoot and so breathtakingly beautiful. He puts his fingers under my chin, keen eyes roving over my face. Satisfied, Keller steps back, running his hands down my arms and sides, checking to make sure I’m unharmed.
“I’m fine. He didn’t touch me.” I grab his hand with mine and lift it to my mouth, pressing a kiss on his palm.
“He better not fucking touch you or speak to you like that again,” he snarls, his face twisting into a bone-chilling grimace. “I’ll kill him.”
“You can’t hurt him, Keller. You’ll lose everything.”
The big fighter stares at me, gray eyes shimmering. I suppress a shudder when that strange memory flicks through my mind again as I meet his silvery gaze. It’s there, just out of reach as I try to grasp it.
Silver eyes. Huddling with a girl. Boots. Gunpowder.
Unable to make sense of it, I blink away the images to see Keller giving me a look of amazement.
“Britt, the only thing I care about losing, is you.”
Keller
“Gabriel, I want that little shit fired.” I pace the length of my trainer’s office, so furious I’m seeing red. “He tried to put his hands on Britt again.”
“Now, Killer, it can’t be that bad. Maybe you’re, you know, overreacting because of your feelings for Britt.” Gabriel sits calmly behind his desk, hands folded, watching me go back and forth as I rant.
“No.” I shake my head. “You haven’t seen what he does. He fucking sneaks up on her, Gabriel. He watches her without her knowledge. He’s spying on her, trying to catch her alone. It’s fucked up and I want him gone.”
“Listen. I will talk to Britt and Max, sim?” I stare at the man, and damn it, if he doesn’t so much as flinch. “Boa, boa… I’m glad we agree.”
It takes a minute of concentrated breathing to pull myself together. Once I’m sure I’m not going to hit something, I put my hands on Gabriel’s desk, leaning over it to get in his face. “I. Don’t. Trust. Him, Gabriel. I want him gone.”
My trainer sits for a minute, thinking it over while making me crazy waiting for him to respond. “Fine.” Gabriel gives a sharp nod. “He has been acting strange lately. If this is how you feel and you think he is a threat to Britt,. I will dismiss him and you can have Jerry, você está feliz?”
“No, it doesn’t make me happy, Gabriel. Firing that douchebag makes me fucking ecstatic.” I stalk over to the door, turning to face Gabriel before leaving. “Just know, if he goes near her again, I’ll kill him.” With those parting words, I storm out.
I quickly clock Max hovering by one of the cages, trying to make it look as though he’s not watching for me when I know damn well he is. And he should. If he so much as breathes wrong, he’ll find a size fourteen foot wedged up his ass.
The door to Britt’s office opens and she breezes past me toward Gabriel’s. I nod, but don’t stop her. We don’t interact at work any more than we have to in a professional nature. The last thing I want is for the other fighters to resent Britt or treat her shitty because she’s with me. Unfortunately, that little fucker Max probably spread all the rumors about us already.
God, I could just fucking squeeze the shit right out of him.
I head back to the free weights to do my lifting when Roxie walks over. “Killer, someone is here to see you.”
I push back my hood so I can see the front desk. Holy fuck. A thick lump forms in my throat and I have to swallow several times in order to grunt a response. “I’ll be there in a second.”
“Sure.” Roxie hurries away, probably freaked out by my facial expression, which is likely a thousand times scarier than just seeing the monster inside.
I sit on a bench for a moment, stunned. Not many people unsettle me—Britt and Gabriel—that’s pretty much it. The man in the four-thousand-dollar bespoke suit standing at the front desk? Just the sight of him has my stomach cramping up.
Why the hell is he here?
“Shit.” I have no choice but to stand up and walk toward the desk. With each step, my heart hammers harder against my ribs. The man’s eyes meet mine and my heart skips a beat. They’re identical to mine. Exactly like Kinsey’s, an unusual silvery-gray color. Nausea burns in my gut, gnawing a hole the size of Texas through my midsection.
I tilt my head toward the door and the man exits, me close on his heels. Once outside, out of earshot of the rest of the gym, I finally address the unexpected visitor.
“Dad, what the hell are you doing here?”
10
Britt
I can’t believe Keller had Max fired. On one hand, I’m angry at him for doing it. I’ve known Max for several years and hate the thought of him losing his job.
On the other hand, I love Keller’s fierce need to protect me. The fact that he’ll go to any length necessary to keep me safe sends a warm, tingly feeling over my skin. And to be honest, ever since Keller arrived at the gym, Max has been acting downright strange to the point of being slightly creepy. Getting rid of him makes sense, but it still hurts my heart that it’s come to this.