His pain, coupled with hers…
She couldn’t bear the weight of it.
Her own emotions a rising storm she couldn’t navigate after years of choking them down, she hadn’t been able to give him the support he needed. Hadn’t been able to offer him a soothing word or gesture.
He’d held her. Comforted her. Given her his strength. And as greedy for him as ever, she’d taken everything he’d offered and provided nothing in return. Hell, she really had become Maya.
Cold. Calculated. Robotic.
Becca shivered. She’d tattooed her skin so she could lie, cheat, and scheme her way into Volkov’s organization, and now her twin lived inside her like a shadow, haunting every corner of her existence.
Even now, she wondered how to capitalize on her current circumstances. Adam had already promised her Jay wouldn’t be put in the crossfire. Maybe the steely leader of the JTT was who she needed in her corner the most.
She had to go back. Get him alone. Convince him her way was the best way—the only way—to lure Maya out of hiding and get the kill switch.
“I know we’re supposed to be brooding, but I can’t lie here anymore,” Gray said from the bench above Becca’s. “My back’s fucking killing me. Want to go punch some shit?”
“Shouldn’t we go back to the boardroom?” She asked, still surprised Gray had stuck with her.
“Nah,” she replied, rolling onto her side and propping her head on her hand. “They’ll find us when they’re done behaving like a bunch of assholes. Nothing galvanizes the troops more than their women being out of sorts. Remember that, Davis. It’s a good lesson.”
Lying on the bench kitty corner to Becca’s, Davis lifted his head off his stacked hands and smiled in her direction. “I think they’re more worried about Gray knowing where the C-4 is stored and what she might do with it if they don’t get their act together.”
“You have C-4 here?” Becca looked around like she expected to find a crate of plastic explosives marked with a hazardous symbol in the corner.
“Zander keeps it in the barn,” Gray replied. “It’s military grade, so it’s safe. Want to blow some shit up instead? We have lots to spare, and Summer’s old Corolla is still out back. I’m sure she won’t mind if we use it for stress relief. The junker doesn’t even run anymore.”
“Uh, no.” She grinned despite her concerns over Gray’s casual approach to using homemade bombs to destroy other people’s property. “I’m good. Thanks.”
She snorted and sat up, her long legs stretching all the way over Becca’s midsection. “Yeah, I can tell by the clenched jaw and white knuckled fists.” She lowered herself to her feet. “Come on, let’s go to the gym and work off some steam.”
“Do you have a punching bag?” Becca asked, the lure of a hard workout convincing her to get her butt in gear.
“Jay had Z install one last week,” Davis replied, his enthusiasm evident in the way he scrambled to join them. “We even have a speed ball, a smart boxing machine, skip ropes, gloves, and everything!” He held the door for Becca and Gray to pass through first.
“Do you like boxing?” She asked as they left the sauna and made their way down the corridor to the double-wide entrance at the far end.
He nodded. “I don’t know how, but Jay said he’d teach me.”
“He’s a good instructor,” she replied. “He taught me the basics. Want me to show you a few things?”
“Would you?”
“Of course.” She spied the new equipment set up in the far corner of the large gym, and aiming her feet in that direction, she felt the same rush she always did when she got the chance to hit a bag. “Let’s glove up.”
“Here,” Davis said, leading them over to an equipment rack stocked full of gear. “Jay got everyone their own set.” He pulled out a pair of gloves for each of them, and Becca couldn’t help but grin at the brand-new Everlast gloves he handed to her.
Not pink, not purple, not blue like he offered to Gray.
Nope. Her gloves were black with a hint of gold accent on the lettering. And God damn, even after all this time, Jay still knew her preferences and catered to them.
She liked it.
A lot.
And the fact he’d waited for her—was willing to keep waiting for her—she liked that too.
Way more than a lot.
