“I’ll get Layla here. She’s been cleared by the doctor and wants to start working out. This is her opportunity.”
“Layla fights?” I ask as I realize that the question only just entered my mind.
Rory shakes his head a bit. “Yes and no. She’s never been in any kind of in-ring fight, but she’s trained in a few disciplines.”
“You train her?” I ask.
The other three men burst into laughter while Rory sulks. “No, he did not train her,” Zane tells me.
“Rory sent Layla away years ago because he thought she’d find a nice boy and settle down,” Bastian explains. “But it backfired in the biggest damn way possible with Layla going through one bad boy after another until it all came full circle and she ended up back here. The other boyfriends taught her a little and she found someone to teach her because she was always surrounded by dangerous men. She wanted to be able to protect herself.”
“She can shoot a fucking gun with assassin like precision,” Jax adds.
I cast a quick glance Rory’s way to see he is still pouting. I’m not sure if it’s because he wasn’t the one to teach her or because other men were. Probably both, but it's funny to see him pout. “Okay. Just fucking drop it,” he grumbles as he walks off. I see him grab his phone off the bench closest to the ring.
“Well, that was – informative?” I say like a question because I really didn’t know what else to say.
“It’s a touchy subject,” Bastian says with a laugh.
It’s pretty obvious they all think Rory’s predicament is humorous. “I can tell.”
“He did that shit to himself. He can’t get mad about anyone else she was with after he sent her away.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Jax say a bit condescendingly.
Bastian rolls his shoulders then his neck in frustration. “Yeah, I know,” he grunts.
I just shake my head while I walk away. I climb out of the ring to find some water. I grab a bottle drinking it way too fast then grab another.
“You okay?” Zane asks behind me.
I nod as I pour a bit of the cold water on the insides of my wrists. “Just peachy,” I snark then instantly feel bad because I’m being a bitch and he’s worried about me. “Sorry.”
He wraps his arms around my waist and leans a chin on my shoulder. Almost instinctively, I lean back into his chest with a sigh. “I’m sorry for yelling,” he whispers placing a kiss to my shoulder. “I really don’t fucking like this.”
“I know. It’s why I didn’t tell you about the first one. And I didn’t want you to get involved and get hurt.”
He releases his own sigh with a bit of sadness. He’s been trying to convince me there’s no way he could possibly get hurt until I got him to finally admit the truth. “It’s who I am Tori.”
“I know. Just like this is who I am. I may have stepped away from the fighting, but I will always protect the people I love.”
“All right,” Rory bellows, still looking slightly less pouty – which is still hilarious. “Layla is on her way. One more person to work with won’t hurt. I’m even going to get some of the other guys here to help. The more fighting styles we work with the better you can be prepared. Unless Mateo can find out who your opponent will be.”
I give a nod in understanding as I make my way back to the ring once again.
Myentire body acheslike I’ve been run over then backed over. Layla’s fighting style was much more like how we want mine to be. Defensive and analytical. Not that I don’t have a defense. But my style has always been about getting in there and getting the job done quickly.
I stare out the window of Zane’s truck for a moment until my eyelids are so heavy, I can’t keep them open any longer. It felt like seconds later, Zane was pulling me out of the truck, carrying me like a bride through the garage to his private elevator. Maybe I should insist that I can walk but I don’t. I’m just so tired and exhausted.
Once we get into the apartment, he walks straight to the bathroom. He sets me on the marbled vanity counter, and I watch as he turns to his tub. He pours a box of Epsom salts into the water and stirs with his hand. He turns to me and begins to undress me, slowly peeling off the workout gear until I’m sitting there with absolutely nothing on. He gently lifts me then lowers me into the water.
Instantly my muscles begin to relax in the heat of the water. He reaches over and turns on the jets. I can’t stop the groan that slips from my lips at it kneads and massages my aching body. The lavender and eucalyptus scents soothe me as he washes every inch of me.
I have no idea how much time passes. I’m probably more than halfway asleep when he lifts me back out of the tub and places me back on the counter. He dries me then carries me to bed.
“Turn over, Baby,” he says softly. The first words he’s said since we left the training center of Diamond Industries.
I do what he says without question. I have no idea what he’s about to do but I’m too tired to question it. Too tired to care.
