“So what if it is?” she shot back, a flicker of her usual fire returning. “Maybe I just want to feel something else for a while.”
“And I’d love to help with that,” I said, meaning every word. God, I wanted her. Had wanted her since the moment I saw her on that auction stage. “But not when you’re hurting and confused.”
She looked away, her jaw clenched tight. Her eyes were distant again, haunted by whatever had happened earlier.
I stood up, extending my hand to her. “Come on. I know a better way to clear your head.”
She eyed my hand suspiciously. “What?”
“Something that doesn’t involve us doing something we might regret when you’re thinking straight again.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she took my hand and let me pull her to her feet. I led her straight to my private gym at theback of the house—one filled with free weights, punching bags, and enough equipment to satisfy a professional athlete.
“Working out,” I explained, flipping on the lights, “is the best cure for clearing a fucked-up head.”
She looked at me like I’d sprouted an orange nose. “You want me to… punch things?”
“If that’s what you need.” I shrugged. “Or run. Lift. Swim. Whatever makes your body tired enough that your brain shuts up for a while.”
I walked over to the cabinet and pulled out some bandages and demonstrated how to wrap her hands, then guided her to the nearest punching bag. “When words aren’t enough, sometimes this helps.”
She stared at the bag, then at me. Then, her face softened almost as though she knew I, too, understood what it meant to carry pain too heavy for words.
“I’ll leave you to it,” I said, stepping back. “Stay as long as you need.”
She nodded, already turning toward the bag.
I left her finding her rhythm with the bag and headed straight for my office. Once inside, I closed the door and called Federico.
“What’s up, brother?”
“Federico. I need another favor.” I cut straight to the chase. “About Marc Montes.”
Federico stayed silent, then screeched. “The federal prosecutor? Are you out of your mind?”
“I just need some basic information,” I clarified. “Just an update on what he’s working on currently. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Why?” Federico’s voice sharpened with suspicion.
I chose my words carefully. “I needed to build a more complete file on him.”
“Bullshit,” my brother shot back. “You’ve been acting strange for weeks. Skipping family dinners, asking about auction crews, and now this? What aren’t you telling me?”
I pictured Alisa in my gym, working through her pain the only way I could offer her. Whatever her father had done to put that look on her face, I needed to know. But I couldn’t drag Federico into this.
Not yet.
“Can’t a man be curious?” I deflected. “I’ve been busy, that’s all. You know how it is—too many girls, too little time.”
My brother sighed heavily. “Fine. But whatever you’re into, be careful. Marc Montes isn’t someone we want to cross. Caspian would have your balls if you stirred up trouble with the feds.”
“I know that, and Caspian won’t care if I keep an eye on dangerous men. You know that,” I said dryly. “Text me what you find.”
I ended the call and tossed my phone onto the desk, rubbing my hands over my face. I’d told Federico I was too busy with women to look into Montes myself. The truth was that Alisa was the only woman who’d occupied my thoughts in a long, long time, and now that she was back in my life asmy wife, I didn’t want to go digging her father myself and bring trouble to her door.
Chapter 10 - Alisa
I had never meant to kiss him. But honestly, it felt like the closest thing to safety that day. After I discovered my father was the one who let those criminals take me off the street outside his building just so he could barter me off later himself, my confidence fractured.
