Despite the horror lingering in me from Mr.William’s attack, exhaustion drags me into a dark, unsettled sleep.
In my dreams, strong cinnamon-and-clove-scented arms wrap around me and hold me against a masculine chest.My ex-stepbrother shields me from the world far better than my blankets.Brennan cuddles and comforts me as though I’m the most precious thing in the world.
When I wake a few hours later, sweaty and disoriented, I scold myself for being so foolish.
Brennan can never be my big brother again, nor will he be my lover.Ever.It doesn’t matter how much my body craves him after he’s coaxed it awake with his kiss.
He can never know what happened after he abandoned me thirteen years ago.If he knows how much I’ve made my mom suffer, he’ll turn his back on me again.
I’ll never survive if he looks at me with the same hatred my mother does.
I sigh, down a glass of water, and crawl back under the covers.My hip and hand throb, but the pain is nothing compared to the misery in my soul.
I sink into nightmares.
Chapter 8
Brennan Diamond
Sweat drips down my bodyand soaks my shirt, but I shake out my arms and roll my neck before laying into the punching bag with various boxing combinations until my shoulders burn.Needing to punish myself a little more, I add a round of high and low kicks on either side before spending a few minutes beating the bag with whatever strike feels most natural in the moment.
After dropping Audrey off at the store Monday evening, I drove to the address in her records and parked my car in a pay-by-the-hour lot several blocks away.When she stomped past my hiding spot in a nearby alley and entered the building, rage unlike any other threatened to consume me.The potency was all the more frightening since it was aimed at myself.
I’m missing vital information about her past, and the worst part is I have no idea how to start finding that information.In a perfect world, she’d tell me herself, but she’s always been stubborn, so I’m trapped in a hell of uncertainty.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t, I worked beside her all day yesterday without exchanging a single word unrelated to work with her.
With my breaths sawing in and out of my throat like fire and the bag swinging from my blows, I tuck my glove under my arm, rip open the strap with my teeth, and yank my hand free.
“What did the bag do to insult you, and how do I avoid the same fate?”
I turn and scowl when I recognize the owner of the voice.
Carlos Lopez, the highest-rated security guard with a ridiculous number of certifications and awards at my newly bought million-dollar company stands with his arms crossed over his chest and appreciation in his gaze as he watches the bag continue to sway.
I grind my teeth and run my hand through my sweat-slicked hair.
Despite how much I respect his bravery in approaching me now and how he handled Edgar Williams after the asshole put his hands on Audrey, I can’t forget the way my baby doll smiled at him.Jealousy, rage, and bitterness eat away at my insides.
I pull my second glove off and shrug in response to his question.
“It seems I’ve already offended you, Mr.Diamond.Care for a match?”Lopez suggests with a chin tilt toward the blue mats stretched out in the corner.
After working only one full workday—Tuesday has never felt so long before—with Audrey by my side but out of reach, I spent hours destroying the equipment in my preferred gym yesterday evening, but it wasn’t enough, so this morning I decided to check out the gym associated with the wellness program offered to the employees of my newly bought business.Overall the space is clean and well-maintained, and some of the equipment is new, but the lesser used machines need upgrades, and the locker room needs a complete overhaul.My employees deserve better.
Except for maybe this employee.If he wasn’t so efficient at his job, I’d fire him.
I grab my hand towel from where I hung it on the nearest bar and wipe the sweat from my nape.
“You’d spar with your boss?”
“Why not?It’s just a bit of friendly competition, right?”
I dab the towel under my chin and study his face.He must be mocking me, but his expression and body language seem neutral.
A few other employees use different equipment throughout the gym.It’s more than I expected to see on a Wednesday morning.The turnout bodes well for the future of the company—individuals motivated enough to take care of themselves outperform those who don’t—but a sparring session between the CEO and top security guard would feed the gossip mill too much.
“Winner buys lunch,” Lopez offers.
