My place wasclose enough to the docks that the sound of engines and cranes woke me. It was almost comforting.
I didn’t like being around people, ever since I’d quit fighting. It wasn’t just the scars; it was the knowledge of what I’d become. At first, I told myself I was afraid of losing my cool and getting into a fight. I was staying in self-imposed solitary to protect other people.Yeah, right.
Deep down, I knew I was ashamed.
I sat up...and groaned. I could feel that bone-deep tiredness roll over me, the sort where you want to nod off every time you close your eyes. Not what I needed when I had to haul cargo around all day. Sure, these days the machines did most of the heavy lifting, but there was still plenty of raw muscle needed. Normally, I slept like a baby. Last, night, though….
Last night I’d been kept awake by visions of a dark-haired angel. They’d alternated between stupid, romantic fantasies of her in my arms and twisted nightmares where I hadn’t been there to get her out of that bathroom at The Pit. I wanted to fuck her. I wanted to save her. I needed to be with her.
And I knew I’d never see her again.
I sighed, downed some coffee, and told myself togrow the feck up.
An hour later, I was helping load a container onto a truck when my radio blared. It pissed me off a little, because you don’t want any distractions when you’ve got tons of steel hanging above your head. “What?” I snapped into my handset.
It was Aggie, the matronly redhead who worked the front gate. “One of your women,” she told me. It sounded even more disapproving in her bored, north-Jersey accent.
I ran a hand over my face. It wasn’t like I had a string of girls coming to see me at work. Hell, I hadn’t slept with anyone in months. But I’m not a feckin’ monk, either. There’d been a few hook-ups in Newark bars, and once or twice I’d been dropped off at work by a Sandy or a Mandy or a Cindy the next morning...I wasn’t even sure which had been which, now. It had just been empty sex, though it had taken the edge off. And Aggie had seen, and that had given me a reputation.
Well,feck her. I never claimed to be a good guy.
“Which one?” I asked tiredly.
“I’m not your secretary, Aedan,” she snapped.
I let out a long sigh and gestured for the crane to lower a little. “Aggie!”
She swore under her breath and I heard her bark out the question to whoever was waiting at the gate. “Sylvie,” she snapped.
And time seemed to stop.
The next thing I knew, Dwight was bawling down at me from the crane, “Hey! Down or up or what, ya idiot?”and Aggie was on the radio again and I realized I’d been standing there gaping for about a minute.
She looked even smaller than I remembered her. Small and slender, even with that firm ass and those cute, pert breasts. But it was more than that, something in the way she held herself. She lookedfragile.
I’d taken a break to go talk to her, which meant I wouldn’t getanother one until lunch. Worse was the interrogation I’d get from Aggie, later.
I walked Sylvie out to the edge of the dock, where you could look out across the water towards Manhattan. A few gulls were circling overhead. “How did you find me?” was my first question.
“I called around—people my brother knew at The Pit. Everyone’s heard of Aedan. You’re a freaking legend. One of them said they thought you worked at the docks.”
I looked around at the little slice of industrial hell where I worked. “There are a lot of places around the docks. How’d you know it was this one?” It came out angrier than I intended. I’d just got used to my quiet little life there. It felt like she was bringing that whole world of blood and glory back into my life, and I didn’t want it. Or maybe I wanted it so badly it freaked me out.
“I didn’t know.” She lifted her chin. “This is the tenth place I’ve asked at.”
Jesus.The poor girl must have been walking around Newark all morning. I had to admire her determination. “Why?”
She looked me right in the eye. “I need you to teach me how to fight.”
It was so unexpected, so utterly ridiculous, that I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t want to offend her—seeing her there, dark hair blowing in the breeze, was easily the best thing that was going to happen to me for months. But the idea of her swinging her fists….
“Don’t laugh at me,” she said, stiffening.
“I’m...I’m not,” I said, trying to control it. I shook my head. “It’s just....” I sighed and felt myself grin. The idea was cute. “Look. Go to your gym, find a trainer.” I didn’t mean it to sound patronizing, but a little of that tone crept in. “They’ll teach you how to hit a bag—”
“I don’t mean that,” she said coldly. “I mean in The Pit. I need to learn to fight like you.”
I frowned at her. “Why?Why would you even—”
