“Are you sure she can handle this?”
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation, and when both men look at me, I focus on Kayden, deciding the things on my mind must be said. “And if you doubt her, she’ll doubt herself.” I look at Adriel. “The best thing you can do for her right now, as the man closest to her, is not to put doubts in her head. Just like I can’t tell Kayden to be careful every time he leaves here, or he’ll think about me, not his job. If you can’t do that, you need to back away from her. And you, Hawk, should tell her you chose her for the warrior she is. She’ll want to live up to it. I see it in her eyes.”
Neither man reacts, though Kayden’s eyes warm with admiration I’m very pleased to see. Wordlessly, Adriel turns and exits the room, and then Kayden is standing in front of me, tall and broad, his body towering over mine. He cups my face and kisses me. “She needs to hear that I believe in her.”
It’s not really a question, but I answer, “Yes. She does.”
“Very well, Lady Hawk. Then she will.” He starts walking away and my lips curve as I realize his intentions, and as I have another moment to fall in love with him all over again. Yes, he will kill. Yes, he will destroy you if you betray him. But that is because he is loyal to the soul.
I follow in his wake, eager to watch the events unfold.
He is already at the stairs by the time I’m in the hallway, already down them when I reach the top step. I watch as he calls out to Sasha, then watch as she turns, her eyes going wide at his approach. And even at a distance as he speaks to her, I see her stand a little straighter, determination stiffening her spine. She is pleased. She is motivated, and they are now both safer.
Kayden returns to me, his longish brown hair always just a little wild, his jaw a little shadowed while his faded jeans, biker boots, and fitted white T-shirt somehow read like an invitation for sex to me right now. I savor every step he takes until he stops in front of me and motions me down the hallway to our left.
Curious about where we’re going, I fall into step with him, past the room where Enzo died, and farther. We stop exactly where the War Room is on the other side of the castle and enter what turns out to be a giant gym, complete with mats, punching bags, and equipment.
“Okay, I’m impressed,” I say, facing him.
“Take your shoes off, and let’s go to the mats.”
“What?” I ask. “Why? Do you have time for this now?”
“What you said about not telling me to be careful got me thinking. We both need to know what the other one is capable of, what skills we each possess. We need to know that if the other one is in trouble alone, he or she can survive.”
“You know I can fight, and I know—”
He throws a punch that stops right in front of my face, but instinct has my hand covering his fist by the time it does. His gaze meets mine, a challenge in their depths. I throw a punch and he captures my fist as well. “Game on, Hawk,” I say.
He inclines his chin and we drop our hands, take off our shoes, and go to the mats. “Let’s do this, Lady Hawk,” he says, and so it begins.
An hour later, we’re lying in the middle of the mats, staring at the high ceiling, both of us breathing hard. Kayden says, “A guy walks into a bar, and you glimpse a shoulder holster—”
“Wait. Is this a country song or a joke?”
“It’s a situational exam,” he says. “Like what your dad gave you.”
I roll over and climb on top of him, straddling his hips and pulling my shirt over my head. “I take his gun. That’s the answer.”
His full, sexy lips, which I really want on mine right now, curve, and he turns me on my back, the heavy, delicious weight of him on top of me. “And I take the woman,” he says, his mouth closing down on mine, and I decide that combat training and this man are my Happily Ever After.
Too soon, and not soon enough, Saturday has arrived. One day before D-day. I am ready for this to be over and I really don’t feel like making the shift to shopping from planning war. Maybe that’s why I’ve just taken yet another black T-shirt from a hanger and pulled it on. Wait. It’s the same black T-shirt. Maybe I do need a little shopping. Just not today. Actually, today is exactly when I need to go shopping.
“Fuck you, Garner Neuville,” I bite out, yanking up my pant leg and strapping on the ankle holster Kayden had delivered yesterday, before sliding my new backup firearm inside. “I’m going to go shopping and enjoy it.”
I pull down my pant leg, grab my boots, and sit down on the bench, just about to stand when Kayden appears, his faded jeans paired with a light blue Jaguar F-TYPE shirt, reflective of how much he loves his cars. The look on his face, however, is not love. “What’s wrong?”
“Gallo is testing me. He wants to meet with me and Chief Donati.”
“Wait,” I say, standing up, remembering Kayden’s worries that Gallo was still trouble. “I thought he took the deal. Did he back out? Is he here in Rome?”
He rests a shoulder on the door frame. “He came home to pack up, but says before he leaves town he has information about The Jackals that both myself and Donati need to hear.”
“And you think it’s one last attempt to come at you?”
“Somehow, in some way, I assure you it is.”
“When’s the meeting?”