Shadowboxer (Tapped Out 1)

So Carly wasn’t just visiting? Combined with her statement about living arrangements a minute ago, it seemed a little more permanent.

“I didn’t, wiseass, since you didn’t see fit to tell me at the training session you weren’t at this morning.” Kizzy punched Mia hard in the thigh.

I opened my mouth to intercede, but Mia barely even flinched. My girl was no freaking joke.

“Not like you, boss,” Kizzy continued. “Not at all.”

“I overslept,” Mia mumbled, still biting her nail.

“Oh, never mind then. No need to worry about getting your ass filleted by Cross, since you needed a couple more hours of beauty rest.” Kizzy glanced at me and lifted her chin. Her gunmetal gray eyes looked ready to fire bullets straight at my head. “This your strategy, Fox? Distracting her until she’s so off her game you can use her face to mop up her blood? You impress me, tough guy.”

She was just trying to bait me, but I couldn’t hold back my response. “If it were up to me, she wouldn’t be fighting at all.” I leaned forward and locked my hands between my knees. “But no one cares about my opinion, so no, Kathleen, the last thing I want to do is cause Mia to get hurt. Which is why I want her to start training at my gym rather than at your second-rate place with your second-rate trainers.”

Kizzy leaped to her feet and stalked over to me. She glared at me so long I wondered if she’d skip conversation altogether and go for my throat. I didn’t want to fight a woman—any woman—but in the black mood I was in, her hitting me would probably feel good. Sometimes pain turned into a razor’s edge of pleasure. I bet Mia would agree.

Mia, who’d gone spookily silent from her perch on the arm of the sofa, watched Kizzy and me with dead eyes.

And that, more than anything, made me want to kick Kizzy’s ass—metaphorically if not in reality. Did she actually think I’d ever want to inflict more damage on someone who was already on the ropes? What the fuck kind of man did she think I was?

“How do you know my name is Kathleen?” Kizzy fisted her hands on her hips.

I nearly laughed that she’d led with that opening strike. “Recon,” I said simply, connecting my gaze with Mia’s.

She got to her feet and left the room.

Dropping my head to the back of the chair, I closed my eyes. Everything inside me insisted I go to her. But I couldn’t, not yet. Not when she’d probably just slam the door in my face again.

I needed at least a couple minutes between rejections. I was weird like that.

“Wake up.” Kizzy slapped my knee and my eyes popped open. “Do you want to get her killed?”

“No.” As the reality of her words sank in deeper, digging into my skin like nails, my tone grew harsher. “No.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing to her? She doesn’t miss training. Ever. She doesn’t drag herself around like she’s dying either. Did you just get a look at her? She’s one step away from falling flat in the ring tomorrow night and the only thing that’s changed is you.” Kizzy shook her head and braced her hands on the arms of my chair. “You want a piece of ass, you can get one anywhere. You ruin that girl and you’ll deal with me, asshole.”

Fury burst through all the cracks inside me, forcing them wider open. “Sounds like you’re the one calling her a piece of ass, not me.” I started to say more, but fell silent as I glimpsed Carly watching us from behind the counter, her mouth screwed up in tight pucker.

Great. Like Mia’s sister needed to hear that I was potentially using Mia as a piece of ass and that she might end up dead tomorrow night. Just your usual bedtime conversation.

“Carly.” I pushed Kizzy back and rose. “Can you give us a second? Please?”

“No.” She stuck up her chin in a stubborn gesture so like Mia that I had to catch my breath. “You’re talking about my sister. What’s going on? Who’s she going to fight?”

While giving Kizzy a glance that said clearly this is your fault, I spoke to Carly. “You know your sister fights?”

“Yeah, she’s told me a little about it. But she said it wasn’t any big thing, just a way to make some extra cash for us.”

Sure. Just a way to make some money—and break some ribs, and lose some blood, and maybe damage your brain. Sounded like a typical part-time job to me.

I didn’t want to make Carly worry unnecessarily, but I also had no intention of lying to her. I didn’t need that on my conscience.

“Fighting can be dangerous.”

Kizzy grunted and I shifted my foot to press down on her toes with my heel. She shut up.

“It’s also a way you can make some cash if you get in and get out fast. Is that Mia’s plan?”