Fighting to Win (Rocky River Fighters 4)

Ian remained quiet, because it would be a lie if he denied it. There was something wrong with Zane, who had a hatred for the Rocky River fighters that ran deep. This felt like something Zane was capable of, for sure, but he wasn’t going to accuse without facts. And there was a difference between tossing out names, and being sure that someone did it without proof, which was what Seth was doing.

“You don’t really think it was Zane, do you?” Kian frowned. Glancing at Ian, he said, “And I know what your shifter gift is. Surely you would have told everyone if Zane was truly bad at heart. You never said anything, and allowed him to stay.”

Hesitating, Ian exhaled, running his fingers through his hair. “He was on the fence, Kian.”

“What does that mean?” he demanded.

“It means he had the capacity for both good and bad. He could go either way, and it wouldn’t take much more than a push to get him to fall on either side. No, I never said anything about him being good or bad because he was neither just yet. And while I allowed him to stay, I did warn my fighters to keep an eye on him.”

“And you couldn’t have told me this?”

“I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. Where are you going?” he asked as Kian began making his way past the rubble to the barn door.

“I have to get out of here. Thank you again for saving my life. I will talk to you some other time, once I’ve had a chance to digest this.”

Frowning, Ian watched him leave. Kian had a point when he said it was more likely someone was going after the occupants of Rocky River than him, but it left Ian unsettled that he had no one to watch his back right now. And he couldn’t help feeling a little on the guilty side, because he’d withheld his knowledge of Zane’s nature from him. He just hadn’t wanted to make waves if there was no storm.

Exhaling, he turned to survey the hole in the roof again. It left him on edge for all of his makeshift family, but it also drove home a point to him. Life was short. If he’d been a fraction of a second slower, if he hadn’t had his shifter speed to call on, the end result could have been disastrous. No more hesitating in his goals, no more thinking too much or putting stuff off. The time to act was now.

HOLLY JUGGLED THE GROCERY BAGS IN HER HAND, trying to unlock her door. As usual, she was carrying too many, but her leg was acting up. Because she had to use her cane, it would take forever to get all the bags inside, so she carried as many at once as she could. Finally managing to fit the key in the lock, she pushed the door open and walked to her dining table, depositing the bags on the surface. Thankful she had such a small apartment and didn’t have to go far, she turned around and jumped, letting out a startled shriek as her cane fell to the floor.

In her doorway stood Ian, so big he completely filled the open frame, holding her grocery bags in his hands. Slapping a hand over her racing heart, she breathed deeply, trying to quell the butterflies that made an unexpected appearance when she spotted him.

“What in the world are you doing here?” she asked, trying to find enough balance so she could bend over and pick up her cane.

“Don’t do that,” he replied, his deep voice sending shivers up and down her spine. “I’ll get it. That is, if it’s okay for me to come in?”

“Um, sure, I guess.” What else could she say? He was standing there with her groceries in his hand.

Walking in, he brushed past her to put the groceries on the table. A shiver of heat danced over her skin and she briefly closed her eyes. She hadn’t been prepared to see him, and she was flustered and floundering. And it was Sunday, not even a school day when she would have braced herself for the possibility of running into him when he dropped off and picked up Shelby.

Feeling him step close, she opened her eyes and watched as he bent down and picked up her cane. Handing it to her with a heart stopping smile, his fingers brushing hers, leaving tingles in their wake, and her eyes followed him as he walked back to the front door.

“There are a few more bags to get. I’ll be right back.”

Staring after him for a second, she finally turned around and started putting the groceries away. The dining room table was right next to the tiny kitchen, which made everything easy. As she worked, her mind raced. What in the world was he doing here? Maybe he came to talk about Shelby. She did tell him to come to her if he had questions or concerns, after all. But she’d had more of a phone call in mind than him coming to her home. The sight of him, large and imposing, filled her small apartment, making it feel like he sucked all the air out of the room every time he entered.

“If you tell me where stuff goes, I can help you put things away,” came his voice from behind her.

Stiffening, her mind immediately went to her leg and she shot him a look over her shoulder before turning back to what she was doing. “I might have to use a cane occasionally, but I’m not an invalid. I’m perfectly capable of doing it on my own.”

“I know that. You’re a strong woman, Holly, inside and out. I could see that the first time we met. I didn’t offer because I thought you were an invalid. I offered because that’s what I’d do with anyone. I don’t like to stand around when I could be doing something to help.”

Momentarily speechless, her heart warmed as she tried to look unaffected. She thought maybe that was the first time anyone had called her strong. Most assumed she was weak, because of her leg, and how she fell apart after losing Kyle and the baby.

Sobering at the thought, she cleared her throat. She should probably apologize for jumping to conclusions but she wasn’t going to. She felt too off balance, her emotions all over the place, and she was just going to push on like she hadn’t snapped at him over nothing. “Yeah, well. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you,” he replied, handing her the last bag.

“How did you even know where I live?”

“I saw you leaving the store. I followed you here.”

Shutting the door to the fridge, she turned around and raised an eyebrow. “So basically you stalked me.”

He shrugged. “I wanted to see you.”

Searching his eyes, she finally blew out a breath and grabbed her cane. “Well, come sit down. Since you’re here, we might as well discuss whatever you wanted to talk about.”