I’d been trying to convince Dad to open up a second location for years, but he insisted I needed more time to get my feet under me. With the gym more profitable than ever after Mike became a regular patron and brought all his buddies from the Underground to train at Fists of Fury, even Dad couldn’t deny the time had come to think about expanding.
With no interest in coming out of his retirement, Dad had hesitantly allowed me to be the one to tour properties and find a location I thought would work.
Following behind the agent with Enzo at my side, I couldn’t contain my excitement. I practically skipped in my boots, even suspecting it wouldn’t be the location I settled on renting and despite my irritation with Rose. Finally, I’d earned Dad’s trust enough that he had no choice but to let me take some more control.
I lived for that gym, but the time had come for me to live for a second location too. “The owners used it for an antique store before, but they’ve tentatively agreed to your remodeling plans,” the real estate agent, Rose, said as she put her pin into the lock box hanging from the door. She deliberately bent over to give Enzo a perfect view of her ass in her pencil skirt. Under any normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have blamed her in the slightest.
A girl had to do what a girl had to do.
But this was Enzo, who had his hand on me every step we took. Enzo, who made no secret of his lack of interest in her display or the way she’d purred his name.
“How many square feet is it?” I asked, watching as she twisted her lips in thought and seemed unhappy with my interruption.
“Just under three thousand square feet,” she said. “I know it's smaller than you wanted, but you’ll have a hard time finding something that will allow extensive renovation with that kind of space in this neighborhood.” Stepping into the space, I bit my lip. The antique store layout involved various small rooms for displays. I’d hoped to find something more open that would involve fewer structural renovations so we could move in more quickly.
“What’s the rent?” Enzo asked, ignoring the glare I shot his way.
It was only the price she said that drew my glare away from him and back to the woman. “So it's smaller than I wanted and over budget?”
“Miss Hicks, I’m afraid your budget is just too small for this proximity to the Loop. If you’d like to expand your area, then I can show you a variety of options. But working within the parameters you set has proven difficult.” She turned her gaze to Enzo, easily dismissing me. Even though he wasn’t wearing a suit, she seemed to think he would be the one to make the final decision when the reality was, I’d just dragged him along for the ride. I suspected she was more accustomed to dealing with clients who put on a suit for commercial property tours, but I was renting the building for a boxing gym. I wouldn’t pretend to be something I wasn’t.
Not when I’d spend most of my time in the building I chose in a sports bra.
“So this doesn’t match any of the things you requested, Carina?” Enzo asked, turning his hardened gaze my way and ignoring her catty stare.
“No. Not a one,” I said with a sigh. Tapping my fingers on my thigh with one hand, I pinched the bridge of my nose with the other. Already a migraine threatened like a thrum inside my head, the initial ache lurking and waiting to knock me on my ass.
“Right. Rose, was it?” Enzo asked. She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest to push her breasts up and pouting at him as she wait
ed for his reprimand. A scolding never came as Enzo leveled her with a bored look and simply fired her. “We won’t be requiring your services any longer.”
“Surely that’s extreme,” she laughed. “If you’d give me some leeway, I can find Miss Hicks something that works for her aspirations.”
“No need. I’m sure David Miller will find something according to our needs,” Enzo said.
Rose paled in the face of that name, swallowing down her discomfort. She nodded, all traces of flirtation gone from her face. “Very well then. It seems we’re done here.” She gestured for the front door, and Enzo guided me toward it with a hand at my waist.
“No, we are not done here,” I hissed at him. “I don’t know where you get off thinking you can just insert yourself into my business, but this is my gym, Enzo. I won’t have you sticking your nose in it.”
“Relax,” he soothed, guiding me to the SUV until my back hit the door. He leaned over me, caging me in as his hand cupped my cheek and thumb dragged over my cheekbones. “The gym will always be yours. Miller is Lino’s agent. I’ll give you his number. His reputation opens doors that might otherwise be closed, Sadie. Your connection to the Bellandis has hurt you. It’s time you started using the perks of it, too.”
I sighed, hanging my head forward and considering my response. The independent part of me wanted to tell him to shove it, but I loved the gym enough that I’d take every advantage I could get.
If it meant my father would be more impressed with the location and price I negotiated, then I had a feeling I’d sell my soul to earn that approval.
I hated to say it. I really, really did. But Enzo amused the shit out of me. He'd kept his eyes on me all day since we’d left his house, refusing to accept that I hadn't actually been trying to escape at the estate. All I'd wanted was some fresh air.
The friend coming to get me was just in case an opportunity presented itself. There was absolutely nothing wrong with taking an opportunity when it popped up, but his watchful gaze contradicted that entirely. I'd practically pranced around the gym all afternoon, even after my annoyance at him for sticking his head into the gym business. I was too wrapped up in enjoying the way his eyes narrowed whenever I came too close to a male client. It felt like payback, since I’d had to watch Rose ogle him like he was a tasty forbidden dessert. Ivory, Samara, and Calla had constantly complained about the jealousy when they first got together with their husbands. At least until the opportunities for that jealousy to show through no longer existed because they were locked away with bodyguards and very clear rules. That would never happen with me, because I'd like to see Enzo try to lock me up in his house permanently. I'd break every goddamn window and cut his balls off with the jagged glass before I let that happen.
I liked Enzo, despite my misgivings, at least if he could adjust to me not being the pretty little pet he seemed to want. There was no white picket fence in our future. No wedding bells. No kids. None of those things would ever happen for me, but if he could accept that what we had was all fun and games and we could establish some boundaries? I’d be more than happy to bounce on his pogo stick until it all came crashing down.
He didn't seem to be on board with that, but he'd come around. Men always did.
After I finished up with a new client, instructing him through a back kick and getting him set to practice on the bag, I moved to where Enzo lurked near the front desk. The few female clients who moved through the space eyed him each time they passed, chugging water so they would have to go bend over the fountain in front of him. He was oblivious, absorbed in the work on his tablet. His eyes darted up every few seconds to check on me, and it was a heady sensation to feel that pull. To know that he didn't have the time or inclination to glance at women who bent over in tight workout pants to catch his eye, but that he had time to look at me constantly. His hazel eyes warmed, sparking with that familiar heat as I made my way to him. The muscles of my stomach clenched, as if his gaze was a physical caress, and I could feel the fingers of it trailing over my skin in a delicate tease.
The knowing smile that curved the edges of his lips was intoxicating, drawing anyone into his orbit. I stepped around him, staying just out of his reach. His teeth sank into his bottom lip as I rounded the front desk, stepping behind it to check on Rebel where she lay sprawled out on her new doggy bed. The massive, plush thing was like the Lambo of dog beds, just like the one at home, and if it wouldn't be unbelievably ridiculous, I'd probably have been tempted to curl up on it with her.
She'd slept with me the night before, curling up at the foot of my bed in Enzo's home. I'd wondered briefly if I could sleep in a bed with a dog and the potential hair she'd leave behind, but I found that my issues with such matters weren't concerns with her. If anything, it was like she calmed the more relentless parts of my nature that never seemed to leave me alone. Making life more tolerable just by being there with me.