That made me snicker. “Pro?” I said in his face. “Pro what?”
“Professional lady wrangler, fucker. I got more game than all of you.”
“Or lower standards,” Provo added on an exhale, dodging Mace’s flying workout glove easily. His earbuds not as airtight as I thought.
“I get what I need and so do the ladies,” Mace said, laughing off Provo, then settled in for another set.
While I spotted Mace, my mind drifted to the blue-eyed beauty with thick brown hair that my fingers itched to touch but couldn’t. Vanessa was gorgeous and sweet, completely unaware of her charms, but she wasn’t ready to move on from Lance. And even if she were, she’d probably move on with a flashy guy like Provo, who wore his badassery like a badge of honor, while I hid mine. At least according to Terry. And my shrink.
I wasn’t flashy because it wasn’t my style, but my shrink might also say it was because my dad was a flashy motherfucker who liked to flaunt what he didn’t have. Money. Jewelry. Drugs. Connections.
I didn’t need that kind of adoration. If someone wanted me around, it had to be just for me. The Ashby family, for example, hadn’t kicked me to the curb when I refused to take a fall inside the octagon.
Instead, Sadie and Jasper found another place for me within the organization, unlike my own mother who only came around when she needed money. Needed to lie low from her latest dealer or abusive boyfriend. Unlike our dad, who only showed up when he had some kind of bullshit scheme he knew Jasper or Sadie would want in on.
They never did. So I only saw my parents about three times a year, not my birthday. Not Christmas. Just…randomly.
Between my nonexistent parents and the Army, I learned a valuable lesson about solitude. Some called it loneliness, and yeah, it was lonely sometimes, but it was better to be loved for who I was because that was the kind of love that lasted. No matter how much I struggled with the dark side of the Ashby business model, and I did, the family was there when I needed them. I didn’t judge them or what they had to do, and it made my existence a lonely one. The Army had changed me, gave me a greater appreciation for life. It made it harder to take a life, but the Ashbys had never once asked me to do that.
That was the kind of connection I was interested in because the rest was just bullshit dressed up as something more.
Chapter Six
Vanessa
“Hey sweetheart, you on the list?” A big man with smooth, honey-brown skin, a toothy, white smile, and long black hair slicked back into a ponytail smiled down at me.
His one dark brow arched in a question. I took a step back, not that it would have done much good if the big guy wanted to harm me. I’d never seen anyone so huge in all my life.
“Uhm, list?” I said. Kat hadn’t said anything about a list in training. Just to show up sexy AF and on time.
The big guy let out a low, deep laugh that transformed his serious expression into a beautiful, welcoming smile.
“Yeah, sweetheart, you can’t get in unless you’re on the list. What’s your name?”
I flashed a confident smile I didn’t feel and squared my shoulders before I gave myself a quick mental pep talk. You can do this. You’re strong and confident and fun, and tonight you are a better version of yourself. Prettier, funnier and more together than everyday Vanessa.
“Nessa, what’s yours?” I said, sounding more like a grown-up and less like a teenager trying to crash the big kids’ party.
The big man laughed and turned when the squeak of a door sounded behind him. “Hey, boss. We got a live one here. Calls herself Nessa.”
Suddenly, Jasper, Kat’s older brother, appeared with what might in some circles be considered a smile on his handsome face.
He grunted, “Nessa, huh?”
I shrugged, deciding I wouldn’t feel embarrassed tonight, no matter how intimidating I found the man who used to be Lance’s boss. “Yeah, it felt right for the task at hand.”
Jasper’s lips twitched and something like amusement shone in his green eyes, the light above highlighting the gold flecks hidden in their depths. “Works for me. Mace, this is Nessa, our new card girl.”
Something dark flashed in Mace’s eyes, but he covered it quickly and replaced it with a wide smile. “No shit? You’re the new card girl taking Fiona’s place?”
I nodded. “Is that so unbelievable?” Fiona? I guessed that was why there was an opening. Fiona must have quit her job. I’d done just as Kat had advised, gotten all dolled up in a sky blue silky spaghetti strap dress that did wonders for my eyes and skimmed mid-thigh, then paired it with comfortable but sexy nude stilettos. Classy, if I did say so myself, but not provocative. Or inviting.