limit myself or drag around a babysitter.”
Ivan’s mouth settled into a grim line. He seemed to be fighting the urge to argue with me. I couldn’t blame him. He loved me as much as I loved him, and I wouldn’t want him in danger either. Finally, he exhaled roughly. “Okay.”
Surprised, I repeated, “Okay?”
He nodded. “Da. You’re right. I can’t coddle you. I can’t clip your wings and put you in a cage.” He stepped closer, sliding one hand from my waist to the small of my back and cupping my nape with the other. “Be careful. Stay alert. Try to be home before it gets dark. If you see anything that makes you nervous, you call 9-1-1 immediately.”
“I will.” I rose on tiptoes to kiss him. His warm hands held me in place a few more seconds before he reluctantly took his mouth from mine. “I’ll see you at the house later.”
“Text me with updates.”
“I will.” I backed away from him and waved. “Ya lyublyu tebya.”
Ivan smiled at my surprisingly good Russian. “I love you, baby.”
Out in my SUV, I waited for Ruby to finish buckling her belt. As I shifted into reverse, I said, “We’re going to embrace our inner Stabler and Benson. We’re going to look into Mueller, Teague, Kavanaugh, and all of their asshole friends. We’re going to dig up everything we can on them. We’re going to build the biggest, nastiest, ugliest report—and then we’re going to use it to fuck them.”
Ruby’s eyes widened, and then she grinned. “Hell. Yes.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ivan watched Erin and Ruby leave the gym. He felt a sliver of guilt knowing that Kostya’s spiders were following Erin and her sister. He was glad that Erin felt empowered, that she wasn’t going to cower, but he wouldn’t have let her leave without a guard if he hadn’t known that Kostya had her under observation.
Seconds after Erin and Ruby left the gym, his phone vibrated in his hand. He glanced at it and read the two emojis in the message from Kostya’s spiders—a pair of eyes and a car. It was a simple enough way to tell him that they had eyes on her. His concern ebbed to an acceptable level, and he returned to his work. He and Ken, the conditioning coach, discussed some changes to training plans for three of their fighters with upcoming fights as they stood at the edge of the grappling mats.
“Have you heard back from the producers yet?”
Ivan shook his head. “They said it could be as late as March before they make their decision.”
“And if they ask us to be this season’s camp?”
Ivan shrugged, still uncertain what he wanted to do. “I haven’t decided.”
“I understand.” Ken and Paco were the only two around the gym who did. They were the only ones who weren’t constantly asking for updates. “You talk to Erin about hiring a couple of PTs?”
Ivan grimaced. “Shit. I forgot. I’m sorry. I’ll talk to her tonight.”
“No rush,” Ken said with a wave of his hand. “It’s just something I think would elevate our training camp. If we can offer in-house PT, we can recruit high-level talent to fight for us.”
“Erin has some expansion plans she’s been working on,” Ivan said before stepping onto the mats to adjust Davor’s forearm position and the angle of his back. When he returned to the edge of the mat, he continued, “She thinks we should bring in a nutritionist, a sports medicine specialist, and a compliance officer to handle USADA, TLDR, and all of the other licensing and regulation groups.”
“That sounds like a solid plan,” Ken remarked and then nudged him with his shoulder. “You need to teach me your tricks for finding a woman like that.”
“Like what?”
“Smart, ambitious, gorgeous,” Ken listed off. “Most of the guys here are infatuated with her. We hear those heels tapping on the gym floor and—"
“Hey!” Ivan warned, scowling at Ken who laughed and put up both hands in a sign of surrender. “Go find something constructive to do, yeah?”
Alone on the edge of the mats, Ivan watched his fighters and tried not to think about how many of the men he trained wanted to fuck his wife. He wasn’t blind. He saw the stares and the open adoration of Erin. He couldn’t blame them. He did the same thing. The few times any man had dared to flirt with her, he had controlled his jealousy by reminding himself that she was honest and loyal. She had chosen him, of all the