the present.”
Gabe hooted and fist-pumped the air. “A woman who grabs life by the balls… I like it.”
“Just know I’ll rip yours off if you cross the line.”
Reaching down, he cupped his cock and pretended to wince. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Not insulted by the gesture in the least, I followed him through the gym toward the group of half-naked men at the back. It was his way of telling me I was already one of the boys, and it was everything I wanted…along with the pay packet.
Maybe this was going to be the start of something better. No heartache, no messy feelings, no split focus, no more pain…and most importantly, no Dean Hayes and Monica Miller.
May they choke on their own vomit.
22
Dean
I’d completely shut down.
I trained, and I followed instruction, but I didn’t feel any of it. I was on auto pilot.
No matter what I said or did, she wouldn’t believe me, so what was I supposed to do? I didn’t have a clue, and Lincoln wasn’t forthcoming. Violet had stopped talking to me the moment she heard what I’d done…because it was my fault.
Josie had done nothing but want to try to love me, and I’d pushed when she wanted to walk away. I pushed her to be in this stupid relationship. The bad boy with no care for his reputation. The bad boy with a toxic crush on a heartless creature. The bad boy who closed the door to his past too late to save his future.
I’d lived up to everyone’s expectations and destroyed her.
Almost a week had passed, and I still hadn’t heard from her. I didn’t even know if she still had the same number, but I kept calling, hoping she’d pick up out of pure annoyance…but she never did. It was like she’d never been here at all.
I’d already run ten kilometers on the treadmill that morning, but I was so numb I didn’t even realize the display had ticked over to fifteen until I saw Lincoln’s reflection in the mirror.
He was talking to Coach in a low voice and showing him something on a piece of paper, and now and then, they’d glance over to me.
Slowing to a jog and then a walk, I turned the treadmill off and jumped off the end, my legs feeling like they were made from jelly. I’d overdone it, but I wasn’t going to fess up that I had.
“What’s that?” I asked, turning to face Linc, who was now on his own.
“A press release,” he replied absently. “It’s nothing.”
My thoughts immediately went to Josie, and I wondered if it was someone announcing her new appointment as their PR rep. If she was going to pick up more work, her best prospects short-term were to find another fighter.
That was the moment I began to put two and two together, and it didn’t equal four. It equaled...
“Give me that,” I snapped, attempting to snatch the paper from Linc’s hand.
He wasn’t quick enough as I plucked it from his hand and began reading.
My gaze raked over the press release, and as the words began to sink in, I couldn’t feel anything. Each word was like a kick in the nuts, and seeing her name felt like my cock was being twisted in a vice. This was bad. Very bad.
Josie had left us and gone back to Melbourne to work PR for Gabe O’Connell. Gabe O’Connell.
The numbness I’d felt for the past few days began to thaw and turn into full-blown rage. Just…rage.
Balling my hands into fists, I scrunched up the paper, but the motion did nothing to calm the beast inside me. I wanted to break something. I wanted to break the entire world, and I wanted to start with O’Connell’s face.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I snarled, my chest beginning to heave as I sucked in shallow breaths.
“No killing on my watch,” Lincoln said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “We all know how that ended up last time.”
I knew he was referring to Ash Fuller, who almost took revenge to the extreme when Hammer had attacked Ren. I would fuck up O’Connell, but I could never cross that line…but he did have Josie. He’d been trying to lure her away for weeks, and now he probably thought he’d won. Taking everything from us just for the hell of it.
“If I can’t kill him, then what can I do?” I asked, glancing between my brother and Coach, who had reappeared at the sound of my raised