dim except for the blink of a red security light. Maverick and Bethany had created a separate entrance to the loft when they remodeled that prevented anyone from the coffee shop heading into the loft. Serafina angled us toward the back door that led to her staircase.
To my relief, Serafina saved me again.
“Come on.” She tilted her head toward the back door. “Let's go upstairs. It's been a long night.”
Wearily, Serafina climbed the spiral stairs, flicked on her lights, and tossed her jacket onto a peg on the wall. She motioned toward her couch with a wave and said, “I'm going to hop in a quick shower so I don't smell like fries and pickles. Then we can talk.”
The sound of running water a few minutes later distracted me, and I tried to keep my thoughts off what lay behind closed doors. Instead, I paced off the extra energy from the night. Although I still wanted to hit that guy, Jayson had been right to pull me off. Tackling him in defense of Serafina was justifiable, but a hit could have gone a step further. That dirtbag might have come back at me with a lawsuit just to get at my money. It had certainly happened before.
My thoughts spiraled from there and back to Mom in the ICU. Her pale skin, pasty in the horrible light. Tubes running everywhere. Voice hoarse from breathing machines. Decidedly powerless, and all I'd ever known of Mom was a powerhouse. Seeing her that way sent a shock of mortality through me. The unease of immediate change in our world. Everything frightening seemed to happen in one terrifying moment.
Which only riled all the emotions caged up inside me.
Just when I thought I'd explode, a soft touch came on my arm. Then a warm hand. I spun to see Serafina just behind me. Her hair was still pulled out of her face, but all the makeup scrubbed off. Her cheeks were a light pink from the water, and I wanted to put a hand on them and draw her heat out. She wore a pair of baggy gray sweats and a worn I Heart NY t-shirt.
“Have a seat, Ben. You look like you're about to explode.”
All the ire bled out of me with her touch, leaving something to simmer in the background. She settled onto a couch, her body canted toward me, and tossed a pillow out of her way. In response to her expectant look, I sank down not far from her. Still, we didn't touch.
“Give it to me,” she commanded. “Say all the things after seeing your family and your Mom in a terrible situation.”
She'd used those words before, but they still startled me now. Troubled, I just stared at her. I wanted to give it to her. To unload everything and let it out. But how was that fair to her? Besides, this wasn't how I worked through things. My emotions came out of my fists. Until I beat the rage out, the words wouldn't come.
“I need to beat the crap out of something first,” I croaked instead.
She tilted her head to the side in an assessing gaze, then unfolded herself as gracefully as she'd sat down. Her hand opened to mine.
“Then let's go.”
Twenty minutes later, I stood in front of my favorite bag.
Serafina sat on the mat near the wall, her knees tucked into her chest, and watched. Once the heavy metal music started to flow overhead, so did my fists. The bag didn't come to me with the same intensity as the fury inside. Bag work was more calculated than that. But something about the smash of my hands and the thud that rippled through my muscles after, calmed the storm.
Without a guy with pads calling out my throws, I settled for the methodical precisions of nailing every frustration with a punch, a kick, or a combo. In the steady hip movements and muscle control, I let it all go.
In the background waited Serafina.
By the time I finished, the music had cycled off. Sweat soaked my shoulders, and my hands trembled slightly in the gloves. I yanked them off with my teeth and threw them against the wall. Then I crossed the mat and sat next to her.
“Thanks.”
She handed me a water bottle with a smile, seemingly unbothered by my sweaty shirt. “Anytime.”
For several long minutes, we sat with our backs to the wall, then she turned to me with an expectant look and brow high. Time to give it to