what he thought was right.
“What? Ma, you can’t be serious!”
“I can and I am. Terry rushed straight to you and told you what was going on.” She turned to Maisie. “Virgil too, I’m sure.”
“But they weren’t an item yet,” Kat insisted.
“No, we weren’t, but once we were, he didn’t bother telling me that I was taking the job of a woman who was probably murdered for something related to the job.”
My gaze slid to Kat and she looked away, her eyes filled with guilt.
“I’m kind of tired.” It was abrupt and obvious but I didn’t care. There was too much betrayal to go around and I just wanted to be alone, preferably in my own home, but my own room would have to do for now.
“Vanessa.” Sadie’s voice stopped my feet in their tracks, and I turned, allowing my gaze to meet hers. “Men like Emmett feel things deeply, very deeply. However angry you are now, I advise you not to be so quick to give up on him because I can guarantee you, he hasn’t given up on you.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Emmett not giving up on me. Did I want him to? Was I ready to give up on him completely? I didn’t know, and until I did, I would have to keep my own counsel.
“Thanks, Sadie. For your advice and your hospitality.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emmett
Left. Right. Left. Right. Hook. Jab. Jab. Jab. “Fuck!” I’d been at it for two hours, smashing my fists against the bag while I waited for exhaustion to take over, to make me forget about Vanessa and the hurt that shimmered in her blue eyes before she walked away from me.
Nothing could erase that from my mind. Not sparring with my welterweights, not letting the flyweights practice takedowns on me, not even five miles on the treadmill. House of Ashby was my refuge, the place I came to find peace, but tonight it wasn’t fucking working. I should have just told her. It would have been better to ask forgiveness of Terry and Jasper later rather than keeping it from Vanessa.
She deserved to know. I knew that. It was why I hadn’t fought her on it. She was right and I was wrong and it was just that fucking simple. There was nothing I could say to make it up to her so all I could hope for was her forgiveness.
And as soon as I figured out how to get it, I would go to her. Not a moment sooner. Hitting the bag hadn’t helped, but I didn’t plan to stop until I was too exhausted to do anything other than shower and fall into bed. I’d inhale big lungful’s of what remained of Vanessa on my bed until sleep claimed me.
It was late, and the whole facility was empty, giving me all the time I needed to hit until I couldn’t hit anymore. I knew it was time to call it a day when my hand grazed the bag, but I wasn’t done punishing myself.
Not yet.
A loud pounding on the front door broke my concentration, and I stopped mid-jab to see who in the hell was knocking on the door at ten o’clock at night. Terry or Jasper or even Virgil would have used their keys, which only increased my apprehension, so I took my time to towel off and throw a jacket over my quickly cooling muscles.
My worry lessened, but only slightly, at the sight of a smaller figure that had to be a woman. The sight of her cheap black slacks and plain white shirt immediately identified her as law enforcement, which kicked my worry up about ten notches. I’d already answered their questions, and I’d even gotten word that no charges would be filed against me for the death of the guy who tried to take out Vanessa, which meant she was here for another reason.
I opened the door just enough to be heard, a bored expression on my face. “We’re closed.”
The woman was small with bright red hair and freckles over her nose and cheeks making her look more like a woman playing a cop than being one. Then she flashed her badge in that proud way cops often did and I knew she wasn’t fooling around.
“I’m not here for a workout. Agent Beck, FBI.” I stared and waited for her to continue. “Do you have a moment?”
“Just.”
“Right.” She folded her arms, doing her best to appear calm and cool. “I wanted to talk to you about