Page 52 of The Billionaire Babe

“No. We need to run the plates,” I tell him as Cody walks up and joins the conversation.

“I can do it!” Levi says excitedly as he grabs his laptop.

“Sit down, kid,” I grit out, not sure how good he is at that tech stuff, but knowing Levi, he is probably excellent at it. If he applied himself at school, this kid would go far, but he is too angry to do anything like that.

“No shit. Why?” Cody asks, ignoring Levi and now looking out the window as well.

“It’s been there all day. Pretty sure it was outside my apartment this morning too.”

“Marcus?” Brady asks.

“No,” I say firmly. “It wouldn’t be him. He paid me this morning. We are settled. We won't have trouble from him until he comes to me with another fight and I decline. He won't be happy with my retirement, but he knows it is coming, so it won't be a shock,” I tell them. We have been discussing my retirement for a while. The winnings from Marcus were more than I expected.

“Anything to do with your girlfriend?” Levi asks, and the other two look at me. I don’t discuss my private life with anyone. But after Valerie helped Levi out at the police station, he became eager to find out more about her. And the boys obviously know about her after spending time with her and her friends. All I want to do is be with her. After her lavish breakfast this morning, waking up in her bed with her fluff ball dog next to me, I am already itching to see her again, and it has only been a few hours.

“Don’t know. Don’t think so.” We all look at each other, wondering what the fuck is going on. The gym door opens, and we pay little attention until Levi talks.

“Well, she is here, so why not ask her?” My head whips around, and I see her standing at the door. I watch her for a beat, looking around, her chest rising and falling quickly. Something is wrong. I don’t hesitate as I strut up to her and her eyes land on me. The gym is quiet, but the fact she has been here before makes it a little less startling, and I hear a few people already back to their training.

“What are you doing here, sweetheart?” I ask her in a small growl, because I have told her she can’t come to places like this.

“I need to hit something,” she says in a voice that I haven’t heard from her before.

“Come again?” I ask, confused. She is in high heels, a fancy white suit, and her hands are too delicate for any punching.

“I need to hit something.” She grits her jaw, and I know a tense woman when I see one.

“Come on, then,” I say, walking away, not waiting for her to follow, too tempted to grab her and touch her, but I don’t have to look back to know that she is following me.

“Get back to work!” I bark at the gym, and all the guys get back to their training as I lead her over to a bag. She takes off her jacket and I nearly ask her to put it back on, because the singlet top she has underneath shows too much skin for other men to be looking at. But she doesn’t need my jealousy right now, so I find some spare gloves and grab her hands.

“You need to hit the bag with this part of your hand; otherwise, you will hurt yourself.” Not asking for information, I give her the opportunity to get out her frustrations. I don’t like seeing her like this. I already want to kill someone for making my girl upset.

“Go for it,” I say, standing behind the bag, holding it in place. I don’t need to, as I am sure it won't even move. She throws a punch, and it lands perfectly, and my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I wasn’t expecting her strength. She hits it again, and I grab on to the bag tighter for her, watching her carefully. As I do, I notice her arm has marks on it and my blood immediately boils.

“What the fuck happened to your arm?” I seethe, now standing upright, forgetting all about the bag, needing to know what happened.

“My dad threw me a party, so my future husband could propose,” she says, and possessive heat consumes my body instantly.

“What the fuck?”

“Oh, my father is a great guy, AJ. Always putting my well-being above everything else,” she says sarcastically, punching the bag again. “He wants me to marry a man I don’t even know!” She laughs hauntingly and hits the bag again, each punch with more strength than the last. “A man who is at least sixty years old, with three kids all older than me!” She punches the bag over and over, her arms toned, her body fit. She works out, maybe not in the boxing ring like I do, but it’s clear that she exercises regularly. Something that pleases me about her, knowing that she works hard for something rather than just get a nip and tuck like many of the other rich women around this city.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I almost roar, my anger rising more by the second, but I try to contain it.

“I wish I was joking, but my father is a piece of work. I told him today that I would not be marrying anyone of his choosing. He didn’t like that.” She throws another punch. Hearing her words settles me a little.

“I need to know who did that to your fucking arm, sweetheart.”

“My father. The same son of a bitch who is trying to sink the company my grandmother built and who is so delusional that he is going to run my company into the ground.” I try to comprehend exactly what she is saying.

“He is now on my hit list for grabbing your arm like that,” I seethe. “I didn’t know that fathers have the right to pick husbands for their daughters.” She looks at me, her eyes flashing in anger, so I continue. “My mother is too out of her mind on drugs to bother telling me who my father is. So he sure as shit is not arranging anything for me.” I take a deep breath, wondering what has gotten into me to tell her that kind of information. She nods, taking in what I admitted before sucking in a deep breath and hitting the bag again.

“I am not going to marry the man he chooses because I know what I want. I know what I deserve. I know who I am and who I want to be,” she says with so much determination, I feel pride swell at seeing her like this.

“Damn right, you are, sweetheart,” I tell her as she stops punching and looks at me.

“What are you doing with your life tonight, AJ?” she asks, and my eyebrow quirks.

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