Page 52 of Ballads of Lines Blurred

“It’s going to be like this for a while,” I told them. “They’re going to keep digging until they unearth everything, then they’ll stop. Unless something happens to another celebrity and draws their focus.”

“We don’t care,” Milo said. “Now, I seem to remember a conversation about food.”

I laughed. Damn, it felt good. My panic attack wasn’t ruling me any longer. I wasn’t shaking and my voice was steady. These two made me smile when I wasn’t sure I’d be able to. “Let’s get you fed.”

24

CODY

“Good. You’ve got this. Keep going.” I circled the mat in the gym.

I was helping one of our members with self-defense. We offered classes but she didn’t want to learn in a group setting. She told me last week she was mugged on her way home after work. The cops caught the guy, and her items were returned, but it left her shaken and afraid.

Emma had already been a member of the gym. She came in five days a week to exercise, preferring this to jogging around the city or trying to work out in her small apartment.

Brooke was one of our instructors. When Emma asked me to teach her, she said she’d like a woman to practice with at first. I talked them through the moves and Emma executed them against Brooke. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Brooke. She’d gotten comfortable with seeing me around the gym. The thought of me trying to restrain her to break the hold was too much though, which I completely understood. The last thing I wanted was for her to be uncomfortable.

“Step into it,” I told her. “Perfect. Now move to the side and swing back. Good.”

We went through various moves, different ways to break free. She also learned how to incapacitate her attacker if she couldn’t run away. I wanted her prepared for multiple scenarios.

Xaiden stood by my side, not to tell me what to do. I’d learned from the best after all. He made the rounds in the gym. It was his place, and he showed his face more and more since I started working here. I’d heard he hid in his office often before he met Val and Corbin.

I finished Emma’s session, and she went to shower. Brooke nodded, returning to the boxing ring where she was working earlier. She had done professional fighting in the past but once she got pregnant, she immediately retired. Her son was a surprise baby, she’d told me. Her husband was a fighter too, though he moved into a coaching role after their son was born.

“Pretty soon I won’t be needed here,” Xaiden joked.

“Nah, they love having you around. You have to keep teaching people to fight.”

“I have Brooke for that. You teach self-defense. The rest is fitness.” I had gotten certified not that long ago in self-defense so I could take over that part of the gym. One night a week I taught a basic class. Most only wanted that. Very few asked for more. If they did, I would take them on as a personal client like Emma, who I taught from the start.

I could have gone to college. The money was there, saved in an account for me to do so. Maybe one day I would. Right now, I enjoyed this and wanted to stay here.

We walked to the back hallway where the offices were. I had my own, though I spent most of my time out on the floor. Xaiden still handled the business administrative side of things.

My phone rang as we approached. Milo’s name flashed on the screen. He rarely called while I worked so I instantly worried something happened.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked when I answered.

“I’m being stalked,” he whispered, but didn’t sound panicked.

“What?”

“There’s a guy at the door I once fucked.”

“Wait, you’re home and one of your one-night stands showed up?”

“Yes. I sent Danny to get rid of him.”

“If anyone can intimidate a guy, it’s Danny. Why are you whispering?”

He cleared his throat. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m in my room, nowhere near the front door. Shit, I just realized you’re working. I suck so much. I forget not everyone operates on the weird nightly schedule I’m on. I’m sorry. Ignore me. Go back to work.”

“Milo, stop. I’m okay to talk for a minute. Now tell me about the guy who showed up.”

Xaiden gave me a smile and left, leaving me to the call.

“I met him at a soap store.”

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