Page 83 of Rebel Hawke

Her words register slowly. “What?”

She elbows me playfully. “The Hawkes have a lot of friends in town. We made a lot of phone calls over the weekend and booked up your classes for this entire week.”

Which explains the flurry of notifications on my phone yesterday that I didn’t have time to examine when I came up for air between “non-sex” sessions with Atlas.

The calendar bookings…

“But…” My eyes start to burn, and I can’t seem to collect my thoughts into anything resembling coherent words.

They did all this for me.

“No tears.” Astrid squeezes my arms. “Be happy.”

“I am happy. I just… Wow. Thank you.”

Kennedy twists her hair up into a high ponytail. “Now, I can’t guarantee they’ll allstayclients if you kick their asses and make them hate you—”

Astrid gives her cousin a dirty look. “Don’t listen to Kennedy. She needs a good ass-kicking every once in a while, and Atlas sure isn’t giving it to her in the ring anymore.” She winces as soon as she says the words, then leans in. “Pretend I didn’t say that. It came out really wrong.”

I shake my head and give her a tight smile. “No, it’s okay. Really, I get what you mean.”

So many of the Hawkes used to enjoy a “friendly” sparring session with Atlas, but since the shooting, things have changed. He couldn’t expend energy on anything other than serious work to get back into ring shape.

His sister leans forward and throws her arms around me in a tight hug. “Please help him.”

She barely whispers the words in my ear, but it’s enough to constrict my heart so much that it feels like it might explode. Astrid is trusting me with her twin brother, trusting me to ensure that he’s going to stay healthy and make as much of a recovery as he can before his fight so that he doesn’t step into that ring and get fucking killed the way her grandfather was.

“I’m trying.”

Stepping back, she swipes her own tear away and takes a spot at the last open reformer in the two parallel rows of five.

I clear my throat to try to dislodge the emotion choking me, then turn to the entire female delegation of the Hawke family with a bright smile. “Well, good morning, class.”

They all chuckle lightly—some adjusting their sportswear while others work to get their hair pulled up and out of the way.

“How many of you have done Pilates before?”

Not a single one raises their hands.

I clap and waggle my eyebrows. “Oh, good,virgins.”

Bishop barks out a laugh. “I don’t think any of us are that.”

Caroline gives her daughter a chastising look. “I don’t need to hear that from you.”

Amused bourbon eyes meet Caroline’s. “What? Like you thought I was some celestial virgin?”

As much as I’m enjoying the banter, if I don’t put a stop to it, we’ll never get to the actualclass.

I stand at the center of the room, eying each of them reproachfully. “First rule in the studio is no talking during class, ladies.”

They quickly stand up straight and try to hide their laughs.

“But we will have some fun today, and I promise you’ll leave with shaky legs and arms and feeling like you got a good workout.”

This time, Kennedy’s laughter fills the studio space. “Is that what Atlas was doing with you yesterday to make you miss Sunday dinner? Giving you a good workout?”

Dani gapes at her daughter. “Kennedy!”

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