Page 41 of Provoke You

“That sounds cool.”

“You want to try a left or a right hook to the body.” I glanced over at Kitt and Chase who watched us with amusement in their eyes. When I stepped closer to Ela, Chase shook his head. Yeah, I was getting too close, but it was necessary. I placed my hand under her rib cage below her heart. “This is where you want your right hook. The left hook should aim for the liver.” I moved my hand toward her back to show her the spot.

“Okay.” She met my gaze. Her cheeks turned a pretty pink as she puffed out a breath.

“The neck and stomach are also good choices.” I shuffled back. “Right. Hit me.”

“What?” Ela’s eyes went wide.

“Practicing is the only way to learn. Keep your arms up and use your hips.” I threw a right hook slowly to show her the movement and where to aim.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I promise.” I grabbed a sofa cushion and placed it in front of my torso. “Better?”

She nodded and delivered her first punch square on my ribs. “Oh fuck. That felt great.”

“That was a good shot. Do it again.”

She beamed at me and went for it again. It would be a while before Ela got over what happened to her at the lake house, but at least now she had a real outlet to channel the frustration and anger she felt.

After several rounds of punching and resting in between, Ela stopped, and her eyes filled with tears. “I’ve had enough.”

“You did great. We can pick it up again tomorrow. If you want.”

“I do.” She went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. “I feel better. Thank you for letting me vent.”

“Anytime.”

“I was hoping for a broken nose.” Kitt jumped to his feet and handed Chase a folded bill on his way to the bedroom on the opposite end of the living room.

Chase chuckled and pocketed the money. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“Break’s over.” I slapped his shoulder and pointed my chin toward the door.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go see if the bad guys are still after us.” On his way out, he winked at Ela. “Nice punching. Next time go for the middle of the thigh. Tall dudes never seeing it coming.”

“I’ll remember that.” Ela laughed and watched him leave before she turned to me. “They’re not so bad once you get to know them.”

“They’re good people.”

“Have you heard from Old Ben?” She plopped herself on the sofa and took a swig of her water. “Don’t give me that look. I know you’re up to something. We left the lake house in a hurry, and I was really out of it. But not so out of it that I didn’t notice that Chase stayed behind.”

Right. Where to start? Would Ela understand that desperate times called for desperate schemes? I would have told her our plan back in New York, but I didn’t want her to look at me the way she’d looked at Kitt. There was real terror in her eyes after she saw him kill two people. How long before she realized Kitt and I were not that different?

“Out with it. What did you do?”

I braced my hands on my hips and exhaled. “We kidnapped Mrs. Turner.”

“What? Why?” She jerked to her feet.

“To get Ben’s attention.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“You know we did. He’s known about this shady deal with your hotel from the get-go and never even tried to warn you. He knew we were in Utica looking for him, that you were with us. I get that he had no reason to trust us, but he should’ve at least try and talk to you. Don’t you think?”

“I don’t blame him. He’s scared.”

---