Page 28 of Breaking the Sinner

The promise of ancient ruins and quiet, marbled museums held an allure she couldn’t shake. Cobblestone streets leading to adventures; lazy boat rides down rivers with names she couldn’t pronounce. Traveling alone—as a woman—was another mountain she had to conquer. The sooner she got abroad, the better.

Gen got ready for bed but dug out her flip phone before settling in. She tapped out a quick message to Cobra.

GEN: I’ve been thinking. About the time limit.

COBRA: Oh yeah?

GEN: Let’s say 3 months.

He didn’t reply for so long that she worried she’d misjudged. Three months seemed reasonable…toher. It seemed like enough time to get experience at Holt’s before moving on for even more experiences. Besides, it wasn’t like they could run through the list in a few days.

Cobra sent back a text that had three boxes in the body.

GEN: What do the boxes mean?

COBRA: They’re smiley faces. Emojis. Can’t you see them?

GEN: I have a flip phone, remember.

COBRA: Girl you need to upgrade. Put it on the list.

GEN: So what do you think?

COBRA: You’re mine for 3 months.

Gen smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.You’re mine.Such simple words that felt so good.

Chapter 12

Cobra grunted, sweat drizzling down his temples. Fifth round of push-ups. He glared up at Travis as he paced the front of the gym.

Working out had seemed like a good idea when Travis brought it up, but now he saw it for what it was: an ass-kicking. Just shy of punishment.

“One more round.” Travis barked orders in a way that grated on Cobra always, but even more while his biceps were shaking and body threatening collapse.

“Jesus,” Cobra managed to grunt as he dove into the killer final round. Travis smiled.

“You want to train, you need to be trained.”

Cobra’s heavy breathing rang in his ears as he counted down the last of his push-ups. At the last one, he collapsed to the ground.

“You know how to fight, but in here we need discipline, too.” Travis sniffed. “You’re gonna get clients who want you to wave a magic wand and fix their body without any work on their part. You need to show them why you can’t do that. You need to show them how they are the only ones holding the key to their own future.”

Cobra pushed onto his back, a whoosh of breath escaping him. He stared up at the tiled ceiling of the gym. “Got it.”

Travis appeared over him, his face unnervingly serious. “Training doesn’t work if both people don’t show up. You hear me?”

Cobra swallowed the snarky response, grinding his jaw. “Yep.”

Travis offered a hand, and Cobra groaned up to his feet. Sweat already cooled on the tops of his shoulders.

“I think that’s good for today. When’s your next session with Gen?”

Cobra reached for a sweat towel, rubbing it over his neck. “After this.”

“Your workout plan for her looked solid. Stay the course. But don’t let her slack.” Travis clapped him on the back. “You’re doing good. Keep it up.”

And then Travis hurried out of the gym, leaving Cobra alone with his thoughts and the harsh buzz of the fluorescent lights above. He was doing well. Why was that so hard for him to accept?

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