Page 83 of Cruel Vows

When her body moves to the right, ready to punch me again, I slam my shoulder into her stomach and take her to the ground.

Her nails rake down my bare arms as she grapples, trying to haul me off her and toss me to the side.

I groan when she gets her feet under me, heels pressing into my stomach before she sends me sailing through the air and just off the edge of the mats.

My head cracks on the ground, stars dancing across my vision for a moment. “That fucking hurt.”

Kara jogs over and puts out a hand, helping me to my feet. “Didn’t look like it felt good, but it looks like all your muscles are starting to wake up. That’s good. You’ll be ready for whatever happens.”

I pace back and forth in front of the mirror, taking deep breaths, trying to get air back into my lungs after Kara just spent the last several minutes knocking it out of them.

“You know, things could be so different right now.” I pause, glancing at myself in the mirror and trying to figure out who the stranger is in front of me.

Normally, I’m not the girl willing to hold a gun to a man’s head, but I did that two weeks ago.

For Sean. I did that for Sean.

Which is yet another thing I never thought I was capable of.

I could see my brothers and sisters doing it. They’ve always been better suited to the brutal life of the mafia. They like the control over their own lives and the lives of those around them.

And here I am, wishing I could have had another life, but this is the one I got saddled with.

But now, it’s doesn’t feel that foreign to me anymore.

Kara sighs and grabs her bottle of water from the side of the room, taking a long drink before putting the cap back on. “I know this isn’t what you wanted for yourself, but this is what it is. You wouldn’t have been able to move to the other side of the country without Aiden dragging you back and you know it.”

The corner of my mouth twitches. “I would have missed my sisters too much to be that far from them.”

“Good, then let’s get you ready for everything you have to deal with now and we can worry about everything else later.”

The door to the gym opens and Sean strides in. “Mind if I take over?”

Though it’s phrased like a question, Kara knows it isn’t. She dips her head and nods, heading for the door.

I scowl as I turn to him. “Why did you kick her out? We’re supposed to be training.”

He whips his shirt over his head, tossing it off the mats. “Figured I could use some training time with you. Noah is closer to my size than Kara’s.”

“What do you think about me going back to work?” I ask, the mention of Noah bringing the night at the marina to mind.

That night—though horrific—was the first time I felt like myself in a long time. It was thrilling to be able to be back in the action, helping and making people feel better instead of threatening them with guns to tell me where the hell my husband is.

Sean presses his lips together, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he brings his hands up in front of my face. “I think it’s a bad idea right now and it’s not going to be happening.”

I stay light on my feet, shifting as his fist shoots out. I get my arm up to block him, his wrist colliding with my forearm before I shove it away.

As he’s pulling back, I lunge into his bubble, driving my shoulder into his stomach and sending him back a couple steps before hooking him around the back of the knees.

He groans as he slams into the ground. “Alright, so you can fight when you’re pissed off.”

“Because you’re being entirely unreasonable and thinking that your word is law when I have an opinion in how our lives are going to work together.” I launch myself on top of him before he can get up. “You’re not going to control everything.”

He chuckles, flinging his arms to the side and breaking the grip my straddle has on him. “My word is law.”

“Fuck that.” I yelp as he shoves me to the side before straddling me, grabbing me by the wrists and pinning them above my head.

A rush of heat floods through my body at the feeling of his body pressed against mine, his cock hardening where it grinds into my pelvis.

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