Page 11 of Taking the Fight

Annika giggled. “I figured. That’s why Nikolai won’t be showing up on your doorstep anymore. Instead, you’ll be dealing directly with me.”

She glanced over at the gym again, and I looked through the windows to see Braden and Carter in one of the sparring rings, battling it out. Even from here, I could see Braden’s body glistening with sweat and how intense he looked taking jabs at Carter. He was a completely different person in the ring.

“I figured you don’t want to tell them what you’re doing?” Annika questioned, drawing my attention.

“No,” I said, shaking my head, “they don’t want me involved with Nikolai or his people.”

I met Annika’s gaze and she nodded. “Fair enough. Nikolai’s already told me who all the guys are, even though I already knew.” She winked at me. “I watch their fights on TV, as well as yours. We can just say you’re training me for the next week or two, and that we spoke on the phone last week.”

“That could work,” I agreed, “but I’m heading out of town not this weekend, but next.”

Annika waved me off as if it wasn’t a big deal. “No worries.”

“Is that going to be enough time to learn?” I wondered.

She shrugged. “Not sure. But I know my first fight is this weekend. I guess we’ll see what happens.” That didn’t give us much time to train at all.

“All right,” I said, pressing the lock button on my key fob, “let’s get to work.” We strolled toward the gym entrance. “Tell me a little about yourself before we get inside. Are you from California?”

I looked over at her and she shook her head. “New York. I got here last week.”

“How old are you?”

Annika smiled. “Just turned twenty-five last month.” I was right. We were the same age. “I graduated from NYU,” she continued, “and plan to work with my father once I prove myself.”

I snorted. “Did graduating from one of the top schools in the country not prove yourself?”

We stopped at the gym doors, and she turned to me. “Unfortunately, that’s not how it works for women like me. You’re lucky, Reagan. I hope you know that.”

I was glad I didn’t come from her world. We walked inside and I led her over to the other sparring ring. Carter and Braden had stopped for a water break, and I could feel Braden’s eyes on us. After I tossed my bag onto the mat, Annika leaned in close.

“Braden Emerson is staring at us. He’s so hot,” she whispered.

“Meh, I haven’t noticed,” I said, rummaging through my bag. “I need to get you some hand wraps from the supply room.”

A few seconds later, I could feel Braden behind me. “Good morning, you two.”

I continued to fiddle around in my bag while Annika gushed over him. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” she cooed. “I’m Annika. Congrats on the title win, by the way.”

A pang of jealousy pierced my gut when I glanced at them over my shoulder. Annika was gorgeous, and Braden was charming. The last thing I wanted was to see them flirt with each other.

Braden shook her hand and smiled. “Thanks.” Then he turned to me. “Do you want to train with me today?”

I nodded over at Annika. “Actually, I’ll be with her for the morning. Annika wants me to show her some fighting moves.”

Braden’s slow-growing smile made my body tighten in forbidden places, especially when his hypnotic green eyes met mine. “Great. I’ll help you. Carter’s leaving for the day, so I’m free.”

Turning around, he went back to Carter while I stood there dumbfounded. Annika stepped up to me and fanned herself with her hand. “It is definitely getting hot in here. I think I’m going to enjoy this.”

That made only one of us. It was going to be a long-ass day.

CHAPTER7

BRADEN

For most of the day, I watched Reagan work with Annika. Reagan was a natural in the ring and even more so as a teacher. Once they were done sparring, Reagan sent Annika to finish the day with a run on the treadmill. She walked over and I handed her a bottle of water.

“It looked like you enjoyed yourself today,” I told her.

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