Page 41 of Wicked Attraction

“Cut the shit, Thomas.” I pushed away from the table and went to the bar. Yeah, it was early, and I was about to down three more fingers of Velvet Fire before I even finished my eggs.

“Shit? I’m trying my best to abide by Sadie’s wishes. That’s all. We want the same thing, Jasper. When she’s out of the hospital, she’ll be happy to see Lucky Lopez exactly how she wants it.”

“If she gets out,” I growled, realizing what had me on edge. What if Sadie didn’t wake up?

What if she never woke up but instead drifted off into a permanent fucking sleep, never to rise, to talk shit, never to drink a Bloody Mary in her salon ever again?

Thomas gave me one of his looks of steel while still a badass gentleman. “She will. Sadie is stronger than even she knows underneath all that bluster and steel. And when that happens, you will have wasted your time trying to change things that she’ll only change back.”

Thomas raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Just listen. You used to be able to do that pretty well.”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Thomas,” I snarled at him, pissed off that he reminded me of the kid I was before I found myself. My strength.

Thomas smiled, but it wasn’t filled with amusement or pride. “You’re all grown up, but lately, you’ve been acting like a petulant fucking brat.”

“Abrat?” I snort-laughed. “A brat, Thomas?” I stood and threw my glass at his head, deliberately missing and it shattered against the wall. “Yeah? And what are you going to do about it, old man?”

Thomas smiled back. “Happy to remind you who taught you to hand out a good ass-whipping.”

Hell, yes. This was what I needed. Killing those bikers didn’t do shit to satisfy my bloodlust.

“I’m happy to let you try,” I told him as I removed my cufflinks and rolled up my sleeves.

Thomas did the same, slowly removing his vest like this was another one of our lessons. His shoulders squared with a slight hunch, fists protecting his face. “Let’s see what you got. Brat.”

I lunged forward, sneaking a jab between his arms. It landed on his nose. “Too slow, old man.”

The old fucker put his right fist forward and landed a body hit and a hook to my jaw with his left. “Who you calling old?” He flashed a confident smile that just pissed me off.

“The only old man in the fucking room,” I growled and landed two hammer fists on his jaw. Thomas stumbled back but only a step before he recovered and came back at me. “Yeah, come and get some more.”

He ducked my next jab and landed two in my gut and one in my side, smiling the whole fucking time.

Time to stop fucking around, son.

Colm’s voice came to me at that moment, and all I could see was red. Anger, hurt, and disgust rose to the surface, and I had the perfect fucking target in front of me. I landed a hook to the jaw, an uppercut to his chin, and another to his side.

Thomas spat and pushed me backward, not hard enough to fall, just enough to let me know he wasn’t fucking around anymore, either.

“You wanna fight me, Jasper? Fine. Let’s do it.” He got back in fighter’s stance and backed me up until I was against the wall and landed blow after blow to my face, stomach, and side. My ribs.

No way was I letting his fucker beat me.

“No!” I pushed him into the table, and a few chairs toppled over and lifted my foot to stomp him.

Thomas rolled away, fast for his age, and was on his feet again quickly.

I was on his ass as soon as he was on his feet, three blows to the gut. One to the back and two more to the ribs.

“Fuck,” Thomas growled and showed his gratitude by landing a spinning elbow right on my mouth, splitting my lip open.

I spit the blood out, angry and sore but not ready to quit. Never would I fucking quit a fight. “Sucker punch.”

“Not a sucker punch when my back is turned, you little shit.”

That satisfied fucking smile on his face only pissed me off more if that was even fucking possible. I let loose another jab that barely grazed his jaw, but the next one landed perfectly.Good.

His head snapped back, and he reset quickly before he stepped in and landed two consecutive leg kicks. I stepped in to land another punch, and that earned me another fucking kick to the other leg.

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