Page 45 of The Players

How was it possible to want two men at the same time? How could her body have been dormant for a man’s touch, until these two?

He put his fingers on her chest and gave a push. Her body was propelled backward a few feet.

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious, doll,” Sy answered for Vince. “You better think of our session if you want to save your hide.”

She gawked at him. “Our session? We barely trained for an hour!” Did he really think he was such a good teacher that he’d suddenly turned her into Bruce Lee?

Sy had the audacity to sit on a bench and start lifting weights. It was as if he turned into a neon sign that stated, “Deal with your own shit.”

And that she had to deal with it was a given. Vince kept coming at her. She ducked away, walked circles around him, but knew it would only be a matter of time before he would engage.

“When will you stop running away,cara?”

They both knew he meant so much more with that than running away from him in the dojo. She refused to answer. He didn’t deserve a reaction, or anything for that matter, from her. Never again would she let him under her skin.

“Don’t you think it’s time to hold your ground?” he further taunted. “Or do you want to spend your life being a scared little girl?”

Rage clouded her vision, nearly turning the room into black once again. With a battle cry she hadn’t known she possessed, she stormed toward Vince. She hit and kicked wherever she could. Maybe he let her, or maybe she’d truly learned something from that one session with Vince, because a dozen kicks in and she was still standing.

Right up until the moment she wasn’t and landed face down on the mat. She spun around and jumped back on her feet, afraid he would pounce on her. Vince still stood over her though, in his perfectly tailored slacks and white shirt.

“See what just happened there?” he said calmly. “You lost control. Physical strength alone isn’t being strong. If that were all it took, bodybuilders would be ruling the world. You need to focus. But most of all, you need to face your fear. Are you ready to face your fear, Carmen?”

Was she?

“And how do you expect me to do exactly that?”

“It’s been a week. You haven’t left the apartment yet. Why?”

“You know why.”

“Tell me.”

“Because it’s dangerous outside, that’s why.”

“Why, Carmen?” He walked up to her, asking the same question over and over again.

Unwillingly, her eyes went toward the front door. Her mind went to the elevator in the hall. And what hid behind it. On the floor below.

His hand grabbed her chin. “Why, Carmen?”

He wanted the truth? She’d give it to him. “Because I hate your club. Because just thinking of passing it on my way down makes me sick.”

Athudon the floor turned her back to Sy. He had dropped his weights and cursed, a combination of surprise and anger on his face. She looked down, feeling oddly guilty, as if she’d disappointed him somehow.

Vince didn’t look so much surprised as relieved. The bastard had known all along. Why that still surprised her was beyond her. Even as kids, he’d always been able to read her. Sadly, she never mastered that skill when it came to him.

Feeling deflated, she pushed at his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Are you happy now?”

“This isn’t about my happiness. I want you to face your demons instead of pretending they don’t exist.”

He was right. She had tried to block the knowledge she was living above a BDSM club from her memory. And why wouldn’t she? Places like that were where horrors existed. Where women lived for one purpose only—to serve the men who had brought them there. To do as they were told, when they were told, without dare opening their mouths or there would be severe consequences.

Rope burns to never leave my body.

Candle wax so hot that it felt as if it burned through my bones.

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