Page 28 of Erik's Redemption
Hannah reached over and squeezed her arm. “Of course.”
CHAPTER 9
Abeeping from Hannah’s phone pulled her from her sleep. Not only that, but also a vibration from her watch.
She peeled her eyes open, tapping on the screen.
Crap. She was going low again. It wasn’t a surprise. She’d barely eaten dinner.
With a sigh, she reached over to the bedside table lamp and flicked it on, then stilled when she saw the other side of the bed was empty.
Erik wasn’t here again.
He’d been better this last week, going to bed with her. Holding her. She’d quickly gotten used to it. She looked at her watch again. Three in the morning.
Swallowing the disappointment, she climbed to her feet. She had candy in her bedside drawer, but when she ate that at night, it often kept her awake.
Slowly, she went downstairs and into the kitchen, where she prepared a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, which she topped with oat milk. A smile tugged at her lips at the memory of the first time she’d seen oat milk in Erik’s fridge. It had been a few days after Christmas, and she’d opened the door to see the carton sitting on a shelf.
For most, that wouldn’t have been a big deal. But for them, it’d been huge. Erik hated oat milk. So the fact he’d bought it for her meant he wanted her here, in his home, with him.
She hadn’t convinced him to bring her coffee pod machine over yet. Maybe one day.
She adjusted her pump and spooned some cereal into her mouth. Halfway through the bowl, she headed into the living room, her gaze brushing over the expansive fireplace. This house was all class and money—everything hers wasn’t.
She was walking to the window when a noise pulled her attention to the right. Soft thuds.
What was that?
She spooned one more bite of cereal into her mouth before lowering the bowl to the coffee table and moving into the hall. The closer she drew to the basement door, the louder the sounds got. Thumps, some close together, others not.
Quietly, she opened the door to hear the thumps now combined with heavy breathing. She started down the stairs. She’d only been down here once, when Erik had offered to show her the space where he worked out, and it looked exactly the same. A pull-up bar to one side—he had another outside that he used when weather permitted—various weights scattered around the space, a jump rope hanging on a wall. There were a couple of machines that she would have no idea how to work. And in the center of the room, the heavy bag.
Erik stood with his back to her, fists raised and gloves on. He was shirtless and shoeless, only wearing low-hanging shorts as he danced in front of the bag. Small beads of sweat dripped from his skin, and there were earbuds in his ears.
When he hit the bag, the entire thing shook. The sound of each impact was loud in the otherwise quiet space. He hit it again and again, and she almost stepped back, intimidated by the force behind the hits.
The man was all power.
She inched closer, hearing the music blaring through his earbuds.
When he did a fast combination of hits, her breath stopped. He’d been a professional boxer for a while after getting out of the military, and after that, he’d done some cage fighting. She couldn’t imagine someone being on the receiving end of those hits. The thought was terrifying. Surely, one punch and they’d be down and out.
What was causing him so much discontent in the middle of the night? Was it his past? The death of half his team on his last mission? The death of his wife and their unborn baby all those years ago? All of that affected him on such a deep level, and none of it was stuff he’d ever forget.
But still, this felt…different. New.
She took one more step forward as Erik’s arms dropped, and he turned to the side. That’s when his gaze collided with hers. His brows flickered, and he pulled off his gloves, then his earbuds.
“Hey. How long have you been down here?”
She swiped her finger across the charms on her bracelet. “Not long.”
He glanced down at that bracelet, and she thought she saw a twist of pain in his eyes.
Strange. Why would her bracelet cause him pain? It had a cloud charm on it from Nico, and an angel charm from Erik. Did he regret giving it to her?
She dropped her hand. “Will you show me how to hit?”
