Page 47 of Bastard

I turn to look at him over my shoulder. “Is that why that drill sergeant showed me no mercy?”

Hayden’s lips twitch. “It wasn’t you leaving the gym with a bloody nose. But I still want you prepared for anything.”

Our eyes lock. Anything.

Him.

Will I ever be prepared for him?

“Your mistake is that you’re not reading your opponent.”

Something flashes in his eyes. He’s always had this uncanny talent for reading people, me especially, because I’m an open book when it comes to my feelings for him. Is that what he sees now? The hurt? The hope?

“Look for a warning sign, a tensing of the body, a glance the other way. Engage your mind before your body. And, for fuck’s sake, control your temper. It’s what I tell your brother to do all the goddamn time.”

I snort. “That’s like telling a shark to swim on the sand.”

“Yes.”

“Still, you’ve kept Diego employed all these years. Took him with you when you left Loreto.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

He means me—and him sending me away.

I reposition my foot behind his leg, moving as subtly as possible, then throw my weight back into him. To my amazement, he tumbles backward and down onto the mat, taking me with him.

I keep moving, pivoting sideways so I can weave my fingers into his hair until I grasp hold of his man bun like a knob. I tug, hard.

His eyes narrow.

Time stills.

Electricity sizzles between us. I’ve never experienced chemistry like this. It’s like dancing around a flame, basking in its warmth and excited by the danger. I’m drawn into its power and desperately tempted to fuel the fire and see how high the flames can grow.

My soul knew it was him in Rome, even if my mind was in denial.

His hands touch the back of my head and I’m pulled downward and in for a kiss. My throat hitches as his eyes darken with lust.

Oh, Madre mía.

Suddenly, chaos erupts around us. His men burst into the room. Six swarm the mat surrounding us. Two men grab hold of me and lift me off him.

As if I could hurt a man like him.

I’m set on my feet and immediately released.

Damn those cameras.

“Sorry, Boss,” the man closest to me says.

Hayden rises, all business. Satisfaction rolls up inside me as I catch sight of his destroyed man bun.

“We were uncertain whether to interrupt—”

“You followed protocol.”

The men look visibly relieved.