Page 70 of Burn the World Down

Right now, Cole didn’t look like he was retired from anything. His knuckles were all torn up.

Landon breezed in. “Hi. Hey, Georgie.” He leaned over and touched my face. “The bruises are almost gone.”

“Finally.”

“How are your ribs?”

“As good as new. I started hand-to-hand combat training today.”

“She held Alessio and me off several times,” Bastian said. “She has good instincts.”

I couldn’t hold back my pleasure at the praise. Beside me, Nash tugged on my ponytail, and I saw pride on his face.

The doorbell rang.

“That’s the food.” Bastian sauntered toward the door.

Before I knew it, I was sitting at the table with these gorgeous, dangerous men, gorging on pizza and pasta. Nash sat beside me and kept putting food on my plate.

I leaned closer to him. “You’re going to give me a complex. Clearly, you think I’m too thin.”

He slid an arm across the back of my chair. “I know you haven’t been taking care of yourself. But you’re beautiful no matter what.” He lowered his voice. “I think I’ve shown my appreciation of your body several times.”

“Not as much as I’d like,” I muttered.

He reached over and touched the fading bruises beside my eye. “Soon.”

I shivered.

“Cole, I heard you fought like a machine last night.” Bastian sipped his glass of wine. “I won good money on you.”

Cole just grunted.

“Are you a boxer?” I asked. That would explain the knuckles, although I knew boxers normally wore gloves.

Nash shook his head. “Cole takes part in underground fights. The rules are…more fluid. Anything goes.”

My eyes widened. “Oh.” That had to be dangerous.

Cole lifted a shoulder. “I like fighting. I’m good at it.”

He definitely hadn’t been in the military, like Nash. He didn’t give off that vibe at all. I wondered what demons drove him to fight in the ring.

“How’s the clinic?” Nash asked Landon.

“Busy.”

The conversation ebbed and flowed. They were all so comfortable with each other. Low male laughter echoed around the table. They weren’t afraid to tease each other. I wondered if my family had ever shared meals like this? If we had, I couldn’t remember it. My heart squeezed.

Nash and his friends looked out for each other. They were family.

I was glad Nash had that.

No wonder he hadn’t come home. He hadn’t needed to.

And now, I’d brought more trouble to his door. More death. I’d dragged him back into killing, something that he’d left behind.

I gnawed on my bottom lip. After this was over, after we burned off this attraction, what would I do?