Page 13 of When He Fights (Protector & Defender #3)

Chapter Six

The sharks swam slowly through the water, their gazes directed forward. No emotion. Just savage beauty. Intensity. Drive.

Sharks never showed fear. They didn’t hesitate. They just kept swimming. And biting.

“That was an amazing session, Ana.” Zuri Harris curled an arm around Ana’s shoulders. “You have no idea what my week has been like.” She gave her a little squeeze. “I needed this so much. Thank you.”

Forcing a smile, Ana turned toward Zuri.

The other woman had been the first friend that Ana made after moving to Gulfport.

All of five feet nothing, Zuri was a powerhouse who managed what was truly the best restaurant in the city.

A landmark of delicious taste—as Zuri had proudly boasted on more than one occasion.

Zuri’s warm brown eyes gleamed as she smiled at Ana. Her dark hair had been pulled back into a bun, and small, gold hoop earrings hung from her lobes. “My boss was a real pain in the ass for the last few days,” Zuri revealed.

Ana laughed as the rest of the class packed up their yoga mats. “You are the boss.”

Zuri winked. “And I was a total, demanding pain.” She rolled back her shoulders and stretched. “The week was a bitch.”

Agree. One hundred percent. But Ana bit those words back.

“Some of us might grab some wine in a bit.” Zuri wiggled her eyebrows. “Feel like getting a drink?”

“I can’t. Sorry.” Because Kane would be picking her up and taking her home. The denial was also because she didn’t want to put a bull’s-eye on her friends in case Logan was lurking nearby. “Rain check?”

“Of course. There will always be more wine nights. Always. Bye, Dracula,” Zuri called as she tossed a wave toward the enormous aquarium tank.

The centerpiece of the entire building, the big tank was a three-story habitat called the Oceans Explorer Zone .

Inside the tank, Dracula was one of the two sandbar sharks who called the aquarium home.

As if on cue, Dracula did a sharp turn and dove in front of the glass.

Laughing, Zuri grabbed her bag. “See you next time, Ana!”

Right. Next time. Ana chatted a bit with some of the other students who’d showed up for the late-night yoga session. A De-Stress Evening By the Deep, as she billed it in her promos. Not that they were actually deep, but…

People liked coming to the aquarium for the night yoga sessions. It was a great way to unwind after a long day or a long week. And while she did teach a full yoga class, plenty of her attendees also just liked to curl up on their mats and stare at the huge tank right in front of them.

Because the yoga sessions were held after normal aquarium hours, the yoga students were able to roll out their mats right in front of the glass.

They could stretch and bend and watch the zebra sharks, the sandbar sharks, the bonnetheads, the sea turtles, the rays, the beautiful rainbow of different fish…

and even the eel. An eel affectionately known as Mr. Rogers because he would occasionally pop his head out to welcome everyone to his neighborhood.

Normally, Ana found the yoga sessions at the aquarium just as relaxing as her students did. But, unfortunately, this was not a normal night.

Nothing in her life was normal.

Kane had moved into her home. All intense and broody and sexy and just…

there. His presence was so strong that she could feel him in every inch of the house.

She’d been sharing meals with him. He’d even done a grocery run for her, and damn if the man hadn’t remembered all of her favorite things without her having to remind him of a single item.

Two years had passed, and he remembered every detail? Seriously? How? Did he truly recall everything about her preferences?

Or had he just gotten some really invasive, personal report from Grayson that listed all of the foods she liked to eat?

Kane was sleeping in the bedroom right next to hers.

Right next to hers. And they were sharing a bathroom.

The bathroom was a Jack-and-Jill bathroom that connected their two bedrooms, and she’d accidentally walked in just as he was getting out of the shower that morning.

The man could have locked the bathroom door. It would not have killed him.

He had not locked the door.

She’d stumbled in just as he’d left the shower.

He’d only been wearing a towel. One wrapped around his hips. So many powerful muscles had been on grand display. Her fingers had itched to touch him. She’d visualized herself ripping his towel away. Pouncing on him.

Instead…

She’d retreated. Closed the bathroom door without a word. And pretty much fallen into a puddle.

Two days. Two days had passed since he’d roared back into her life, and she was already having sex dreams about him. Because, sure, why not? Why not have sex dreams? Of course, tonight’s dream would probably be even more intense on account of the little shower peep show she’d gotten earlier.

“Bye, Ana!”

She jerked and waved and pasted on a bright smile.

The last of her students vanished. Her breath expelled. Soft, soothing music still played on the speakers. She’d hooked up the music using her phone, and she headed to the left so that she could turn off the sound system. A few swipes, and the music stopped.

The sharks kept swimming. The rays floated by.

When the rays displayed their underbellies toward the glass, she could catch a glimpse of their faces.

It always looked like they were smiling at her, even though Ana knew that was just a trick.

Not a real smile but just the way their mouths and nostrils were centered on their faces.

Still, it looked as if they were smiling at her.

And their smiles usually made her feel better.

Slowly, Ana walked toward the massive glass. She didn’t touch it. Didn’t poke at it. Just stared as the fish swam by. Because she was a frequent visitor, some of those fish even started to swim closer?—

The fish suddenly cut away. Darted off in a fast and furious exit. That was odd.

“Ana.”

She gasped and spun around.

Turner stood there, dressed in black pants and a black shirt. His hands were loose at his sides.

“Ana, we need to talk.”

Her heart slammed into her chest. “The aquarium is closed right now.” Only her students would have been given admission by the security guards to enter.

They would have shown their tickets and been granted entry.

But the yoga session was over, and her students had all left.

The security guards would still be patrolling, though—they would have checked out each student and then secured the exterior doors.

So what is Turner doing here?

“He’s staying in your house, Ana.”

She backed up. Almost bumped the glass.

“I worked so hard to get close to you.” Turner took an aggressive step toward her. “And now he’s in your house? You won’t even talk to me when I call or text you!”

“There’s really not a lot to say.” She still had her phone in her hand. She’d grabbed it when she turned off the sound system. Her bag was near her feet. Her bag and her mat.

A muscle flexed along Turner’s clenched jaw. “I had to wait until I could get you alone. Two fucking days.”

She swallowed. A guard could come along on a patrol any moment. Any old moment would do. “How did you get inside?”

“One of the guards is a student at my dojo. Green belt. When I told him that I wanted to surprise my girlfriend, George let me enter.”

Her stomach knotted. “I’m not your girlfriend, Turner. This should not come as a shock given what happened the last time we spoke, but we are not working out.”

That muscle along his jaw flexed again. “If you had just come with me to the concert, everything would have already been over by now.”

Uh, no. The knot in her gut got tighter. “Over how?” Husky. She wet her lips.

His head tilted to the right. “I kinda liked you. Didn’t expect to do that. I was paying back a debt. Waiting until I got the order.”

No, no, no. This conversation was going from bad to worse with every second that passed. “The order?” she squeaked. Fear made her squeak.

“I was supposed to get close to you. Then I was supposed to eliminate you.”

So he hadn’t just been blown away by her looks and charm. Lovely. Fake relationship for the win. From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the sharks swim away.

“Don’t worry,” Turner continued, and his voice was pitched all low and sympathetic. “By the time I put you in the water with the sharks, you’ll already be dead.”

She could not breathe. Fear choked her.

He pulled out a knife. “And by the time anyone finds your remains,” he added after a long sigh, “there won’t be enough left to figure out that it was a knife that killed you, and not the teeth of a shark.”

He’d parked his motorcycle near the aquarium’s main entrance. Kane watched as the people who’d attended the after-hours yoga session filed out. His arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the bike and waited for one particular individual to appear.

Ana.

Beautiful, maddening, sexy-as-hell Ana.

He’d offered to go in the class with her. Not to participate because he’d tried before, and he could not do yoga for shit. But he would have been more than happy to watch her switch in and out of positions and get into the flow.

She’d denied his request. Immediately. With a sniff.

So now he waited.

The class attendees had filed out already. A few of the ladies were talking over to the side. He heard them chatting about going out for wine.

And…

No Ana. Was she still packing up?

The security guard began to pull the door closed.

Kane bounded forward. He threw out a hand before that door could close fully. “Hey, my girlfriend is inside!” Oh, yes, those words felt fantastic to say.

The guard frowned at him. “No, she’s not.”

Uh, yes, she was. “Does the yoga instructor go out the back door or something?” That didn’t make sense. Ana had specifically told him that she’d meet him out front. He’d dropped her off, and he’d intended to be there to pick her up in the same spot.

He liked it when she rode behind him on the motorcycle. Loved it when her arms and legs curled around him. He would love it all the more if he was fucking her on the bike, but that was a story for another day. Correction, a fantasy for another day.

“I’m not about to tell you where the instructor goes.” Hard, tight words from the guard. “Now let go of the door.”

He let go of the door, but he didn’t back up. “She’s my girlfriend, ” he stressed. “Ana is my girlfriend. I’m supposed to wait out here and pick her up.”

“No, she’s not your girlfriend. She’s dating Turner.” The guard threw a thumb over his shoulder.

Why had he just thrown that thumb over his shoulder? As if he’d been pointing back inside the aquarium?

“Now, I don’t know who the hell you are or why you want to harass Ana, but you need to get out of here. Go! Before I call the cops.” The now red-faced guard began to slam the door yet again.

But Kane caught the door once more and stopped it from closing.

He also inserted his very large foot over the threshold because that door would not be shutting anytime soon.

His hand tightened around the hard edge of the door.

“For the record,” Kane said, making sure his voice remained flat, “Ana and Turner broke up. She’s with me now. ”

The man’s eyes widened. “He…didn’t mention a breakup.”

Oh, that was not good. Turner had been talking to this guard? Kane deliberately pushed the door inward. Slowly, steadily. “Also, for the record, I’m damn well not leaving here without her.”

The guard’s jaw locked. He almost moved his hand toward the taser clipped to his waist.

“I would not recommend it,” Kane warned. “It won’t take me down, but it will piss me off.”

The guard swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “You’re not getting inside.”

“Don’t bet on it.”

“ Hey!” A sharp yell from behind Kane. A feminine yell. “What are you doing to George?”

George swallowed again. “This fellow is trying to pull some B&E shit, Zuri. You stay back. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I’ll call the cops,” she offered immediately.

Yeah, actually—still keeping his hold on the door because it was not shutting—Kane glanced over his shoulder.

He found the petite woman glaring at him with dark eyes and a locked jaw.

She also had a can of pepper spray in her hand, and it was aimed in Kane’s direction. “Call the cops,” he urged her.

She blinked at him.

“My girlfriend is inside, I think something may be wrong, and your buddy George won’t let me check on Ana.”

“Ana isn’t your girlfriend,” she denied.

“We just got back together after a separation,” he said and, sure, maybe those words came through clenched teeth. “She ditched that idiot Turner and is back with me.”

“Total lie,” George blared.

The woman—Zuri—frowned. “If they’re broken up, then why was Turner sneaking toward the main tank area when I left? I started to call out to him, but he put his finger over his mouth like he was gonna surprise Ana or something.”

Shit. Kane whipped back around toward George. “Get out of the way.”

“No.” Sweat beaded George’s brow. “Not happening.” He whipped up his taser and fired it at Kane.

The volts hit, but, as promised, Kane didn’t go down. “That really pisses me off.” He shoved the door all the way open and bounded inside even as George screamed for backup.