“I killed two guys just a few days ago, Ashley.”
“As you said, you didn’t have a choice. There was no sick pleasure in it. I know that’s why you suffered those nightmares that very same night. You were traumatized over having to do it.”
I could see him thinking on it.
For a moment, I really thought I’d managed to get through to him.
But then he said, “If you get pulled into my orbit, you’ll never find your way back out of the dark. That’s all I am. Darkness. You’re seeing something in me that doesn’t exist.”
“You’re wrong.”
He shrugged as if it wasn’t the major deal that it actually was.
And then he became all business, as he gestured for me to follow him to an empty space on the gym floor.
Muttering my displeasure, I trudged over to him.
He assumed a fighting stance. “All right. Try to hit me.” He winked. “I’m sure you want to right now.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not doing that.”
“Ashley,” he said, sternly. “Fucking well hit me.”
I shrank back. “You’re not even wearing pads. I could seriously hurt you.”
He chuckled. “You won’t.” Gesturing the length of his body, he said, “This is all muscle.”
Cocky bastard. He was right, though. I slapped my hands to my hips. “Yeah? Well, what about your face?”
“I really doubt you’ll manage to land a hit, but, if you do, I’ll just wipe up the blood.”
I screwed up my face at the awful thought. “I don’t want to make you bleed.”
He stepped into me and gently grasped my chin, tilting my head to meet his intense gaze. “I’m not going to rest easy until I teach you a few tricks, so I’m confident you can hold your own against someone of my size. I need you safe, Ashley.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
Clearing his throat and releasing me abruptly, he quickly backpedaled, “Because of the mission. Your father needs you safe and it’s my duty to ensure it.”
I didn’t believe his explanation for a second.
He’d meant himself.
He’d slipped up.
He cared about me, beyond the scope of my protection detail and he’d failed to contain it.
“Finn, I—”
He cut in, “Let’s do this.”
I shook my head and made a break for it, but he moved so quickly, blocking my path. Looming down like the formidable force he was, he said, “No. There’s no running away in this gym. No cowering.”
“Stop it.”
“This is about more than not wanting to hurt me.” He didn’t pose it as a question. He was so sure. Urgh. Why was he always so incredibly perceptive?
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m not.”
“Just drop it,” I said, making a move to dodge past him.
But he was too fast, blocking my path once again.
For a big guy, he was shockingly quick on his feet.
“Tell me why,” he pushed.
He was aggravating me. It had me snapping, “It scares me, okay? The idea of doing this in case I come up against Knox Price. I can’t bear thinking about it, even acknowledging that it could be a possibility.” I blew out a heavy breath. “Just thinking about being so close to him, enough where he could lay a hand on me, terrifies me.”
“Ashley—” he began.
But I wasn’t done. “And I hate it! I hate feeling that way. I hate that he made me a victim, that he took my mom from me, that he betrayed my dad, that he’s trying to hurt us all over again!”
“There,” he said.
“What?”
“That’s what you need to draw on. That anger. Focus on that, rather than the fear. Anger is power.”
His words hit home.
They had me finally acknowledging something I’d tried so hard to push deep down for a very long time.
I needed to stop running.
I had to stop hiding from who I really was.
The daughter of a MC president.
I shifted my weight. “All right. Let’s do this,” I said, raising my fists.
Finn beamed at me. “Good girl.”
God. Those two words sent a tingle down my spine.
Get a grip.
I forced myself to shake it off as Finn crooked two fingers, gesturing for me to bring it.
I swung my right fist.
His arm swept down in an arc, deflecting it with ease, like he was swatting away a tiny insect.
“You’re dropping your shoulder, giving away your intent,” he told me.
I tried again.
I still didn’t make contact, but he smiled. “Better. Move into the punch. The power comes from your hips. Widen your stance before you do it or you’ll destabilize yourself.”
Following his instructions, I went for it, trying determinedly to strike his upturned palm, again and again.
But his rapid-fire reactions were impressive, faster than I’d ever seen from anyone.
“Stop hesitating,” he said. “This is life and death, Ashley. Take me down!”
“Argh!” I roared in frustration.
My anger propelled my fist at him so hard and fast that he only just managed to stop it from striking him, catching it in the palm of his hand.
Grinning widely, he said, “That’s more like it.”
9
~Wraith~
THERE IT WAS.
Ducking and weaving, as her fists flew, I smiled to myself.
I’d known she’d possessed a spark. But what I was seeing from her now was a full-on raging fire.
She came at me with the determined furor of someone hellbent on proving what they were really made of.
To herself.
To her father.
And, clearly, most definitely, to me.
I knew she’d grown up in an intensely overbearing, suffocating situation.
It had trapped her in a submissive, withdrawn state. She’d had no air available to ignite the spark to her inner fire that was blazing now. She hadn’t known her own potential.
Well, I was going to make sure she recognized it now.
And I wouldn’t let her forget it either.
Scott’s policy when it came to safeguarding Ashley was foolish. Part of her protection had to involve her learning how to protect herself. While I had no intention of her having to do that, it was ridiculous and stupid to deny that it could happen. Life wasn’t always predictable. Things happened. But Scott couldn’t
