paced the cage like a tiger, waiting for his chance to strike. It didn’t even faze me.
When I was ready a few minutes later, I stepped into the cage feeling absolutely
nothing. I was a robot who followed commands, and if Darren wanted me to train
with Scott, then I would train with Scott.
Scott gave me a list of complex strike combinations, and I already had them
configured in my head. I was able to deliver everything he asked for, putting all my
focus and energy into each strike, but it wasn’t for me. It was for him. And for
Darren. I was on autopilot, my muscle memory capable of repeating hundreds of
combinations without even thinking about them. Scott didn’t stop at striking. He
tested the height and speed of my kicks, my chokeholds and takedowns, even my
flips and handsprings.
But even though I successfully did everything he asked, he did not seem
satisfied. He seemed pissed off, actually.
“Where the fuck are you right now?” he asked, his voice rough and angry.
I jerked my head back in confusion, sweat trickling down the side of my face as
my heart continued to beat out of my chest. “Excuse me?”
“Your head. Where’s your head at? Your body might be here, but your head sure
as hell ain’t.”
I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows as I focused on calming my breathing. “I
don’t understand. I did everything you asked,” I said.
He shook his head, and tore off the mitts. “Your body did. But you didn’t.”
I placed my hands on my hips and furrowed my brows, still trying to catch my
breath but remained stoic. “Well, I–”
“We’re done for the day,” he said, completely interrupting me as he headed out
of the cage. I watched him walk out of the gym and slam the door behind him.
Shaking my head, I grabbed my boxing gloves from the floor and headed out of
the cage while removing my wraps. I didn’t know what to make of his reaction.
What had I done wrong?
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked Clive and Owen as they took my gear from
me.
Clive simply sighed while he set my stuff on the nearby bench, and Owen just
shook his head.
“Why did you train with Scott?” Owen asked me.
I almost glared at him. The answer was obvious. “Because Darren told me to.”
“And if he hadn’t told you to, would you have wanted to?” Clive asked.
I shrugged. “Only if it would have made Darren happy.”
“And that’s the problem, isn’t it? You only do things that make Mr. Davis
happy,” Owen said. “You need to do things that make you happy as well.”
I felt taken aback by that, the inappropriateness of the conversation suddenly
weighing on me.
“I don’t think we should be having this conversation,” I said.
Clive rolled his eyes and began to usher me out of the gym. “Come on. You need
a shower, little girl.”
I got halfway up the staircase when I suddenly realized I didn’t even care that
Clive had called me little.
What the fuck had happened to me?
54
COMEBACK
A nother month went by with barely any change in Jaden. She still wasn’t training
on her own, only when I asked. Her muscle tone was disappearing, and she was
losing weight in muscle mass. After finally forcing her to train with Scott, he’d
never been so disappointed in his life. She was still able to complete every move
and keep up, but her drive and power were completely absent. It was like she
wasn’t even there inside. She was somewhere else.
I was ready to fucking strangle something.
Sid told me he thought she was struggling with PTSD, which explained her lack
of emotion, her disdain for her old activities and habits, and her poor sleep and
nightmares. The only time she ever smiled was when I was spending time with her,
but it just felt wrong, fake, like she wasn’t really there, just a part of her.
Even now, with Jaden curled up against my side while we watched the Detroit
Red Wings play the Toronto Maple Leaves, there was nothing from her. Zero
emotion. It was killing me inside.
I had allowed this concealed misery to linger long enough. I needed to find
something that would start the goddamn fire and bring Jaden back to life. I just had
to find the one thing that would finally make her snap out of this shadow and rise
to rule at my side like the fucking queen she was meant to be.
My phone started to ring just after the Red Wings scored their winning goal, and
I answered, knowing I wouldn’t have to worry about Jaden listening in anymore. I
was almost disappointed by that.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“Man, do I have a surprise for you,” Scott said on the other line.
“What?” I asked.
“I found our snitch. The last and original snitch. Fucker’s been hiding under
