The Aftermath (The Hurricane, #2)(41)

Old men in pubs sounding off about how love fades don’t know shit. The bloom fades because you f*cking let it. You take your woman for granted, you become complacent with your lot in life, and that’s when you stand to lose the best thing you never knew you had. My wife was the center of my f*cking universe. If that ever changed, I deserved to lose her.

Only I knew better. That would never change. When Em finally met her maker, I’d be right behind her, scorching the earth behind me. We were for life. As I contemplated this, she walked through the door carrying coffee and a box of pastries and wearing one of my hoodies. That right there made my morning. “Hey, baby, how’s the training going?”

“Better now you’re here,” I called out.

“How many you up to?” she asked about the number of press-ups I’d done.

“I don’t keep count,” I told her. “Only Danny does that. I just keeping going until I can’t lift my arms.” Flipping onto my back, I beckoned her over for a kiss then swapped the press-ups for sit-ups. The view was better. Earnshaw chose that moment to walk in through the door.

“Hey, part-timer”

“Fuck you. It’s still the arsecrack of dawn as far as I’m concerned, and the States are five hours behind us. So when you’re at home with your feet up, I’m making magic happen.”

Shit, I really didn’t have any idea what he did or how much work it took. I was just glad I only had to put on the gloves. “Fair enough,” I told him.

“You got one of those things for me?” he asked.

“Sure,” Em said. “I always get extra in case some of the guys are around. Kieran literally hoovers these things.”

He sat down close to her on the edge of the ring and reached into the box to grab one of her pastries. It was halfway to his mouth when I stopped mid-sit-up and growled. Pausing, his arm still in the air, he stood up and put about two feet between him and Em before sitting back down on the ring. Satisfied that he’d gotten my message, I carried on, and he got his breakfast.

“You know, you’ll never get abs like mine you keep eating that shit,” I told him.

“I think I’m okay,” he replied, lifting his shirt with the hand that wasn’t stuffing his face. Em took a sneak peek at the six-pack on show, giggling when I growled again. I still wasn’t entirely comfortable with her being around Earnshaw, mainly because I was a possessive, jealous arsehole, but I’d put up with almost anything to hear the beautiful sound of her happiness, however fleeting it was.

“You ready for some real work then?”

“Bring it on,” I dared him as I switched to one-handed push-ups. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”





Chapter 15



“Kier!” I shouted across the gym.

“What?” he called back.

“Come and rescue me from the American before I punch him in the face,” I answered him.

“You can punch me if you can catch me. But you can’t because you’re not fight-ready and you’re slow as shit.” Earnshaw danced around the ring like he was Muhammad Ali.

I’d been training since before dawn, I was dog tired, and getting f*cking sick of making him look bad in front of my wife. I rolled my head around my shoulders and bounced a while to loosen up.

“You know the great thing about having lifelong friends who’d do anything for you,” I said quietly, so that only he could hear. “There’s always someone around to hold you down,” I told him without waiting for his answer. I looked behind him, and he followed my gaze, expecting to see my guys jump him. When he turned back after realizing that no one was there, I punched him in the face and knocked him out.

“Con, you’re gonna give that kid brain damage.”

“Danny, he left a good job in America to come and work for you and get in the ring with me. I think he was a little bit brain-damaged anyway.”

“Did you angry knock him out?” he asked me.

“I’m not mad. He was just annoying me,” I answered him truthfully.

“I’d give you a feckin’ bollocking but his constant yammering’s been getting’ on my feckin’ nerves for the last half an hour.”

“Is he all right?” Em asked me. She always got worried when one of us was knocked out. Well, one of them. I never got knocked out. I can’t imagine how ape shit she’d go if I was. I checked him over, not wanting her to worry. I knew he’d be okay. Already he was starting to come round.

“Can you please stop knocking me out?” he asked me as he pushed himself up to sit against the ropes.

“Can you please stop pushing my buttons in front of Em? As long as she’s here, motivation isn’t a problem. But you telling her I’m slow or that I’m not ready, it pisses me off but it upsets her. Makes her worry. I can’t have that.” I nodded in her direction as I spoke, and she gave me a small, nervous smile.

“I hear you,” he said as Em handed him a mug.

“Cup of tea,” she replied, as she climbed out of the ring.

“I don’t drink tea,” he whispered to me, and he got points from me for not offending her.

“If it’s going spare, I’ll take that,” Kieran told him as he climbed in the ring after Em.