“You’re hanging on to the past.” Jett got up and stood in front of me. “If taking your life is what you want to do instead of fighting back, then do whatever the fuck you want. I understand what happened was a mistake, I know that your boxing career was stolen from you, and I know you’ve been seeking justice, but at some point you have to let it all fucking go. There is a beautiful girl waiting for you, wishing to be a part of your life. There are friends who want to see you happy. You’ve done your time. Live your life.”

I was about to respond when the door flew open and Madeline strode in with a towel over her shoulder and a water bottle in her hand.

“Hi, Mr. Kace,” she shouted, waving at me, not picking up on the awkward silence between Jett and myself. Quickly, I wiped my face and cleared any remnants of sadness.

“I got to go,” Jett said over his shoulder as Madeline stepped up in front of me.

“I’m ready for a workout, Mr. Kace,” she said while taking her water bottle and squirting it on her face and then wiping the water with the towel. She was outrageous.

“I can see that,” I replied, wiping my cheek one last time.

“You’re sad,” she stated, placing her hand on my knee, looking past my fake veneer.

I looked at Jett and he shrugged and took off, leaving me alone with Madeline.

“Where’s your mom?” I asked, ignoring her question.

“She dropped me off. She wasn’t having a good morning. She was sad like you.” Madeline draped the towel over her head and started swaying back and forth. The girl had too much energy. “She was sad last night too. I heard her crying.”

I shouldn’t have asked. I needed to distance myself, but morbid curiosity won out. “Why was your mom sad?”

Madeline started doing the boxer shuffle I’d taught her yesterday while holding her tiny fists up next to her face. “I don’t know. When I asked her, she said something about the past and how she was thinking about it.”

Bingo.

Fuck!

Of course Linda was upset. How could she not be? She was putting her daughter into boxing and self-defense classes so the past didn’t repeat itself, so she didn’t lose another person she loved to violence.

“Are we going to box?” Madeline asked, shaking me to my core.

“Yeah, uh, let’s wait for the rest of the group.”

“All right. Can I do some cartwheels?”

“Get at it, kid,” I responded while I headed over to the stereo to turn on some music. It was going to be a long day, especially with Madeline at my side.

Chapter Twenty Six

My past…

The melodrama between Jett and Goldie was really starting to get on my nerves. Jett was so fucking in love, but he had no clue how to handle his feelings. Instead of talking to Goldie like a normal boyfriend would, he tried to protect her from harm, but all that had led to was miscommunication and a frustrated Goldie.

The feud between Jett and his father had gotten out of hand to the point that I was afraid it was going to destroy my best friend and everything he’d ever worked for. That was why I found myself standing outside of Goldie’s room, about to break her door down with my knocking. I would do anything for Jett, and if that meant inserting myself in the middle of his relationship, then I would.

Without her permission, I blew through her door. The shocked look on Goldie’s face was priceless.

“What the hell?” she shouted.

“Are you seriously just waking up?” I asked, taking in her position on the bed.

“Are you seriously barging into my room again? For the love of God, get a hobby.”

Sassy fucking woman. “It’s noon and you’re not answering your phone,” I stated, pointing out why Jett had panicked and made me check on Goldie.

She was living in the Lafayette Club with Jett, diving head-first into their relationship until Leo, Rex’s father, threatened the safety of Goldie, making sure to point out he knew Goldie was Jett’s crutch. Jett had made it his mission to make it look like he’d cut all ties with her. That was why she was staying with Diego and helping him out with some of the paintings in his club. It was a temporary solution, but it was putting a strain on their relationship.

“It’s noon?” she asked. “God, that phone sex must have really taken it out of me.”

Even though Goldie was my best friend’s girl, I still couldn’t help the way she made me feel, like the dark life I was living had some ray of hope. She wanted to be friends, but I wanted to stay as far away as possible because hearing about her having phone sex with my best friend only tightened my heart and irritated me.

She scanned my body and saw the bandage wrapped around my arm. Thanks to Jett’s dad and his take-no-prisoners attitude, I was nursing a gun wound.

She stumbled out of bed, so off balance she flew forward, but I caught her before she face-planted into my sternum. Wincing from the pain, I steadied her.

“God, I’m sorry.” She straightened up. “Are you okay?” she asked while eyeing my bandage.

“Just a scratch,” I replied, not wanting to draw attention to me. “How come you’re not answering your phone?”

“Uh, just a scratch? A fucking bullet went through your skin.”

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” I ignored her, knowing I was pushing her buttons.

Frustrated, she threw her hands up in surrender and grabbed her cell.

She looked at it and pointed the screen at me. “It’s dead. I guess I didn’t plug it in last night.” She plugged it in quickly and then turned back toward me. “Why? Do you have a secret you have to tell me? Did you finally lose your virginity last night, and you want to talk about it?”

“Cute,” I said while blowing out a long breath. “Jett was just trying to—”

Before I could finish my sentence, a whirlwind of black hair and caramel skin stormed into the room, running directly into my back.

“Goldie, did you see—” The woman stopped in place when she slammed into me. She looked up at me as I turned around to see who had just barged in. Her bright green eyes widened at the sight of me. “Oh my God, who’s the Adonis?”

The woman standing in front of me was every man’s wet dream. Her body was toned from her long legs to her shapely ass to her mouthwatering breasts, which were on display in the form-fitting top she was wearing. Even though she was gorgeous, probably the most fucking gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, it wasn’t her exterior that was making my heart pound a mile a minute. It was the way she looked deep into my eyes. It was stupid to think something so deep about someone I had just glanced at, but in that moment, I knew the woman in front of me saw right into my soul. She looked past all my indiscretions and saw me for who I was. The realization hit me like a pile of bricks and a small smile twitched at the corner of my lips. I couldn’t help but smile. This whirlwind took my fucking breath away.

I knew she was feeling the same way about me by the way she looked into my eyes, the way she licked her lips and perused my body. I didn’t believe in love at first sight—I thought it was a notion for daydreamers and romantics—but I was at least believing in lust at first sight because I knew I wanted this woman. I needed her. She had a cure for the pain coursing through me. I could feel the pull. She was going to be dangerous to my well-being.

The heat in the room turned up dramatically as we looked at each other, not saying anything.

Goldie cleared my throat and said, “Uh, hello. You can eye-fuck each other later. Why are you both here?”

Ignoring Goldie, I introduced myself. “Kace,” I said while holding out my hand to her.

“Lyla,” she said back, placing her small hand in mine.

I held on to her hand as our connection grew deeper. Too bad the attention-grabbing Goldie was standing a few feet away.