Again, I wake myself up and get ready for breakfast. I meet Fallon and Catherine in the dining room.

“Good morning.”

“Hey Avery, I heard you did good yesterday at the range. Was it fun?” Fallon looks way too happy.

“It was. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. Vin says he can take me out again, whenever I want.”

Fallon looks at Catherine and smiles. “That’s great, Avery. I can’t wait to give it a try. How’d you like Vin? He’s great, isn’t he?”

“He is. At first it was difficult, but I pulled through and it got easier. I’m not saying I’m healed, but it was okay.”

Catherine starts, “Avery, you’ll never be healed, but like you said, it will get easier, and then you will learn to keep the memories at bay. Life will go on, and so will you.”

“So, what do you have planned for me today, Catherine?”

“You will be meeting Zander. Be ready in about two hours. I’ll meet you in my office. Oh, and wear workout clothes.”

Catherine stands and excuses herself. Fallon and I finish eating, and she says, “How are you really doing? Catherine’s not pushing you too hard, is she?”

“Actually, it’s just enough. I needed a swift kick in my ass, I guess. I want to tell you I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time the last few months. I hope I wasn’t too terrible.”

She laughs. “Oh, you were. No, I’m just joking. It’s fine. I’m just glad to see you joining the world again.”

“Yeah, I think I am, too.”

“So, you have plans with Zander? Look, remember what I said: he’s huge, but just think of him as a big teddy bear. And try not to drool all over him.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

“What do you mean? I know he’s big, but Vin says he’s ugly.”

She laughs out loud. “Vin lied, you’ll see. I’d like to think my husband is the best looking of the bunch. He’s tall, dark and handsome. He has this undeniable power about him, like he owns the world. Gabriel’s very charming and mysterious, almost calculating in the way he lures you in. Very hot, if you know what I mean. You’ll meet him, too.”

I interrupt her by saying, “Actually I’ve already seen Gabriel once. It was at a charity function my mother was sponsoring. He was with Catherine and Angelle Rollins. He is very handsome. We were not officially introduced though.”

She laughs. “Angelle, huh, it’s hard to believe that she and I are related. I’ll never tell her though and I prefer not to even think about her.” I never thought about the fact that Angelle and Miles are related to Fallon.

Fallon brushes it off like it doesn’t exist and continues telling me about Catherine’s sons. “Well, since you know what Gabriel looks like, let’s move on. You also obviously know Liam is good looking. I will tell you though, Liam looks more like Catherine than the rest. He’s tall, fairer, with that all-American look. He’s a lot of fun and easygoing. Even Vin is hot, as you saw. He has that military badass look. But, Zander. Zander is sex on two legs, and he knows it. That’s why the guys like to mess with him.”

“So, you’re telling me they’re all good looking?”

Fallon nods her head. “The whole bunch, all in different ways, but all drool-worthy. I guess it’s just who you have chemistry with. For me it was Gabriel. From the minute I met him, I couldn’t think of anyone else. He was like a magnet I was drawn to. How was it with you and Liam?”

“I don’t know. I had a crush on him for years, those blue eyes just killed me, and everyone else. Anyways, that’s enough about Liam. I guess I’ll go start getting ready. Talk to you later.”

I have plenty of time to get ready for my meeting, but I didn’t want to talk about Liam anymore, so I made a fast escape. I dress in comfortable clothing and wait till it’s time.

I meet Catherine in her office like she requested, and she escorts us to the back of the house. They have a full gym in their house. “Wow!” We’re not talking a small home gym, this is, like, for members. They even have a boxing ring in the center of the room. One wall is nothing but mirrors. As I take all of it in, I see a reflection in the mirror of a man in the doorway, taking up almost the whole frame. He starts to walk towards us with a bag in his hands. He’s wearing a suit that is tailored, obviously; I don’t think they would sell his size off a rack.

“Hey, Mom.” He kisses Catherine’s cheek, and I’m trying to remember not to drool.

“Avery, this is my son Zander.”

“Damn...I mean hello. Sorry, I’m Avery.”

He laughs. “Yes, you are. Look, I’m going to go change my clothes, and I’ll be right back.”

He starts to walk off, and I can’t help staring at his ass. Damn, Fallon was right, he is sex on legs.

“Catherine, you gave birth to him? All of him?”

Laughing, she says, “Yep, all ten pounds. Don’t let his size fool you. He’s a pussy cat.”

“What am I going to be learning from Zander?”

“Kickboxing. He’s going to show you another way to let out all your pain. You’re going to get physically stronger, and then your mind will follow. I’ll be right there until you get comfortable around him.”

She points to a chair by the back wall. Zander comes out wearing tight gym shorts and a T-shirt. Don’t drool, don’t drool.

“Hey, you’re ready?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, what are we going to do?”

“Today we’re going to punch a few bags. Here, I have some gloves for you. But first I want to tape your hands, if that’s okay.”

I’m happy he’s asking permission to touch me, but it’s starting to get on my nerves, feeling like they’re, all pitying me.

“Yeah, sure, what do I have to do?”

“Here, stick out your arms and hold your hands up.”

I do as he says, and he’s being careful not to have too much contact. I notice he has blue eyes, too, like Liam’s. But he has darker hair, I guess like Fallon’s husband. Shit, how are they all like this? How can one woman have produced every other woman’s dream team?

“There you go. Now let’s put these gloves on.”

The gloves are smaller than I figured, they have holes for all my fingers, and they’re pink. He got me pink gloves. Aww.

“Let’s do this, shall we?” Zander shows me his winning smile.

He tells me we need to warm up first. So, he instructs me on a few stretches and then he gestures towards a boxing bag. He starts to instruct me how to stand and how to hold my hands. He gives the bag a few punches with no gloves on and then asks me to try. About twenty minutes later, Catherine interrupts, saying she has a call she needs to take. She asks if I will be okay alone with Zander. I tell her to go. I’m starting to trust all of them more. So, I’m willing to give it a shot.

Once Catherine’s gone, Zander says, “I thought she’d never leave.”

He startles me. Why does he want Catherine gone? Was I wrong? Maybe I trusted too fast? I see him bend down into his bag and pull some papers out.

With a huge smile on his face, he says, “I have something for you that might be more motivational. Turn around. I promise it will be worth it.”

I turn. I mean, what can he do with paper? And besides, if he wanted to hurt me, he could have done that with me facing him. I start hearing the paper crumpling, and then I hear tape being ripped.

“Oh yeah, this is going to be good. Turn around, Avery.”

I see a picture of the senator taped to the punching bag. I’m not sure what I feel. Part of me is freaking out seeing his face, but then part of me wants to punch the fucking picture over and over again.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Avery, it’s just a picture. I just thought you could take some of your shit out on his face, and if he’s not enough for you, watch.”

Zander turns the bag around, and it’s a picture of Liam taped to the bag. I start laughing hysterically, and Zander follows suit.

Once I get my laughing under control, I ask, “So, I guess you know that story, too?”

“Yeah, Liam told me what he did. So, what will it be? Asshole number one, or asshole number two?”

“Both.”

“Thatta girl, punch them fuckers with all you got.”

By the time we finish, I’m sweating like crazy and feel my body wanting to give out, but it sort of feels good. It’s hard to explain my body is exhausted, yet my mind feels at peace. Zander helps me out of my gloves and hands me a bottle of water.

“You did good today, kid; how do you feel?”

“Done. I just feel done.”

He chuckles. “Good, that’s how you should feel after a workout. I hope it helped. I come in here sometimes to release my anger. It helps when I can’t find an asshole to put my fist through. I think it might help you with your anger, too.”

I never thought about anger. I feel frustrated, self-pity, and aggravation over my circumstances. But I don’t think I allowed myself to feel angry yet. At least I didn’t recognize it until I saw the senator’s picture. Zander’s right, I felt angry and wanted to get it out. I need this; funny how Catherine knows what I need more than I do.

“Earth to Avery.” Zander’s snapping his fingers in front of my face.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I was asking you about Mom. How’s it been going with her?”

“Oh, I would’ve thought you wanted to ask me about Liam. Your mom and Fallon can’t seem to leave it alone.”

“Well, the way you punched his face kind of gave it away.”

“You mean how I think he’s an asshole and a prick?”

Zander laughs out loud while shaking his head. “I like you, kid. He’s all those things, but I think you protest too much.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was my way of testing you, to see where you stand with my little brother. See, I saw how you hate him in the way you punched his face, but you know what else I saw?”

I shake my head no, curious as to what he’s going to say next.

“I saw passion. You can hate him all you want; I don’t care, he deserves it. But somewhere in there you still care, because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have gone so hard on the bag. You would have been indifferent. So, I think you still love him. Maybe not like you once did, but still, he’s there.” He points to my heart. “I’ll see you later. Mom has me scheduled to come back every other day. Oh, and by the way, if Mom knows how you feel, she won’t give up. You can deny it all you want, but if Catherine thinks you two should be together like I do, then she’ll get you two together. One way or another, you will be the next one.”

“Next one what?”

“The next Mrs. Stern. Bye, kid.”

He’s wrong! Liam doesn’t want me. He never did, and now I sure in the hell don’t want him.