Evie slid into a seat in the lecture hall and set her bag next to her to save the seat for her friend Chelsea. The room was already filling up with chattering students, even though she was ten minutes early. She sipped her double-strength coffee and stared ahead, bleary-eyed.

She hadn’t got to bed until half past three. Even then, despite her exhaustion, she’d been unable to sleep with thoughts of Alexei rattling through her brain. He was a mystery to her, a huge, silent man, who seemed sweet until she remembered his job. He fought people for a living, beat them up, and based on the bruises she’d seen him sport it was a brutal way to make money. Why did he do it? Did he enjoy it? Did he get a sick satisfaction from slamming his fists into another human being? Is that how he worked out his anger and frustration at life, through violence? She didn’t know, and was almost afraid to find out.

She didn’t trust her instincts anymore. Not since she’d found Jimmy so charming when they’d first met. Their relationship had progressed in such a whirlwind she hadn’t had time to catch her breath, and suddenly they were living together and he had almost complete control over her life. By the time she’d realised what had happened, it was too late to easily extract herself. Jimmy had inexorably tightened his control over her until she’d no longer had a say in her own life.

Her life wasn’t over now Jimmy was out of it, she knew that. In fact, in some ways it was only just beginning. But Evie didn’t see how she could ever trust another man, trust herself, after what she’d been through. How could she give herself to anyone after all she’d been through?

She’d been working on just such a conundrum with the counsellor at school lately. It was a slow, laborious process, but one Evie thought was worth it. She didn’t want to give up on her dream of marriage and family because of Jimmy. It would be like he’d won.

But was Alexei the right man to try again with? Evie doubted it. He was as far away from the safe, sedate, predictable man she needed in her life. In the very early hours of this morning, she’d almost convinced herself he would the perfect candidate for a little harmless flirtation, practice for the real thing. But he was about as far from harmless as a man could get, both to her mind and body.

It didn’t stop her from finding him surprisingly attractive. She hadn’t thought him handsome when she’d first seen him, and he wasn’t. But there was something compelling about his size and strength and protective streak. She’d bet he could lift her, hold her up, without even blinking. What would it be like to have all that power surrounding her? Inside her?

“Who are you dreaming about?” a voice asked from her left.

Evie jumped, becoming instantly alert, and glanced up at Chelsea. “No one,” she muttered guiltily, and busied herself with moving her bag from the seat she’d saved for her friend. Her cheeks heated as she did so, both in embarrassment and left over from the steamy thoughts she’d almost allowed herself to consider about Alexei.

Chelsea laughed as she slid into her seat. “I was kidding, but you really were thinking of someone, weren’t you?”

Evie shot her friend a mock glare.

“Who was it? Anyone I know?”

Evie pressed her lips together, trying to hold onto her annoyance at her friend’s perceptiveness. But then she sighed and rolled her eyes at herself. “No one you know,” she told her friend, leaning closer so the other students filling up the surrounding seats couldn’t eavesdrop.

“This is great,” Chelsea said, eyes filled with such sincere happiness that Evie couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t think you’ve mentioned a guy since…well, you know.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s nothing, not really. He’s just my neighbour.”

“But he’s hot?” Chelsea pressed.

“Not in the traditional sense. But he’s got loads of muscles and seems fairly sweet in spite of them.”

“A big guy, huh. You know what that might mean?” Chelsea gave her a significant look, then burst into giggles. Evie followed suit, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. It was so good to have normal girl talk like this, like she wasn’t damaged and broken. She held on to the feeling, hoping it would last.

“I won’t sleep with him,” she told her friend archly.

“Why the hell not?”

Evie shrugged. “Firstly, I think jumping into bed with the first guy I’m remotely attracted to is a recipe for trouble. And secondly, he’s so…big. Strong.”

Chelsea’s eyes dimmed with sadness. “It doesn’t mean he’d hurt you.” The words were said with understanding, not censure.

“Doesn’t mean he won’t,” she countered.

Chelsea looked like she wanted to say more, but at that moment their professor walked in and hurried to get the class in order.

The lecture itself served as a stark reminder why Evie should be avoiding Alexei with every ounce of her being. She sat, frozen, her mouth dry, as her lecturer talked about the warning signs of domestic violence. She’d known it was coming, and had prepared herself accordingly. But there really wasn’t anything that could stop her hands trembling as she ran through the checklist of warning signs. Mostly, Evie’s thoughts were with Jimmy, and how everything he’d done had been so obvious with hindsight.

But when her lecturer mentioned studies showed some people with CTE—a brain injury commonly associated with football players and other men in professional contact sports—were also linked to domestic violence after diagnosis, her thoughts went to Alexei, and his fights. Now that she thought about it, the bruise on his temple told her that he probably didn’t even wear head gear when he fought. How many times had he been hit in the head? And if he kept fighting, how many times would it happen in the future?

She left the class feeling drained and clammy, so Chelsea took her to the on-campus café, where they snagged a corner table. Rather than increase her jitters by having more caffeine, Evie had a shake and a savoury muffin.

It was a long time before Evie moved again, and by the time she did, she’d made a promise to herself. She had to avoid Alexei, at all costs. She couldn’t take the risk.

 

 

Alexei slammed his fist into the punching bag, sending it swinging. The thump reverberated through the gym, so loud the others glanced his way. Chen was there, working the weights, and Weston and Spider were in the boxing ring, which was the only thing in worse shape than Spider. This was the first time Alexei had seen Spider since Diego had sent him to hospital. He was stiff and slow, still healing from the damage. But Weston was surprisingly patient with him as Spider tested his limits.

Alexei turned back to the bag and let off a flurry of punches and kicks, working himself into a sweat. He tried, and failed, not to think about Evie. It wasn’t that he was interested in her, though he could admit to himself he was. It was that he wanted to protect her. He worried about her. He worried Jimmy would come back when he wasn’t there to save her.

And yeah, he wanted to get her into bed, too. But he tried not to think about that possibility, because it couldn’t happen. Shouldn’t happen.

Alexei was a big guy all over. If he lost control, even for a second, he could really hurt a woman. It hadn’t happened yet, but he’d never take that risk. Not with a woman like Evie. She was too fragile, too delicate, had been through too much. He didn’t want to scare her.

“You gonna be done soon?” a voice interrupted Alexei’s frustrated pummelling. He stopped what he was doing and glanced at Chen, who stood there with his eyebrows raised in question. Alexei got the feeling it wasn’t just about the punching bag.

Alexei let out a grunt and sat heavily on the nearest bench. It wasn’t helping anyway. The only thing that would help him would be to see Evie again. He accepted that for all the trouble she’d no doubt be in his life, he wouldn’t forget her anytime soon.

Chen still watched him, holding the bag.

“Woman,” Alexei told him.

Chen grinned. “Yeah, no surprises.”

The door to the carpark swung open, and Alexei and Chen both glanced that way. Wyatt strode in with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He gave Alexei and Chen a silent nod, then headed straight over to the edge of the ring where Spider and Weston still sparred.

“There’s something weird about that guy,” Chen muttered.

Alexei glanced at him, eyebrows raised in question.

Chen shrugged. “He doesn’t seem like the usual type to gravitate towards that crowd,” Chen said, referring to McCready’s crew of personal fighters.

Alexei nodded. “Yeah. Also, since he hates McCready.”

Chen stilled and glanced at Alexei. “How do you know that?”

Alexei shrugged. “He looks at him like a hunter. Like McCready is prey.” His father had used to look at men he didn’t like in the same way, right before they were fished out of the nearest river. His father hadn’t been a good man. He was in the Russian mafia, fairly high ranked. It was how he’d gotten away with the murders, the beatings, the domestic violence, for so long. His organisation had plenty of police in their pockets.

It was one of the reasons Alexei had come to America, instead of staying in Russia to fight where he had a minor following. He’d been chasing the glory of the American market, yes, which paid higher than the Russians. But he’d also wanted to sever ties with his father. Permanently. Otherwise, he was afraid his father would find ways to use him.

“We’ll have to keep an eye on that guy,” Chen said softly, almost to himself. He watched Wyatt shake Spider’s hand as if they were old friends, Weston grinning on the sidelines. Alexei nodded his agreement.

“I should go,” Alexei said, his mind already wandering. Chen sent him a knowing look, but nodded and said goodbye.

Alexei hit the showers and changed, then walked in the direction of home. But he knew that wasn’t where he’d end up, even if he wanted to.