He pulled his arm back and glanced over, forehead wrinkling in bewilderment. “Of course not.”
Reed strode inside. “Yeah? Because it sure as hell looks like you’re training for something. You’ve been beating the crap out of that bag every evening before we open.”
Gage grabbed the towel on the desk chair and mopped up the sweat rolling down his bare chest. “I’m not training. I’m just letting off steam.”
Ha. Letting off steam. That was a nice way to phrase it. Truth was, he was spiraling. Free-falling without a parachute and trying to grab on to anything to ground him.
He missed Skyler so much it hurt. He figured pounding a bag of sand was better than walking around like a dead man.
He hadn’t realized how big of a part she’d come to play in his life until she was gone. The phone calls. The movie marathons. Teaching her to cook. Talking. Fucking.
Lord, he felt empty without her, but he was forcing himself not to second-guess his decision to end it. Although Mitch and his men hadn’t come after him again, Gage knew it was only a matter of time. Which was just another reason to stay in shape—the next time they made a move, he’d be ready for it.
Except he wouldn’t wait for them to come to him this time. He’d decided that this morning, when he’d yet again woken up alone in a bed that still smelled like Skyler because he refused to change the sheets. He wanted to hold on to her sweet fragrance for as long as he could, to cling to the memory of how much he’d loved holding her, kissing her, moving inside her.
“Then you still haven’t heard from Mitch?” Reed asked.
Gage tossed the towel aside. He ignored the lingering ache in his rib cage as he pulled on a T-shirt. “Nope. But he’s about to hear from me.”
AJ drifted into the office at that moment, his expression hardening as he caught Gage’s remark. “Wait, what? Did you just say you’re going after O’Donnell?”
“I want to set up a meeting.” He shrugged. “Make it clear that he isn’t in control of my life. I’m not his puppet, and I won’t fight on command.”
“You really think he’ll just happily agree to back off?” Reed gestured to Gage’s face. “Bro, you’re still sporting the bruises from your last meeting with his crew.”
“They can rough me up as much as they want. Mitch needs to know I won’t play ball, no matter how much he pushes.” Setting his shoulders, Gage went over to the desk and searched for his phone.
“If you’re serious about meeting with him, then we’re coming with you,” AJ said firmly.
His friend’s don’t-even-think-of-arguing tone surprised him. AJ had been a professional fighter, just like Gage and Reed, but the man lacked the violent streak that ran freely through his two friends. With his dark blond hair and twinkling green eyes, AJ was the easygoing, boy-next-door type. Too damn nice for his own good, which was why Gage had been surprised to run into him on the fighting circuit—until he’d seen him in the cage and realized just how deadly AJ Walsh could be. Still, although AJ craved the adrenaline high he got in the cage, once he left it he reverted back to Mr. Nice Guy.
“Damn right we are,” Reed agreed. “We’re not letting you anywhere near that psycho without backup.”
“I’m not arguing with you.” Gage gave his friends a wry grin. “I was already planning on recruiting you to come along.” He found his phone under a stack of time sheets, the grin fading as he pulled up Mitch’s number.
A few seconds later, O’Donnell answered with an angry, “What the fuck do you want, Holt?”
Gage was taken aback by the curt tone. “Mitch. I figured it was time the two of us had a little chat.”
A derisive snort echoed in his ear. “Don’t worry, I got the message loud and clear.”
His confusion intensified. “Message?”
“Yeah, you know, when you sicced your own private Fed on me? Special Agent Rivers made it clear what would happen if I didn’t back off. And you know me, I’m all about self-preservation. I can’t have the organized crime unit putting a spotlight on me, so slap yourself on the back, asshole. Looks like we’re out of each other’s lives for good.”
Although he had no clue what O’Donnell was blabbing about, Gage couldn’t help but voice a stern caveat. “That includes Denny. You leave him alone, too.”
“The two of you could rot in hell for all I care. Have a good life, Holt.”
Click.
He stared at the phone, his brain working overtime to make sense of the conversation, until finally it dawned on him. Special Agent Rivers. As in Clay Rivers. The same name Gage had glimpsed on Skyler’s phone numerous times before, when she was ignoring another one of her stepfather’s texts.
“Son of a bitch,” he breathed.
“What is it?” Reed appeared in front of him, wariness etched on his chiseled face.
“Skyler.” He drew in a breath. “She…”
She’d gone to bat for him. He remembered her trying to tell him where her stepfather worked, but he’d cut her off, and now it was painfully apparent. Clay Rivers was a federal agent.
And Skyler had gotten him to help Gage.
The startling truth achieved an impossible feat inside him—his heart was unbelievably full and desolately empty at the same damn time.
“Her stepfather’s in the FBI,” Gage told his friends, hearing the note of awe in his voice. “Somehow he convinced O’Donnell to back off. Probably threatened him with something.”
Because of Skyler.
Skyler.
His brain refused to let go of that tidbit. The sheer gravity of what she’d done for him wasn’t lost, either. She’d reached out to a man she was estranged from just to help Gage.
You can’t ever accept help, can you? Would it kill you to let someone help you?
Her words came back to him now, slamming into his head with the force of a freight train. Even after Gage had broken up with her, she’d put her own pain and issues aside to ask her stepfather for help.
“I need to see her,” he mumbled. “I need to get her back.”
A soft chuckle left Reed’s lips. “No kidding.”
Christ. He was such an idiot. Skyler was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She’d been open with him from the start, unafraid to show him every part of herself, even the parts she thought were bad. She’d shared everything with him. She never hid anything.
And now it was time for him to stop hiding, too.
…
Skyler’s pen flew over her notepad as she scribbled down drink orders for a table of recently graduated high schoolers celebrating the start of college. School would be starting up again in a couple weeks, but not for her. She’d be working in the field now, treating actual patients at the North End women’s center where the university had placed her. Sure, she’d be working under the supervision of another therapist, but the thought of talking to real people and helping them with their problems still thrilled her.
But not as much as the sight of Gage walking into the restaurant. As always, she’d sensed his presence, swiveling her head in time for their gazes to collide from across the room.
It was unbelievably unfair that he could still evoke such a visceral response in her. Make her heart pound and her palms tingle from his mere proximity.
They hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in two weeks, and she hadn’t realized just how badly she’d missed him until this very moment. She wanted to drop her order pad and sprint over to him, throw her arms around his neck, and kiss the living daylights out of him.
But she couldn’t. Nope, because he’d broken up with her.
Jerk.
Skyler forced herself to concentrate on her customers, but the second she’d finished taking their order, she hurried over to the drink station and latched her hand on Megan’s arm.
“Do you mind bringing these drinks over to table five?” she asked the other waitress, thrusting out the order pad. “I need to take a five-minute break.”
“No prob, hon.” Megan’s gaze drifted toward the hostess stand, a smile forming on her lips. “Take ten, if you need it.”
“Thanks. I owe you one.” A moment later, she hurriedly crossed the busy room toward Gage. “What are you doing here?” she asked when she reached him.
His gray eyes held a serious gleam. “I needed to talk to you.”
She managed a nod. “All right. Let’s go somewhere private.”
“No. I don’t care who hears this.”
Skyler raised a brow. Okay, that was weird. A word-stingy, private man like Gage wanting to talk in earshot of everyone? And there were a lot of ears in their vicinity. Like the ones belonging to Rita, the restaurant’s nosy hostess. Or the six frat boys in the booth directly to their left, who were making no effort to hide their curious stares.
“I…” Gage cleared his throat. “I wanted to thank you. I know what you did, asking your stepfather to deal with O’Donnell, and…well, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” When he fell silent, she lifted her eyebrows again. “Is that all you wanted?”
He shook his head. “I also wanted to say…uh…” Something flashed in his eyes. Determination. Maybe fortitude. Whatever it was, it seemed to push him to keep going. “Sky…I have issues.”