Page 12 of Graveyards & Greed

Ryder Colton, the owner of No Name Boxing Gym, stopped me before I could walk ten steps into his no-frills, no-drama establishment. I took in the large, clean area featuring three boxing rings, punching bags, and free weights along the back wall.

“What are you doing here, Sylvie?” He looked down at my workout clothes skeptically. Ryder and I went way back. He and my twin cousins, Callum and Declan, got arrested a few times in high school after getting high with a substitute teacher, and later with the head janitor. Ryder’s father eventually sent him off to some military school.

He had a crooked, prominent nose, and a scar across his eyebrow. His intense, unblinking stare made most people uncomfortable. Callum thought Ryder needed to chill out and start smoking marijuana again.

“Hey, Ryder. I’m here to meet Callum.” I patted him on the shoulder.

He eyed me suspiciously. “Why are you really here? And don’t lie to my face while you flash your dimples at me.”

“How rude. I would never do that.” Ryder knew me too well. As he interrogated me, I scanned his gym and spotted Drakos wailing on one of the punching bags in the corner. Drakos wasn’t the only one who could stalk someone. I patted Ryder’s shoulder again as I stepped around him. “Don’t worry, I won’t wreck the masculine feng shui energy of your gym.”

“No shenanigans. I mean it,” he called after me.

I shook my head. “Shenanigans? You talk like an eighty-year-old.”

Drakos straightened when he heard my voice and grabbed the swinging bag. He gave me a wide grin and a once-over as I stood in front of him in black leggings and a tank top.

“Hello, Killer. Are you here to box, or take me up on my shower offer?”

I grabbed the other side of the bag. “Neither. Why is your partner, Roman Fowler, forcing Luna to intern with him?”

He studied me, and his eyes narrowed dangerously as he took me in. “Why do you have a fist-sized bruise on your face?”

I pointed to him. “You first.”

He let go of the bag and stalked me. “What happened? Did one of your cousins do that to you? Did they find out we’ve been talking?”

“What? No, you crazy neanderthal. They’d never hurt me. Argue and embarrass me? Absolutely. But hit me? No fucking way.”

“Then who did?” When my back hit the wall, he bracketed my head with his hands, blocking me in as he studied my injury. He leaned in and carefully ran his fingers across the bruise, and my insides spasmed with anxious lust. Even sweaty, he smelled like testosterone and spice, and I wanted to rub against him and purr like a cat in heat.

“Tell me what happened.” He wasn’t going to let this go.

“Terrance LeBaron and his sycophant, Carver, came by the funeral home the other day, looking for information about their missing members.”

He went rigid. “Were they looking foryou?”

I shook my head. “They wanted to talk with Ezra—or one of the ‘boss men’—and I may have gotten mouthy. Terrance kept misquoting Bible verses. I’m pretty sure he’s a psychopath.”

Drakos tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “He is. Stay away from him. The man has strange ideas about women, and he’s not afraid of authority or consequences.” Drakos pressed against me, drawing me to him. My heart pounded and my insides fluttered as I felt his pecs and hard stomach press against me through my thin clothes.

Swallowing, I met his hooded stare. “What does Roman want with Luna?”

Drakos gazed at me, his eyes scanning my face and then my lips. As he started to lean in, Ryder called my name.

“Fuck,” Drakos bit out.

Ryder appeared, and he eyed us suspiciously. “Sylvie, Declan just texted to ask me if one of my boxing rings is available for him and Fennick to spar. They’re about three minutes away. If your cousins don’t know you’re sleeping with the enemy, you need to make yourself scarce—now.”

Declan was the most affectionate among my Spade cousins, and he and his twin were both too handsome and too skilled at making money for their own good. But Fennick was another matter altogether.

“We can make up some story about how we met. I want your cousins to know we talk so we can keep doing it.”

I slid around Drakos, patting his chest as I went. “If talking is all we’re doing, then it’s not worth Fennick’s wrath. We’re not done with this conversation.”

I felt his eyes on me as I ducked out the back door.

A few days later, I grabbed the wireless gaming controller I’d ordered online and went to check on Camilla. “I don’t know if she’ll see you,” Trina warned as she let me into the apartment.

---