Free The Ringer by Amber Malloy Page B

of her head, positive she had a concussion and would need immediate medical attention.
    Maxie pulled her from the mat. “Get the hang of blocking, okay?”
    At first, she thought the blonde came straight from heaven. After some time, she was sure Maxie couldn’t have been anything other than a cheerleader for evil.
    “Let’s go,” Maxie hollered.
    The bell rang for round two. She circled her opponent as the woman continued to throw jabs in her directions.
    “You with Nate’s brother, aye?” Her challenger was a medium-sized Latino woman she’d heard someone call Lulu. Muscled and fast, Lane could see by her sneer she wanted to lay her out.
    “Friends,” she admitted. Lane didn’t actually know how to categorize their burgeoning romance. Are we truly friends with the potential for more, or are we friends who have sex only in times of crisis?
    While she pondered the intricate details of her strange relationship with Jackson Thornbird, she blocked another punch. The sneaky witch tried to get her again, but this time she caught the right hook before it made contact with her face.
    “He’s very sexy.” The boxer went around her again.
    Lane kept alert and on her toes, unwilling to get hit again. Fool her once. “Yes,” she agreed.
    “He’s the one that got our Maxie arrested.”
    “Arrested,” she repeated, determined not to let the little punching monster distract her.
    “Yes, he busted her for stealing cars.”
    “Check out her body language. Study her movements,” Maxie instructed from the sidelines.
    She tiptoed around her sparring partner, trying to stay out of arm’s reach. If Maxie wanted to take time out of her day to teach her self-defense, then she could at least try to defend herself. As much as she wanted to curl up in a ball, she didn’t want to cop out.
    “Did she steal the cars?” Lane asked before she dodged a good upper cut.
    “Of course she did, but he didn’t have to arrest her.”
    The woman’s weight shifted to the right, which told her where to block. Lane pinpointed the shift. A fuzzy picture of what to do tweaked into focus, and she became aware there was no contact from her opponent’s jab. Pleased with herself, she took her small victory and struck out with her left. Her opponent dropped to the mat.
    “Nice one,” Maxie cheered from the sidelines.

 
     
     
Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    Miami always promised sunshine but not on this visit. Jax stared out the window overlooking South Beach and watched the storm pick up. He didn’t want to make the bad weather an omen, but he did take the rough tides as a sign.
    “Raff boxed up your files. I’m having them sent to the cabin in Colorado,” Nate said.
    Jax declined the drink his brother tried to pass him.
    “You’re not on duty, bro, take a break.”
    Nate was right. Jax needed a bit of relief. He accepted the whiskey straight and drank it all in one hit. It burned on the way down, but it gave him a much-needed kick into reality.
    “I got Raff and Ralph situated in the firehouse. You’ll get a Skype call from them in about—” Nate checked his watch. “—ten minutes. Your partner’s brother, he’s a weird one, no?
    “He’s a bit of an agoraphobic, among other things,” he said, happy to have Nate for a sibling and not the one his partner had gotten stuck with.
    Nate had always been a no questions asked kind of sibling. Growing up, he’d never left him out to dry. More often than not, he assisted with the cover up.
    There was no better lawyer to work on his behalf than Nathaniel Thornbird. He needed his big brother in his corner.
    “Will you be okay?” Nate put on the jacket to his suit. “I’ve got a meeting with the executives at Quad Corp, but I’ll be back before this evening.”
    “Maxie’s dad is finally entrusting you with family business?” Jax joked.
    “No, he’s parading around the doofus marrying his daughter.”
    “Piece of cake,” he tried to cheer him up.
    “Yep, a piece of cake,”