Page 22 of Tico

“Last chance, little girl—”

Ember rolls her eyes at him and strikes, nailing him with a few jabs to his unprotected ribs and stomach that has him trying to hide the fact that she just partially knocked the wind out of him. She dances out of striking range, and in the process, moves further into the room which gives them a bigger area to fight rather than in the crowded entryway.

Rocket angrily lunges for her, but she easily sidesteps his attack and lands more jabs to his ribs.

“Your footwork is sloppy. Tighten up your stance and take this seriously.”

I bite my cheek to keep from laughing at Rocket’s pissed off look as Ember critiques his form. He swings and Ember blocks it while frowning.

“When fighting someone of my size, attacking at that angle puts a man of your size off-center,” she says while proving her point and slipping under his arm, using his imbalance to help her throw him to the ground. He almost grasps her ankle but she once again steps out of his reach, narrowly avoiding his hand.

Rocket clamors to his feet and they repeat this dance for another ten minutes, him trying to hit her or pin her down and Ember critiquing his form the entire time.

Suddenly, Ember latches onto his arm and throws him down onto the mat hard, knocking the air clear out of his lungs. Several of us in the crowd, me included, wince in sympathy at the force in which he lands. He rolls onto his side to get up but then Ember latches onto his back, contorting her body around him to prevent his arms and legs from reaching her while simultaneously getting her arm around his throat.

“Now, do you yield, or are you going to take a nap?”

Chapter 13

Tico

Forafewmoments,I think Rocket’s not going to yield but then his body relaxes in her hold.

“I yield.”

Ember releases him and steps back. I walk over to her, resting my hand on her hip and pull her into my side. Rocket clocks the movement before raising his confused gaze to mine and he blanches slightly at the anger he finds there. A second later, the look is gone as he turns his questioning gaze on Ember. He’sprobably trying to figure out how the hell she’s better trained than he is.

She smirks down at him since he’s still sitting on the floor. “You didn’t give me a chance to tell you that Daemon’s my brother. He and his uncle were my first trainers and then Reese here took over my training about six years ago.”

He stares at her in shock and disbelief. “You barely look eighteen.”

“I’m twenty-two and have been training and fighting for the past ten years.”

“Well, fuck,” he says as he gets to his feet, his gaze fixated on her arm. “So, you’re really the Viper.”

“Yes, but like I said, I’ll be going by a different moniker tonight and for my future fights.”

Rocket looks between us and I dip my chin.

“It’s true, Ember will be stepping in for Ice for the foreseeable future since she’ll be out for about a year from what Wire told me.”

It’s not my place to spread Ice’s good news and she is definitely one of those women you don’t want to piss off.

Ember turns in my arm, looking up at me, and I oblige her, leaning down for a kiss.

“I’m gonna go stow my gear and get at it.”

“Women’s locker room is that way,” I tell her as I gesture towards the far back of the gym.

After she grabs her stuff, I turn towards Rocket, leveling him with a hard glare. I may be soft with my family and now Ember and Pyper, but not with anyone else.

“Office. Now.”

He blanches and Daemon clasps his shoulder as he chuckles under his breath and leads Reese over toward the mats. Turning on my heel, I stalk towards my office, knowing Rocket willfollow. Discretely, I slip on my brass knuckles as I walk through the door.

As soon as Rocket shuts the door behind him, I’m on him, grabbing him by the throat and shoving him against the door before landing a hard punch to his jaw. His eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn’t fight me. He knows he fucked up.

“You will never lay a fucking hand onmi mujer,my woman,everagain. You will show her the fucking respect she deserves. If you don’t, it will be the last thing you ever fucking do because your ass will be six feet under. Do you understand me,hermano(brother)?”