Page 39 of Mitch

Chapter Fifteen

Autumn hit send onthe final email of the day to Alex and sat back in her chair. This week had been exhausting but in a good way. She felt accomplished intellectually for the first time in over a year. The work had been very different from what she was used to but no less challenging.

She’d been surprised by how much went into an operation such as this. It had been eye-opening, allowing her to truly appreciate the sacrifices these men made with no recognition or thanks from the people or countries they worked for. They did get paid an eye-watering amount though, and being party to that knowledge made her feel a little guilty.

Terrell had always been jealous that she got paid more than him, old fashioned in his thinking regarding finances and family. Autumn snorted a laugh at the thought he could be so traditional in his thinking about money but had then helped a psycho like Linton Allen build chemical weapons.

It had taken her a while to get her head around that, but she knew in her heart that what Eidolon suspected was probably right. Pushing her chair back, she crossed to the corner and looked at her sleeping daughter, hoping she’d sleep tonight. Bebe and Aubrey were coming around to help her decide what to wear tomorrow night. It had been years since she’d had any kind of girl’s night, probably not since her days in the dorms at Uni.

Hearing a cheering sound, she moved out of her office, closing the door and taking the baby monitor so she could still listen for Maggie and followed the sound which got louder as she walked towards the gym. It was a full house today with all the Eidolon men in for some sort of strategy session she wasn’t privy to.

Rounding the corner, she stopped, a small gasp escaping her as she saw all of the guys standing around the training ring in the middle of the room dressed in workout gear. Her eyes were focused solely on the man in the middle of the ring, though.

Mitch stood facing Reid in the centre. His naked chest glistened with sweat, the muscles of his pecs bunching and flexing as he danced around the other man, his fists up in front of his face.

Autumn felt the spit in her mouth dry out at the sight of such a beautiful specimen. Reid was hot too, with his tattoos and bad boy vibe, but Mitch personified male beauty to her. The sleek muscles, the sheen of his umber-brown skin had her wanting to feel him under her hands.

Without realising it, she moved forward, drawn to the brutality as the two men fought and they didn’t hold back. Each landing blow after blow, as they punched and blocked, their skill levels perfectly matched.

She came to a stop beside Waggs who was watching so intently she almost jumped when he spoke.

“Part of fighting is learning how to take a hit. It’s why we never hold back in the ring.” His arms crossed over his chest as he leaned sideways to speak to her before casting her an unreadable glance.

“Do they do this often?” Her voice held the barest hint of the shock she felt.

“We all do. Eidolon can’t afford to have weak men.”

“Who normally wins?”

“Depends on the fight. If it’s boxing like they’re doing now,” he pointed at Reid, who had just taken a punch to the face from Mitch, and was shaking it off like a dog shaking water off his body, “then normally Mitch. If it’s more Jujitsu stuff, Blake wins. MMA would be Reid, and street fighting is Liam’s thing. But Jack always beats us at all of them.”

Autumn glanced at Jack, who was walking the perimeter of the ring, arms folded as he observed his men. “How and why?”

“Jack is the boss, and he believes in order to be a good leader, he should be able to do what we do only better, so he makes it happen.”

“Wow, I guess this is another world I had no clue about.”

“You’re doing great, Autumn. You’re Lopez’s hero right now.”

Autumn chuckled, and at the sound, Mitch turned to catch her eye, catching a punch to the ribs in the distracted second.

“Ouch.” Autumn winced as the men groaned. “I should probably go. I don’t want him hurt because of me.”

Waggs regarded her with a look she couldn’t read before he nodded, a tiny smile twitching on his serious face.

Autumn backed out, heading for her office, a thrill coursing through her at the sight of Mitch in such a different light to the one she knew. Violence had never appealed to her, but she’d be lying if she denied seeing him like that hadn’t turned her on, but then Mitch had that effect on her. Making her feel needy and wanton with his kisses and hands but never letting her return the favour no matter how much she wanted it.

Part of her respected that he cared so much about their first time, but she was ready to know what it felt like to be possessed by a man like him. Seeing the edge of darkness he hid only thrilled her more, maybe because no matter what, she always felt safe with him. More than that, she felt like a queen, and he treated Maggie with the same love and tenderness.

It was easy to forget the threat she still faced when surrounded by so much support and protection. Yet it was always there, that anxiety that Allen would get to her now he’d technically found her and rip this beautiful life she was building away from her.

Mitch assured her that he was always under watch now and they’d know if he made any moves towards her. It gave her some comfort as she lifted a now wide-eyed Maggie from her crib.

“Are you ready for your first girl’s night, Roo?”

In the past, she’d felt slightly daft talking to Maggie, but now she smiled as she remembered hearing Mitch do the same thing just the other night.

Packing up her stuff, she heard the commotion as the men filtered in from the gym towards the showers. Her spine prickled with awareness the second Mitch stepped inside the room.