Amplify by Anne Mercier

question, a statement.
    "Looks like you’re beating the hell out of a dummy. What’s wrong? And should you be doing that being as ill as you are?" he asks. Seriously. He asked me that. I’m not kidding. I snort and Xander hisses out a breath.
    "Xander, can Sera and I have a few minutes alone?"
    "Cage, dude, I would, but right now I fear for your safety," Xander tells him.
    "What?"
    That’s it for me. I pull my arm back and let my fist fly. Granted I’ve got the boxing gloves on so it’s padded, but it knocks the big man back a couple steps.
    "What the fuck, Sera?" Cage asks incredulously.
    "What the fuck? What the fuck?! " I shout, then swing again, this time going for the abs. Damn him for his quick thinking. He tightened. I kick out and hit his side and he lets out a grunt.
    "Sera, I don’t know what’s going on but—"
    "You don’t know what’s going on." I nod, gloved hands on my hips. "Want me to tell you?"
    "Please. Enlighten me as to why you have murder in your eye and I, apparently, am the victim."
    "Dude," Xander mutters, shaking his head.
    "Victim, funny you should use that term—"
    "Cage, I feel the need to interject here," Xander begins. "Where were you this afternoon, man?"
    I start to protest but Xander cuts me off with a look and a plea for patience. I hold back, barely. I want to throat punch this asshole. Granted we made no promises, but it was fucking implied and he knows it.
    "I had a meeting."
    "Oh, I bet you did," I snort.
    "Sera," Xander scolds and I hold up the glove, giving him the finger. Yeah, not the effect I was going for. Damn it all to hell. Can nothing go right for me?
    "A meeting you said?" Xander asks. "Can you be a little more specific?"
    "I can’t tell you where I was and I really shouldn’t be telling you who I was with either, but since it seems my life is on the line, I’ll forego the usual rules."
    "Please do," I mock.
    Cage raises both his eyebrows and rubs at his jaw. That’s going to leave a mark. Hell yeah!
    "I had a meeting with Giovanni until about twenty minutes ago," Cage says, staring directly into my eyes, and I know he’s not lying. He never lies. Ever. No matter the cost. Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck me.
    "Dude. Sera. It seems you’ve got some communicating to do—and not with fists or kicks," Xander chides, exiting the room, leaving only Cage and me. Awkward. Shit. Do I have to apologize now? No. I’m not going to. To hell with that. I can’t quite meet his gaze so I do the next best thing—I start pulling off the gloves.
    He steps forward and my head snaps up. He immediately raises his hands.
    "What’s going on, Fee?" he asks, unlacing the gloves.
    I blow out a breath. "What are you doing here, Cage?"
    "I asked first, but I have a feeling your answer is going to have something to do with mine, so I’ll go. I’m here looking for you. I went home and found your key on the table." He pulls the first glove off and tosses it aside, then begins unlacing the other. "What’s going on that you left the key, Fee? It’s yours."
    He’s starting to sound like a parrot, asking the same question over and over and, God, he doesn’t deserve any of what I just gave him.
    "I’ll start from the beginning," I say, rubbing my hands against my yoga pants when he pulls the other glove off.
    "Seems like a good place." He reaches for my hand and, damn it, I’m an asshole.
    "I’m an asshole."
    A lift of a brow is his only reaction. "Why are you an asshole?"
    "Besides the fact that I punched you twice and kicked you?"
    His lips twitch. "Besides that, yes."
    He leads me over to the sofa and pulls me down onto his lap after he takes a seat. My back is resting against the armrest and I start plucking at invisible lint on my yoga pants with the hand he’s not holding.
    "Fee."
    I sigh. "Alright. I went to your house after the doctor’s appointment."
    He nods. "Okay. I don’t see the problem. We planned on that."
    "Well," I cringe.
    "Go on, Sera. You know I won’t judge you,"