Page 138 of Jay Bird

“You’re welcome.”

Nova pulled back and looked at her. “Do you understand what you just did?”

Willow wiped beneath her eyes. “Put a former cop on his ass?”

Matt pointed at her. “Don’t get cocky.”

She laughed.

Nova smiled, but her expression quickly became serious. “You got scared, Willow. You froze, you panicked, and you ended up on the ground. None of those things meant the fight was over. The goal isn’t making sure nobody ever gets the upper hand on you,” Nova continued. “Sometimes they will. Someone might be bigger, stronger, or catch you by surprise. What matters is what you do with the opportunity they give you.” She squeezed Willow’s shoulder. “You make damn sure they regret giving you the chance to fight back.”

Something about those words settled deep inside Willow.

She nodded. “I can do that.”

Nova smiled. “Yeah. I think you can.”

Twenty minutes later, Willow sat on the edge of the mat with a bottle of water pressed against her cheek while Nova finished closing down the training area. Lily was still happily occupied in the childcare room, which Willow considered nothing short of miraculous.

Her entire body hurt, and she knew tomorrow was going to suck, but she couldn’t stop smiling.

Nova walked over and dropped onto the mat beside her. “You’ve been sitting here smiling at nothing for five minutes.”

“I was thinking.”

“That can be a dangerous hobby.”

Willow bumped her shoulder against Nova’s.

For a moment, she stared across the quiet gym, thinking about the woman who had walked through Central Park three years ago, believing the biggest problem in her life was figuring out how to tell Mia that their boss might be involved in something illegal.

She hadn’t known that morning would divide her life into before and after.

“Three years ago, someone came up behind me in Central Park,” Willow said quietly. “I never even had a chance.”

Nova didn’t say anything because she already heard the story.

Willow looked toward the mat where Matt had taken her down.

“Today I gave myself one.”

Nova’s smile was small but proud.

“That you did.”

Willow took another drink of water before getting to her feet. She was ready to collect Lily, head home, and probably text Jay Bird something obnoxious about how she had just taken down a former cop. Knowing him, he would ask for video evidence.

She smiled at the thought.

For the first time since she had escaped Chen, Willow didn’t feel like a woman running from something. She felt like a woman moving toward something.

And although Willow couldn’t possibly know it as she walked toward the childcare room and heard Lily squeal, “Momma!” the moment she saw her through the glass, the lesson she had learned tonight would soon matter far more than she could have imagined.

Because Chen Pham had made one very dangerous mistake. He still believed he knew exactly who Willow was.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Lily, we are not taking one home.”