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she is a grown woman.” With that, he walked away and began preparing for his workout.
    *****
    “Come on, Tony, let me fuck him up. Sorry ass newbie.” Ethan’s deep growl caught Tony’s attention as he watched the guy walk away from them.
    “Ethan, slow your roll. He got the message.” Tony looked over at Adele in the ring with Tyler and lowered his head for a second. Accepting things he couldn’t control was not one of his strong points. However, he’d known this day was going to come sooner or later. Adele had been so broken when they had first met her. At the time, she had needed them to take care of her as if she were a bird with a broken wing. It had taken five long years, but she had finally healed. He knew she was much stronger now than she had ever been before. Although he hated to admit it, she no longer needed them to protect her at every turn. Intellectually, he was aware of this. Emotionally…well, that was a different story.
    He’d noticed the look in her eyes as she’d talked to Stefano, and never before had he seen her respond to anyone that way. During all the years he had known her, she had never looked at anyone like that, with something other than wariness and caution. Yeah, Adele was changing. Shit, she had already changed. It was just going to take them all a bit longer to catch up with her.
    Sighing, Tony turned to the man standing next to him, “Ethan, you’re always such a hothead. Leave the dude alone. We’ll keep an eye out for him when we’re here at the gym. He won’t get next to Adele unless she wants him to.”
    “What? Hell no, she’s not ready for that.” Ethan had a quick temper and did not appreciate being outmaneuvered. Plus, Tony recognized that there was something in his past that made Ethan want to wrap Adele in a bubble and protect her from the world. Ethan had never spoken about his childhood, but based on his reaction to Adele, Tony could only guess.
    Speaking calmly to his friend, he tried to help him understand. “Maybe yes, maybe no. Regardless of whether or not we think she’s ready, we have to give her the chance to decide on her own. We can’t protect her forever.” Giving his brother-in-arms a moment to let those words sink in, he continued. “We will still protect her, but she has to make her own way. Maybe not this guy, but there will be someone else. Get ready, buddy—I think we’re going to have a lot of sleepless nights.”
    Clapping his hand on Ethan’s back, Tony laughed at the look of utter dread that came over Ethan’s face. “Come on, man. Let’s go hit the bag.”

Chapter Three
     
    Adele was tired and sore. Tyler had worn her body out at the gym yesterday. The man had no mercy. He had tried to grill her about the new guy and what he had said to her, but she was staying mum on the subject, not giving anything away. There wasn’t much to say anyway. Sure, she found him attractive, but that was probably the only time she would ever see him.
    She looked at her weekend shopping list, mentally calculating how much food she would need for the guys. She added a few more items for the grill and headed off to the market to make her purchases before everyone started to show up. No matter how much food she bought when they came over, there never seemed to be enough. That was the main reason why she had waited until this morning to make her market run. Just in case they called with last-minute requests.
    Plus, Ethan was rather picky about the type of food she bought for their gatherings. He was the designated master griller and had the cooking utensils to prove it. Though she wasn’t sure where he’d learned his craft, that man could take any food item, cook it on the grill and make it taste like pure heaven. It wasn’t just steak, chicken, and pork. Oh no, he did everything from vegetables to fruit to pasta. If anyone else tried to even go near the grill, Ethan would start brandishing his cooking utensils like they were weapons. When this