Page 78 of Hidden Empire

“Not for you, he doesn’t,” Armani responds, stating the obvious.

“I don’t want one,” I reply, giving him a look that screams duh. “I’m just shocked he has them. Does The Outfit sell drugs here?”

“No, we just have a personal stash with the doctors here,” Matteo explains. “For emergencies.”

That makes so much more sense.

“But you do have gummies?”

“Yep,” Matteo says, lifting up my other hand to inspect it. “You need to wrap your hands with a thicker layer next time.”

“I wrapped them until I could barely close my fists,” I mutter grumpily. “Can’t I just switch to another weapons class?” Shooting with Armani seems way better than learning how to half-ass defend myself in that horrid class.

“We can pull you out of fight training for another free period, but it’s too late to switch,” Armani suggests with no trace of judgment in his voice. He doesn’t care if I want to quit as long as it’ll make me happy.

But coming here, I told myself that I would try my best. Quitting this soon wouldn’t be my best.

I hesitate before saying, “Maybe if it gets worse.”

“Okay.” He nods. “Just say the word, and I’ll handle it.”

“Thank you,” I reply sincerely.

“Try to lay off your right hand in the next class,” Matteo advises, pointing to the knuckle of my middle finger. “This is pretty bruised, so that’s likely why you’re so sore.”

“We have an option to do conditioning when we’re in pain, so I’ll just do that.” Running laps and some doing strength training sounds gross but better than crushing my already bruised hands into a punching bag.

“Good idea,” he agrees, gently laying a second ice pack on that hand.

With both of my limbs pinned under ice, I can’t grab my emailer as it buzzes against my hip.

“Will you check that?” I ask, nodding to the little device for Matteo to grab.

He flicks it open, studying the screen before his lips spread wide.

“What is it?”

Without explaining, he spins the screen so that it faces me. “I love seeing him be a little sap for you.”

I smile before I even see the message, knowing it’s from our dad.

Dad

How are you doing, sweetheart? Leon brought Bastian by today, and we showed him pictures of you. He’s very excited to meet his new aunt.

I stick out my lower lip, heart warming.

“Awww,” I draw out. “Will you text him back for me?”

Of course he agrees, asking me what to say and then showing me the screen again before clicking send.

Me

I’m so excited to meet him too. Doing pretty good, sore from fight training but enjoying everything else. We’re going to cook swordfish this week in Cooking!

“One more thing,” Matteo hums, typing out another message. As he shows it to me, he puts a finger to his lips to mime that it’s a secret from Armani.

Me

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