Page 64 of Fight

“And your mother?”

“Oh she’s fine. That’s one thing I’ll give her credit for, she always manages to land on her feet,” I said, hating the bitterness in my voice.

Ioan heard it, but he didn’t address it. He squeezed me tighter, the dull thud of his heart against his chest beating a rhythm against my ear.

“But you won’t let that happen again. Won’t let her lead you to such a place?” he said.

I nodded, my heart hurting but my mind made up. “I have no other choice,” I said.

“I wish you had realized that before you met Markov,” he said.

“Then I wouldn’t have met you.” The words came out automatically and revealed a truth I hadn’t even fully accepted until that very moment.

He held me a little tighter, momentarily cutting off my breath. “A trade I would have been willing to make.”

The way he spoke, his voice soft was both heartening and depressing. I would never say it out loud, but finding him was the best damn thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.

“One more fight, jefe,” he said.

He said nothing more, and listening to the strong, steady pounding of his heart, I drifted to sleep.

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