Page 42 of Dmitri

Daelyn stabs a shrimp and forkful of grits. “Why do you fight?”

Ah. We’re back to personal, serious topics. Fine by me. “It’s a way to blow off steam.”

“So is going on a run, or fucking, or—”

“I do all those too,” I say, cutting her off. “Trust me.”

Her cheeks redden again.

I stab into my steak hash and shovel a huge bite into my mouth. It’s pretty good, but my boy Knox could make this much better. He’s been having me, Ryker, and Vault hop around to all the fancy spots in town, taste testing random dishes so we can tell him if they’re worth reinventing or not. He’s a damn good chef, self-taught, and is always eager to put his own twist on things at his club’s secret restaurant.

“Have you ever lost a fight?”

“No.” It’s suddenly hard to swallow my food. “Does it bother you that I fight?”

She stuffs an entire hushpuppy into her mouth. I swear she does it on purpose to give herself extra time to come up with an answer.

“Be honest,” I warn.

As I wait for her answer, my body starts coiling tight. My mother hated that my dad fought for side money. She didn’t mind spending it on booze every fucking chance she got, though. And for someone who pitched a fit and said his violence was juvenile, she sure knew how to swing a punch herself.

Fuck, I feel sick now.

“No,” Daelyn says quietly. “But I would think it’s kind of hard to be with a fighter.”

Does she want to be with me? It’s a little early in the game to be thinking about commitment. But damn my pathetic heart for gasping at the thought of it being a possibility. “Hard, how?”

She shrugs and takes a sip of her coffee. “I’d be pretty upset if you came home busted up all the time.”

“You weren’t sad when I came to you all busted up the night of the fight.”

“I didn’t know you then.”

And still, she fucked me. “You don’t know me now, either.”

“True.” Daelyn carefully sets her coffee down. “Have you ever hit a woman?”

“Absolutely not.” I don’t realize my grip is so tight around my fork and knife until Daelyn gawks at it. Shit. I bent the fork handle. “I don’t tolerate physical violence against a woman.Ever.” Then I do one better, because we’re all about honesty today, right? “The last time I found a man hitting a woman, I beat him within an inch of his life.”

She stares at me for a long moment and then shoves another hushpuppy in her mouth. At least she cut it up this time, so she won’t risk choking on it.

“Does my fighting disgust you?” I hold my finger up just as she takes a sip of her OJ. “Let me rephrase. Did the way I fucked you that night disgust you?”

She snarfs her juice.

Laughter blows out of me because it feels nice to catch her off guard. I swear she’s been a concrete wall this entire time, and I’ve finally managed a little foothold.

Daelyn wipes her face with a napkin. “Oh my god, it’s in my sinus cavity!”

That makes me laugh harder.

She tosses her napkin at me. “Nice to see my pain brings you pleasure.”

I stop laughing immediately. “Are you hurt?”

She sniffs hard and takes another sip of her juice. “Ugh. Not physically, but my pride is likely on life support from it.”

Rory comes out of nowhere and asks, “How’s everything so far?”

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