Page 11 of Celestial Combat

A muscle in my jaw ticked. The silence between us stretched, thick and suffocating. The air around us felt different now – heavy with something unspoken, something volatile. It wasn’t anger. Not really. It was something else. Something neither of us had the patience to name.

Tony huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head.

Ignoring him again, my gaze locked on Meisa. I spoke, voice lower this time. “Just don’t break before Fight Night.”

Then I turned and walked off, leaving her standing in the ring, fists still clenched, breathing just a little too hard.

And for some damn reason, I knew she’d still be on my mind long after I left.

The alley was quiet. The kind of quiet that only existed at this hour, when the city’s pulse had slowed, but its spirit still lurked. A streetlamp flickered at the far end, casting broken light onto wet pavement. The scent of rain, metal, and something burned lingered in the air.

I leaned against the wall, hidden in the dark, taking a slow drag of my cigarette. The ember flared, a small, angry glow in the night.

I shouldn’t be smoking. I knew that. Every man I’d ever known who drank himself blind or smoked himself into an early grave had eventually died by their own vices.

Either the bottle killed them, or the smoke and drugs did. But even my own discipline only stretched so far. And in moments like this, when my mind was too sharp, too restless – this was my dirty secret. A weakness no one knew about.

My eyes stayed fixed on her.

Meisa stood further down the alley, leaning back against the brick wall. She hadn’t noticed me yet.

She’d been here for a couple of minutes, but she hadn’t moved to enter the gym. Instead, she just stood there, catching her breath. Her head tilted back against the bricks, eyes closed for a beat too long. A fresh cut split the corner of her mouth. The way she wiped the blood away – like it was nothing – told me she was used to it.

I didn’t need to ask to know where she’d been. Another underground fight. And she’d won. But at what price?

My jaw tightened. Did Tony set this up for her? Was he the one throwing her into these fights? If so, why the hell wasn’t he here, making sure the girl he was seeing was okay?

I exhaled smoke, watching it curl into the cold air before I flicked the cigarette to the ground. The soft ember died beneath my shoe as I stepped forward, finally letting her see me.

Her gaze snapped up, dark eyes locking onto my own.

“You really don’t give a fuck about yourself, do you?” My voice came out steady, but there was something sharp underneath.

Meisa wiped the last trace of blood from her lip with the back of her hand, her expression unreadable. “Didn’t realize you were keeping tabs on me.”

Neither of us moved. The space between us, tight; filled with something electric.

She could see the way my jaw tensed like I was restraining myself from doing something – grabbing her, shaking some fucking sense into her.

“Inside, Meisa.”

She didn’t. Instead, she studied me like she was searching for something in my face, something unspoken. “Thought you didn’t care?”

I exhaled sharply, irritated at the question. Irritated ather. Irritated at the fact that Ididn’thave a good answer.

“I don’t. Just don’t bleed out in my alley.”

But the way my fingers lingered at my side – like I was stopping myself from reaching for her – said otherwise.

I moved toward the side alley door, gripping the handle. My soldiers were on break, since I was outside. I pulled it open without another word.

Meisa stared at me for a moment longer, then sighed deeply before stepping past me into the dimly lit hallway.

I followed behind, the metal door slamming shut, sealing out the night.

“My office.”

I caught her shoulders tense, though no protest came.

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