Page 132 of The Genius
“Yes, he was invited so he has every right to participate.”
“Not if he killed his wife.”
“What?” Hunter’s face twisted into a big question mark. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Remember yesterday when they told us about that domestic violence case where the man killed his wife?”
“Yeah?”
“They came straight from that to warn you, so Shelly and I figured that maybe Solo was the husband.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“He’s not the husband?”
“No!” Hunter threw his hands up in the air. “Solo is on the Doom Squad.”
“No way.” The Domestic Violence Team, also known as the Doom Squad, was a specialized unit under Magni who investigated claims and dealt with offenders. Lord Khan stuck to the century-old policy of zero tolerance for violence against women.
“Those guys are brutal. You sure Solo is part of that?”
“Magni said it himself.”
“Then why were they warning you?”
“Because he talked about coming?”
“Here?”
“Where the fuck else would he be coming?”
“Did they say when?”
“Could be tonight or tomorrow. They don’t know if he’ll show at all.”
“What are you going to do?”
Hunter threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know.”
“You’ll need to talk to Willow about it. Let her decide if she wants to stay or go.”
Leaning his head back, Hunter ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t!”
“You have to.”
“Pearl and Lord Khan want me to keep it to myself.”
“Then why did they tell you?”
It was like Hunter couldn’t come to rest. He squatted down, picked up a twig, and used it to poke at the ground with jerky stabs. “Because they don’t want a repeat of the last fight we had. They asked me to promise not to attack Solo if he arrives.”
“That’s a big thing to ask.”
Hunter got up and spat on the ground. “You wanna know the worst part?”
He didn’t wait for me to answer.
“They said that they were trying to protect me. That my soccer career could be in danger if I got injured. Like I can’t fucking fight. I’m a top athlete and a formidable fighter.”
