Page 103 of The Fighter
I stared at the photo and pointed. When Raven saw what I saw, she gasped out loud. “Holy shit, Leo…”
Looking deep into her eyes, I spoke in a low ominous tone. “We can never tell anyone about this.Never!”
“But Leo, what if…”
“No, this is so much bigger than us. Khan being the false heir is a major political bomb that could throw our country into a civil war. With Magni being injured, Khan is already weakened and if any of this gets out, there’s no way to know what’s going to happen to any of us.”
Raven took a moment before she nodded. “You’re right. We’ll need to keep this quiet and pretend we don’t know.”
CHAPTER 25
Big Mouth
Leo
Raven wanted to say a few goodbyes before we left the Gray Manor. While waiting for her, I packed the drone and was coming back into the large foyer when Khan came walking through with Solo.
“Leo, what are you doing here?”
“I’m just waiting for Raven.”
“How are you feeling? I heard you returned to work – that’s good news.” Khan patted my shoulder.
“I’m not complaining. I was the lucky one.”
“Yeah, Magni has a way to go still.” The two men grew somber as Khan spoke. “For some reason, he doesn’t want to talk about cybernetics, which is bullshit because with robotic limbs he could walk and run again.”
“Mila told me he’s not doing well and that you’re worried about him being alone.”
Khan groaned “He’s too damn proud for his own good and he feels sorry for himself. Have you seen him yet?”
“No. I’ve asked to visit, but Laura says he doesn’t want anyone to see him like that.”
“Ah, yes, but when he comes around, you’ll need to speak loud because my brother lost some of his hearing.”
“That’s not because of the accident,” Solo pointed out. “Magni lost most of his hearing in one ear after a fight with me years ago.”
“He never told me that.” Khan crossed his arms and then he shrugged. “Anyway, Solo has temporarily taken over for Magni as Commander until we find a solution. It turned out to be a good thing Magni did that paternity test last year. Now I have a nephew to help me out in his father’s absence.” With a hand to Solo’s back, Khan gave him a proud nod.
Solo and I had been friends before he discovered that Magni was his father and it was still weird for me to think of him as part of the ruling family.
“Solo will keep you updated about Mila’s tournament.”
“I thought you were going to postpone it.”
Khan pursed his lips and tapped his foot. “We’re not sure. There’s still a few months and we’re hoping Magni can grow strong enough to attend, but it’s tempting to postpone it. I never agreed that it should be a winter event to begin with. Spring and summer are always better for tournaments anyway. It’s just that a wedding always brings joy and a lot of men will be disappointed if we don’t follow through.”
“I’m not one of them.”
Tilting his head, Khan lowered his gaze to my thigh. “Ah, because of your injury. Yes, I can see that pushing back the tournament will give you time to heal properly and get back in top shape.”
I shook my head. “No, the reason I’m not disappointed is that Raven and I…” I hesitated, but she had promised to make it official this weekend so I didn’t feel too bad about telling Khan and Solo.
Khan waited for a second, but then his eyes grew wide “Really? You and Raven? But I thought you found her annoying.”
I smiled. “What can I say? She grew on me.”
Solo chuckled. “Yes, she has that effect on people, but are you sure she’ll commit? Have you asked her to marry you?”
