Page 63 of B-ry
I didn’t let it get me off my game though.
“Yeah, not what you expected, huh,” I said a little cockily.
“You should talk to Yuri. I think you would draw in a new crowd. Lots of money.”
“I’ll think about it.”
And maybe I would. It wasn’t like I was against doing illegal shit. I would definitely run it by Iron before I seriously thought about talking to Yuri though.
Now he was slowing down but not because he was tired. He was assessing, changing it up. Like a smart fighter would do.
We circled once. Twice. Then all the pent-up shit just made its way out. I faked left and got him with an elbow to his nose. He stumbled back then shook his head. But I didn’t back down. I advanced two steps. Then got him with a gut punch that had him flinching forward. While I wanted to smile, I held it back.
And it was on.
Neither one of us held back now.
By the time we were done, Andrei had a busted lip and was favoring his left side.
I wasn’t much better. I could feel the cut on my forehead leaking blood down my face and I wouldn’t doubt if I woke up with bruises all over my abdomen tomorrow.
It was only when Yuri rolled into the room and called out ‘enough’ that we both collapse to the mat.
“Fucking shit. I got enough children to look after,” Yuri said tossing each one of us a clean towel. Then he walked away while shaking his head. “Paragon, find me when you’re ready to make money,” he called over his shoulder without looking back at me.
I pulled my knees up and wrapped my sore arms around them after I pulled one hand free and wiped off my drenched face. Andrei laughed at Yuri’s remark and I tried my best not to find some kind of pride in it.
“Feel better?” Andrei asked, his eyes pinning me with a knowing stare.
I hung my head and breathed in deeply.
“No,” I said as images of Laurel flashed in my head.
“This have to do with club?”
My head snapped up and I eyed him for a good long minute. He didn’t flinch, so I figured it wasn’t like he was trying to get information out of me that he shouldn’t have been.
In a way, it almost looked like he was… genuinely concerned.
Which was crazy.
We weren’t friends.
Hell, this was probably the most we’d spoken to one another. Ever.
“Family,” I said and maybe it was just a start.
He didn’t say anything for a long time and I couldn’t explain why the hell I started talking.
“My woman has been missing for nearly three weeks now.”
This got his attention. He sat up straighter and if I wasn’t mistaken, his face looked a bit sad.
“We had a… fight. She walked home and never made it there. It’s all my fault. We can’t find anything. I’ve searched this town twice over. And… nothing.”
I wanted to collapse right there. I wanted to curl into a ball and cry. But I didn’t. I somehow managed to hold it together.
“Come,” Andrei said, getting to his feet and then extending a hand to me.
