“Come down,kiska.”
I lower myself through the hole, and Alexei’s hands reach up to pluck me off the shelf. He sets me on my feet in front of him. There’s a grimace on his face as he moves.
“Alexei, you’re hurt?”
He shakes his head, but when I continue to silently study him, he adds, “Sore.”
“Did Vlad try to poison you during the fight?”
“No, Egorov did. Vlad’s not the man to come up with a plan, or the chemicals, for that.”
“How did you know?”
“When he hit me in the face, I smelled it. It made my blood taste wrong.”
“Did it make you dizzy?”
“Some.”
“Egorov drugged me, too. He must like to poison people,” I say, disgusted.
“He likes his tricks, yes.”
“They should have declared you the winner right then.”
“If the fight is stopped early or canceled, people get their money back. Polasky and the club’s backers don’t want that. Polasky offered to have Vlad’s hands re-taped, and I accepted. I wanted to finish.”
“You might have lost. Because the drugs got in you.”
“It was an even match.”
“Was it?” I ask, surprised.
He’s quiet, and my head cocks.
“What did you do?”
“Dipped my fists in the runoff.”
His meaning takes a moment to sink in.
“You poison him, too? Good! He deserves this. Do you think it helps?” I ask, reaching up to touch his swollen cheek.
“I don’t know. It might have been too diluted to have done anything. He didn’t fall until I hit him hard with my left.”
My hands raise his left hand and rub it. “You are left-handed?”
“No, but I trained hard with my left so I could use it as the dominant one because I had to rest my right. Now, I lead again with my right and hold back with my left until the right moment comes to use it.”
It takes a moment to untangle the words and what they mean. “A good strategy. I congratulate you.” My fingertips touch his gray t-shirt and press in until they bump against his hard body. “I must ask a question. Are you part of the Russian Mafia?”
“No.”
No,I think with relief. “Good.”
“Speak English, kitten.”
I blink. I didn’t realize I was speaking Russian again. “Well, maybe I will,” I say in English.
