“What if he dies? Then how will I get to fight?” Ari crossed his arms and scowled down at the man as if he’d done something wrong.
“You should’ve thought of that first, my pretty little killer.” I shook my head at him and couldn’t help how happy it made me to see him sitting on top of his wounded prey. I held out a hand for him, and he scowled down at Janus as he let me help him stand. He was shaking from adrenaline and exertion, and it was exhilarating to draw him against my side and share this moment with him.
“He should’ve been harder to hurt. Doesn’t he work with fighters?” Ari kicked at his foot.
I hummed and shrugged, looking around the small house. I hadn’t been expecting to have to deal with a problem like this.
“Ari, do you have gloves?”
He nodded and dug a pair out of his back pocket.
“What were you planning?”
He shrugged. “I just like to have them.”
Nodding, I pulled the black gloves over my hands and went around searching through drawers in the small kitchen until I unearthed a small yellow notepad and pen. I considered what I should say, then wrote—
If you want my fighter, call me.
It was a risk, but I left my phone number under the message, then took the notepad over and tossed it on Janus’s back. I probably wouldn’t have needed the gloves, but on the off chance the cops found this guy before Derek Uhlig did, I at least wanted to be able to make some sort of case for not having actually been here.
Ari came over to look at what I’d written and surprised me by cupping my cheeks and pulling me down into a kiss. I could taste the tang of blood.
“Thank you.” He stared up at me and the adoration in his bright eyes made my head feel like it could float off my body.
I wasn’t sure what came over me, but I hugged him close. “Do you forgive me for not letting you kill Mom? You understand why you shouldn’t, right? Was this a good enough present?”
He smiled and glanced over at Janus, then snuggled closer. “Yes. Do you think they’ll call?” He glanced at the notepad with curiosity.
I laughed. “If they don’t, we can go find another one of Uhlig’s men. I’m sure he’ll call eventually.”
He smiled up at me. “Take me home and fuck me, Master. Please?”
How could I say no to that?
12
ARI
I once hada therapist who didn’t hold anything back. I liked him because while others tiptoed around the issue because they were afraid of upsetting my parents, this therapist told me the naked truth.
“Do you know what you are, Ari?” Dr. Miracle—yes, that was his name, and in the first session he’d let me make fun of it—sat in the wide brown leather armchair in front of me, legs crossed and notebook clutched in one hand. He never jotted down too many notes, not like some of the others I’d seen. When I’d questioned him about it, he’d said he preferred to pay attention to me.
“If you ask my parents, I’m a pain in the ass.” I smirked at him and leaned back on the couch I lounged on. I never took sessions very seriously, and Dr. Miracle was the tenth therapist to take me on as a client. My parents were beyond irritated.
Dr. Miracle laughed, and with the tilt of his chin, the grays in his beard became more visible as the sunlight struck him through the tinted window. He was handsome for a man who tried to get into my mind and scramble it like eggs. He looked about forty-five, at least, maybe a little younger, and even with the silver in his beard, his hair was still dark and fluffy. No grays in sight.
“That isn’t an official diagnosis,” he said.
I huffed. “If you ask them, it is. They say I’m different from normal people.”
The corners of his brown eyes wrinkled in thought. “Different, maybe, but I hate the wordnormal. There is nonormal, Ari.”
I shrugged. I was fifteen and didn’t give a shit. All I could think about was finishing school and getting the hell out of that house. I would never see another therapist again. “Their words don’t hurt me.”
“I don’t believe that.” Dr. Miracle shifted in his seat and leaned forward. “Do you love them, Ari?”
“No,” I said immediately. What was love? I didn’t know because I’d never experienced it.
