With a jerk of his head, he began walking in the direction the security guy had indicated, and I jogged to catch up with him.
“What was that? Since when can you speak Russian?”
He shrugged. “I only know a few phrases. Got Li to teach me. I thought it might be useful in my future line of work,y’know, since the Hoyton Firm’s closest associates are affiliated with the Volkovs.”
“You got her to teach you how to talk to a dog?”
“Yep. Make friends with the dogs. There’s a saying about don’t bite the hand that feeds you, I dunno. Whatever, it’s irrelevant.”
“Okay…” I wasn’t sure how to respond to his clipped words.
We both fell silent as we reached a large, rectangular building. It looked like a huge concrete block, brutalist-style. High, tiny windows ringed the walls, with security cameras interspersed at regular intervals. Another guard stood in front of a large metal door, and as we approached, he punched a code into the keypad next to the door. The light above the door turned from red to green, and the door swung open noiselessly.
“Spasiba,” Dan said again as the guard stepped aside to let us in. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, entering a cavernous room with tiered seating and a fighting cage in the centre.
“Arson? What the fuck are we doing here?” My polished loafers echoed on the concrete floor as I followed him down the stairs. He ignored me, and for the first time, I began to worry. “Dan?”
He came to a stop in front of the cage and pushed at the chain mesh door. “After you.”
“What the fuck, Dan?”
“Just get inside.”
Gritting my teeth, I stepped inside the cage, and he followed me in, closing the door with a heavy clang that echoed around us. When it was shut, Dan removed his suit jacket, tucking it through the mesh of the cage to hold it inplace. He unclipped his cufflinks and placed them in one of his jacket pockets and then began rolling his sleeves up.
“Mate. What the actual fuck is happening right now?”
His gaze slid to mine, and his eyes were dark and stormy. “You might wanna take your suit jacket off. We need to have a conversation, and I’m not sure how it’s gonna go.”
Fucking hell. “You what—you think we’re going to come to blows?”
“Maybe.”
“Okay. Fine.” I began to remove my jacket. Whatever was happening here, he was clearly serious. We didn’t often fight each other, not unless we were just scrapping for fun, but tonight, he meant business. This could only be about one thing, couldn’t it?
We ended up circling each other in the centre of the cage. Dan broke the tense silence with one word. “Bellingham.”
“I fuckingknewthis was about him. Are you that pissed off that I did drills with him?”
“Yes. You didn’t tell me.”
“Mate. I don’t have a personal issue with him.”
“Yeah, but I do, and you’re supposed to be my best fucking friend. I don’t get it. Why were you even there in the first place? Why did you train with him, of all people? And why didn’t you fuckingtell me?”
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d massively overreact, like you always do when his name gets mentioned.” Straightening up, I beckoned him towards me with a flick of my wrist. “I was right, wasn’t I? The fact that we’re here right now, and you’re ready to punch me for it. That says everything. Go on, punch me, if you think it’ll make you feel better. I will hit you back, though. I’m notgonna stand there and take it when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“It’sBellingham,” he snarled. “You don’t get it.”
“Clearly. Go on, then, get it out of your system.” A small part of me was aware that allowing my best friend to punch me to work out his frustrations was fucked up, but whatever worked.
He lunged for me, and I jerked out of the way, but his punch still glanced off my ribs. I bit back a swear word. Even in his agitated state, I could tell he wasn’t putting his full power into his blows.
“Mate.” I threw out my fist, connecting with his bicep. “I was there because Coach Lazovsky forced me to do extra drills with Volkov.”
“Volkov. So? What’s your problem with him?”
“He’s an asshole,” I ground out, right before he slammed his fist into my stomach. “Oof.Fucking hell, Daniel. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
