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“Six weeks,” Grim says quietly, reading my mind like he usually does. “Then you’ll be done with this and back in the thick of things.”
I nod. “Right.”
I walk back into the gym, and Toby’s waiting for me. He’s changed as well, ready to work out, and I feel a familiar surge of adrenaline. There was a time when I lived for this—the charge I got from using my fists. I have no doubt it was part of the way I dealt with the trauma of the things I saw in the military when I was in the Middle East, and all the lives that were lost, but that wasn’t all of it. I used to get off on how it felt to have that kind of control, both over myself and the people I fought with.
These days, I get my kicks by going after bad guys.
Like whoever it is that’s hurting the club girls.
Short-term, I’m putting that on the back burner.
“You stayed in touch with Gargoyle all these years?” Toby asks me, referring to Garth.
I shrug. “Not really. We lost touch. You?”
He shakes his head. “Nah. When I walked away, my focus was on getting healthy and opening my gym. I just wondered if…” He stops talking and looks away. “Look, I don’t want to talk shit about anyone. This exhibition is for a good cause, so I’m not trying to be a dick. I just—there’s a lot of talk.”
“About Garth?”
“He’s had money problems since his wife died. And there’s talk about…women.”
“What kind of talk?”
“I dunno.” He looks uncomfortable suddenly. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did.” I watch him. “Tell me.”
“You’re fighting Bronco. He and G used to be thick as thieves. And everything you’ve ever heard about him? Multiply it by ten.”
“What are you trying to say?”
He sets his jaw. “Just…be careful. I know you can handle yourself in a fight. I’m talking about everything else. The parties and the pressers and all of it. Bronco doesn’t play nice. Not when he was a pro, and not now.”
“Anything in particular I should look out for?”
“Be sure no one from his team gets near your towels, your water bottles, any of it.”
I frown, trying to read between the lines. “Seriously?”
“Look, maybe I’m being paranoid, but just…be careful. I’ve already said too much.”
“Then why do I feel like you’ve left out everything important?”
“No, I told you the important stuff.” His eyes meet mine, and there’s no doubt this conversation is over.
“All right. Thanks.” I make a mental note to have Luna dig up everything there is to find on Bronco.
“You ready to do this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
He grins and bumps his fist against mine.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Luna
Two days in L.A. were fun but I’m glad to be back home. I have a bunch of regular work to catch up on, and Rage wants me to do some digging on this Bronco guy that he’s going to fight. He and Grim have gone to meet with Metal and Silver to talk about what’s going on with the girls, so he drops me off and I head up to my apartment absently.
