Page 58 of The Fighter

“Jesus,” he whispered.

“That’s not something for you to worry about now. We have to focus. We’re going to call Lary and give him an update on your condition. Then we wait for Chen’s call.”

Tav picked up his phone and rolled it in his hands. “Did your goon fuck up the pipes in my apartment?”

“He’s not mygoonfor fuck’s sake. His name is Nik. And yes, he did. He enjoys causing destruction very much.” Tav made a face, and I gripped his chin. “It would make me happy if you tried to get along with Nik. You don’t have to be best friends, but he’s one of mine. He’s loyal, and even though you pulled a knife on him, he’d take a bullet for you.”

Tav’s gaze held mine for a while until he finally nodded. “All right, fine.”

There was a slight pout to his tone that I let go. I pointed to his phone. “Call Lary.”

Fifteen minutes later, Lary was apprised of Tav’s worsening condition. He took it in stride, but I could hear the worry in his voice, and Tav looked sick about lying to him. But I told him this was for Lary’s safety too.

At ten p.m. exactly, Tav’s phone rang. He took a deep breath, and I saw the moment he let the Husk persona descend over him. He shifted his body away from me and answered the call on speakerphone like we discussed. “Yeah.”

“Husk.” Chen’s voice came over the line. “How’s the head?”

“It’s a bad one.” His voice held little emotion. “I’ve been throwing up. Vision is blurry.”

“How long?” Chen asked. “That fancy doc give you a note so you can go back to school?”

Fuck, I hated this guy.

“Longer than two weeks, Chen,” Tav said. His arms were wrapped around his torso as if hugging himself. I wanted to reach for him, but I didn’t. He had to work to be Husk right now, and I didn’t want to remind him of Tav. “Gonna need longer. That’s what happens when you put me up against Shock.”

“You have three.”

“Four.”

“Three and a half.”

“Four, asshole.”

Chen growled low in his throat, but it wasn’t very menacing. “You’re getting pathetic in your old age, Husk. Might have to tell Devlin we need to put you out of pasture soon.”

Tav didn’t show panic. “Four weeks.”

Chen huffed. “Fine.” There was a pause. “No one took you back to your apartment last night. So where are you, Husk?”

“Pipe burst. I’m at a hotel for now.” He rattled off the name and room number.

Chen repeated it, likely to a member of his crew.

“Can I go now? Your voice is making my head throb.”

“Oh, fuck off. Check in again same time next week.”

The call disconnected. Tav blew out a breath and dropped his head between his shoulders. “Fuck.”

I abandoned the coffee table and sat beside Tav, who immediately leaned into me, putting all his weight against my side, so that I had to brace myself, so I didn’t topple over. I carded my fingers through his hair. “You did so good.”

“So much can go wrong,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said honestly. “But I’ll do anything to make sure it goes right.Anything. Do you believe me?”

He didn’t speak for a long time, but his fingers flexed on my thigh, and he nuzzled my shoulder. Finally he lifted his gaze. “I feel a little crazy, but I do. I think I believe that maybe…” he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth before letting it go. “Maybe youcando anything.”

TWENTY-ONE