Page 152 of Graves

“Okay. I can do that.”

“It won’t always be easy, but the fact that you’re here tells me there’s a lot of strength in you. You’re not alone, and we’ll work together to make things better.”

The emotional exhaustion I carried into the practice has vanished by the time I leave. I can’t quite explain it, but this first session has left me motivated and genuinely hopeful that this time I can make it work.

It can’t be impossible to break free from Luke. And so far, Aran was right—no police have shown up to arrest me.

The weekly assignment earns only a faint smile from me. Finding things that bring me joy has never been hard, despite everything.

I have my training bag with me, and the gym is only a few blocks away. Fifteen minutes later, I push open the door and the familiar smell of sweat hits me.

“Where the hell have you been?” Levi shouts down from the gallery.

Olena steps out from behind the reception desk and gives me a hug. “Good to see you, brother. How are you?”

“Hey, Olena.” I kiss her cheek. “I’m okay. You?”

“Same old, same old.”

Meanwhile, Levi storms down the metal stairs, passes the ring, and marches straight toward me. He’s furious—I can tell by his narrowed eyes and clenched jaw.

Olena steps aside just as Levi shoves me hard in the chest.

“What the fuck were you thinking? You ignore my calls for days, and this morning Mom tells me you stayed at her place last night. I was two seconds away from kidnapping your rockstar and torturing him to find out where you were! And all this while Dad—”

“You were at Mom’s?” Olena asks.

“Yeah. I spoke to Dad this morning. Everything’s fine.”

“Is it true you’re moving into the empty apartment in Kosta’s building?” Olena wants to know.

“Hey!” Levi throws his arms up. “Are you two seriously ignoring me?”

Olena rests a soothing hand on Levi’s bicep. “He’s here now,” she says. “Everyone needs a break from you sometimes.”

“No.” Levi crosses his arms and blocks my path. “There’s more to this. What happened? Even Mom was being secretive. I want to know. Was it that rockstar? What did he do to you?”

“Stop,” I say, walking past him.

My little brother—who’s acting like the older one again—follows me into the changing room and doesn’t take his eyes off me while I change.

I peel off my shirt and reach for a training one when Levi grabs my arm.

“You cut again!” he blurts out. “Goddammit, Aniki!”

I wrangle my arm free and slip on a white T-shirt. “Some things happened,” I admit quietly. “But it’s okay now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I was right. It was serious.”

I close the locker and turn to him. He’s standing there glaring at me like an angry shepherd dog that won’t stop barking until everything is back in order.

“Fine, it had something to do with Luke. But—”

“I knew it! That piece of shit! What did he do?”

“Let it go. Okay?”

“Have you finally dumped him and you’re coming back to the family business? We need you, Aniki. The Japs want to make deals and they specifically want you at the table. Damian and Nikos are useless in these negotiations, and as for Kosta… no idea what’s going on with him.”