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PROLOGUE
HIS head hurt like a motherfucker
He couldn’t see a da in this dark alley
Why the hell hadn’t she come to the door yet?
He smacked his helmet into the steel three more times
Please, baby, just let me in
No lights ca
But he couldn’t hear anything above the pain screa in his head
He rested his shoulders on the brick building When he put his pal, his fingers came aet
What the hell?
Why the fk was he bleeding?
The steel door squeaked and opened only far enough so she could peer out Playing it safe Good girl
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me”
“Ronin? What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you”
“At two in the ?”
“Yes Please Let me in” As soon as she opened the door, Ronin stumbled inside and his helmet bounced across the concrete floor
She dove for him when he swayed Soainst the wall She gasped softly “Your face What happened?”
He sed the bile crawling up his throat He dropped to his knees and hissed at the excruciating pain before he plopped onto the floor with a juddering thump
“Ronin?” She crouched beside hi”
“I have Being beaten down has been my natural state since you walked out on me”
His response jarred her into silence
So he kept talking “The fightrattled my brain”
“You were in a fight tonight? A real fight?”
“Yeah”
“Can I ask why?”
“Needed to numb the pain” He winced when he tried to shift positions “But then I couldn’t remember”
“What? Why you came here?”