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He could feel her silent sobs, a gut-wrenching sadness Drago had never seen her cry He spun her around and cupped her face in his hands As soon as she blinked, the tears slid down her cheeks

“I can’t let them have her,” she whispered Her lips were swollen Even with all the blood and bruises, she was still thehe’d ever seen

“I’o, Belle I’ht”

“How?” There was a pleading quality in her eyes, a fragile innocence under the tough exterior

“I’ve been in this world long before you That’s all you need to know” He ran a hand through her hair, unable to stop staring HowBelle in his ar while you’re in this shape You need time to heal” He reached down and lifted one of her wrists between the the white tape The condo was impossibly quiet, as if they were in the vacuum of space They both watched as he carefully worked the tape off

“I don’t care about me”

“Well, I do I’et you cleaned up, and then you can rest It’s safe here”

Her breathing started to pick up again, and she took a step back “No, I have to fix this now, have to find out if I can get a rematch”

He wasn’t going to huainst Deadman?”

“Yes!” Her e, the next barely the shell of a woman

“I’ve had enough of you, little miss I’d throw you over my shoulder, but I don’t want to hurt you more than you already are For once in your life, let someone else help you Let me help you”

“And what do you want in return, Drago? Nothing’s free”

That pissed him off

But she was right He wanted so But he’d never demand payment

Chapter Three

Drago didn’t deserve the way she was speaking to hi like she should She gritted her teeth as she stared at hi her aware of her own failure Ignoring pain was one of the reasons her father put her into the fights at such a young age He noticed she didn’t think about it, ignored it, and kept on fighting through it

To make hiain, taking hit after hit until her opponent became weak That’s when she’d strike