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And?
“And La Roux flipped out when he realized he was caught. I didn’t have my gun in my reach. He nearly strangled me to death. He bruised a few of my ribs, and my face and throat were a mess.”
Dixon’s mouth hung open. That’s why you want to learn to fight.
“That’s why I must learn how to fight. I should have paid more attention during hand-to-hand training. Reaper almost killed me. La Roux nearly killed me. The person who vandalized my Firefly last month tried to kill me. Now the mole has taken their turn. Twice.” Lila rubbed her eyes. “Dixon, I’m tired of people putting their hands on me. I don’t have a dozen militia backing me up anymore. I don’t always have a tranq at my hip. I can’t always sprint away.”
You’ll always have me.
“You won’t always be there either. What’s wrong with me, Dixon? I took La Roux home that night because I thought he might be the Baron, but I’d already been interested. Out of all the senators in that ballroom, I chose the murderer.”
Tristan isn’t a murderer.
“No, but an hour ago, he claimed to have feelings for me. He kissed me,” she said, not willing to confess more. “Now he and his lover—”
He’s being an ass.
“Is he? I told him months ago that we weren’t right for one another. Katia is, though. They’re the same. He’s better off with her, and happier, too. Instead of accepting that, instead of getting over it and being the bigger person, I can’t stop wallowing.”
He’s not supposed to be with her.
“Why not?”
Because if he was supposed to be with her, they would have been together years ago.
“Then, by your logic, if Tristan and I were right for one another, we would never have broken up. Sometimes people aren’t right for another. They break up and become lovers once more after time has passed, after they’ve grown as people. Perhaps Tristan and Katia needed that time.”
Dixon shook his head.
“I can be your friend without being Tristan’s, you know. He and I were never really friends, anyway. Relationships aren’t supposed to be so hard.”
The thumps started again in the other room.
Dixon gritted his teeth, looking at the wall once more. Don’t get involved with Nico just to get over Tristan. He’s not right for you.
“I don’t have feelings for Nico, Dixon. Even if I did, I just can’t go there right now. I don’t think I want anything to do with men for a while.”
The moment she said it, she knew the truth of it. She needed to get a handle on her feelings. All of them.
You switching teams, then? Blair has a few hot cousins. I saw pictures.
Lila rolled her eyes and shoved him.
Dixon cackled over the moans coming from next door. The thumps died away, replaced with the creaks of two people falling into bed in frustration.
Lila and Dixon eyed the wall, grins locked on their faces.
For the first time, Katia and Tristan went to bed early.
Chapter 22
Lila rolled onto her stomach and turned her nose away from the dingy gray mat. It smelled of sweat and unwashed bodies and a bit like blood. She lifted herself with damp palms and got to her feet for the hundredth time, glad that Connell wasn’t around to toss her out. Dixon had taken her to one of the shop’s basement training rooms that morning, the floor carpeted with thick mats for sparring. He had even locked the door from the inside so that she could remove her hood while they worked.
He hopped now in the center, barely tired or sore. Then again, he hadn’t spent much time being thrown onto the mats.
Lila had begun to hate the man.
