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"This?" he said and shrugged. "This is nothing. You should see the other guy."
"You beat someone up?"
"Yeah," Hunter replied, amusement in his voice. "Just a bad guy. Name's Stepan. You might know of him."
My eyes widened at that. "You beat up Stepan? The Stepan who beat up Graham?"
"The very one." He said, his blue eyes hooded. "There are some photos on my cell in my pocket."
I shook my head. "You fought some guy and took pictures?" My mouth was open, wide. "I don't want to see them."
"Indulge me. Get my phone for me."
I sighed and checked in his inside jacket pocket, which had been thrown onto the back of a chair. I took out his cell and handed it to him. He unlocked it and opened his image folder, then scrolled through some images. Finally, he held one up for me.
I glanced at it carefully, afraid of what I'd see.
Sure enough, it was the face of a man I didn’t know but who looked very much like Graham had when I’d first seen him in the ER—eyes black and swollen shut, nose bloody.
"You did that?"
He glanced back at it and nodded, saying nothing for a moment. Then he took in a deep breath.
"Yes," he said and turned off his cell, placing the phone on the counter. "I gave him what he gave Graham. A good beating. He's in the hospital now. I called the ambulance before I left the back alley behind his apartment."
A shock went through me. He beat up Stepan? Left him in the back alley?
That's what Stepan had done to Graham. It was then that I realized how dangerous Hunter had become. He was willing to exact revenge against Graham's attacker. An eye for an eye…
"Isn’t that a big risk? Won't his boss come after you? I thought he was a Russian. You said you don't mess with the Russians…"
Hunter glanced at me and shook his head. "I don't mess with the Russians," he said, his voice sounding tired. "I had Victor's permission. We're good buddies now, Celia. Didn't you know that? I thought for sure Spencer would have filled you in on all the gory details."
I said nothing in rep
ly. I did know it, only too well. Spencer relished the chance to tell me all about Hunter. He reminded me every chance he got.
I looked at Hunter's cheek. "You've got a cut there," I said. It was open and oozing blood. It wasn't too serious but it needed attention. "You might need stitches."
"Nah, it's nothing. You can fix it." Hunter shrugged like having me administer to his cuts was a normal thing. "There are some steristrips in the kit. I've had worse than this. No need for stitches."
"Whatever you say," I replied and removed a bottle of peroxide and some cotton swabs. Then, I proceeded to tend to Hunter's cut cheek, and the abrasions on his knuckles. It wasn't what I had thought would happen to me that night—nursing an injured Hunter.
"So, Stepan's boss just said okay? Beat my guy up?" I asked as I wiped peroxide on his cheek to clean up the blood.
He shrugged. "He was fine with it. He and my uncle go back a long way. He was pretty generous—especially after I paid off Graham's debt."
I felt my cheeks heat at that. "Thank you," I said softly. "I can't thank you enough."
"Oh yes you can. I expect a lot of thank yous from you, Celia. A lot."
My face grew even hotter at that. "You're really going to make me have sex with you in repayment?"
"That's a rhetorical question, right?" he replied with the smallest quirk of his mouth, obviously enjoying himself at my expense.
Then he frowned. "I haven't decided what I expect from you, or what I'm going to make you do in repayment," he said, his voice suddenly thick, deep. "The jury is still out, counsellor. You'll find out. Don't worry about it."
"Then why am I here?" I asked. I met his eyes, and felt a surge of desire race through my body. God, he was still so damn gorgeous. His blue, blue eyes, thick eyelashes. Dark hair, now long and tucked behind his ears. Chiseled jaw with just the right amount of scruff. And his buff body so close to mine…
