Page 218 of The Monster and the Masochist

Svetlana gave me a curt nod before getting heavily to her feet.

“For now. Until rat man is gone.” She turned to Theo. “If enemies do not kill you, we can still have fight? As I say… you are good fighter. Good opponent.”

Theo chuckled softly, but her cheeks turned pink at the compliment.

“I, uh… This was actually going to be my last fight. I’m retiring.”

Svetlana frowned, eyeing Theo up and down as if the idea of Theo quitting was just as disturbing as letting the ‘rat man’ kill her.

“That is too bad. If change mind, call me.” She held out her hand to Theo, and I watched the two fighters shake amicably.

“Good luck with rat problem.” She winked at my wife before making her way out of the office and disappearing down the hall.

“Well. That… was unexpected,” Theo said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “So I guess the fight’s off?”

Jerry nodded, shrugging gruffly.

“Guess so, kid. How you feelin’ about that?”

Cal twisted in his seat, and we all looked at Theo, waiting to see what she would say.

She took a moment to think, but after a beat, a huge smile spread across her face.

“Honestly? Pretty fucking good. I was seriously thinking about calling the whole thing off anyway… so this… works out, I guess.”

I did my best to hide my surprise, but I don’t think I was very successful. Theo chuckled at how stunned I must have looked.

“You’re… really done with this place?” I asked hesitantly, and Theo nodded. To my delight, she didn’t seem unsure or on the fence at all. If anything, she looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“Yeah, princess. I’m done… I have other plans, actually. I have some ideas. I wanna run by you later if you’re down to help me figure some stuff out.”

“Of course, baby,” I whispered, feeling my throat close up with emotion at how hopeful she looked. “I always have time to help you.”

Theo beamed. She leaned in to kiss me, and I swooned a little at the warm press of her soft lips against mine.

“Yeah, so, this is super cute and romantic, and I’m glad you two finally got your shit all figured out… but we still have a problem,” Cal said impatiently. “Some dude clearly has it out for Theo! Once he realizes the Russian isn’t going to take the hit, he’ll find another way to get rid of her. We need to take him out!”

I grinned and planted one more kiss on my wife’s cheek before shooting my brother a devious look.

“Don’t worry, little brother. I have a feeling we won’t need to worry about him for much longer.”

Jerry and I packed up most of our shit, considering there wasn’t much reason for either of us to ever come back to this arena again. Happily, his lease on the office was nearly up for renewal. When I offered to cover his last payment, he scoffed and brushed me off.

“Don’t be ridiculous, kid. You’re gonna need yer money if yer taking an extended vacation.”

I grinned to myself as I cleared out some old forgotten racer backs from the back of my locker.

He was right. I was going to need all the money I’d been hoarding over the years, but not because I planned on taking a vacation. I had much bigger plans for my savings, and I couldn’t wait to tell Cass all about them when we got home.

Though she’d been pretty engrossed in her phone for the last hour, and she and Cal had been whispering to each other a lot. I had a weird feeling they were up to something, but every time I asked what they were talking about, Cass told me to stop pestering her or I would ruin my ‘surprise’.

I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of her, but Cal looked so excited he might literally burst. It wouldn’t take much to get him to spill if I really put my mind to it. So, when Cass informed me that she had some ‘work to do,’ I wasn’t surprised when Cal jumped at the chance to invite me to come chill with him at Fairview.

Slinging my now overly stuffed gym bag over my shoulder, I narrowed my eyes at my wife.

“Why do I feel like I’m being managed right now?”

“Because you are.” She smirked, leaning in to rub the tip of her nose against mine.