"That's the job."
"You weigh two thirty."
"Two twenty-six."
"Whatever. If you pass out on me I'm dragging you by the collar and your head is going to hit every stair."
"Wouldn't expect anything less."
He grunted and went back to the gym. Ten minutes later the sound of his fists hitting the bag changed tempo and got faster, which meant he was running scenarios in his head while he punched, which meant he had already committed.
That was the thing about Raphael. He complained the way other people breathed and he fought the way other people prayed, and when you gave him a job that required more heart than sense he transformed from an angry teenager into something that reminded me of the old enforcers back in Kaelen's world. The ones who stayed not because they were paid well but because they had decided the boss was their boss and that decision sat deeper than bone.
