her heart, she knew the real answer. A male who had no choice. One who was being gouged by those who could demand anything they wanted and his only choice was to pay or be alone. “I can’t believe you agreed to that.”
“I would gladly pay that and more for you, Felicia.”
She snorted at his sweet words. “That’s the stralen in you talking.”
“I wasn’t stralen when I signed the agreement.” He tucked the pillow behind her. “So how much do you need to buy out your contract?”
“A little over half a million.”
He sucked his breath in sharply. “How soon do you need it?”
“Fifteen days.”
Cursing, he winced. “I have three hundred and fifty left in a savings account.”
She gaped at that amount. “How? Officers don’t make that kind of money.”
“I had to prove to the agency that I could afford you and their fees. So I contracted for fights I’d have normally passed on, and put the up-front prepayments into savings, investments, and this condo.”
She felt sick as she realized what he’d been willing to do for her. “That’s the real reason you’re going against Death Warrant?”
He nodded. “And Iceman. Steel Jaw. The Mountain. Slayer.”
“Five fights?”
“Six, counting the one I already fought.”
“Talyn!”
“What? It’s what I had to do to get that kind of cred. For death-styled title matches, I get eighty-five thousand a fight, plus another twenty if I win. Normally I only get fifteen with a five-thousand win bonus.”
She fell silent as she did the math in her head. “So what you’re telling me is that in a death match, out of every two-hundred credit ticket they sell, you barely make four credits?”
“Three and two bits, after locker and cleaning fees. Then after I pay Erix and Ferrick, I clear just under a single credit. After taxes, I make half a cred.”
For putting his life and health on the line.
She couldn’t believe it. Shelf-stockers earned more. “Yet you’re the reason they sell out every fight?”
He nibbled at her salad with a nonchalance that made her want to beat him. “I used to make only three percent of that in the Open league. And I made fifty thousand less a fight before I won the Vested Championship. I’m very happy with what they pay me now. Trust me. I’m the highest-paid fighter in Ring history.”
Great. Not what she wanted to hear.
“It’s still not fair.”
Talyn didn’t comment on that as he swallowed a bite of food. “If I agree to four more title fights in the next six months, we’d have what you need to buy back the contract.”
She gaped at him and what he was willing to do.
For her. But she wasn’t so sure she wanted him to make that sacrifice. “Talyn, I can’t do that to you. I’m sick over what you’ve already agreed to. I don’t want to be the reason you’re beaten to a senseless pulp.”
“I’m senseless without the beatings,” he said teasingly. “Besides, I’m the reason they’re doing this to you. I can get an up-front loan from Ferrick until we contract the other fights. You can pay off your contract at the first of the week. Then you’re a total civ and your agency can’t touch you.”
That was all well and good, except for one thing. “You’ll be broke.”
“I don’t need anything, Felicia. My uniforms and military room and board come out of my pay already. I bought my airbike free and clear. Because I’m a champion, the gym supplies me with training equipment and time for free. The only thing I ever spend credit on is lunch, and I can eat in the mess hall. I don’t have to go out. And since my rank’s busted, I don’t have to carry flight insurance anymore to cover the cost of my ship in case I crash it. That’s an extra three hundred creds a month I get to keep now.”
He made it all sound so feasible and easy. Yet she knew it wasn’t. “I can’t ask you to do this for me.”
“Felicia, I’d have had to pay it anyway, if you’d contracted with me after our probation period.”
“But I didn’t know that before this.”
He took her hand and led it to his heart. “Munatara a la frah. If I had one wish, it would be to have a name and lineage to give you. But the gods didn’t grant me that. All I have to offer you is my heart and loyalty. Besides, if we were married, all I have would be yours, anyway. So take