“Maddie, sweetheart, you’re the smartest person I know. Use your head. Do you really think the fight Petrov forced him to take would have been a clean fight? I highly doubt an underground fighting ring run by the mafia would have been safe. Those kinds of places only have one rule: kill or be killed." I opened my mouth to respond, but she kept going. "That boy—hardheaded jackass that he is—was willing to risk his life to keep you safe." She paused and took another sip of tea. "If that isn't love then I don't know what is."
