Diego's POV
The pain lingered long after it should have gone, and I hated it. It sat low beneath my ribs, sharp and persistent, like a blade that refused to be pulled free. No matter how hard I tried to yank the pain out, it only felt like it was nudging deeper and deeper into my skin. I pressed my palm against the desk and pushed myself upright, breathing slow, deliberate. Sweat slicked the back of my neck, and I could still taste the metallic tang of it in my mouth.
The memory of what had just happened threatened to suffocate me, but I pushed it aside immediately, and with all my might too. It was one thing to have experienced that, not I wasn't going to put myself through the torture of reliving that one more time.
Without thinking, or before I could second guess myself, I reached
