Justice: A Billionaire Romance by Lauren Landish

huge looping overhand right. Using my stick I turned, letting his own momentum throw him over my hip before falling to the pavement hard. He could have been stunned, but I didn't want to give him a chance, and nailed him in the top of the head with my stick. The stick was designed so that an actual killing blow is very difficult in one shot, but a knockout isn't. Still, the guy tried to get up, so I hit him again, this time in the back of the neck near the base of the skull, dropping him.
    I didn't know if he was knocked out or possibly killed, but I couldn't waste time checking. His partner attacked again, this time with a punch that I blocked, but a sharp flare of pain went through me as it did. Somehow, someway, my shoulder had just been dislocated. Groaning, I kicked out, playing dirty. Sure, it's not the most warrior-like of maneuvers, but everyone drops from a kick to the balls, especially when it's enhanced by my suit which would let me kick hundred yard field goals if I wanted.
    He dropped as well, and I staggered off. I heard more footsteps approaching from out of the darkness, and I decided discretion was the better part of valor. My chest hurt like hell, my left shoulder was on fire, and I didn't know what the hell was going on. So I did what I had to do, and ran.
    Sophie held her tongue until I was at least a little ways away. "Report."
    That's something about Sophie that I can appreciate. She'll joke and smile, allow a bit more of my personality than Mark or Dad does on coms, but when things are tense, she's all business. She'd heard at least some of what had gone down, and knew I was in trouble. "Two unarmed attackers, I disabled them both. Retreating, more coming, don't know how many."
    "Do you need backup?" She asked. I knew Mark would make his own decision, but I didn't want him there. Not with as fast as those guys moved.
    “No. I’ll need medical treatment when I get home."
    “What kind of injuries?"
    "Dislocated shoulder, maybe bruised some ribs," I said. Fire coursed through my chest, and I thought that perhaps I had a bit more than just some bruising to my ribs, but if I told Sophie or Mark over the line that I'd possibly fractured something, he'd be on the road before I could tell him not to. "I can ride."
    "We'll be ready when you get home."

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    O ne of the reasons that the gym portion of Mount Zion takes up so much space is that, in addition to the weight training equipment, martial arts equipment, and gymnastics equipment that each demand their own space, but a third of the building, not visible to anyone who might come by and be invited into the facility, was a condensed medical clinic. Sophie had continued with her medical training as the years went on, and had even gotten Mom to become a pretty decent ad-hoc assistant when shit really hit the fan. By the time I got back, steering my motorcycle half drunkenly due to the pain in my shoulder, the two of them had the clinic ready to go. Mom's eyes were filled with worry, but she was a lot more composed than she had been the first time she saw Dad with a bullet hole, at least according to her story.
    "Sweetie," Mom said before getting control of herself. "All right, let's get that suit off."
    I felt strange, letting my own mother help me off with my clothes. I hadn't needed Mom's help with my clothes since I was about four, but there was no way I could lift my arm up above my head to get my outfit off. Thankfully, the sleeves had zips that ran down the inside of the elbow for just this sort of incident. Mark planned for a lot of contingencies. After unzipping up my torso and along the underside of my arms, the front half peeled off while the back half sagged down, exposing me to the waist. "Glad I don't have a suit like Andi," I said, shivering in the air conditioned chill. "That one-piece body suit wouldn’t be good in a time like this."
    Mom and Sophie said nothing, easing me up against a diagnostic panel. Using a couple of blind drop