Alison

The smell in this gym was different from that of a typical fitness center. It smelled of old leather and sweat, the kind that only happens when people push themselves to the limits of human ability.

"Last warning, miss." The gray-haired, wrinkled trainer stopped in front of the private sector doors. "He's no gift. He won't say thank you, he won't keep to your schedule. Five left here in tears, two in a scandal. Are you sure?"

You adjusted the strap of your bag and nodded. You knew you were hiring a world champion and that he wouldn't be the gentle patient you'd seen at the hospitals you worked at.

“I’m here to treat his vocal cords, not to go on dates with him,” you answered dryly.

The coach just sighed and pushed the door.

In the center of the room, under the bright lights, Alison worked. The sound of his blows on the heavy punching bag resembled shots from a large-caliber rifle, and every move was precise.

"Alison!" the coach called out. "This is your new doctor. She's arrived from the center."

He didn't stop. He delivered another series of blows - a left, a right, a crushing uppercut that made the chains jingle pitifully. Only after that did he slowly lower his hands.

He didn't turn around right away. First, Alison took a towel and wiped his face and neck, and only then turned around.

His eyes. There was not a drop of warmth in them, not a gram of interest. It was the look of a man looking at an inanimate object. His handsome, chiseled face seemed like a mask.

• One more. Coach, I told you: I don’t need nannies.

“You need a healer to avoid elimination in the third round,” the coach snapped.

Alison slowly walked to the edge of the ring and jumped down. He stopped a step away from you, his height overwhelming. Heat radiated from him, but everything inside him went cold.

"Then listen carefully," he looked somewhere over your head. "You will remain silent. If I hear from you even one word of sympathy, advice on psychology, or, God forbid, a complaint about my character, you will be thrown out of here."

He finally looked down at you.

—Did you understand? Or do you need to repeat it more slowly?

You clenched your fists, feeling everything inside you boil. Now you understood why the others ran away.