Chapter 148

**You Were My Favorite Hurt, And My Hardest Goodbye by Ava Knight**

**Chapter 148**

They were all here. Bruised, burned, and still managing to breathe.

For what felt like the first time in years, Gino allowed himself to contemplate the concept of “after.”

Not merely the next hit, nor the subsequent move on the chessboard of their chaotic lives. No, this was about something deeper—after.

His gaze darted over to Enzo, and he couldn’t help but notice how the bastard appeared a decade older, even in his unconscious state. Dark shadows loomed beneath his eyes, his jaw hung slack, and the once-commanding lines on his face seemed to have worn thin. Gino had never witnessed Enzo in such a vulnerable state—stripped down to the bare essence of humanity. It unnerved him more than anything he had ever faced.

Nearby, Nico twitched in his sleep, his fingers flexing as if he were caught in the throes of a fierce dream, perhaps reliving the fight that had shattered their world. The poor bastard had been holding himself together with nothing but duct tape and a stubborn streak of defiance ever since the explosion. Sure, he had mutant instincts, but at the end of the day, he was still flesh and blood. And blood had its limits.