We’ve crossed paths a few times since we move in the same circles. I made the mistake of flirting with her the first time we met, which did not go down well. She threatened to cut my balls off and force me to eat them.
Thankfully, her husband wasn’t within earshot, and eventually, we laughed about it. These days, my family and hers are respectful of each other. It would be suicide to get on the wrong side of the Russian bastard, and I’m not an idiot.
But I still want to beat him in the ring.
It’s personal now.
A matter of pride.
“You’re fucking insane, you know that, right?” Kane grumbles from my left. “He’ll annihilate you.”
“Thank you for your support. It means a lot to me.” I roll my eyes, but he shrugs. Unrepentant.
“Just telling it like it is. The fucker’s a killing machine.” Then he leans in to make sure I don’t miss what he says next. “If he kills you, I’ll make sure your lovely wife is well taken care of.” Before I can tear his head off the bell rings, and I have no choice but to step away from my traitorous best friend.
“I’m impressed,mudak,” the Russian taunts as we circle each other. “Didn’t think you’d come back for more after last time.”
Kane’s mocking voice reverberates around my skull, distracting me, which is a huge fucking mistake. Kyril’s first punch nearly lands, missing me by mere millimeters.
He laughs. “Maybe you’re not so fucking useless after all.”
The crowd roars, every bastard in here eager for bloodshed. I usually win my fights, as does the Russian, so the sight of us together in the ring has seen significant sums change hands.
Tim Remington is here. That slimy fucker would never miss an opportunity to make some money at my expense because he’ll expect the Russian to win.
The cunt probably will, in all fairness, but I won’t make it fucking easy for him.
My first punch goes wide, but my second lands. He barely notices. We dance around each other while his guy yells profanities at me, calling me everything from a pussy to a snake.
I know he’s doing it to distract me, but my focus is on Kyril. A fist slams into my jaw, clouding my vision, but I shake my head and swerve to avoid the follow-up jab.
We scuffle against the ropes while his wife yells at him to hurry the fuck up because she’s hungry. It’s enough to distract him for a microsecond, letting me land a punch on his ribs. From the small wince, he must have sustained damage in his previous fight.
I can capitalize on that.
The fucker has a concrete jaw, but if he’s fighting with a cracked rib, he might tap out rather than risk a punctured lung. It’s a stupid plan but all I’ve got.
We both go in for the kill. He wants a knockout so he can go feedhiswife, and I’m looking to avoid dying so Kane can’t havemywife.
The only silver lining in that scenario is that she hates him more than she hates me, so I can’t see him living long if anything happens to me.
“Tap out,mudak,” Kyril grunts. I spit blood out and drive my fist into his cracked rib. He grimaces but otherwise shows no reaction. Is this fucker a machine? A shady cyborg in a meat suit?
No wonder he never fucking loses. The bastard doesn’t seem to register pain like a normal person.
My left eye is so swollen I can barely see, and I low-key suspect I have a concussion, but I drive a second punch into his rib and hook his leg from under him. We both go down in a pile of sweaty, blood-soaked limbs while the crowd roars.
They’re looking for nothing less than a total knockout.
“You’ve leveled up,mudak,” Kyril says with a snarl. The pinch between his eyes says he’s in pain. I smirk while trying not to vomit when he hits my temple. If I survive this, I may need a brain scan.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” a female huffs as she jumps into the ring. The ref yells at her, but she ignores him. Before I can react, the bitch has me in a chokehold while resting her knee on her husband’s neck.
“Which bit of ‘I’m hungry’ did you not hear?” She glares at Kyril, and his eyes turn molten. To my surprise, instead of losing his shit like most men would, he taps out.
Thea’s arm tightens on my neck, and my vision fades. There’s no way out of this chokehold, so I tap out too.
The crowd falls deathly silent. None of them were expecting a woman to take out the two of us. Then the paralysis breaks as a guy bursts out laughing.
