“Son of a…” The Nav growled, lunging forward to Drew, expecting him to move, but this time Drew stayed firmly in place, unmoving as the Nav walked straight into the hard, well-placed uppercut Drew planted under his jaw, sending the Nav’s teeth rattling and his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
Drew wasted no time in throwing a sharp right hook across the guy’s jaw, the sound of flesh breaking bone enough to make everyone around me wince and cry out in anger and excitement.
The giant stumbled and Drew attacked. Three hits to the guy’s chest barely making him breathe heavy before Drew ducked under a weak attempt at retaliation, only to land ahard hook directly into the Nav’s groin.
He was history. He fell, and Drew didn’t stop. He wanted blood, and he was getting it as The Nav rolled around on the ground, unable to dodge anything Drew rained down on him. Within seconds, The Nav was on his back, and Drew was smashing his fists into his face for fun, blood flying back up and spraying his face.
Just when I thought it was over, and Drew stood upright over him, Drew did the unthinkable, and stomped his boot hard onto The Nav’s face, not even looking down on the man whose bones he’d just crushed beneath his sole before he stepped off of him and walked over to Trigger, his breaths ragged.
“Deeks goes next,” he rasped.
My eyes flashed up to where Moose was standing. The Nav that had been standing as close as his shadow had backed off, but Moose stayed where he was, his eyes moving to Deeks as mine did. Loyal as ever, his men were staying where they were. They were never going to leave Drew behind. My heart swelled, even though I knew it hurt every one of them to know that Drew was going to keep doing this in their stead.
Travis nodded his agreement, and the rowdy crowd stirred.
Another Nav entered the weird, makeshift ring we were all a part of—this man much smaller, but somewhat faster on his feet. Drew assessed him as he approached, taking in everything about him before the fight began. The younger Nav was cocky and clearly pissed off that the man before him had done such a shit job. He was handy with his legs, too, more like a specialist of martial arts than a boxer. His leg was the first thing to swing out, lashing out high to reach Drew’s jaw in a surprise move, but Drew seemed somewhat ready for it, and his hand flew out, stopping the foot in its tracks with a hard thud before he grabbed the guy’s ankle with his free hand, turned to the side and flipped him over onto the ground. Thefight lasted all of thirty seconds before the guy’s face hit the hard, concrete floor with a bloody crack, and he passed out, his foot still in Drew’s grip.
Drew simply looked at Trigger and raised a brow, holding eye contact before he eventually let the guy’s leg fall, and he pointed to The Hounds.
“My brother Kenny goes next.”
This whole thing was like nothing I could have ever prepared myself for. The smell of sweat and the tangy coppery scent of the blood already spilled was almost surreal. My fear and anger were two separate beasts that battled inside of me for dominance. I felt helpless. There was nothing I could to stop this from happening.
One guy was dragged away, another replaced for Drew to face.
He’d yet to look over and see that the men he’d already fought for were refusing to leave.
Drew fought on. A fighter around the same size and weight as him entered the ring, eager and ready to charge.
Drew dodged the first punch, swinging under it only to mistime the way the guy swung back, his opponent shocking him with a Southpaw surprise, sending Drew’s jaw the other way with a mighty crack.
The whole room hissed and held their breath. It was the first shot to land on Drew’s body, and the fighter he was facing made it count. When Drew regained his footing, he ran a bare-knuckle over the corner of his mouth, a slight curl to his lip making it look like was smiling when he looked back up at the man he was facing.
That blood was a reminder for him to not get complacent and Drew charged forward, his biceps tense and bursting at the seams. He threw a sharp left himself—telling the world he was ready to fight to the death.
This round was much more even, a couple more shotshitting Drew hard in the stomach, turning his tanned skin raw and red, but no matter how much of a good fighter that Nav turned out to be, he wasn’t a true match for Drew—the man who’d been taught how to survive using his fists by Pete.
The Nav crashed to his knees suddenly, his nose bloody and his body weak, and Drew brought his own knee up under the guy’s chin, sending him backward at once. His descent to the concrete floor seemed to happen in slow motion before all eyes turned back to Drew.
For the first time, he was bloody, and now the game had changed.
He spat a mouthful of blood to the side, refusing to look at me when he pointed to his brothers and croaked roughly, “Ben.”
And off he went again. Another man. Another fight. Another round of pure, agonizing torture for him and for the rest of us.
No matter how strong he was, he was only human, too. Fatigue was setting in, and I could tell by the groans and the growls of frustration he was letting slip free that he was finding it harder as time went on. This Nav came out with brass knuckles on his right hand, and Drew’s eyes widened as he took it in.
“Come on, fucker,” his opponent taunted sadistically, and Drew froze, his brows rising high.
“What did you just call me?” he whispered.
The man sneered, smug and arrogant, waving his clenched fist back and forth as a promise of destruction. “Fucker.”
The corner of Drew’s mouth twitched in amusement. He lunged forward, not throwing a punch, instead stepping into The Nav’s personal space, grabbing his wrist, and bending that wrist back with a hard snap until all that could be heard around the warehouse was the high-pitched screams of what sounded like a dying cat.
“My fucking wrist! It’s broken!” the Nav wailed, dropping to his knees as his face turned purple.
Drew didn’t even look at him. He paced in a circle, his chin to his chest and his eyes cast down, that jaw of his that I’d kissed so many times now unapproachable as it clenched and twitched to keep him under control.
