Relief crashed through me so hard my knees almost gave out.
Then I saw Rafael.
He stepped out of the smoke, composed and calm, wearing a dark suit like he was attending a business meeting instead of orchestrating a massacre.
Our eyes met across the chaos.
Rage burned through the exhaustion. I moved toward him without thinking or planning, just fury and betrayal driving me forward.
He saw me coming and smiled, actually fucking smiled.
I threw a haymaker that would have taken his head off if it had landed. He slipped it and countered with a precise shot to my already damaged ribs.
The pain was total and made me gasp. It made my vision white out for a second.
He followed with a kick to my knee. I stumbled and caught myself on a broken chair.
“Declan.” His voice was conversational, like we were catching up over coffee. “You look terrible. Congratulations on the title though. Well deserved.”
“Fuck you.” I lunged at him again and got my hands on his jacket.
He drove his palm into my nose. I heard the crack and felt blood pour down my face. My grip loosened.
He stepped back and adjusted his jacket. “This was never about you, you know. You were just useful. A way to get close. To understand the patterns. To identify the vulnerabilities.”
“You used me.”
“I used your trust. There's a difference.” He circled me and read my damaged body, calculating. “But I did like you, Declan. I genuinely did. You're a good man, loyal and steady, exactly the person Luka surrounds himself with because he knows loyalty is his greatest weapon.”
“Stop talking.” I moved toward him slower now. My body was betraying me with every step.
“I'm explaining because you deserve to understand what tonight was really about.” Rafael's expression shifted and went colder. “This was never just about killing Troy. It was about proving to Luka that attachment makes him weak. That caring about people gives them power over him. That everything he's built can be dismantled by threatening the right person.”
“You're insane.”
“I'm strategic.” He smiled again. “And tonight I prove my point because Luka is about to watch Troy disappear and watch everything he thought was secure fall apart. All because he made the mistake of caring.”
He pulled something from his pocket, a small device that looked like a phone.
Understanding hit me too late.
“Troy!” I screamed. “Get down!”
The explosion tore through the west side of the arena. The sound was deafening. The shockwave knocked me off my feet.
I hit the ground hard. My head cracked against concrete. Everything went distant and muffled.
Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Rafael giving orders. “Take Troy Donnelly alive. Kill anyone who gets in your way.”
I tried to get up. My body wouldn't respond and just lay there useless while the world burned.
Then I saw him. Troy was fighting his way toward me through the smoke and fire. His face was bloody. His eyes were wild.
“Declan!” He reached me with his hands on my face. “Declan, stay with me.”
“I'm okay.” The words came out slurred. “I'm?—”
Armed men converged on us with four of them, too many for Troy to handle alone even if he was fresh.
