My temper is a low simmering pot that I can ignore most of the time, but Tommaso’s smug face at the entrance of the arena makes my blood feel like fire in my veins.
Not to mention…the ache in my belly. Hunger. Need. Desire. I want to feel his body close to mine. Skin against skin. Blood against blood. This is the only way I can get that. This is the way.
Lucas knows there’s something brewing between us. This fight might just convince him that I’m willing to go all the way to take down the Dresvanni.
But am I really willing to kill Tommaso?
I don’t know.
What I do know is no one else is going to get the chance.
I make my way through the crowd and over to Tiger who looks at me with a bored expression. I don’t have money in my hands, and therefore he’s not interested.
“I need you to let me in the ring,” I tell him.
He eyes me head to toe. “Why should I do that? I’ve got a perfectly good fighter ready.”
I step closer to him and look deep into his eyes, my jaw set.
“Because if anyone is going to kill Tommaso Dresvanni, it’s going to be me.”
7
TOMMASO
It’s a dumb idea. It’s ridiculous, but I’ve done it before. My blood is already pumping through my veins and I’m ready to fight whoever is thrown at me. From what I know, it’s a 6’3” German man who has won three fights in a row. I don’t have any doubt that it’ll be a good fight, but I know I’ll win. I always do.
When Alessio told me I needed to find Aleksandr and get more information out of him, I didn’t expect much out of the night. Until I found out he was here.
The underground fight ring where only one comes out alive.
It didn’t take much to convince Tiger to let me fight the recent male champion. After all, he knows I make for an entertaining time. The place is unaffiliated, but he knows how much money my family brings in to every business in the country, not just in Tessari.
When they finally let me into the arena, a five-by-four-feet circular cage made of wire and steel, I suck in a deep breath of the stink of old and new blood, the sweat ingrained on the concrete, and the pheromones of an overly excited crowd.
I put my arms up and play to the crowd. They cheer my name. They’ve watched me in here before, and the ones with thehighest bets always cheer the loudest. I wonder just how much money has been put on my name tonight…
With a grin, I stand in the far corner of the arena and wait for my opponent to be brought in.
I’m expecting someone much bigger than the man who comes walking slowly into the ring in his black jeans and dark sweater.
Aleksandr.
The confusion on my face is mirrored in his icy eyes as he walks over to me.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I ask him in a whisper.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he mutters, his Russian accent returned. It makes my spine melt and I have to straighten my shoulders in order to steady myself.
He doesn’t step any closer than three feet from me, as those are the rules before the fight starts. So, I can’t ask him anything else. All I can do is stare at him in bewilderment.
Aleksandr is not the man I expected to be fighting tonight. Killing tonight.
In fact, I didn’t imagine killing him at any point, but frankly I’m starting to.
I huff and my hands ball into fists. Whatever he’s doing in here, it can’t be good. It has to be something to do with the Bianchi family. He wouldn’t just put himself in this cage for no reason.
Would he?
