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I quickly learned just how loudly a bone can crack. My first cast stayed for four weeks before it was replaced with another, this time on the other hand.

Vasily was making me strong as he said it.

I was called names like ‘blue and purple’ in school, because of the bruises I’d get but seemingly nobody really paid attention to it. Only the kids noticed and that too to make fun of me.

I wasn’t surprised anymore, not by the beatings or the teasing. Pain had become ordinary when it was the only language spoken in my home, but a child can only endure so much.

I used to think Mama had abandoned me. But five years later, I realised she’d escaped. I was thinking she is free and I wanted that for myself too. So, I left.

I. Just. Left.

It was easier for kids to be smuggled, nobody knew I was the pakhan’s son, and I didn’t learn how to fight yet, only how to endure.

FOUR

Elara

Ilied.

Another thing Kingsford is famous for is the illegal fights. Rich men will always find creative ways to spend money on everything except where it’s actually needed.

What?

I already told you I’m a hater.

Apparently punching and hitting until someone stops moving counts as entertainment around here.

Actually, scratch that. Everywhere. Don’t believe me? Ask my dad.

I don’t see the appeal. I imagine enough violence in my own head that I don’t need front-row seats to someone else’s.

People have died and everyone knows it. Yet, nobody talks about it.

Not every fight ends with a body. But every person walking into that ring knows it could.

At Kingsford, the winner is worshipped and the loser is discarded like yesterday’s news. It’s genuinely baffling that people enjoy watching two men beat each other half to death for entertainment.

In a life full of questionable decisions, coming to Kingsford might rank near the top.

Still…It’s better than home.

Home was a different kind of hell, and at least this one is optional.

Speaking of hell, Roman and Aleksandr are the only two lunatics who walk into those death matches and somehow walk out looking mildly inconvenienced.

Bruised egos, a split lip if the universe is feeling generous, and that’s about it.

Sergei has never stepped into the ring. According to Kingsford Confessions, the unofficial gossip group chat, Roman once offered him Dakota—his beloved black Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante with a custom matte finish—just to fight one match.

Not even win it, but Sergei turned him down. The thing is, Dakota is another hot topic at Kingsford. If every girl wants Roman, the every guy wants his car.

Speaking of wants—Sergei.

Another week has gone by and I’ve been avoiding him like the plague.

That day in the parking lot taught me that you shouldn’t desire something you cannot have, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that there is something that I feel for him.

Could be desire, could be rage.