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Daria spat and continued to fight me off with no effect because I had her locked down. I gripped her arm tighter and she hissed, sweat breaking out over her skin. I pulled a little more, and she let out a guttural scream. As much as I wanted to think I could snap her arm, I couldn’t. I was an honorable fighter, unlike her.
Letting her go, I pushed her away and kicked her in the face. Daria scrambled to her feet, looking terrifying with blood all over her face. Her features darkened and she rushed me, anger and desperation consuming her. She moved so fast and I reacted, but it was like our bodies moved in slow motion before slamming down on the mat. I landed on top of her and punched her over and over again until her body went limp beneath mine.
It was over.
After the fight, Daria was taken away but not before I saw she was alive and okay. Finn escorted me to the private dressing room, and I went straight into the shower. Daria’s blood was all over me, and I wanted it off.
Closing my eyes, I let the hot water rain over me. I could hear people talking outside the bathroom door, but it was muffled.
“Reagan?” I could see Annika’s silhouette through the smoky shower door.
“Yeah?” I replied.
She opened the shower door and handed me a small bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. “I got these for you.”
After taking them from her, I washed my hair and body. “Thanks.”
Annika tapped on the shower door. “Oh, and I have my makeup bag and a hair dryer. My cousin Mary is going to help me get you ready.”
I didn’t care about how I looked, but Icoulduse the help to hide the black eye I knew was forming on my face. “Thanks again,” I said. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
While I cleaned up, my thoughts strayed to Daria. She deserved what she got, and I had no remorse for the beating I put on her. Would it make her change her ways? Definitely not, but hopefully, it brought her down a notch. She might’ve been able to get away with fighting dirty with other people, but not with me.
Once I was done, I hopped out and there was a large black towel hanging on the rack; I wrapped it around my body. The bathroom was larger than my apartment bedroom and much nicer with its elegant fixtures and black and white marble floors. Nikolai and his family went all out in their underground fighting arena.
I listened at the door to see who was in the room, but all I could hear was Annika and another woman. Slowly, I opened the door and Annika raced over to me, pulling me out of the bathroom.
“Come on,” Annika squealed excitedly. “I have to get you ready. Everyone’s dying to see you.”
The high from the fight had left me. What I dreaded was what awaited me when I got home. It might not be tonight, but as sure as the sun rose in the morning, I’d have to face Braden. I had no doubt there would be a gazillion missed calls on my phone. Braden was going to have many questions, and I had no clue how I would answer them.
The other woman Annika said was her cousin Mary smiled at me and held out my red dress, bra and underwear. She appeared to be around my age, probably late twenties, with caramel brown hair and wide brown eyes, and was dressed in an emerald-green cocktail dress.
“As soon as you get dressed, I’ll work on your hair,” she said.
Letting the towel fall to the floor, I didn’t care that I was naked in front of them. I slipped on my underwear and bra before putting on my dress. Annika guided me to the couch, where she had all her makeup on a small table. Before sitting down, I grabbed my phone out of my bag, and she got to work on my face while Mary dried my hair. I glanced down at my phone, and I was correct; there were so many missed calls and texts from Braden.
He was worried about me. I wanted to call him, but I couldn’t yet.
“You were fantastic tonight,” Annika praised. “The whole room fell silent when you knocked Daria out.” She smiled over at Mary. “I think some of the men pissed themselves out of fear.”
Mary laughed above the noise of the hair dryer. “You got that right.”
It took them about twenty minutes to get me ready, and when I looked in the mirror, my eye was a little swollen, but the makeup hid the redness. It didn’t matter how much makeup I had on, though; I wouldn’t be able to hide the black eye entirely.
Annika opened the door and Finn was right there, waiting for me. His eyes widened when he took me in. “As beautiful as ever.” He held out his arm, waiting for me to take it. “My father’s waiting for you.”
Heart racing, I linked my arm with his, wondering what awaited me when I turned the corner into the main room. Seth was angry at me for what I did. Yes, it was careless and reckless. But there was no way I would’ve been able to watch Annika in the ring with Daria; it would’ve made me sick.
Finn escorted me through the crowd and people came up to me, saying how amazing I was. Their words went in one ear and out the other. I just wanted to leave. Finn led me to the main door, and we went through it and down the long hallway to the second door.
“I thought you said your dad wanted to see me,” I queried.
Finn smiled. “He does. He’s in the parking lot. You had a busy night, so I figured you were ready to leave.”
I snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
Squeezing my arm, Finn drew me in closer to him. “I’m sorry for tonight. You were a force to be reckoned with. But, on the bright side, I think you scared a lot of people.”
