AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is that all you’ve got?” he taunts, dancing back on the balls of his feet. He was professionally trained as a boxer back in the day. He won’t go down easy, if at all. But there is no force on earth that is going to stop me from trying.
“You wish,” I spit out, lunging forward. My fist sails through the air, but this time, he’s ready for me. He ducks and weaves, his movements almost graceful. It’s infuriating.
We trade blows, back and forth, neither of us giving any quarter. I can feel the old fire, the rage I’ve kept banked for years, roaring to life inside me. It’s empowering, intoxicating. It drives me forward even as my muscles scream and my breath comes in ragged pants.
Fuck. I’m getting too old for this shit.
Gideon is strong and he’s skilled, but I’ve got something he hasn’t. I’ve got a reason to fight. A reason to win. And I’ll be damned if I let him take that away from me. He needs to know that the fires of rage still burn inside my soul over what he did.
His fist catches me in the ribs, and I grunt, pain lancing through my side. But it’s nothing compared to the pain I’ve carried with me all these years—the pain of loss, of betrayal.
With a roar, I surge forward and slam my fist into his jaw. Gideon staggers back, stunned. Blood gushes from his mouth, but he’s still on his feet.
He shakes his head, trying to clear it. But I don’t give him the chance. I’m on him in a heartbeat, my fists raining down on him. He tries to defend himself, to block my blows, but it’s no use. I’m a man possessed.
I can feel him weakening, his blocks becoming less effective. I can see it in his eyes, the dawning realisation that he’s going to lose. It’s a look I’ve waited ten long years to see. The problem is, I’m all out. I’m fucked, ready to end this once and for all. There is no gas left in the tank, only fumes.
With a final, desperate effort, he shoves me back, and I stumble. He’s buying himself some time, some space to regroup. We both fucking need it, and we both fucking know it.
But we are as stubborn as each other. This will literally go on to the death.
This knowledge is what drives me forward. If I’m going down, I might as well bring him down as well. I charge at him, and we collide, a tangle of limbs and raw, animalistic fury. We crash to the ground, grappling and punching, each of us determined to maybe be the one who walks away.
It’s brutal, and it’s ugly, but it’s necessary. This is the culmination of a decade of hatred, a decade of pain. And it’s going to end here, now, with neither one of us victorious.
It’s almost as if that gives me a surge of adrenaline to try to triumph over him.
Somehow, I manage to get the upper hand, pinning Gideon beneath me. I straddle his waist, my hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing the life out of him. His eyes bulge, his face turning a sickly shade of red.
“Do you feel it, Gideon?” I hiss into his ear. “Do you feel your life slipping away?”
He struggles beneath me, his hands clawing at my arms. I don’t have much left to give.
Click.
We both freeze, and I flick my eyes up to stare down the barrel of the gun Gideon laid down only moments ago.
Fuck.
30
GIDEON
“Isla,” I barely croak out with Dante’s hands around my neck.
I’m fucked if I know how that happened. I’m not in the same shape I used to be, but I already knew that. I did not expect to be beaten by this little fucker. But I guess he knows me too well.
“Get your hands off him,” she states with only a slight tremble in her voice, her eyes fixed on Dante.
“Put that thing down, darling, before you hurt yourself,” he replies, refusing to remove his hands.
But he has loosened his hold enough for me to place my hands on his chest and shove him backwards so he releases me. “Do that again, arsewipe, and I will make sure you don’t wake up.”
He gives me a narrow-eyed glare as he sits back on his arse. “I had you then, bastard.”
“You wish.”
“Saved by the girl. You are fucking soft, aren’t you?”
