AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stand up, and Hayden drags a hand down his face. “I’m out. Go ahead and kill each other, you idiots.”
“What about you?” I ask Kieran.
He glances at his watch. “You two have one hour, which already pisses me off because that means an hour less with my wife. But one of us has to look after you.”
Cato and I exchange eager glances while we stomp to the basement toward my soundproof room. A boxing ring sits in the middle of the large space. Cato hops in, picking up his knife.
I do the same and we get right to it.
He cracks his neck. “I will draw blood.”
I thrust my hand forward, slashing at his arm. “My bad.”
“You’re childish.”
“Just get it over with,” Kieran grumbles.
“Fuck you,” we both yell.
Cato knocks the knife out of my hand with an uppercut and cuts at my shirt.
“I liked this one, asshole,” I say.
“Send me the bill.”
My fist connects with Cato’s jaw, my knuckles cutting his lip.
“Bring it on.”
He rolls his shoulders back, swaying from one leg to the other. He spits blood from his mouth at my feet, sending me flying back with a right hook. We circle each other, trying to get a good jab in.
I throw my elbow out, hitting his jaw. He stumbles backward, and I am on him. He bucks under me, turning me on the side and holding me in a headlock.
“Quite aggressive, aren’t we?” Cato grunts.
But I also catch worry in his voice. Fuck, I don’t want a fight to turn into an intervention. I’m fine. I have been fine for years.
Driving my elbow into his ribs, I roll from under him. Back on our feet, we exchange punches until we’re both sweating and breathing heavily.
We collapse onto the ring floor, the sound of our exhales bouncing off the walls.
“You’re going to need makeup,” says Kieran.
It’s so damn comical I burst into laughter. Holding my middle, I hiss. Fuck, my ribs hurt.
Cato’s the first to stand, and he helps me up, squeezing my shoulder.
When we leave the ring, Kieran checks on me. “Focus. We have come too damn far for you to lose your shit.”
He means that if Cato can keep it under wraps, he expects the same from me.
Whatever. I have everything under control.
When they leave, I shower again. The red patches on my skin are a clear sign that I’m going to bruise. At least I feel lighter. I need it for what’s coming.
I wait for Violet in my room. Ten minutes. Twenty.
She shouldn’t play this game tonight, not after all my hard work to calm myself down. But she’s fucking it all up by not showing up. To distract myself and get my emotions under control, I open my laptop, skimming through a pitch deck for a new start-up. I look over their numbers, but my mind is not on investments.
