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“What are you doing?” Jessie asks, nostrils flaring and eyes wild.
“I’m getting my girl out of here so she doesn’t have to watch me kill that man,” I answer his question, and watch my VP’s face turn pale.
“Have the Prospect get Troj’s bitch out of here,” Prez orders Squeal, who pats me on the shoulder and immediately sets to work.
“Troj, you are not doing this,” Jess shakes his head at me firmly. I hear Shaniya protesting behind me but I can’t look back, not now I’ve made the decision.
“Tell him he’s not doing this,” she cries, the sound of her pain physically hurting me.
I should never have fuckin’ agreed to let her be here.
“No, he ain’t doing this,” Jessie shouts back at her, his eyes scorching into mine, daring me to argue that point.
“It ain’t worth the risk,” Prez agrees with Jessie, shaking his head, “It’s bricks and mortar, we can rebuild a fuckin’ clubhouse, Troj.”
“And what happens after that, what about them?” I look to Shaniya's friends, everything they know rests with me now. They belong here, we belong here. I’m fighting for much more than land. I’m fighting for principal. Men like Cooper only ever succeed because people give in to them.
“Cooper wants to destroy us. He’s tried getting me to throw the fight, it didn’t work. This is his last resort. And he invited Burlusconi here to watch because if we break the deal and kill him, it will show we’re no good for our word. This is the only way to get him out of town. It’s my life, my risk. Think of your grandkids, Prez.” I turn my focus from him to Jessie. “Think of Maddy.”
“I ain’t letting you do it,” Jessie shakes his head at me, he’s so fucking mad that I swear I see actual tears fill his eyes.
“I’m fighting,” I assure him.
“Fuck Troj,” Jessie fumes, turning away from me to kick the corner of the ring in anger. Then drawing in a long deep breath, he scrubs his face and looks up into the pitch-black sky.
Prez looks at me and nods, he knows he ain’t gonna talk me down. When it comes to fighting, determination is what’s got me where I am. It’s been my glory, and tonight, it could very well be my execution, but I won’t be going down easy.
“You make sure you fucking beat him, Troj,” Jessie comes back at me, grabbing at my shoulders, and the tension in his hands is so fuckin’ tight I wonder if he’s gonna let up.
“But just in case I don’t…” I can’t look back at Shaniya, if I see her it will weaken me, and I need all the strength I can pull together. Squealer steps back to the ring and gives me the nod to say she’s safely on her way out of here.
“Goes without sayin’, brother.” Jess interrupts, slapping my back hard before he backs into the corner.
I step into the center of the ring, stretching my neck and loosening my shoulders as I start to bounce on my feet again. I stare back at my opponent, wondering what got him into a situation that laying his life at a stake is his only option. And for the first time ever, instead of looking back at my past for motivation, I think hard about my future, and what the man in front of me stands to take from me if I don't kill him.
I cast away the thought of him having a family of his own, or the fact that he might be a good person. None of that can matter.
He stares right through me, then shows he’s not here to fuck about when he makes the first move. He comes at me hard and I make the mistake of letting him get the first hit.
His fist is heavy as it slams into my cheek and a coppery tinge fills my mouth, I don’t let it knock me off stance though.
I’ve taken more than my fair share of lives since I’ve been with the club, but I can’t recall ever killing a man with my bare hands before. I figure I have a few realistic options here.
It only takes me a few more hard hits to realize the guy’s too heavy on his feet to be a kicker, and as predicted his size makes him sluggish.
I use that to my advantage because fighting with my feet keeps me at a distance.
Before I can turn and draw my leg for a kick, he catches me again. This time with a right hook that makes my fucking brain rattle. I stumble back into the corner and Jessie catches me, forcing me back onto my feet so I can charge forward.
Kullolli’s club of a fist stretches out for me again, and I manage to duck it, aiming low, and wrapping up his legs in my arms to take him to ground.
The fall knocks him off guard, and I attack fast, throwing fist after fist into his temples. Blood sprays onto the canvas and I feel my knuckles tear, but I won’t stop, not until his heart stops beating and everyone I care about is safe.
I feel something crush around my neck, the strength behind it forcing me to stop hitting. He’s managed to get an arm between us and I feel his hand strangling me as I grip and scratch at the strong arm that’s come out of nowhere. My fingers slip through the tacky blood on his skin, attempting to drag him off, but his force is too strong and he finds enough strength to push forward and slam me onto my back. My head bounces off the canvas like a rubber ball, while Kullolli’s hand continues to strain all the air out of me. All the sounds around me merge into one ear-splitting noise. My limbs fail to cooperate, despite my brain yelling at my legs to wrap the guy up and grapple him off.
I can feel my lungs burning inside me, my throat straining against his hold. Oxygen is seeping from my brain, blurring my vision, and I get no warning before the loud crack of bone against bone smashes into the left side of my face. It paralyses me, forcing me to reel in regret as all the fight drains from my body.
The biggest regret of them all is her, and the fact that three years ago I ran from her at the river. I wasted all that time wondering what it would be like to hear her voice, spent hours at night wondering what it would be like to touch her, instead of making her mine.
