Page 27 of Finn

“Ready?” Eoghan asks, and I stand from the bench, twisting my arms before I grab my gloves.

“Let’s do it.”

The three of us walk out to the crowded room, and the energy coming from the crowd spurs me on. Cillian helps me secure my gloves and I step into the ring, getting a look at my opponent. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Dmitri fight, so I’m somewhat prepared for what’s to come. The man is a fucking beast covered in tattoos and has a permanent scowl etched on his face.

My brother announces us, and the Russian and I tap gloves before separating. When the bell dings, he’s immediately on the move. Damn, this guy has a lot of skill behind his brawn, and he’s giving me a run for my money right off the bat. For every blow I throw, he returns combos with just as much force. This is going to be a close match, but I can tell the way to win will be to tire him out. He’s using too much energy already, probably trying to get an early knockout so he can go home with the honor of beating the head of the Monaghan family. I get in a quick jab to his temple before he swings, but his fist goes wide and he stumbles to the side. My eyes shoot up for the briefest of moments and catch a man in the crowd grabbing a woman roughly by the arm. When she swings around, the angry look slashed across her face is all too familiar.

Probably because it’s my fucking wife.

Our eyes lock for one second before the Russian blocks her from my vision and sends his powerful fist flying at my face. I dodge it at the last second and send an uppercut into his jaw, knocking the giant out cold.

Alessia is staring at me, shock and fear warring for dominance in her gaze. I give nothing away as I point my gloved fist at her then to the hallway leading to the locker room.

What the hell is she doing here?

Chapter eight

Alessia

Ishould have never let Gemma convince me to come to some underground illegal boxing match, but the guy she met at her gym apparently wanted to come check it out, so here we are.

My nerves are high. I know the Monaghans own the bar above the basement, but Finn is likely at the casino like he’s been every night the last two weeks. She wanted a night out, and I had nothing better to do, so I agreed to come with her. Enzo is with me because we learned a long time ago that it was easier to tell him where we were going rather than have him sullen and angry with me the next day for putting myself in unnecessary, risky situations. Nothing worse than having to deal with a brooding bodyguard all damn day. Plus, he threatened to tell my father if we snuck off without him when we were in college. I suppose now he’d go tattle to my husband.

My husband.

It’s still strange to think about Finn that way. When he saw Enzo and I sparring earlier today, I was more than a little surprised he offered to train together instead of laughing outright. There isn’t a single woman I know in our life who likes to fight or has any of the training I do. Most men want their wives soft and pliant, not loudmouths that throw a mean right hook, even if they apparently drop their shoulder. The memory of the way he intently studied my form when he put on the mitts still makes my heart race faster than normal. He watched me and pointed out where I was making the mistake. Most men would have condescendingly patted me on the head before handing me their credit card so I could spend my time doing something “fun” like shopping or getting my hair done. Instead, Finn made plans to train with me.

Our marriage certainly isn’t what I was expecting.

“Honey, you need to loosen up,” Gemma says, pulling me through the crowd to the bar sitting against the concrete wall.

The first fight of the night finished before we got here, but we saw them cleaning the blood from the ring. The crowd is lining up with several of the bookmakers throughout the room to place bets on the next bloody match. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about Eoghan or Finn catching us here tonight, but what would either of them do? It’s not like I’m some sort of prisoner in Finn’s house. And it’s not as though I’m running off on him to hang out with my best friend. The man is never there. He obviously doesn’t care about where I spend my time, so why should I care if he finds out I came here tonight? That doesn’t mean I’m not keeping an eye out for my husband or his brother though.

Gemma and I are standing in line to get a drink from the small bar set up down here, with Enzo keeping a respectable distance. He’s fine with allowing us to have our fun, but he makes sure we’re safe while doing it.

With drinks in hand, Gemma spots her crush from the gym and waves. We begin making our way to him and the group he’s with when I hear a familiar voice on the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you’re in for a surprise tonight. We have none other than the man, the myth, the boss of Boston. Finnegan Monaghan.”

The crowd goes wild as my head jerks toward the ring, and I see my husband step into it with Cillian next to him, helping him tie his gloves.

So many thoughts run through my head as I stand stock-still in the middle of the crowd. Gemma is saying something to me as Eoghan announces the other fighter. Some Russian guy I’m not familiar with. I don’t catch his name, too shocked to hear anything but the blood rushing in my ears.

The bell dings and the men circle each other while getting a feel for the other’s fighting movements. Finn lands a couple blows, but his opponent lands just as many. These two are pretty evenly matched. The way Finn moves with the confidence of a trained fighter has me remembering earlier today when I scoffed at the idea that he knew better than Enzo or me when we were working out. He obviously does know better, I think to myself as I watch him dance around the Russian. I’m equally in awe of his skill as I am irritated as hell I didn’t know about his underground fighting. The cut above his brow on our wedding day makes perfect sense now. Maybe if I would have asked, he would have told me where it came from, but I didn’t. I didn’t care to get to know much about my husband before we were married. I thought I’d known everything necessary, considering this is only a business arrangement.

I catch Enzo’s eye as he stands a few feet from where Gemma and I are. I’m not sure if we should stay or not. Maybe there’s a reason he doesn’t want me to know this part of him, or maybe…hell, I don’t know, but I’m suddenly feeling very out of place being down here watching Finn trade blows with his opponent when he didn’t invite me here or even tell me this is something he does.

Turning toward Gemma, I signal to the door. She nods and picks up on the fact I want to leave. I need to process this turn of events.

On our way to where Enzo is standing, we pass a group of overly obnoxious men hollering at the fighters in the ring.

One of them grabs me by the arm. “Where are you off to? Let me buy you a drink.”

I try to dislodge my arm from his grip, but he yanks me toward him. I turn around to tell the man that, in no uncertain terms, he can fuck right off. Before the words leave my mouth, my gaze collides with Finn’s. Our eyes lock for barely a second, but he immediately takes in the scene. Finn’s eyes glaze over in a cold fury that makes my stomach plummet. In the next moment, Enzo has his arms around the man holding my arm, shoving him away, but my stare doesn’t leave Finn’s. The Russian blocks my view of him, and before I can gather my thoughts, Finn sends a powerful uppercut into his jaw, knocking the man out cold. I’m tempted to run, not knowing if he’s pissed about someone grabbing me or if he’s pissed I’m here. Before I can make my feet move, Finn focuses the entirety of his fierce gaze on me and points from me to the hallway, signaling where he wants me to go.

“Oh shit, Alessia. What do you want to do?” Gemma asks, looking between Finn and me. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I said we need to get the hell out of here, she’d grab my hand and make a run for it with me.

“Mrs. Monaghan, interesting seeing you here,” I hear a voice call behind me.

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