Page 128 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

“On your feet, Jace!”

The Dragons’ encouragements were of no use. Maybe now they’d see how pathetic Jace was. Adrian tossed his body to the side and stood up, eyes narrowing over toward Jun and Raptor.

Before the match began, he saw something he couldn’t forget. Jun carried a Glock-19. The same weapon that fired the bullets found at the crime scene. Bullets that ended his father’s life. Was he supposed to chalk it all up as coincidence? One person who had motive, opportunity, and the murder weapon?

It was past time he found out the truth, even if he had to beat both brothers to a pulp.

For a split second, Jun caught Adrian’s deathly stare. That was all Raptor needed. His fist sailed through the air and connected an uppercut to the side of Jun’s head. Bracing himself, Jun retaliated with a swift kick to the inside of Raptor’s knee and followed with a harsh jab to his throat.

“Always getting in my fucking way,” Jun muttered as Raptor shuffled back with a grunt. He turned to glare at Adrian. “Like father, like son.”

“What the fuck did you say about my father?” Adrian growled. The corner of his vision grew dark.

Raptor paused, eyeing them as Jun sneered and took a step closer. A quiet stillness fell over the crowd as the men waited to see what would happen next.

“Do you think winning tonight means it’s over?” Jun popped his jaw. “It’s over when I fucking say it’s over. When my gun puts a bullet through your thick skull.”

Adrian’s blood ran cold. Those were the words of a killer. “You shot him.”

Even he could hear the twist of hatred in his voice, the undercurrent of rage ready to crush everyone in its depths.

Jun’s face transformed into wicked triumph, gleeful that he’d hit where it hurt most. “Yeah. That’s right. I killed your old man on the same night I took out that asshole’s son.” He cocked his head toward Cortez. Bloodlust tainted his features, eyes absorbing all traces of light, and his lips curled in a wide, awful grin. Crimson liquid dripped down his face and stained his clothes. “Should’ve seen the look on his face when he died. Oh, wait—you did, didn’t you?”

That fucking bastard.

Adrian lunged at the same time Jun reached for a brick that had been pushed into the ring. Shouts signified a wave of chaos on the sidelines, then a gunshot rang through the air.

“Enough,” Cortez yelled, silencing the crowd in an instant.

Raptor yanked Adrian back and tackled Jun to the ground, knocking away the brick. Several Dragons rushed over to pull a dazed but conscious Jace to the sidelines.

Yu frowned at his sons, then focused on Jun. “Stand up,” he ordered.

Jun threw Raptor off, and they both got to their feet, returning to opposite sides of the arena.

Cortez lowered his gun and cocked his head. “Thought I heard something interesting just now.” He took a few measured strides toward Jun. “Care to repeat yourself?”

No one spoke. Jun bristled, but he wasn’t enough of a fool to incriminate himself more than once.

Too damn bad that it was too late.

Adrian raised his voice and cut through the silence. “If he doesn’t want to talk, I will.”

He stepped over to the sidelines, where Riley held up a square box for everyone to see. Next to her, Ivory looked between them with questioning apprehension.

Like hell he’d leave tonight without a guarantee of her safety. The recording device had been a backup, one that would pick up conversation from long distances in order to catch Jace if he made any threats, but now they had something better. Adrenaline buzzed through his veins.

Taking the device from Riley, he showed Cortez. “Got it all right here.” Adrian turned his eyes toward Yu. “After all these years.”

He clicked the replay button and sped forward. Static from the fire and shuffling bodies muddled the background, but then the sounds of the fight grew quiet, and Jun’s words came out unmistakably clear.

“I killed your old man on the same night I took out that asshole’s son.”

Fury tore across Cortez’s face, and without hesitation, he pointed his gun at Jun. Half a second later, every member of Red Dragon drew their weapons, aiming at the other end of the clearing where Royal Flush stared down the barrel of their own guns.

“Stop.”

Yu’s voice froze the countless trigger-happy fingers; the men willing to die despite being locked in a futile stalemate. “This was outside of my knowledge, but I’ll be the one to deal with it.” He held up his hand, and with a nod from Cortez, both sides lowered their guns.

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