Page 43 of Battling Aries

“You know he’s doing this because you’re his woman, don’t you?” Cyprus speaks quietly. He’d been silent for a while now after explaining things. He let me just absorb what he told me and gave me time to accept it.

But have I fully accepted it?

I don’t think so. I feel like something else could have happened.

However, if I were to go against him on this . . . fight him, he’ll turn it into a battle. Deep down, I know this. We only justreconnected. More, I finally accepted all the way to my soul that I was his. And I didn’t want to battle him.

“I don’t get why he’s doing it because of me,” I admit. After everything I’ve put him through, he still wants to save me.

“Because to him, you’ve always been his, even when he was pissed at you. He never actually hated you. He hated what you’d done. Didn’t understand it,” Cyprus remarks, jerking his chin toward the ring. “I know what it’s like to feel what he felt. Noelle’s brother was my best friend, and I blamed her for years for shit that wasn’t her fault. Didn’t talk to her for years, and when fate brought her back to me, I learned quickly that everything happens for a reason. The truth always has a way of finding its way to the surface, and that’s what’s happening here.”

Blinking at the other man, his words sink in, and slowly I nod. “I’m not going to get in the way or stop him from doing what he needs to do.”

I hate it, but I won’t get in the way.

“Good, because with you being there, he’s gotta know you’re backing him and aren’t going to look at him differently when it’s all said and done with.”

I nod and release a heavy breath before looking back to Cyprus for a brief moment. “Everything I ever wanted was for him to be happy.” It was the truth. Returning my gaze to the ring, I let out a sigh. “I wish things had been different, but none of us can change the past. I’d never look at him differently. Not even with what’s going to happen in that ring.”

Aries takes another jab, this time going for Wolf, and ends with a roundhouse to Kevlar. I remember he’d been trained to fight however he wanted. His family lived off grid so his dad taught him and his siblings to defend themselves. He taught them to follow what they wanted to do in life and never look back.

“I won’t look at him differently. It’s not possible to look at him as anything but the one person who has always held my heart,” I murmur, more to myself than anyone else.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Aries. He’s all that matters to me.

What scares me, though, is what Roger might do to him while in that ring. He’s a cheat. God knows what he’ll end up trying to do.

“Exactly why is Aries sparring with both Kevlar and Wolf?” I finally manage to ask.

“Because the stipulations of this fight are that not only is Aries going against Roger, but he’s also fighting two other men beforehand.”

Right there is the kicker. Roger won’t go up against him in a fair fight. He’s got to have the upper hand.

My heart skips a beat as I nod, understanding more now than ever.

“Aries will still win,” I murmur. He has to.

But if he doesn’t, I have to be ready to run because I won’t go back to Roger. He will never get his hands on me again.

CHAPTER 26

ARIES

“You ready for this?” Viper asks. His brows furrowed, arms crossed, and eyes locked on me.

“I’m ready.” Ready to get this shit over with and move the hell on. I’m sick of the bullshit. I’ve trained exhaustively for the past two days to get ready. The whole time, Rory had been on the sidelines watching. Keeping to herself but showing her support all the same. I know she doesn’t like what I’m doing, but she hasn’t said it. It’s in the way she gets this expression.

With the training, I hadn’t had the time to actually talk to Rory the way I want. More than that, I haven’t had the time to take her other than first thing in the morning each day until she passed right back out from the fucking I’d give her.

“Don’t let yourself get distracted by anything in this fight, Aries,” Kevlar warns. “It’ll only serve to piss us all off.”

“I’ve got this,” I tell him, nodding. There’s no way I can’t have this. The stakes are too high. I won’t lose Rory. “Rory in place?”

“She’s sitting on the sideline next to Izaiah. Rosemary demanded she come with her.”

“And since Rosemary made the demand, both the other ol’ ladies demanded to come with her as well to show support,” Viper growls. None too pleased by the sound of it, and I couldn’t blame him. This place wasn’t any place for a woman.

“That a good idea for Rosemary?” I ask, cocking a brow as I glance at Kevlar.

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