Page 38 of Brutal Bratva King

I shrug my jacket off and dump it into one of the lockers, along with my shirt and shoes. Excitement fills me as the guy leads me towards the ring.

I walk past Renat who doesn’t even notice that it’s me because his one eye is so swollen.

I chuckle, then take a deep breath. This might be the worst idea I’ve ever had, but I feel good about it.

I stand in the ring, jumping from foot to foot to try and warm up.

My opponent is walking towards the cage door. He looks big. Not as bulky as Renat’s opponent though. He’s going to be a difficult one to beat.

I don’t care. I need this.

The whistle blows and he comes charging towards me.

His shoulder slams into my chest and I’m thrown off my feet. We wrestle on the ground for a moment before I’m able to kick him off of me and onto the other side of the ring. I get onto my feet quickly, knowing that the ground is not where I want to be. He runs at me again and this time I use his own momentum against him. Lifting him with an uppercut into his head.

He staggers and swoons, so I land another punch on his jaw.

He shakes his head and starts swinging back at me.

I feel the sting of his hit, one on my temple, one on my cheek.

Everything around me starts fueling me. The noise. The shouts. The tension. All of the pent-up rage begins to flood out of me.

I throw myself into the fight with ferocious force and take the guy down in a vicious display of power.

The ref pulls me off him.

“He’s done!” he shouts at me. “He’s done.”

I stand up, leaning against the side of the cage to catch my breath. The guy is out cold, blood seeping from his mouth and nose. They roll him onto his side. Medics run in to check him.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Get him out of here.”

I follow the chaos out of the cage and walk past the next fighter heading in. I should feel good. I won. I should feel a release of tension.

But I don’t. I feel guilty about what I did to the other guy which takes me completely by surprise. What the hell is wrong with me?

There is no victorious streak in me.

Instead of heading back to have another beer with my brothers, I get dressed in the locker room and leave straight away.

From the car I message them and tell them I will see them another time—then switch my phone to silent because I’m not in the mood to deal with having to explain what just happened.

I can’t figure out why I would feel this guilty when the guy got into that ring of his own free will. I didn’t force him to fight me. It was a choice. So I should feel good about the win.

I sigh, driving down a long, dark road the street lights flashing into my car and onto my knuckles where they grip the steering wheel. They are cut and bruised and coated with blood.

Fuck.

I think Anya is really getting to me.

I think she’s in my head and now I’m feeling and doing things I wouldn’t normally do.

Chapter 12 - Anya

I’ve been pacing up and down all day and all night. I’m bored out of my skull. I can’t believe that Rodion gave the security team instructions to not let me leave the property. Who the hell does he think he is?

I have no one to talk to here and I feel trapped and angry. He isn’t interested in being a part of my life—but he also doesn’t want to let me live my own life. It’s not fair at all.

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