Page 22 of Reign of Psychos

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs and focused on his stupid face.

“I thought you were a half-decent brawler,” the fucker taunted with a gleeful grin. “I guess the rumors were shite.”

We circled each other while Ronan’s twin, Conal, stood on the edge of the mat, waiting his turn.

“The only one full of shit around here is you,” I growled before going in for the kill. He was good, but not as good as me. We tussled, trading punches, him giving as good as he got, until I got the upper hand and floored him.

If this was an actual fight, I’d have knocked him out, but since we were only sparring, I let him tap out. The stupid bastard waited until he nearly lost consciousness before he gave in, though.

“You eejit,” Conal snapped when his brother finally conceded. “There’s no need to make the brain damage worse than it already is!”

Ronan shook his head and let me pull him to his feet. “You weren’t too bad,” I said, acknowledging his pitiful attempt to beat me.

“Fuck you, ya pox,” he muttered before guzzling water down.

“Don’t be such a sore fucking loser. He got you fair and square.” Conal punched Ronan in the arm and grinned at me. “My turn!”

“Sure, if you want to eat mat, too.” I rolled my shoulders and flexed my arms. A bit more sparring would do me good. It might help ease some of the tension. Knowing my girl was out there, unprotected, made me want to hurt someone. Since there was nobody available in need of some creative torturing, these two idiots would have to suffice.

“Wrap your fists and get on the mat.” Conal might prove more of a challenge. He was a fraction bigger than Ronan, five minutes older, and more cautious. Having seen me fight his brother, he probably assumed he knew my weak spots now.

Well, the joke was on him. I had no weak spots. Just as we began to circle each other, the gym door swung open.

“Our girl’s back!” Lan yelled before disappearing again.

“Fight’s over,” I snapped, no longer interested in beating the shit out of Declan’s younger brothers.

“Pussy,” Conal grumbled, but really, I was doing him a favor. There was zero chance he’d have beaten me. At least this way he could pretend he was better than me.

Not that I gave a fuck what he thought.

The only person I cared about was mykotenok.

She stood staring at the floor when I walked in. I noted the short pixie cut that framed her face and made her gorgeous eyes look even bigger. Dario’s hand curled around hers, and the smug look he threw me made me see red.

How dare he steal what belonged to me!

I must have telegraphed my fury because Landon shot to his feet from where he’d been sitting on the sofa and attempted to intervene, but I was having none of it.

“Calm your tits!”

“You fucking left me!” I growled when I reached her, ignoring Landon and Dario. She dipped her head up for the first time and I saw immediately she had her mask back on. Every brick in the wall between us, bricks I’d spent weeks disassembling, rebuilt.

“I had no choice,” she replied, cool as a cucumber, like we were strangers.

“Give her a break,” Dario muttered. “She’s tired. We’re bothexhaustedafter virtuallyno sleep.” The way he said it made me look at him more closely. A faint smirk touched his lips, and I knew. The bastard had finally fucked her.

I paused, fully expecting a flood of jealousy to hit me hard, but it never came. Instead, the primal part of me that needed to know Thea was protected at all times purred with satisfaction. Another powerful warrior to keep our woman safe. Someone I could trust.

“If my girl is tired, she needs to spend some time in bed.” She growled at me when I pulled her away from Dario and scooped her into my arms.

“Remember what happened the last time you went full caveman on me?” she spat. My balls retracted at the painful memory of her punching me between the legs, but I strode into the bedroom I’d been using and kicked the door shut.

“Kyril! Put me down, you stupid asshole!” She tried to throat punch me, but I grabbed her wrists and dropped her on the bed.

“No. I’m mad as hell with you. You fucking left me,” I repeated. Some of my chaotic emotions bled into the accusation and she frowned, no longer trying to fight me.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a moment. “I didn’t want to hurt you. Any of you. But I needed to end the threat.”

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