Page 30 of Declan

He lunges.

His fist connects with my cheek so hard my jaw cracks. The impact snaps my head sideways, and for a split second, I see stars.

The crowd loses their minds.

The second punch comes quicker. A body shot, low and sharp. I grunt and stumble back, bracing my hand on the cage to keep from going down.

Then comes the third.

“Jesus Christ!” Kaden yells from outside the cage. I hear chairs clattering, movement everywhere.

But it’s Wesley’s voice that cuts through the noise.

“Declan, get the fuck out!”

I shake off the haze, jaw clenched, and shoot Jason a smile laced with venom.

“You should’ve saved that for the guy who’s actually fighting you.”

Then I lunge.

My fist connects with the corner of his mouth, and before he can recover, I slam into him, knocking him against the chain-link wall, arm pressed to his throat.

“You’ll leave this ring in a body bag, and I want you to remember my face when you’re dragged into the gates of hell. Good luck, asshole.”

I shove off and stalk out of the cage just as Nico, the real fighter, steps up, shaking his arms loose, eyes locked on Jason like he’s already dead.

The bell rings a second later, and fists start flying for real.

As I drop down beside Wesley at the edge of the crowd, he grabs my shoulder, inspecting the forming bruise on my face.

“You okay?” he asks, voice low.

“Yeah,” I mutter, eyes still locked on the fight.

But the ache in my chest has nothing to do with Jason.

It’s her.

I let the brutality of the fight be my focus, trying to block out everything else.

The crowd is going wild as Jason tries to fight off Nico, but there’s no way. Nico is one of our best, and the harder Jason tries the weaker he gets.

Over and over, Nico attacks as blood is pouring down Jason face.

A kick from Nico’s leather boot brings Jason to the ground, and that’s where I know it’s going to end. Jason has no fight left in him and I grin as I watch him cowaring on the ground.

“He never should’ve touched a woman,” I say to no one in particular. “He deserves all the pain.”

“Who did he touch?” Wesley asks.

I continue to watch the fight, and when I see Nico’s heavy boot come down on Jason head repeatedly, I know it’s over.

“Declan, go call it,” Kaden says over my shoulder.

I don’t move, though. I watch as Nico continues his brutal, deadly beating. It gives me a sense of relief and redemption.

Jason touched Lena, and he deserved to die for it.

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