Page 105 of Pope's Penance

Frankie lands a couple forceful hits against my kidneys that have me pulling back with a laugh as pain rushes through my body.

Whoa, boy.What a time to be alive.

He spits a mouthful of blood at my feet.“Of course, you don’t keep your word.”

“We have something in common then,” I say with a bloody smile.

Frankie lets out a roar and rushes me.His fists pummel me, and I laugh, which enrages him more.

Then I finally hear the words I was waiting for.

“Elimination complete, Prez.”

It’s like they break the chains that were holding my rage at bay.

Locking my fingers at the back of his head, I use all my strength to bring his face to meet my knee.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

He stumbles back in a daze, and I advance on him with cold precision.

“You touched what was mine.”

Frankie tries to deflect my hits, but anger and pain are riding me, urging me to end this fight.Some of his hits get through and blood leaves a warm trail down my face.

Face.

Stomach.

Kidneys.

A kick to the shin.

I continuously deliver blows and kicks, trying to eviscerate my opponent.Methodically, I aim my hits to inflict as much damage as possible.

An uppercut to the spot between his chin and jawline drops him to his knees.Grabbing him by his hair, I pull his head back so he has to look up at me.

“The difference between me and you, Frankie, is that you’re fighting because of your ego.I’m fighting for my family.You were always going to lose.”

Cyanide strolls up behind him and aims a blow to the back of Frankie’s head with the butt of his gun.“Piece of shit.”

I let Frankie’s body fall to the ground with a grunt as I stagger back and fall to a knee.Pain comes in waves over my body as the damage he inflicted on me registers when my high slowly fades.

“Get him in the cage,” I croak.

Malice holds his hand out, and I stare at it for a minute.As much as I want to stand on my own, being stubborn won’t do any of us good.

He pulls me to my feet as he runs his eyes over me critically.“Held his own, did he?”

I laugh.“Fucker was tougher than I thought he’d be.Unfortunately for him, there are three people at home I was fighting for.”

This isn’t over.There’s too much up in the air surrounding all of this, but capturing him and bringing him to the slaughterhouse is the start to ending it.

“You going to be able to ride home?”Cyanide asks.

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