8. Chapter Eight #3
The crowd roared at the brutality being unleashed. The viciousness.
One thing I’d noticed about Drea when watching her fight previously was she had this “brawler” type of attitude.
She knew that, with her smaller stature, she had to be quick.
Not allow herself to get too close to her opponent.
But when she had them pinned, her fighting style changed from deadly and cautious to fucking animalistic.
Illayana did her best to deflect Drea’s blows. When the opportunity presented itself, she went on the offensive, leaning forward to wrap Drea up in a headlock.
Drea struggled, ramming her fists into Illayana’s side to try and get her to let go, but my sister held strong, gritting her teeth through the pain. Drea had only seconds left before she passed out. There was no way out. This fight was over—
Drea’s hands ran frantically down Illayana’s body, as if she was searching for something. Then Illayana cried out in pain, her back bowing. Breaking out of the hold, Drea scrambled away, hand to her throat as Illayana moved to her hands and knees, one armed wrapped around her side.
“What was that?” I whispered to Aleksandr.
He watched them closely. “Drea has a thing for pressure points.”
“Ahh.”
They glared at each other from across the ring before they rushed forward, starting all over again.
You could tell they were both in pain and beyond exhausted, but it was like neither one of them wanted to be the first one to concede.
As they went back to trading blow after brutal blow, Illayana’s guards, Christian, Luca and Lorenzo made their way through the overflowing crowd, coming straight towards us.
“Heads up.” I nodded to the Cosa Nostra men.
Aleksandr groaned, running a hand down his face. Like me, he knew exactly why they were approaching us. Also like me, he wasn’t remotely interested in hearing it.
“You need to stop this,” Luca, the more level-headed of the twins hissed.
“Do I?” my brother drawled, eyes never straying from the ring.
“Yes! Look at them! You need to get in there and break it up, or they’re going to kill each other!”
It was a very reasonable assumption, considering how hard Illayana and Drea were going at each other. They were fighting like they hated one another, when really, it wasn’t about that at all. It was about who was better. Plain and simple.
“I thought Christian was the dumb twin,” Lukyan butted in, a smirk on his lips.
“Hey!” Christian barked, affronted, at the same time that Luca growled, “What?”
Lukyan pointed to the ring. “You never, never get in the middle of a chick fight. Not unless you want to lose an eye.”
“Arturo will take my eyes if he finds out I just stood here and watched her get hurt like this." He looked at Aleksandr. "Either you get in there and stop your wife, or I’ll—”
“Careful.” Aleksandr’s voice dropped dangerously low, his eyes snapping to Luca, full of anger.
“Excuse my brother.” Christian laid a hand on Luca’s shoulder, pulling him back as he took his place.
“After the last punishment we all received, you can understand why we’re all a little nervous.
Arturo has given specific instructions for Illayana not to be harmed and, well,” —he gestured to the ring with a wave of his hand, Illayana and Drea locked in a grapple—“I’d say this constitutes as ‘harmful’, wouldn’t you? ”
Lukyan frowned. “Okay, is this like a Freaky Friday kinda situation? Since when are you” —he pointed to Christian—“the voice of reason? And you”—he pointed to Luca—“the hothead?” He pursed his lips in obvious distaste. “It doesn’t suit you. I don’t like it. Switch back.”
Aleksandr and I rolled our eyes.
“Look,” I began, taking charge of the conversation. “You guys remember what Illayana did to Rayna, right? You were there?”
All three men winced.
“That’s nothing compared to what she will do to you if you try to stop her from fighting. You, on the other hand,” I said, looking at Aleksandr.
There was one man in the world my sister would listen to without a shred of hesitation. He wasn’t here, but Aleksandr was a very close second. He sighed, glancing at the ring uncertainly. I had a feeling that he was more worried about his wife’s wrath than Illayana’s.
“Lukyan’s right,” I pressed. “Those two aren’t going to stop until one of them gets knocked out. Best put an end to it now.”
Aleksandr’s grunt of agreement made Illayana’s guards almost drop to their knees in relief. He walked the few steps to the ring and slammed his hand down on the canvas floor. “Enough, Drea. End it.”
Illayana froze, looking his way with a frown on her face, her arms up in a boxers pose.
Drea pouted.
“Now,” Aleksandr said firmly.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Party pooper.” She rushed forward, her new burst of speed taking Illayana completely by surprise.
Drea did what could only be described as a “soccer tackle”, her foot smashing into Illayana’s shin and making her drop.
Drea capitalised, scrambling onto Illayana’s back and locking her into a rear naked choke, her arms curling tightly around her neck.
Her legs wrapped around her torso next, and then she pulled back. Hard.
Illayana thrashed, rolling from side to side, doing anything she could to get free, but it was no use. There was nothing she could do. The hold was air tight.
“Tap out, Illayana!” Luca yelled.
Lukyan scoffed. “She’s not tapping.”
Sure enough, not even three seconds later, Illayana’s head started to droop forward, her arms falling limp at her side. Drea instantly loosened her hold, guiding Illayana’s head down to rest softly on the floor.
The crowd went wild. Screaming. Clapping. Cheering.
Luca’s mouth was wide open. “You’re telling me she could have done that this entire time?” he growled as Christian and Lorenzo jumped into the ring to check on Illayana. “Why didn’t she just do that to start with?”
“Because Drea likes to fight. She doesn’t want it to end quickly,” Aleksandr grunted.
“This family is crazy. You’re all crazy. Look at your sister. Oh, fuck. Arturo is going to lose it. I’m fucked. We’re fucked. He—”
“Relaaaax,” Lukyan dragged out, cutting him off.
“She’s fine. See.” He pointed to Illayana, who was slowly starting to sit up, a slightly dazed expression on her face.
“You Cosa Nostra guys need to chill the fuck out. Women aren’t the fragile little creatures you think they are.
They’re capable of so much more than you give them credit for.
That sheltered box you keep them in does nothing but put you at a disadvantage and waste all that untapped potential. ”
Aleksandr arched an eyebrow at me in surprise.
Every now and then, Lukyan would say something…wise. It didn’t happen very often, because for some reason, he liked to act like he wasn’t as smart or insightful as he actually was. But when he did say something profound, it always took everyone by surprise.
Illayana shrugged off Christian and Lorenzo’s attempt to help her stand and got to her feet.
My sister was a sore loser, so it surprised the fuck out of me when she broke into a full-blown smile, her teeth stained red with blood.
“You were holding back,” she said to Drea, offering her hand.
“Barely,” Drea responded, shaking her hand. “You’re very good.”
“So are you. And quick, too, so fucking quick. How do you move so fast?”
“Being barely five feet tall has its perks. You learn to take advantage of being smaller than almost everyone else.”
Illayana laughed and then gripped her side, groaning painfully. “I’ve never been so jealous of someone’s height before. You know I want a re-match, right? No holding back this time.”
Drea smiled, opening her mouth to respond, but she was cut off when Christian, Luca and Lorenzo all screamed, “No!”