Chapter 50 – Gabriella
To my surprise, tonight’s activities were taking place in a training gym instead of the pub.
Every other celebration or gathering seemed to take place on those hallowed grounds. I would have felt more at ease beneath the low wooden beams stained dark with age, the muted glow, and the floors sticky with spilled beer and whiskey. A restaurant. A sanctuary.
Instead, harsh fluorescent lights flickered overhead, throwing a sharp glare across the room.
They accented the murmured conversations and the restless shuffle of boots.
The gym had plenty of training equipment, but most of it had been pushed to the sides.
Center stage was a boxing ring set on a raised platform a few steps above the crowd.
There was an electrical charge in the room like a thunderstorm about to break. Everyone knew something was about to happen. But judging by the surprise on their faces when they saw me, I doubted they knew what.
A few voices whispered my name as the men surrounded Liam as he made his way toward the boxing ring.
I felt their questions. If a civil war was blooming on the horizon, then my marriage to the boss didn’t help matters much.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come. I bit my lip to make it stop trembling.
Liam didn’t seem to notice—thank the saints.
Keeping his arm around me, he pushed through the crowd.
He didn’t release me until he deposited me safely beside Connor.
I gave Liam a squeeze, which sent a shockwave of fear straight to my heart.
And then my touch fell away. The distance became an ocean, and it threatened to swallow me whole.
Liam made his way to the steps which led onto the platform. Standing next to the table was his family’s friend, the redheaded doctor. They shook hands. A terse acknowledgement rippled through the air around them.
I gripped the horned pendant. It was just a silly talisman, but anything to keep him safe, anything to protect this good, beautiful man.
You have to survive.
Liam was everything.
The crowd parted again, and the scrawny kinsman with the thin mustache and hipster glasses scuttled forward.
“How the hell does he think he’ll beat Liam?” I hissed under my breath.
Connor shrugged. “He’s proficient in several martial arts and other combat sports.”
My eyes bugged out. “Really?”
Connor only nodded.
Well…shit.
“Gentlemen.” Doc Ryan’s voice boomed through the room. “Tonight we gather to settle the question of power.”
A hush fell over the crowd.
“Since you have accepted Liam’s challenge, Kevin, the choice of weapons goes to you.”
My heart leapt into my throat. My fingers turned clammy with cold sweat. I scrubbed them against my jeans, resisting the urge to wrap my arms around myself while too many eyes kept drifting my way.
The malocchio was here.
I should have given Liam the cornicello!
But it was too late.
He was going to fight, and there was nothing I could do to protect him.
Kevin removed his glasses and folded them neatly.
With a tug, he slid his shirt over his head.
Cut, lean muscles covered his frame. A crow was inked across his chest, while other designs scrawled over the rest of his fair skin.
Stepping out from behind the veil of nerdy hipster, he looked like a completely different man.
I couldn’t believe that sniveling persona had been a mask.
When his voice cut through the room, a chill swept down my spine. “Knives!”
Doc Ryan walked to a nearby table, lifted two knives from their sheaths, and handed one to each man.
Kevin ripped the leather sheath away from his blade, letting the light catch along its edge. The sharp glint danced across the lethal steel.
When Liam had said he was coming here tonight, I had no idea this was what he meant. I couldn’t believe he had intended to leave me out of this!
Liam kept his knife sheathed. Turning away, he jogged up the steps, ducked under the ropes, and slipped into the ring. He crossed to the opposite side and leaned back against the ropes.
One by one, he removed his shoes and socks. His bare feet flexed against the rubber mat, his gaze never leaving his cousin as Kevin climbed into the ring, wearing a tight-fitted pair of shorts.
Before the fight could even be called, Liam reached up and tore off his mask. He dropped it. His shirt followed, as did his pants. Then he pulled off his glove and tossed it aside.
He was disrobing on the platform, where all the mobsters could look upon their king.
My heart skipped a painful beat.
Once Liam matched his cousin, he kicked his clothing back and out of the ring. Liam looked at his weapon. The sheathed knife bounced between his hands once, twice. On the third toss, he held it out to the side and let it fall to the floor.
Kevin laughed. The sound was mocking and wicked as it echoed through the gym.
“Do you give up so easily, cousin?” he taunted.
Liam pursed his lips and shook his head.
“I’ll break you bone by bone,” Kevin continued. “And when you’re in so much pain you can’t think, I’ll leave you begging on the floor while I carve out your heart.”
Liam was silent. It wasn’t out of fear. He exuded power and didn’t need to boast.
After all, beasts didn’t bow to prey.
Clutching the horned pendant for dear life, I whispered a prayer just to cover all bases.
“Are you sure you want to stay?” Connor murmured beside me, leaning close to my ear. “You’re looking a little green, missus.”
I swallowed hard. The churning in my stomach didn’t ease. It wasn’t the violence that unsettled me. It was the fact that Liam stood unarmed against a man holding a knife.
“Can he beat him?” I hissed as the two men began circling each other.
Connor huffed. “I sure as hell hope so. Otherwise, it won’t be good for anyone.”
“I thought he was a mathlete,” I muttered as Kevin lunged at Liam, arms swinging wide.
“He is,” Connor said. “But that was always the game he hid behind. The little shite’s been wily since birth.”
A murmur rippled through the room as Kevin jabbed again, slashing wildly. Liam wove through each strike with fluid grace.
Then he lunged.
His fist collided with Kevin’s shoulder, knocking the smaller man backward. But Kevin’s knife caught Liam’s arm as he moved away. Blood sprayed across the mat in a sickening arc.
I wished Liam would pick up his knife. Confidence might be sexy, but this was insanity. I pushed closer to the edge of the ring. Adrenaline surged through my veins, fueling the fear pounding in my chest. Yet beneath it, something darker stirred.
The chain around my neck snapped.
My fingers kept a death grip around the small horn. The talisman was a lifeline.
Time lost all meaning as my gaze was glued to the fighters. I was in a freaking trance. My focus was captured by the raw display of masculinity. Pride burned in my chest at the primal force of my husband. Part of me even wished I was in that ring beside him.
My hunger for the dark no longer shocked me.
Liam unleashed a brutal combination of punches.
Kevin staggered but retaliated, forcing Liam to block hard.
Liam’s knuckles were already bloody. Those bloodstained hands finally wore their true color.
His brutality was controlled. Kevin’s was explosive and desperate.
Unless his cousin got lucky, Liam’s beautiful violence was going to win.
I felt it in my bones.
Still, I whispered another prayer. I brought the horn to my lips, the broken chain dangled against my arms. If it reached heaven through the roaring crowd, I couldn’t say. But I didn’t just want Liam to win. I wanted him to dominate.
It wasn’t only for me. It was for the men leaning forward around the ring, for the gamblers exchanging bets, for the cheers erupting every time flesh slammed into flesh or steel sliced skin.
They were watching their king fight for his throne.
Any doubt about his rule had to die here tonight.
The fight dragged on. There were parts of this brutal dance where I couldn’t breathe. Pain was traded back and forth. Then something shifted.
I didn’t see the opening.
But Liam did.
He exploded forward.
Kevin swung wildly with his knife, but Liam overpowered him. His fist smashed into Kevin’s elbow, bending it the wrong direction.
Kevin screamed.
Liam didn’t stop. He wrenched the joint until it popped out of its socket. Then he drove his knee into Kevin’s face.
It cracked.
Blood sprayed across the mat—this time not Liam’s.
That was all it took.
Liam forced Kevin to the ground, pinning him on his stomach, one arm twisted behind his back. The other hung broken.
With brutal efficiency, Liam snapped Kevin’s wrist.
Then the other.
Screams echoed through the suddenly silent room. No one dared protest. If there had been any doubt among the mobsters, it was gone now.
“Mercy,” Kevin sobbed.
The word sounded strange on Liam’s tongue. “Mercy? Is that what you want, little cousin?”
Voices erupted around the room. Some cursed. Others chanted for Kevin’s death.
“If it was only me you sinned against,” Liam said calmly, “I might be tempted to grant it. Maim you. Let you live as an example of what happens when you step out of line.”
He grabbed Kevin’s head and forced it up. Then he turned it slightly—toward me.
“But it wasn’t just me you threatened,” Liam continued. “You put my wife in the crosshairs. You put the love of my life in danger.”
With one vicious twist, Liam snapped Kevin’s neck.
There wasn’t time for a final prayer or a goodbye. The light faded instantly from Kevin’s eyes. His body went limp.
I gasped. As the shocked intake of air passed my lips, they turned up in a broad smile. The violence of the underworld didn’t scare me. Maybe it never had, but certainly not now. I didn’t fear the beast. Instead, an overwhelming surge of adoration flooded my chest.
I craved him.
That monster was my husband. Liam deserved to be loved, and I was the soul lucky enough to do it.