𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝟎𝟕 || 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

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"Go fuck yourself." Violet muttered before turning her wrist, finding the opening between my grasp and freeing herself from my hold on her. With that she stormed off, heading back inside of the restaurant.

If it were up to me, after the other night in the car, I would have never seen her again. Even though she was one of the most striking and attractive women that I had ever seen, I couldn't attach myself to her.

It killed me from the inside to belittle her like that, but I had to make her hate me. If I didn't, all of my self control would be gone in a matter of days of living with her and I would be shot in between the eyes by my father, if I wasn't already killed by the Russians.

"Looks like she isn't very happy with you, lover boy." Kayden spoke, his voice agitated me to the point where I wanted to shoot myself right on the spot.

I began to walk away from him, heading towards the general direction of where my car was parked. "You should leave, Koslov." I told him, unbothered by his attempt to get a reaction out of me.

His thick accent echoed through the dark alleyway. "Oh, I don't think I will. I'd like to get a better look at your fiancé—"

I immediately gritted my teeth. "You won't touch her." I shot back.

The Russian tilted his head to the side. "You took a woman out of my life. Tell me why I shouldn't do the same to you?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I recalled the events of just a matter of months ago when Kayden's girlfriend was caught between a cross fire. I shot to kill Kayden, aiming for his heart as I drove off after his bullet had pierced through my leg, but instead Camilla moved in front of him and was hit in her neck. She died instantly.

I clenched my jaw and continued walking, not even stopping to look Kayden in the eyes. "Because if you so much as look at her funny, I will shoot you, and every remaining member of your family just the same as I did Camilla." I threatened, and I was dead serious. If he laid a finger on Violet, I would lose my shit.

"Oh, don't tell me you've gone soft, Angelo. Did your little slut really suck what was left of your integrity off of your dick?" He chuckled. "What was her name? Violet?"

I stopped in the middle of the alleyway. The way he called Violet a slut caused a switch embedded in my brain to be turned on. I cracked my neck, the sound echoing through the tall buildings around us. I scoffed before balling up my fist tightly, turning around, and striking him in the face.

As my fist connected with Kayden's face, a surge of adrenaline fueled my movements. He stumbled back, momentarily caught off guard by the force of my punch.

But Kayden was no stranger to a fight, and he quickly regained his composure. With a sinister grin, he lunged at me, launching an aggressive swing towards my head. I shifted to the side, tilting my head as I taunted the dodge.

While he was off balance, I took him by his neck and shoved his face hard into the wall. "Keep her name out of your mouth." I gripped the back of his neck tighter, my fingers sinking into his skin.

The man struggled to speak as chin was pressed up against the stone. "Soft." He muttered before elbowing me hard in the centre of my stomach. His motions caught me aback while he pulled out a sharp knife from the pocket of his jeans.

With a sudden jerk, Kayden managed to free himself from my hold and swung the knife towards me. I instinctively moved to avoid the worst of the attack, but the blade still grazed my chest, leaving a deep gash. The pain seared through me, the front of my shirt sliced.

Groaning, I lunged at Kayden, fight. His expression showed a mix of surprise and sadistic pleasure, but I didn't give him a chance to react.

I delivered a powerful punch to his face, causing him to stagger backward. Blood streamed down from my chest, but I pushed through the pain, focusing on my opponent. With a renewed burst of strength, I charged at Kayden, knocking the knife out of his hand.

We traded blows, each strike with the same intensity. I was probably lucky to only have had a few bruised ribs and a minor deep cut. My vision began to become blurred, but I refused to let the pain get to me.

I'd been through a hell of a lot worse.

As Kayden attempted to regain his footing, I landed a vicious uppercut, sending him sprawling to the ground.

He tried to get up, but I was relentless. I kicked him hard in the ribs, then followed with a series more. I dropped down to me knees, placing a hand firmly on his chest and my fists connected with his face, again and again, until blood splattered onto my hands and my knuckles were split.

"Am I still soft to you?" I asked tauntingly, walking away from the scene. I couldn't kill him, not yet at least. If I did, Kyler and the rest of his men would be out for my head.

I placed my fingers on my bottom lip as I walked away, and they came back fresh with my own blood. I ran a hand through my thick hair before pushing the door to the restaurant open, unaware of how messed up I must've looked.

Not as many people looked at me as I thought, in fact, one of the only heads that turned at the sight of me was Violet. Our eyes locked before hers wandered my figure. My white shirt was now stained with blood, my knuckles painted crimson, and my lip split.

She quickly looked back at her hands. Once my father laid his eyes on me, he didn't seem surprised. I didn't expect him to.

In a hurry to get out of the restaurant, I slipped by the table to grab my coat. "It was nice meeting you, Lucian." I thanked Violet's father, then walked away.

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