Love, Lies, and the Don

Blake rushed in and drove his foot hard into my lower abdomen.

Thump! I was sent flying, crashing heavily against the wall.

After six years together, Blake knew every old injury on my body.

That kick landed precisely where I was weakest. The old wound tore open instantly, and I choked out blood.

Victoria threw herself into his arms, sobbing pitifully. "Blake… I only came to bring Helena a cup of coffee… She lost control and tried to cut off my hand…

"Don't blame her… It's my fault… I shouldn't have come… She's just too upset…

"I'm not hurt, really…"

Blake saw the blood seeping through Victoria's back, and the concern in his eyes was impossible to hide.

"Helena, how could you be so vicious?!

"Victoria is an artist. Her hands are meant for the piano! How could someone like you–who only knows violence–hurt her?!"

I pressed a hand to my chest, forcing myself up against the wall, and wiped the blood from my lips.

"Oh, you'll regret this, Blake. You'll regret not letting me cut off her hand today."

Blake's expression turned dark.

"Since you like fighting so much…"

He raised a hand.

"Take her to the underground ring. Let my men teach her what the rules are."

…

The underground fighting arena reeked of blood and sweat. Huge iron cages surrounded the space, each holding starving, roaring beasts.

I was thrown into the central octagon.

The noise was deafening. The crowd was waiting for a slaughter.

Blake sat in the upper stands with Victoria in his arms, looking down at me from above.

"Helena, kneel and apologize to Victoria now, and I'll let you out. This ends here. You'll still be my wife."

I stood in the cage, my back straight as a spear.

I glanced at them with disdain. "In your dreams."

Blake's face darkened instantly. "You're asking for death."

He gestured coldly. "Teach her the rules. Leave her breathing."

A flicker of satisfaction passed through Victoria's eyes.

Three heavily built Muay Thai champions stepped into the cage.

They looked at me like prey, their lips curling with crude smiles as they lunged forward together.

What Blake did not know was that, since childhood, my father had made me train under masters of combat. I learned skills meant to kill.

Soon, the sound of bones snapping echoed through the arena.

In less than 10 minutes, all three champions lay on the ground, their limbs broken. Not one of them could even cry out.

A flash of shock crossed Blake's eyes.

Perhaps he remembered the day he first saved me, when I was covered in wounds, yet still looked at him like death itself.

Victoria screamed, clutching her chest, trembling. "Blake… I'm scared… My hands won't stop shaking… Will I never be able to play the piano for you again…?"

Blake's face turned cold. He stood abruptly. "All of you–get in there! Don't stop until she apologizes!"

In an instant, over a hundred of his men, armed with clubs, flooded into the cage.

A black mass.

This was no fight; it was a massacre.

A bloodthirsty smile curved at my lips. "Come."

The next several minutes became a nightmare the arena would never forget.

I was covered in blood, yet I crushed my way forward, stepping over bodies, forcing my way out of the cage and straight toward Blake.

I charged toward Victoria, killing intent burning in my eyes. "I'm going to kill you."

Victoria screamed. "Blake! Save me! She's a monster!"

Blake panicked. He had never seen me like this.

He pulled Victoria behind him and raised his gun, aiming at me with trembling hands.

"Helena, I'll wipe out your entire family if you touch her!"

I let out a cold laugh and kept moving forward.

Bang!

A gunshot was heard.