Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“And how do you finish this victory?”
“Huh?”
He spun out from the pin kicked under my legs and sent me to the ground, then pinned me there. “You always finish them, Bella, if your life is in danger you do not hesitate, you don’t celebrate that you outwitted them for one second, you grab your knife and you go in for the kill, it’s you or them, that is your choice and the only risk you’re taking is fighting to live, or failing and dying. Do. Not. Fail.” He got up from the mat. “I hate messes.”
“How tender of you.” I jumped to my feet.
He looked over his shoulder. “I may not like you, but even I know what you’re worth, despite your insane inability not to see it.”
I was so confused. “What?”
“Worth, not your families money or your position, but your worth, what you contribute to the world, it’s irreplaceable—you are irreplaceable, and that is how you walk into a fight, knowing your worth far outweighs theirs so why would you not possibly fight to the death in order to prove that.”
I hated his words because I saw the truth in them and felt the weakness in my own convictions, so I charged him, I took him from behind and flopped him onto his back, wrapped my hands around his neck and I squeezed.
But Ivan just stared as if to say, do it.
When I jerked my hands free, he pulled them back down and placed them differently on my neck. “Next time I’ll kill you if you do this wrong, hands further up, press your finger here, and your other here,” His hands were still on mine when a tear slid from my cheek and kissed his.
We never talked about it again, about our cease fire, about him training rather than sparring, or about my tear, but we walked away knowing what it was.
Worth.
He saw mine when I couldn’t see it myself.
And he taught me to fight for it.
It was either me.
Or them.
Nobody was coming to save me.
I could only save myself.
“Are you scared?” The one with the black eyes chuckled, his teeth were covered in blood. “Never thought I’d see the day an Abandonato ran off.”
“Who says I’m running” I sidestepped him, then turned around and kicked him in the back of the knees while the other guy came barreling at me, he was more injured than the other guy so I used his body weight against him and waited until the last minute before sidestepping again and pushing him down to the ground knocking the other over.
Remember Ivan.
Use their anger, use their speed.
Remember Ivan.
Know your worth.
I shook my head. I needed to stay away from their hands and away from the ground.
I quickly grabbed one of the rocks by the door and slammed it down on the guy closest to me.
Cursing, he tried to roll out of the way; I grabbed another nearby rock. He immediately blocked his face while the other guy tried to crawl and get to his feet.
Once he covered his face, I dropped the rock, grabbed my knife and shoved it into the middle of his throat, and jerked back just in time to let the other guy stumble in front of me.
There was no escape.
He’d try to grab me, he was angry, not thinking.
I backed away like I was afraid until the house was pressed against my back. He lifted his hands to wrap them around my neck when I shoved the dagger into his gut and twisted.
He’d forgotten I had a knife.
And only focused on the fear in my eyes of being trapped.
With a gurgle, he fell forward, gripping his stomach. “You bitch.”
The door to the house opened.
Ivan took in the scene and crossed his arms. “Finish him.”
“You said we could spill Abandonato blood!” The guy rasped. “You lied.”
Ivan grinned. “I said Abandonato blood would be spilled—not because you spilled it, but because she’ll be the one spilling it herself—after she’s made, you’ll be her second kill.”
I almost dropped the knife. “Ivan—”
“Bella, this is your birthright. You won fair and square. You want your revenge or do you want to let him go, he would have killed you, what will you do in this impossible situation? What choice will you make about your worth against his? Have you measured yet?”
Kill or be killed.
He was teaching me a lesson. Unbelievable! I could have died! It wasn’t always an easy choice to make, kill or be killed. I thought back to Junior, to that night, and I knew, in my soul, it wasn’t what it seemed. Kill or be killed, know your worth. He always knew Junior’s worth, but not more than he knew his own.
Ivan’s worth, in his opinion, wasn’t high enough for boss, or to replace Junior, but if he was asked to prove that, I know without a doubt, he would even if it broke his heart, he would.