Page 35 of Marked for Execution

Samuel ran up with a cocky smile and blew a kiss my way. “Are you ready for this? I’ll go easy on you, alright, now that it seems like you’re coming out. I don’t want people to think I beat up girls for fun.”

I tried to smile at his tease, but it fell short. Maybe my guilt was misplaced. How did I know he was not fucking around on her while she was fucking around on him? I mean, this was a small community, after all.

“Sili! Get out of your head!” was all I heard, distracting me right before Samuel tackled me to the ground. We grappled, and I used my anger from Eliseo foiling my morning plans to gain the upper hand.

Samuel threw me over his shoulder and onto the ground, knocking the wind out of me before laughing like a lunatic.

“Shit, you’re a slippery one, kid. I need to keep my eye on you. You got skills. Learn to counter the moves against you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Getting up, I rolled my neck and got back into position.

I could feel eyes on me, and my shoulders bunched up. Turning to look, I saw both Eliseo and Reed staring at me.

“Seems you’re distracting the men, kid. Maybe it’snotsuch a good idea to come out.”

“Fuck you, Samuel. You know I didn’t choose to. I lost my damn hat.” I lunged at him, and he dodged me easily. We circled each other, trying to find a window of opportunity to take our opponent down.

“Nah, I knew there was something up with you the moment I saw you. Once the truth was revealed, it was easy to see through your tactics.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do, then, hmm? Since everyone in this damn town probably knows it by now.”

He threw a punch, and I leaned back, dodging his blow, pushing his arm down as I elbowed his face. His head snapped back, and he shook it, rubbing his cheek. His eyes blazed as he came at me with full force.

We threw fists, elbows, dodged and tackled each other, but his weight got the better of me as he landed on top of my body, straddling me with triumph, my wrists pinned to the ground.

“You take the fucking bull by the horns anddeal with it, kid. You weren’t going to be able to hide forever. Your moves are too unique, too noticeable for your size.” He leaned in and said, “You need to own that shit and shove whatever fear you have deep down inside. Weaknesses are exploited. You need to survive in this life.”

I didn’t see Reed move, but he shoved Samuel off me and pulled me up by the arm. Samuel stayed on the ground, laughing.

“Fuck, you guys need pussy to loosen you up. You’re all pent-up with frustration.”

“You alright, Fitri?” Reed asked as he looked me over. His face lingered on mine when I didn't answer. “Fitri.”

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I finally answered. “Yeah, I’m good. We’re training. This is what we do. We take hits, we get better.”

“At least someone has their head on straight today,” Samuel grumbled before I heard a ‘ow’.

Turning, I saw Samuel rubbing the back of his head and Eliseo staring him down. Samuel laughed and went to spar with Gunner while Eliseo walked toward us.

Now what do I do? The only person left to spar with was Reed, and that was not going to go over well with Eliseo, who was acting like a possessive prick.

Crossing my arms, I stared at them both. They looked at my stance and became tense. There was really only one thing I could do to keep these two from killing each other over something stupid that might happen during sparring.

“Well, what are you both standing around for? Go fix my damn door.”

Chapter 7

Eliseo

The door was a quick fix. It was done in silence, and I couldn't care less. Reed and I are going to have to come to terms with what had happened sooner or later. He could stay bitter all he wanted, but there were plenty of other women here for him to choose from.

Siliwas upstairs doing whatever she did while the two of us tested the door to make sure it locked and stayed that way, securely.

“I’m going to the town store. I’ll be back.” Her voice floated down from the top of the stairs.

“We’re just finishing up,” I replied, looking her over. She was in an oversized t-shirt, cargo pants, boots, and her hair was wet.

Thoughts of the other night made my dick press against the zipper of my pants.