Page 10 of Ravage God

2

ELIO

Valentino tooka hard hit to the side of his face and went down. I kept moving, hopping on the balls of my feet, back and forth, and took in the pathetic form of my friend.

I shook my head as he picked himself up, sweat dripping down his face.

“You’re distracted,” I said. “Distractions can get you killed.”

He got up, and we circled each other once more. “I thought this was supposed to be practice. You didn’t need to fucking hit me that hard.”

“And you think the fucking Russians will hold back?”

He didn’t say anything, just spat out a mouthful of blood and saliva.

Hell no. It had only been a few months since everything went down at Giulia’s birthday party, with Andre leading the fucking Devil’s Wings MC along with the Novikov Bratva in to kill us. Andre was dead, the MC was weak and barely hanging on by a thread, but the Bratva was as strong as ever, ruling over the East Coast with an iron grip, even with the pathetic excuse of a human being, Anatoly Novikov, as the pakhan.

It was his boy we were worried about. Boris Novikov was like a big, annoying fucking headache that wouldn’t go away. Andthe fucker was only twenty-two. I couldn’t imagine how things would be once he gained a little more experience and his old man finally kicked the bucket. Boris would have a fucking army at his disposal. It could cause us some real trouble someday.

Which was why I needed everyone to be on top of their game,especiallyValentino.

Valentino threw a punch. He was fast, but not as usual. I managed to move out of the way at the last minute.

“What’s got you so distracted?” I asked, dodging his kick.

“Isa.”

And just like that, Valentino managed to tackle me to the floor of the boxing ring, paying me back for that punch he took earlier. And the fucker didn’t hold back. I let out a grunt as the taste of metal exploded on my tongue. I tapped his side, and he finally got off me.

We sat in the middle of the ring, looking at each other and breathing hard.

“What about your sister?” I asked, keeping my tone casual.

Fucking hell, but the little brat had been ignoring me. It happened the year of her eighteenth birthday when she confessed her feelings toward me, not that she had been able to ignore me fully, considering we were both a huge part of Valentino's life. She got better at staying away from me after her twenty-third birthday. I didn’t know why this shit was bothering me so much.

I wanted her to get over her silly little crush on me, didn’t I?

I did.

At least, I had when she was nothing more than a little kid, but now…

I wanted her to get over her little crush, but I didn’t want her to cut me out of her life like this. And now, it felt like there was this heavy pressure on my chest that I didn’t know how to lift.

I didn’t fucking know where my head was at.

And just the mere mention of her name and Valentino managed to tackle me to the ground.

“My old man is pushing for marriage again.”

I tensed. “And what did you say?”

He shot me a strange look. “I said she wasn’t ready. And she’s not. I promised her that whoever she married would be her choice, but she is not even seeing anyone right now.”

“You sound confident about that,” I said.

He nodded. “I am. You know what a shit liar she is. Her face would give everything away. My sister hasn’t even had her first kiss. You think she has someone she wants to marry?”

I didn’t say anything to that. I was fucking glad she wasn’t seeing anyone. In my mind, no motherfucker would be good enough for her.