Page 47 of The Fight For Survival

"Ah, guys?" I whisper, jolting Damon's arm with the back of my hand to get his attention.

He follows my line of sight to see Kane watching Cade with a look of hurt and betrayal on his sweaty face. "Fuck," Cade rasps, remorse covering his features. Kane shakes his head, turns back to Braylon, and sucker-punches him in the face making me heave out a breath in shock.

Up until now, they have been playing nice, with body shots and the odd uppercut only, but what Kane just did sets Braylon off, and a murderous look takes over his face that makes the bearded brute of a man look like the killer he has been branded as at Noxious.

With a force that could break a lesser man's neck, Braylon grapples Kane to the ground with a shoulder in the stomach. Once Kane is on his back, Braylon starts punching him in the face, snarling with each strike.

The grunts and groans echo in the room as Braylon lays waste to Kane's face. I cry out, hands to my mouth in shock, making a move to go over there, but Damon wraps an arm around my front and pulls me back.

Cade is already on his way over there, grabbing a pissed-off Braylon in a headlock. Damon gives me a reassuring squeeze before heading over to help. "Braylon! Walk it off, man," He barks once Cade lets go of his head.

Braylon shoves Cade out of the way, surprising me at the aggressive move, but if it bothers Cade, he doesn't let it show, letting Bray go as he bolts out of the gym.

I have to make sure he is okay. That was not typical Braylon behavior.

With one last look at Kane, seeing that he isn't too hurt, I follow Braylon.

Kane

Damonwatcheswithuneaseas Mia follows Braylon out. "He wouldn't ever hurt her," Cade's deep gravelly voice tells him confidently. That seems to soothe him. Damon's head moves in my direction, taking in my bleeding mouth and the bruise I feel forming on my cheek. He doesn't look like he feels sorry for me one bit. The hard edges of his eyes and the downturn of his mouth speak of disappointment.

"What you did was out of order, Kane," he starts, dismay in his tone. Scoffing at him, I avert my gaze. Fuck him if he expects an answer. The way he looked at Cade just now? He's lucky it wasn'thisface I punched.

"Give us a minute?" Cade attracts my attention when he turns Damon his way with a hand on his shoulder. The softness in his eyes turning my veins to ice, and I lock my jaw so that I don't spit out words I wouldn't be able to take back.

Damon dips his head in agreement and leaves the gym. Cade turns to look at me, an apology in his eyes. That look informs me that I was correct in thinking I saw something in their exchange.

The now empty gym feels cold, and I just want to go home, go to bed and wake up to realize this was just a shitty nightmare.

Cade is silent as he stares me down, but I refuse to meet his eyes. How fucking comfortable he and Damon looked just now. I saw him look at Cade like he waseverything. His god and Damon was only put on this earth to worship him. And when Cade watched him back like Damon belonged to him? I needed to punch something. Unfortunately for Braylon, he was the closest thing there.

I see Cade's feet shuffle, and a puff of air escapes him, having had enough of me dismissing him. "Kane, you can't lash out when you don't like something you see," he explains as if talking to a child. I send a scathing glare his way. "What did I see?" I challenge. Cade assesses me, his gaze penetrating, making me grind my teeth. I look down at his mouth as he licks his bottom lip.

That kiss.

Fuck, it's all I think about outside of dealing with my demons. I want to kiss him again. The buzzing of my phone draws my attention to the bench. Wiping at my sore mouth, I go over and pick it up. Eyebrows drawn, I read the message.

Unknown:You should have taken the offer.

Me:Who is this?

Unknown:You'll find out soon enough.

"What is it?" Cade questions, concern in his eyes as he watches me read the message.

With dread sending a coldness throughout my body, I ignore the messenger, turning off my phone. "Nothing. Wrong number," I tell him. Done with this day, I mutter, "we should go."

"We should talk about what just happened, Kane," Cade insists. Putting a hand on my chest, he stops me from leaving. I look into his rich brown eyes that stand out against his blond hair. "Are you going to tell me what I witnessed just now between you and Damon?" I retort.

Cade's eyes flicker with guilt, and I scoff. "Yeah, didn't think so," before walking off to get my things.

Back home, we find Mia, Braylon, and Damon in the kitchen making dinner. Damon is dancing around the kitchen with a packet of spaghetti, making Mia laugh, which both pisses me off and sends a small smile to my lips, making me hiss out in pain because a fist in the mouth will do that.

Braylon eyes me, and I nod my head toward the backdoor. The December air is a balm to my aching muscles as we make our way to a bench in my small backyard. There's an awkward silence as I study Braylons stiff posture.

After I hit him, I was surprised when his face turned deadly so quickly. The amount I hit him in that one fight we had, he didn't rise to the goading. Causes me to wonder what made him so mad this time.

I thought he had the patience of a saint. Not today. He went all out, and let me tell you, his blows fucking hurt, and if Cade hadn't put him in a headlock to get him off me, I'm worried my face wouldn't have recovered.