The Darkest Of Light (The Kings of Retribution MC)

"You’re up next," he tells me. "In case Daniel hasn’t already told you, we only have two rules. One—no weapons and two—the fight doesn’t stop till one of you is no longer moving."

I give the man a bored look. This is not my first rodeo. He eyes me for a moment giving me an opportunity to pussy out. Once he sees I’m not, he nods in the direction of the middle of the room where a man stands and the crowd is circled around him.

"That’s Sid. No losses as of yet. You’re on in five. Good luck," he smirks and walks off.

Walking over to where my competition is, I watch as he sizes me up. Sid is about two inches shorter than I am and has about thirty pounds on me. I’m not worried in the least because once he takes his shirt off I see the extra weight is fat not muscle. I also note he favors his left leg a little, indicating an injury. Sid is doing a good job at hiding it. Most people wouldn’t notice, but I did. Like I said, this isn’t my first go around. My old fighting days and being part of the MC has taught me to size up my competition. To take notice of details.

"Fucker has a bum knee," Logan who is standing to my right informs me.

"Yeah, brother, I caught that too," I say smirking at him as I remove my cut and t-shirt, handing both to Daniel who’s standing next to Logan.

"So that means you can make this shit quick. I’m ready to get home to my woman," Logan jabs back.

"I think maybe I’ll have a little fun first," I say before turning and making my way into the makeshift ring. I watch Sid step forward, taking me in. He’s good at masking his reaction, but I saw the twitch of his jaw and the slight hesitation in his steps when I entered the ring. Seconds later the crowd gathers closer, encouraging their champ while eyeing me with curiosity. Bets are against me, as they should be with any newcomer. Not for long though. In a few minutes all these motherfuckers will know who the hell I am.

Sid doesn’t waste any time before he lunges towards me. He thinks he can catch me off guard. I was anticipating his move. I side step his swing, causing him to bow forward and lose his footing. Taking advantage, I raise my arm and bring my elbow down right between his shoulder blades. The blow has Sid stumbling to his knees. The stupid fucker obviously thought he could use his weight against me. With him down, I can easily finish this, but decide I’m not ready for the fight to be over.

I catch Logan out the corner of my eye shaking his head. He knows I’m playing with this fucker. When Sid stands back up, his face is red with anger. I smirk at him, causing him to growl and lunge at me once more. This time though, I don’t move, I welcome the punch to my jaw and another to my ribs. I let the assault go on for several moments, relishing the burn in my ribs and the taste of blood in my mouth.

"Goddammit, Gabriel, quite fuckin’ playing and finish this shit!" Logan hollers out at me just as my competitor lands a punch to my stomach, causing me to double over.

I raise my head, and watch Sid strut around with his arms raised above his head and a smile on his face as the crowd cheers him on. Standing to my full height, I wait for the stupid fucker to turn around. When the crowd goes quiet, Sid turns and the shocked look on his face is fuckin’ priceless as I spit a mouthful of blood at his feet. This time when he lunges at me, I block his fist with my left arm and then swing my right arm letting my fist connect with the side of his head. Then I grab a hand full of his hair, slamming his face into my raised knee, feeling the bones in his nose crunch on contact. With those two hits, his limp body crumples to the floor. Without a word, I turn away and leave him lying there.

Once I step up to Logan, Daniel hands me back my shirt and cut.

"Did you have to fuck around for so long, asshole? We could have been half way home by now." Logan conveys with a look of irritation on his face.

"Now what’s the fun in that, hermano brother?" I reply with a grin. I’m slipping my shirt and cut back on when Cal makes his way through the crowd of people, stopping in front of me.

"I can’t believe you got the better of Sid," he says handing me an envelope filled with cash. I slip it into my cut—not bothering to look at how much is in there.

"I’d like to line up another fight for next week," Cal declares.

"I’ll think about," I clip. At this point, if Sid is the best competition they have, I’m not interested.

"Really, man? You have a chance at some serious fucking cash. You’d be an idiot to walk away," Cal huffs like I’ve offended him. Snapping my head in his direction and stepping into his space, I watch him visibly gulp and beads of sweat drip down his forehead onto his beefy neck.

"If I was you, I’d watch my tone," I growl. "Your competition is weak. This fight was a goddamn joke and a waste of my time." Cal shrinks away and shuffles back across the room towards a man in a dark suit. I’m about to walk away, when the guy Cal is talking to turns and looks directly at me when he motions in my direction.

"What the fuck?" I breathe out not taking my eyes off this man.

"What is it, brother?" Logan asks while looking in the direction my eyes are trained.

"Do you know him?"

"Yeah, I know him," I affirm.

My blood turns cold as the man gives me a knowing look before he turns and walks away disappearing into the crowd. It’s been years since I last laid eyes on the man. Now the only question I have is—what the fuck is Santino doing in Montana?

Chapter Five

Alba

Well, I officially made it through my first week of college. Of course, Sam and Leah have had a lot to do with the fact I haven’t packed up and left already. I’ve talked to my sister twice this week and both times she’s asked if I was okay and both times I’ve lied and told her I’m fine. Wanting to find out anything to do with Gabriel I did inquire about her second consult she was supposed to have with him this week to get the final go ahead on getting the tattoo she’s getting to cover her scars. I’m not fooling anybody, not Bella and especially not myself, but I’m also not about to ignore the fact that he hurt me.

My roommate or lack thereof is still a no-show. In a way it’s nice not having to worry about any of my habits bothering someone. That being said, I hate being in this room alone at night, even though it’s in a campus dorm full of students. I spent as long as I could hanging out at the library after class so I wouldn’t have to go back and be alone.

Nights have been the worst part. I’ve not been sleeping well, and I almost dozed off in class this morning. Sam caught me before I face planted onto the laptop sitting on my desk. Thankfully, I only had the one class today and now I’m heading back to my room. Sam convinced me and Leah last night that we should all go out tonight. I plan on relaxing and maybe even get a couple hours of sleep.