Page 147 of Remi's War (Four Dark Horsemen 2)

Tortured and dark souls roaming this earth in search of atonement they know they’ll never get, so they go deeper and deeper, as if daring the world to show them otherwise.

Dare them to make them believe that someone might love them or accept them for who they are without trying to change them.

But they have no such faith, so when they see a woman they want… they force her to be with them, as who would willingly sign herself up for such a life?

Every beast who is angry… usually bleeds from the inside out, using their harsh exterior so no one can use their pain against them.

“Remi,” I whisper, his name almost a prayer on my lips, because right in this moment, the hurt he experiences pierces through me as well.

He claimed me in front of the whole world and in this silently asked me to accept him with all his flaws.

And I’ve been rejecting him time and time again.

How can you know how to love if you’ve never been loved?

A roar from the crowd snaps me out of my realization, and I look at the ring again where Remi drops the man on the ground, snatching the whiskey from the referee and gulping it greedily. Bellamy rushes at him again, but my husband grips him by the throat, freezing him on the spot.

Just a little more pressure and he will either choke him or snap his neck.

“Finish him!”

“Till the end, Odysseus!”

I clasp my trembling hands together, the fear gliding over my form slowly enveloping me, as I dread watching him actually kill someone.

“He should kill him. That fucker loves to beat women,” Florian muses. “And children.”

Octavius speaks up, “He knocked all his teeth out and I’m pretty sure fractured his arm in a way he won’t ever be able to raise his hand to anyone. His body is running on adrenaline alone.” He sounds pleased with it too, not that I blame him. If this man is cruel to people, then he has no compassion from me.

“You know Remi and his code.” Santiago doesn’t elaborate further, and then Bellamy’s scream reverberates through the space when Remi pulls at his second arm and breaks it in a way that makes it swing in an awkward position.

The man falls on his knees, blood slipping from his face, while he mumbles something as Remi rubs his chin with the bottle before throwing it away.

The referee runs to the guy and practically shoves the microphone into his face, and his tortured words wash over the crowd. “Please. Please stop.”

“Fuck it! Send him to the hospital bed,” someone yells, and I shake my head at them in disgust, hating how they all act.

Remi fists his hair, pulling his fist back, which is an answer in itself, when he raises his eyes—and they collide with mine.

We both freeze, and for a second, it feels as if the whole world ceases to exist, leaving us alone in it while we stare at one another. His dark orbs are horrified and furious, while mine are probably just all around scared.

The monster doesn’t appreciate me coming to his hunting ground without an invitation.

He breaks our connection by letting Bellamy go and then jumping through the ropes, heading toward me in long strides.

Florian whistles. “Good luck, darling.”

“Remember what I said about giving up,” Santiago adds while Octavius just laughs, finding this whole thing hilarious it seems, while panic and anticipation fills me to the brink as I desperately try to gauge Remi’s reaction but fail to do so.

Finally, he reaches me, gripping my chin and squeezing it hard as he breathes heavily. “Who brought her here?” he asks no one in particular. And then without awaiting a reply, he bends a little and throws me over his shoulder while everything turns upside down for me. He ignores my squeal, and I straighten up a little bit, sinking my nail into his back as his hard muscle digs into my stomach. “I’ll deal with you two later,” he hisses at his friends as he moves like a panther toward the exit, his hold on me so tight it’s a wonder he doesn’t crush my bones.

I have no idea where he’s taking me, but there’s one thing I know for sure.

He will punish me for disobeying his order.

Because I dared to see what he hid so well…

A bleeding heart desperate for love.

---