The Hitman's Secret

Ch. 23: Surrender

VALENTINA

Val was going to be sick.

From the moment Matteo and Bastian stepped into the cage, her stomach twisted in knots and her pulse skyrocketed. Then the three bells rang, and she practically stopped breathing.

Bastian attacked straight out of the gates, nearly catching Matteo off guard. More than once, Val gasped as the soldier landed a blow that might've placed a lesser opponent on his knees. The hitman narrowly escaped.

The first minute passed, then the second, and the entire factory buzzed with bloodthirsty vigor. The crowd favorite, Bastian, was winning. That much was evident.

Whereas Val watched the fight with baited breath, beside her, Girardo Mazza observed with a lazy smile gracing his aged features. He was surprisingly unconcerned considering the amount of money he'd just bet on Matteo.

The violent energy in the fight club came to a pinnacle when Bastian managed to hook his fingers into Matteo's eye, and Val almost screamed. Almost raced to the cage to demand that the fight be stopped.

Men across the arena shouted for Bastian to finish the job– gouge Matteo's eye from its socket. Give the spectators what they wanted to see: the infamous hitman's downfall.

Then, Matteo managed to dislodge Bastian's murderous hold, and the tides shifted.

Momentary relief flooded Val's chest as Matteo took control of the fight. It quickly became clear that he'd been holding back before. He was a man possessed, landing blow after blow with alarming power and precision.

Then, as the seconds passed, Val's relief turned to horror.

Matteo didn't stop.

Even when Bastian stopped being able to defend himself, Matteo punished him with brutal fists and elbows. He followed him to the floor and continued his assault. From a distance, Bastian's face looked like it had become a bloody pulp.

Matteo was going to kill him, and the crowd loved it.

Val knew that he'd killed countless times before. He murdered her father's enemies without blinking an eye. But Bastian was not his enemy.

She'd seen affection pooling in Matteo's eyes when he spoke about his childhood friend. No matter the things that had come between them, she knew Matteo. And she knew that he would not want to see Bastian dead. He certainly wouldn't be able to live with himself if he killed him.

She dropped her tablet on the betting table and rushed toward the fighting cage that now more closely resembled a murder scene.

"No!" she screamed, pushing between a handful of mafiosos. "Matteo!"

Panic surged, clogging her throat, as her voice merely faded into the cacophony of the fight ring. She began to lose hope, but then...

Matteo froze. His elbow, bruised and bleeding, halted midair, inches before colliding with the side of Bastian's skull again.

As Val forced her way closer to the cage, she saw Matteo's one good eye widen. His chest, spattered in blood and covered in purple flesh, heaved with each ragged breath. Slowly, he looked away from Bastian's unconscious form, something like horror scrawled on his face.

Val slipped past the final few spectators surrounding the fight ring and practically threw herself against the cage. Her fingers hooked into the twisted metal wires, and she wished that she could crawl into the ring alongside him.

"Matteo," she gasped his name, quieter this time.

He looked up at her and blinked, one eye spilling crimson down his cheek, streaking down his straining neck. Recognition crossed his features.