Page 29 of Rise of the Queen

Ivan’s devious grin spread across his face as he jumped into the ring. I also caught Vitaliy’s smirk as he watched his son in the ring. He was usually hard to read, but he was visibly proud. He knew of Ivan’s training as well. He also knew Adrik had nothing to be worried about.

I had to admit to enjoying the look of shock on Vitaliy’s men’s faces as they watched Adrik agree to spar with Ivan. Those two walked to the side of the ring, close to where I was standing with Andrei. I heard Adrik tell Ivan not to hold back. “Might as well give them a reason to be pussies,” he said. He caught my eye, smirking at me as he knew I’d heard him.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I fully support this kind of passive-aggressive behavior,” I said, making Andrei laugh with me.

While everyone had been insightful when it came to Viktor and Stephen and their two opponents, there was silence while they watched Adrik and Ivan. There was nothing to critique, no improvements to be made. They were so well-matched that it was almost like they’d choreographed it beforehand. Both of them were breathing hard, sweating as they each tried to outdo the other. Each hit was perfectly countered, each kick was expertly blocked.

“Yeah, he’s totally still taking it easy on me and I might love him a little more because of it,” I said, my eyes wide watching both of them. I could feel that they were both enjoying it, as well. There was almost a giddiness to both of them that I could feel. They didn’t outwardly show it. They looked like they were trying to kill each other. But inside, they were both enjoying this.

I caught Vitaliy watching them. The look of satisfaction on his face was everything. I almost wanted to take a picture of it so I could show Adrik later. I glanced at the other guys’ faces, finally looking at the two assholes. They were shocked.Good. I hope they’re worried.

Ivan and Adrik went on for much longer than the first two matches. There was no clear winner between them; they just decided to stop. Vitaliy’s men stayed quiet, silently glad they’d refused to spar with Ivan. Aleksei walked up beside me and Andrei, as Adrik was climbing out of the ring beside us. He said quietly, “You might be solving the problem of the little flowers today and creating a new one for me.”

Adrik raised his eyebrow, wadding his shirt up in his hand to wipe the sweat from his face. Aleksei chuckled. “They might quit on their own. Then we’re going to have to find replacements for them.”

I looked at Andrei. He had been nervous, but now that his time was nearing, he was focused. I glanced at the other side of the ring where Misha was. He looked just as focused. They both knew that Ivan was the best out of all of us, but they also knew they could hold their own with him. I’d seen it. Those two assholes didn’t stand a chance if they weren’t taking their training seriously.

Adrik said quietly, “Don’t hold back, Andrei. It’s not your fault they haven’t taken their training seriously. You’re the wake-up call they need.”

Andrei looked at me, then Adrik. He nodded once before pulling his shirt off and stepping in the ring. Aleksei informed asshole #1 that it was his turn. He did not look as nervous as I thought he was going to be when he saw Andrei step into the ring. I looked at Adrik, “That moron still thinks he has the advantage over Bubba because he’s so much younger. His day is about to be ruined.”

Ivan walked up, handing Adrik a bottle of water. “Squish, I just want to thank you for holding back when you spar with me. You clearly love me and I’m here for it,” I said.

He laughed. “I don’t have to hold back as much as I used to, princess. You’re making serious progress.”

“I happen to have very good trainers,” I said, smiling sweetly at him. I looked between both Adrik and Ivan, each standing on either side of me. “I could feel how much you two enjoyed that. You were almost giddy.”

They both chuckled. They looked over my head at each other. “It’s been a few years since we’ve done that. We should do it more,” Adrik said. “I forgot how much fun you are.”

“It’s the only time I get a challenge,” Ivan said.

“Do you two want me to leave so you can bromance in peace?” I asked, smirking at both of them. They both laughed loudly,causing everyone to look at us. While I never cared that the guys were looking at me, I suddenly panicked when Vitaliy’s men looked at me. This was really becoming an annoying development in my life.

Ivan and Adrik both stepped in front of me, partially shielding me from everyone. Andrei stepped back in front of me as well in the ring. I saw Misha walk from the other side of the ring to quietly stand behind me. Not a single one of them said a word, they just silently moved to make sure I felt safe.

“I love you all,” I said quietly.

Andrei’s opponent took advantage of his momentary lack of focus when he was worried about me to launch his first attack.Rude.He landed the first hit, which Andrei took like a pro. I could feel that he almost enjoyed it. He was calm, like he was feeling out the other guy’s skills first.

Andrei might’ve been calm, but my anger was coming to the surface watching the other guy in the ring with him. He was so fucking smug, it was irritating. I found myself wishing I could give Andrei some of my anger. Since I’d learned how to control it better, it was quite useful, especially when sparring. It amped up the intensity for me. I felt stronger and faster when I was using my anger.

Andrei pushed asshole #1 back, then I caught him looking at me, a look of surprise on his face. I saw it, but it didn’t quite register as I was still busy thinking about how I wanted to share my anger with him.

We watched as Andrei played it safe with his opponent for a few more minutes, but then we all saw it happen. It looked exactly like what they’d been telling me happened when my switch flipped. Andrei’s switch flipped and he went from defense to offense in a split second.

“Holy shit, who knew he had a switch too,” Misha said behind me.

Once he switched, I could feel Andrei’s anger just as clearly as I could feel Adrik and Ivan. I could also clearly feel that his was feeding into mine, the same way the other two did. There was a difference to him, too. While both Adrik and Ivan felt like chaos personified, Andrei’s anger was quiet. Controlled, but no less deadly. I found myself happy to feel it.

I wanted to tell the guys what I was feeling, but I didn’t want to interrupt Andrei’s focus, so I waited. While asshole #1 had started the match thinking that he had the upper hand, it was very obvious that he was sadly mistaken. Andrei was on the attack and that guy couldn’t do anything but try to defend himself as best he could. He kept trying to position himself against the ropes, but each time Andrei would push him away from the ropes. They knew if someone got caught on the ropes, the match was essentially done. He was trying to end the match without an obvious surrender, and Andrei wouldn’t give it to him. I was so proud of him in that moment.

Asshole #1 gave out before he could force the match to end. His legs gave out on him and he tripped trying to step away from Andrei. He landed hard on the mat and stayed down long enough that we all knew he was done for. We watched him tap the mat twice, indicating that he gave up and was visibly admitting defeat. Andrei simply turned away from him, walking back toward us. Once he was facing away from the others, we saw him smile. My heart might’ve swelled watching him take pride in what had just happened.

He climbed out of the ring, wiping the sweat from his face. He caught my eye and I knew he had something he wanted to talk about, but he stayed quiet as it was Misha’s turn. Once Misha climbed into the ring, Andrei took his spot behind me. He leanedforward, quietly saying, “Whatever you just did for me, do the same for him. It helped.”

Adrik and Ivan both heard him as well. They turned to look at me and then him. I looked back at Andrei, somewhat surprised. “I don’t know what I just did though.”

“Whatever you were thinking about, think the same with Misha. You’ll see,” he said.