Is this destiny?

Jesse stood in the rink and faced the opponent he picked for himself.

The man is much larger than Jesse, but all men that Shawn selected for this occasion are tall burly ones with intimidating looks. Jesse chose the one which irritated him the most.

As much as the man is glaring at Jesse, he is not intimidated. Jesse is calm like a surface of a lake on a non-windy day. He was a capable fighter with dozens of fights in his past before he joined Sarah and Aiden, and since he is with them, his abilities increased several folds. At first, he spent hours daily training with Aiden, and later with Sarah as well. In last few months he is spending most of the day on the training grounds if he is not accompanying someone as part of the security. And he used his time with Master Hollow wisely. It\'s amazing how fast your skills can improve when you have someone to show you the correct methods and you work on it.

The man facing Jesse is confidently glaring at him. He is big, strong and has many fights behind him.

Jeff and JoAnna exchanged glances. Sarah can see that both of them are nervous because their confident appearances are cracking occasionally. Two of them are not attached to Jesse, but they know that he is more than an employee to Sarah and Aiden, all of them are, so even if any other boy is there in the rink, they would experience similar feelings.

Both Jeff and JoAnna silently repeated to themselves what Sarah told them earlier that day: \'Don\'t interfere, we got this. Trust me.\'

Besides Shawn, in the audience are the other two lieutenants, Mason and Ryder, as well as their subordinates. Even the Mansion\'s staff is observing from the distance. Everyone is curious to see which way it will go, because they know that Shawn does not approve of Jeff.

Many are aware that this is the first open conflict which might set the tides one way or the other. If Sarah\'s group wins, it will strengthen Jeff\'s position, probably. There is always a chance that people will rebel, depending how the fights are won. But if Shawn wins, that will definitely cause a crack in Jeff\'s already not solid image. And people are whispering that Marcus White is coming to claim the place which (he believes) belongs to him.

A lot is at stake here, but two men in the rink don\'t seem impacted by that. Shawn\'s man is brimming with bloodlust, craving to show to his boss (Shawn) that he is capable, and Jesse is calm.

The man who has the role of a referee signaled the beginning of the fight.

For few seconds there was complete silence… everything was still.

"Come on, I give you three free hits.", the burly man taunted Jesse.

"You want to lose right away?", Jesse smirked. "How about you try hitting me? I\'m confident that I need less than three hits to bring you down, but I\'m curious if you have the ability to touch me."

The man narrowed his eyes and dashed toward Jesse. He is strong, but not fast. Jesse avoided his punches and kicks with ease. When looking at two men in the rink, it appeared like one of them is moving in slow motion.

The man\'s fury was rising at his inability to land a single hit, but that didn\'t help increase his speed. Man growled in frustration and threw himself at Jesse. Jesse ducked and extended his leg, breaking the man\'s kneecap.

The burly man curled on the ground and wailed while holding onto his leg.

Jesse looked at the referee, expecting him to end the fight because his opponent obviously can\'t continue the fight, but the referee looked at the wailing man with a frown. Jesse understood that this is not enough. He approached the man and with one swift punch rendered him unconscious. It was quiet again.

All people in the audience started talking in whispers, unsure if they should cheer or not. Some of them clapped after few seconds.

Jesse returned to his place behind Sarah without a word and assumed his original position.

Shawn\'s men were in a daze. What just happened?

No matter what their skill level is, everyone could clearly see that the difference in strength was huge. Jesse avoided each hit with ease and defeated his opponent in two hits, without receiving a single scratch. That is just too much.

Shawn\'s face contorted with anger when the referee officially announced that Sarah\'s group won the first match.

Sarah praised Jesse for good work. He did everything he was supposed to do, even disabling his opponent. That man\'s kneecap will take a long time to heal, and even after that, the man will probably be unable to fight.

Sarah is not sure what will happen next, but she can see that Shawn is furious. And if he wants to cause the most damage, after seeing Jesse\'s performance, Sarah suspects that the man from Shawn\'s side who steps out to participate in the second fight will pick Ade or Jamari. Two of them are the smallest ones, and seemingly easiest to bully.

"No matter who is picked next, keep your cool.", Sarah advised them. "Focus and don\'t provoke them unnecessarily. We are here on a mission, let\'s complete it and go home without injuries. Don\'t think that this is a fight that you must win. OK?"

While they spoke, one man with a big scar under his left eye approached them and pointed at Ron.

"You!", the man said while glaring menacingly at Ron.

Sarah closed her eyes and exhaled. Ron didn\'t even join their group properly.

She glared at Shawn. He knows that Ron was not here yesterday, and that is why he picked him… the new guy.

"Be careful.", Sarah said while Ron confidently walked to the rink.

She has a bad feeling about Ron\'s opponent, but all the guys on Shawn\'s side are giving her a bad feeling.

Ron turned to Sarah, flashed a smile and gave her a thumbs up.

Sarah confirmed that Ron seems reliable. A bit cocky, but that is a good thing because courage is necessary when facing such an opponent.

She can\'t wait for this to be over. Sarah looked at men on the other side of the rink and wondered what will happen with them when they lose? Will Shawn leave? He is an arrogant man, and due to his dislike of Jeff, his true colors are showing. She can\'t see him staying after a defeat. But if Shawn leaves, who will control his men? Who wants to work with them? She knows that Jeff entertained an idea that Aiden takes charge of the people, but they didn\'t confirm anything, and Aiden is not here… Sarah reminded herself to focus on the fight. It will start any moment.

The man with the scar raised his arms and roared in a show of strength of some kind. It was very primal, and it reminded Sarah of gorillas. The only thing missing was the chest thumping action.

Sarah looked at Ron who stared at his opponent with amusement apparent in his expression. She hopes that Ron does not take this lightly. These men didn\'t survive so far by following the rules and being gentlemanly fighters. They are ruthless, and not ashamed of dirty moves or kicking people when they are down. What matters to them is who gets to walk away after everything is over. And the man facing Ron looks like the one which walked away too many times, damaged by all what happened in his past.

And they started…

Ron\'s speed is undeniable. He skillfully dodged man\'s fists while delivering precise kicks with his left leg.

Sarah was not sure if Ron is not packing enough strength behind his kicks on purpose, to play with the man, or maybe that is his limit.

Sarah inhaled and held her breath when she realized that Ron is not using his right leg. It is his dominant leg, and he got hurt last night when fighting her. That is probably the reason why his kicks are weak… he can\'t put strength behind his left if his right one is not supporting him properly.

But it seems that Ron will do fine. He started using elbows. The fight will take longer than expected, but Ron has an advantage, even with his hurt leg.

The man facing Ron in the rink is not ignorant. He is aware that he is losing. Consumed with rage, he did several swift feints and retreated few steps, increasing the distance between him and Ron. A stupid move, considering that he is using only his fists while Ron is using his legs (the left one).

In the next instant, the man pulled a gun.

The air was so heavy, it seemed that it became solid. No one breathed. No one moved.

Ron stared at the barrel of the gun, petrified.

---

If you are not reading this at \'W e b n o v e l .. c o m\', then the content you\'re reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.