A Bloody Kingdom (Ruthless People Book 4) by J.J. McAvoy

were focused, clear, like a tiger.
    Her movements were solid, not wasting even a single motion.
    Coraline had come a long way. She wasn’t just a good fighter, she was a great one. She was someone I actually enjoyed being in the ring with because no matter how badly she got knocked down, she got back up and pushed back harder. The harder she pushed, the better I became, also. It almost made me feel sorry…almost.
    She swung her arm and I twisted to the side, my fist colliding with the side of her jaw, her whole body falling back onto the floor.
    “Cora!”
    I paused for a second to see Declan staring wide-eyed at us…and in that one second Cora sideswiped my legs, sending me to the ground. I tried to roll away but she was already on top of me. Bringing my fists up to my face, all I could do was defend myself until she slowed. Opening my arms, I took a punch to the face in order to grab both her arms, twisting us over onto the mat and pinning her down.
    “Damn it!” She hissed when she tapped out and I let her go, wiping the blood from my nose. “You took the hit to lock me into place?”
    “What’s one hit when you win the battle?” I smiled, pinching the bridge of my nose.
    “One of these days I swear I’m going to beat you in at least one round. That punch doesn’t even count because someone interrupted.” She made a face as she rolled over to look at Declan, who only threw a towel at her before offering his hand.
    “It counts.” Liam grinned, grabbing on to the ropes. “Mel got distracted and she paid the price for it, just like she would have in real life.”
    “Are you lecturing me on my fighting skills right now?” I replied, standing back up even though my legs were sore. We’d only been at it for a little under an hour but Cora had been aggressive since we’d gotten into the ring.
    “Are you done hitting my wife now?” Declan called up to me, which caused Coraline to roll her eyes.
    I pointed to my nose. “It was a two-way street.”
    “Hear that?” Coraline smiled, elbowing him. “Your wife is a badass.”
    He poked her side and she winced in pain. “I’m in awe of your badassery, sweetheart. Now let’s ice.”
    “I’m not a child Declan, I’m fine.” He ignored her, wrapping his arm around her and leading her toward the sauna.
    Cora glanced over at me, shaking her head, but let him be the overprotective husband he was. Even so, I knew she secretly enjoyed how much he doted on her.
    “We could be like that if you weren’t…” His voice trailed off when I glared at him. Moving to the corner of the ring, I grabbed my water bottle and towel.
    “Well, Mel, I’m down here…are we fighting, too?” he questioned, already pulling off his tie.
    I shook my head. “I asked you here to talk to you.”
    “Talk to me? In a ring?” His eyebrow rose. “All right.”
    “As of tomorrow, Dona and I will start training…seriously.”
    Five.
    Four.
    Three.
    Two.
    “Define seriously.” He frowned, arms crossed as he stared at me with no hint of humor in his tone or eyes.
    “As serious as my father was with me.”
    “No.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “No,” he said again, moving to get out of the ring as if that was all and I was supposed to just bow down to his orders.
    “LIAM CALLAHAN! Don’t you dare move!”
    “MELODY CALLAHAN, I have nothing else to say about this. My daughter is not going to be put through hell. No. End of discussion.”
    This motherfucker has lost his mind.
    “Your daughter?” I repeated; he didn’t even look at me, just shook his head. “Our daughter! She was in me. I gave birth to her. I can still remember how she felt on my chest the day she was born. I remember how many hairs were on her head. Don’t you dare bark at me as if I’m insane or as if I will willingly harm our daughter just for the hell of it.”
    “Then why are you doing this? She is protected—”
    “By who? You? Me? Her brothers? You have already taken Ethan under your wing, and Wyatt’s