Chapter 244.

Christian didn’t answer.

Ben snorted. "Jesus. You really have upgraded, haven’t you?"

Kylie flinched.

Christian’s jaw tightened. "Shut your mouth."

Ben’s smile widened. "What’s wrong? She hasn’t told you about herself?"

Christian took one step forward.

Ben lifted his beer bottle slightly. "She’s always been good at playing innocent."

Kylie made a small sound.

Christian heard it. He turned his head just enough to look at her. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, with her face was still pale.

She looked terrified.

He had never seen her like this. "Let’s leave, Blue."

Kylie said nothing. Rather, she shook her head.

He faced Ben again. "You’re going to walk away."

Ben laughed. "Or what?"

Christian’s expression didn’t change. "Or you’ll find out."

Ben took a drink from his bottle. Then he looked past Christian and smiled at Kylie. "You know, I always wondered what happened to you."

She closed her eyes. "Shut up," she whispered.

Ben heard her. He smiled wider.

Christian’s hands curled into fists.

Ben leaned slightly to one side, trying to see around him. "Still got that attitude, huh?" He faced Christain with a casual smile. "She’s always been dramatic."

Christian moved closer.

Ben raised his eyebrows, a bit intimidated. "What? You don’t like hearing the truth?"

Christian’s voice dropped. "You’re running out of time."

Ben laughed again.

Then, with a casualness that made the words even uglier, he said, "Careful, mate. She’s a lying slut."

For a second, Christian didn’t move.

He looked at Ben. Then he looked at the bottle in his hand. He looked at Kylie. She had gone completely still.

Her lips were parted, but no sound came out.

Her eyes were fixed on a point somewhere beyond the floor.

Christian understood almost nothing about what was happening. But he understood enough.

This wasn’t a man making an ill-advised joke. This wasn’t an old acquaintance who had drunk too much and forgotten his manners.

This was a man who knew exactly where to place his words to hurt her, and he was enjoying it.

Christian had spent years learning how to control his temper. At that moment, he threw it all anyway.

His fist connected with Ben’s face.

The sound was swallowed by the sudden roar of the crowd.

Ben stumbled backward, his beer bottle slipping from his hand and shattering against the concrete.

For half a second, the men nearest them froze. Then the entire room erupted.

Someone shouted, and a few people cheered. A man near the ring pushed forward to see what was happening.

Christian barely heard any of it.

Ben had hit the ground on one knee, clutching his face.

Christian stepped toward him.

Ben looked up, stunned. "What the fuck—"

Christian struck him again.

Ben fell backward.

The crowd surged around them.

Kylie stood where Christian had left her, unable to move.

He looked furious. This was something immediate, and personal. A reaction that had come before thought.

Ben tried to get up.

Christian caught the front of his shirt and shoved him back against the concrete barrier beside the ring.

"Say it again."

Ben spat a curse at him.

Christian hit him.

Ben’s head snapped to the side.

The crowd roared louder. Someone began chanting.

Christian didn’t look at them. He barely seemed aware of the room anymore. He had one hand twisted in Ben’s shirt and the other clenched at his side, raused and waiting.

"Say it again," he repeated.

Ben laughed, though the sound came out strained. "She’s not worth—"

Christian hit him again.

Ben stumbled sideways and struck the barrier with his shoulder. His nose had begun to bleed.

He raised an arm to protect his face, but Christian grabbed his wrist and shoved it away.

"Don’t you ever speak about her like that."

Ben tried to swing at him. The punch caught Christian along the cheek.

Christian’s head turned with the impact.

For a moment, the crowd gasped.

Ben barely had time to register it before Christian struck him again. This time, Ben went down hard.

Christian followed him.

He pressed a knee on the concrete beside Ben’s hip as he grabbed his shirt and dragged him away from the barrier.

Ben swore at him.

Christian hit him.

Ben tried to cover his face.

Christian caught his arm and shoved it aside. "Look at me."

Ben refused.

Christian struck him again. "Look at me!"

Ben turned his head, blood running from his nose.

For one brief second, their eyes met.

Christian’s voice was quiet enough that only the men nearest them could hear. "You don’t get to touch her."

He hit him again.

"You don’t get to speak to her."

He gave him another blow.

"And you sure as hell don’t get to make her afraid of you."

He didn’t know why those words felt so true. He didn’t know what Ben had done. He only knew that Kylie had looked at this man and disappeared before his eyes.

Christian couldn’t make sense of it.

So he did the only thing his anger could think to do.

He hit him again.

"Christian!"

Kylie’s voice sounded distant.

She tried to move toward them. Someone caught her shoulder as the crowd surged. She jerked away so violently that the stranger immediately released her.

"Move!" She snapped.

Nobody heard her.

The room had become chaos.

Men were shouting over one another. Someone had climbed onto the edge of the ring to get a better view. Several phones were held above the crowd, with their cameras pointed toward the fight.

The boxer in the ring had stopped moving.

Even the men who had spent the evening cheering for violence seemed startled by the ferocity of what was happening on the floor.

Kylie pushed through them.

She couldn’t think.

She couldn’t breathe properly.

She could only see Christian on the ground beside Ben, his fist rising and falling, his face set in an expression she had never seen before.

He was going to hurt him. He was going to keep hurting him. And then what? The police would come.

The cameras would spread the footage.

People would talk.

They would ask questions. They would find her name again. Her father would hear about it.

He would have something else to use against her.

Another reason to call her dramatic. Another reason to tell her she brought trouble wherever she went.

Kylie stumbled forward.

"Christian!"

He didn’t hear her.

Or perhaps he did, and the sound couldn’t reach whatever part of him had taken over.

She reached them.

Ben was on his back, with one arm covering his face. Blood ran from his nose and smeared across his mouth.

Christian had one hand twisted in his shirt.

He drew his other fist back.

Kylie grabbed his arm. "Christian, stop!"

He barely registered her touch.

She pulled harder.

He shook her off without looking at her. He simply moved his arm, and she caredully stumbled backward.

Someone caught her elbow before she fell.

Kylie barely noticed. "Christian!"

He hit Ben again.

Something inside her broke through the paralysis. She stepped forward and caught Christian’s arm with both hands.

"Leave him alone!"

Christian’s fist stopped halfway through the next movement.

He turned his head, and his eyes found hers.

For a moment, he looked as though he didn’t recognise her. His hair fell over his face, and beeds of sweat gathered on his forehead.

He saw her trembling hands, and the tears she hadn’t realised were gathering in her eyes.

His expression changed. "Kylie—"

She shook her head. "Leave him alone. Now, Christian. I command it."

The words came out sharper than she intended. Almost desperate.

She held his arm with both hands, afraid that if she loosened her grip, he would turn back toward Ben.

Christian stared at her. Then he looked down at Ben.

The man was barely moving. He had one hand pressed against his face.

Christian’s chest rose and fell. His knuckles were split, and blood covered the side of his hand.

He looked at Kylie again.

She was shaking with fear.

He swallowed. Then he slowly released Ben’s shirt.

Kylie kept hold of his arm.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

The crowd continued shouting around them. Someone yelled that the police were coming. Someone else shouted for them to keep fighting.

A phone flashed near Christian’s face.

He turned toward it. The man holding it took a step back.

Christian looked around the room.

For the first time since he had thrown the punch, he seemed to register the crowd.

The phones, the faces, and the people who had been watching him beat a man half-conscious on the floor.

His gaze moved from one camera to another.

His jaw tightened.

He could almost hear the headlines forming.

Former billionaire Christian Sinclair attacks man at illegal boxing match.

Christian Sinclair’s new girlfriend involved in violent altercation.

Mystery woman at centre of scandal as Sinclair heir loses control.

He looked at Kylie. She was still holding his arm. Her fingers were wrapped around him so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

"Let’s go," she whispered.

Christian wiped his bloody nose with the back of his hand. Then he straightened. He staggered slightly before finding his balance.

His eyes returned to Ben.

For one second, something vicious passed across his face.

He wanted to hit him again.

He wanted to know who he was.

He wanted to know why Kylie had looked as though the ground had disappeared beneath her feet.

He wanted to know what kind of man could look at a woman who was visibly terrified and still find the strength to laugh at her.

He wanted answers.

But Kylie was holding his arm, and she was asking him to leave. He looked down at her hand, and then he nodded.

"All right."

She exhaled shakily.

He turned away from Ben.

Someone shouted his name.

Christian ignored them.

Kylie moved closer, still holding his arm, and guided him toward the exit.

They pushed through the crowd.

People stepped aside, some with expressions of shock, others with excitement, and others with the disappointed look of people who had wanted the fight to continue.

A man called after Christian. "Hey! You can’t just leave!"

Christian didn’t look back.

Another voice shouted something about the police.

Kylie tightened her grip on his arm. "Keep walking, Christain."