Broken and Powerful

Chapter 9

JEDA

Richard approached Jeda and gave her a small smile before standing beside her as two new people got on the mat.

"I see you found something you want to try," Richard says and she looks up at him.

"Can I?" She asks as the two men began to wrestle on the floor. Her head turned to watch the match in interest. She truly did miss fighting. It was a good anger relief and a good mind clearer.

She watched as one of the men got on top of the other and tangled his legs around the other's throat. The one pinned down quickly tapped out as his face started to turn red. They were both the same size; tall, muscular, and large. Most of the men in this place made Jeda feel like a little girl.

"Of course," Richard finally answers, seeming to have also been intrigued in the match as well. "Want me to find you a sparring partner?"

"Scared I'll beat you?" She asks looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. His head snaps toward her in shock. When their eyes meet he sees the playfulness in her eyes. It was a good sight to see. No more sadness was evident on her face except for the tried tears that stained her cheeks.

"Was that a cocky remark I just heard?" Richard asks and she shrugs her shoulder. "You're on. I'll even go easy on you because Stefano will kill me if I hurt you. But just know that if you win this, it doesn't count for your bet with Stefano. It doesn't count until you are healed and not in pain. This is for training only."

She nodded her head as excitement filled her chest. This was the atmosphere that she loved and felt confident in. Adrenaline filled her veins as she stepped onto the matt with Richard following behind her.

She was just wearing socks so he look off his shoes as well to make it fair.

"Should I go over the rules or do get the gist?" Richard asks turning to her as she rolled her shoulders, ignoring the pain. She knew it would suck to do this in a hoodie so she tucked the hood into the back of her shirt so he couldn't grab it and use it against her.

"I think I got it. We used to do these in practice before fights," She says and he nods his head. She quickly looks around the room feeling many eyes on her. A small crowd has grown around them with bystanders ready to watch.

"Who is she?" Someone says and she looks towards the voice.

"I don't know but going against Richard is a bad move," The man next to him says. She starts to feel self-conscious and looks down at the mat in front of her. Maybe this was a bad decision.

"You better watch your mouth. Jeda here is a former MMA fighter so she has a pretty good chance at beating me even when I'm not going easy on her. She may be a little rusty from the past years but she still has more skill than most of you have in your pinky finger," Richard says above everyone, and the room goes silent except for the loud music as they look at them in surprise.

"You didn't have to do that. Now they are looking at me more, " She says uncomfortably.

"Ignore them. Pretend we are the only two in the room." Richard says putting his hands on her shoulders, their faces inches apart so she can hear him. "Show them just how strong you are. Prove to everyone in this room that you are more than meets the eye."

She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths before rolling her shoulders again and nodding her head. She opened her eyes again and met his hazel eyes. Adrenaline started to pump through her again at the thought of wrestling.

"I'm ready," She says and he steps back again. She squats down slightly and puts her hands up in front of her face.

Even though these matches aren't for throwing punches, it was good to always protect your face. If they grab your neck, they can throw you down pretty easily. The goal is to get your opponent in a position where they can't move and have to tap out.