The Shadows

Chapter Twenty

After his race, Antonio headed to the Underground for the fights he had that night. He was really mad that the Shadow had beaten him in the race. He is the best--or was-- in Italy. She doesn't get to take his spot like that. As he pulled in, Antonio looked for his brothers. Tonight there's going to be a new fighter going against one of the best hand to hand fighters, other than the De Luca's, in their mafia. Spotting them, he ran over and they did their handshake they had made up when they were younger.

"Hey bro, how does it feel to get beaten by a girl?" His younger brother Armani teases him. Antonio just gave him a look that said to keep laughing it up. Antonio decided that he was definitely going to be pranking him soon. Their father had a rule that they could do prank wars as long as no one was injured. They even keep a tally of points to see who was in first place.

Right now, Angelo was in first with Antonio close behind. He wondered if they were going to bring Annabella into the prank war? Putting it into the back of his mind to ask later, they all headed to their seats. Talking back and forth about what to do with the new problem known as Shadow, the announcer gets ready for the next fight.

He stepped up to the ring and announced the guy who was in our mafia that was fighting tonight. He got up into the ring and was looking ready to demolish his opponent. He stood at 6'2 and is 225lbs. Not a small guy by any means. Antonio actually felt sorry for whoever was fighting him. They were gonna be majorly injured if not killed.

The announcer calls the next name and Antonio actually whined when he heard the name. How could she be here also? He should have connected the dots sooner, but there was nothing he could do now. He hoped that she would lose the fight. She sized her opponent up, looking for any visible weaknesses. Antonio hoped none were showing but he knew that one would. Once she found it, she looked up and surveyed the room.

When she looked over at Antonio, her breathing hitches. He didn't know why, but then she smirks like she had won the lottery. Why did he have a bad feeling about that smirk?

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Looking away from her dearest brothers with a smirk, Annabella got into her fighting headspace. She could not afford to lose this fight right now. The bell goes off and it is time to fight.

At first they both just circled each other to see who would make the first move. Making the first move can make you lose your element of surprise and can be your downfall. Annabella kept baiting him out to see if he would be the one to make the first move. As she kept enticing him, she noticed how angry and frustrated he was becoming.

Good. Never fight angry because you will not think everything through and it will be your demise. He quickly stepped forward and swung at her. Annabella took advantage of his anger and flipped him over. Once she had pinned him to the ground, Annabella knew that she had won. Not a very good fight. She did not see how he's one of the best outside of the immediate mafia family. They really needed to train their guys better.

Rolling her eyes as everyone in the Underground became silent. She guessed, despite her very well known fighting skills, they underestimated her. No one should ever underestimate anyone. You never know who that person could possibly be. Looking over to her brothers before she stepped out of the ring, she saw that they were shell shocked.

Annabella met up with her manager and Isabella after she left the ring. After they spoke for a couple of minutes, she walked out and got ready to sneak back into her new house. Being too tired to check her car for tracking bugs, she drove off to her parking garage. Annabella did not want to allow anyone the chance of going to Isa's house and bombarding her with questions or her getting injured.

Hopping out of her car after she parked it, Annabella walked over to her car. Now was the time to finalize the plan to get back into her room. She had a feeling that it would be much more difficult than before.

She just hoped no one noticed that she was gone.