Fucking fools. This is what happens when you submit to inferior emotions like love. You become weak and eventually lose.
I will always, without exception, reign supreme over these idiots.
Nikolai grabs me by the collar and punches me, sending me flying against my car. “I, however, can break your bones and eat them for breakfast.”
“Did I miss the memo where you’re a dog?”
“You think I’m joking? I will end you.”
“Oh?” I straighten and make a show of wiping the fresh blood that exploded on my already split lip. “Are you sure? Think about who you’re trying to impress and what role I play in their lives.”
So no, Nikolai won’t get within a mile radius of my brother—at least, not with a functioning dick—but it doesn’t hurt to make him believe I’d allow it for my ulterior motives.
His fists clench, but he doesn’t move.
“What are you doing?” Jeremy asks him. “You wanted this, no?”
Nikolai’s growl fills the air and he kicks one of the cars. The loud alarm fills the otherwise silent car park as he continues growling like a cornered animal.
I pat his shoulder and whisper, “Bran is nice, but I’m not. Keep that in mind when you attempt anything funny.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fortunately, you’re not my type.” Your sister is.
But I don’t say that in an attempt to remain civil and, most importantly, keep my balls in one piece for today. Besides, I’m already beaten up as it is.
I leisurely slide back into my car and drive away with loud revs of the engine while watching the three fools in my rearview mirror.
There will never be a day when I’m lumped in with them. Not even if I have to cut off my own arm to prevent it.
23
MIA
“What happened?” I sign as I frantically take in Nikolai’s bloodied state.
He’s half naked, his face a map of purple bruises with a split lip and a swollen eye. What’s worse is the manic, detached look in his darkening eyes.
“Just the usual fight,” Jeremy offers diplomatically, not bothering to hide the fake tone.
Killian leads Nikolai to the living area and throws him on one of the sofas with zero softness, then goes to a cabinet and retrieves his first aid kit.
“More like he got beaten up for nothing.” My cousin jams an alcohol gauze against Niko’s blood-coated nose. “I didn’t become a med student to fix your fuckups.”
“Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” I sign at the three of them.
Ever since Maya and Gareth fell asleep, I’ve been pacing the mansion’s entrance and imagining all sorts of scenarios. I just didn’t think it’d be this bad.
Imagine my reaction when the three of them come back after one in the morning. Killian’s wearing an annoyed expression and Nikolai looks to be on the verge of murdering an entire village.
Jeremy is the only one who seems grounded enough as he says, “He fought with Landon.”
My heart jolts so hard, I have to swallow a few times to catch my breath.
“Who invited the other?” I sign.
“Landon,” Jeremy says. “He sent the four of us texts, inviting us to watch him make a fool out of Niko.”
That motherfucker.
That’s why Kill and Niko abandoned the dinner without a backward glance.
How dare he ruin my dinner with my family? To beat up my brother, no less?
I stand in front of Nikolai and force him to look at me. “Did you lose to the bastard?”
“I beat him to within an inch of his life.”
“Good,” I sign, and yet a strange spark of pain slithers its way to my heart.
“He only won…” Killian applies ointment without practicing any form of gentleness. “Because Landon forfeited.”
“I would’ve won anyway,” Niko growls. “You’ve seen how I used him as my punching bag.”
“Then you let him go because someone happened to shout for you to stop.” Killian clicks his tongue at him.
My brother’s hands ball into fists and he fishes in his pants for a cigarette, then jams it between his lips. “Temporary lapse of judgment.”
“Was the parking lot also a temporary lapse of judgment?” It’s Jeremy who asks. “We had him in our claws and could’ve buried him alive then and there, but you chose to let him go.”
“You also let him go.” My brother points his cigarette at Killian, who’s finished cleaning the blood. “And you, too, motherfucker.”